Two German officers pose with a captured British pilot Sergeant Herbert Ruza. In the background is a Junkers W34 German transport plane.
   On December 19, 1939 German fighters intercepted a flight of 22 British Vickers Wellington bombers on the way to bomb Wilhelmshaven, Germany.  As a result, 14 British aircraft were shot down, the remaining 8 were seriously damaged. One of the planes that was shot down, fell into the water near the port of Wilhelmshaven. The crew was rescued and - Sergeant Ruza among them - was captured.

Captured British pilot

Reserve-Polizeibataillon 67 from Essen. War time activities in the Lublin and Zamość areas in Poland. Can somebody read the letters on the building? It could be in Hebrew. I try to establish where is/was that building. LS

Police fighting unit

German Order Police examine the papers of an old man in the course of an operation in the Krakow Jewish Ghetto, Poland, 1941.  The Bundesarchiv's long caption describes the operation as a "razzia", a description normally used in relation to hostile raids.

The light colour of the policemen's cuff facings suggest that these men are members of a Special Police Battalion drawn from the Gendarmerie, Germany's rural police force.  Best regards, JR.