German Forces

Taking the long view ...

Gruppenfuhrer (later Obergruppenfuhrer) Herbert Otto Gille and unidentified SS-Sturmfuhrer view the situation from a distance. Gille was one of the most highly decorated officers in the Wehrmacht, having received by war's end the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. He commanded the 5th SS Division "Wiking" (the cuff title of which is clearly legible on the left sleeves of both Gille and the Sturmfuhrer) between May, 1943 and August, 1944. He was, evidently, particularly attached to this Division, the rank and file of which was mainly composed of Northern European (non-German) volunteers; after the war, he set up a magazine for "Wiking" veterans. The optical gear in this 'photo is interesting. I have not been able to identify Gille's glasses, but they look to be a WW1 pair; Gille was a highly decorated WW1 veteran. Indeed, they look like field glasses (non-prismatic viewing glasses), a type that widely co-existed with the newfangled prismatic binoculars in WW1. They are certainly carrying enough wear to suggest WW1 provenance. People tend, for some reason, to get quite attached to their binoculars; I have been using my trusty East German 10 by 40B Karl Zeiss Jena Notarems for close to 30 years, and hope to get ... well ... a few more years out of them. The younger officer's binoculars (this time modern/prismatic) are also a little unusual, insofar as they appear to be a 10 by 50 (or similar) type - certainly not unknown in the WW2 German Army, but uncommon by comparison with the smaller magnification/field models that are usually seen in contemporary 'photos. As to the make, Carl Zeiss Jena is distinctly possible; but several types of German and Austrian binoculars of this date are so similar in appearance that I lack the ability to tell which I am looking at from this 'photo. Best regards, JR.