Ordnungspolizei and French Colonial POW (col.)

system · August 1, 2021, 4:59am

Two members of the German Schutzpolizei light a French colonial soldier's cigarette. France, May/June 1940. With the outbreak of war, the German Ordnungspolizei formed a considerable number of rifle battalions (sources tell of a number above 80, probably very close to 100), each consisting of more than 500 men. These were sent out of Germany to operate behind the front line combat units of the Wehrmacht. Their main tasks were preventing partisan activity and sabotage, removing weapons and abandoned military equipment, rounding up POWs, securing lines of communication, guarding installations, and generally maintaining law and order. The standard Police tunic was cut from grey-green wool, with contrasting dark brown collar and cuff facings. The collar, cuffs, front edge and rear skirt panels of the tunic were piped in Truppenfarbe (branch of service colour, the equivalent to the military Waffenfarbe). In this case the bright 'police-green' can clearly be seen, identifying this two men as Schutzpolizei (des Reiches). Both men have a rank no higher then NCOs, as shown by the collar patches edged with a narrow silver-grey cord all around, this cord being absent in Officers. The middle soldier seems to be either a Wachtmeister or a Oberwachtmeister, as shown by his shoulder straps. Only from 1941 onwards did the shoulder straps allow to differentiate between these two ranks, with the addition of a piece of extra cord to the base of the shoulder strap for Oberwachtmeisters. To know with absolute certainty the correct ribbon bars wore by this 2 policemen, one would have to have access to their service records. An impossibility in this case, nevertheless some extrapolations are possible, so based on the info available, the following provisional ribbon bar's choices were made: Both soldiers are wearing the Anschluss Medal, awarded to those that took part in the annexation of Austria. Although no thin black bands are visible, these could easily 'disappear' when surrounded by the light reflecting on the white parts of the ribbon. The Westwall Medal was also a possibility, but was excluded because it didn't fit the order of precedence. The middle soldier's second ribbon: The 2 dark bands with a middle band of a lighter colour has one match, the Sudetenland Medal, awarded to German and Ethnic German citizens, military and civilians, who participated in the occupation of that territory in March 1938. Note: A 'cold light' filter was applied to mimic the general cold tones characteristic of German colour photography of the period (Bundesarchiv examples used as reference), these should not be confounded with the artificially colour-saturated photos published in period magazines such as Signal. b&w original property of: Bundesarchiv (Bild 121-0417) A sample of the references consulted: (Original colour plates): Bundesarchiv, in particular: R-165-Bild-244-46, Bild-GD-47, Bild-GD-55. Published sources: " Blitzkrieg Vol.2 - France, Holland and Belgium 1940-1941"; Fowler W.; Alan Publishing, 2002. "German Military Police Units 1939-45"; Williamson G. & Volstad R.; Men-At-Arms (213); Osprey Military. "German Security and Police Soldier 1939-1945"; Williamson G.; Warrior Series (61), Osprey Publishing. "Hitler's Army, 1939-1945: The Men, Machines and Organization"; Stone D.; Zenit Press, 2009. "The French Army 1939-45, Vol.1 - The Army of 1939-40 & Vichy France"; Men-At-Arms Series, Osprey Military. "The German Home Front 1939-1940"; Davis, Brian L.; Elite (157); Osprey Publishing. "World War Two German Police Units"; Williamson G. & Embleton G.; Men-At-Arms (434); Osprey Publishing.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://ww2incolor.com/gallery/colorizations/49420/ordnungspolizei-and-french-colonial-pow-(col.)

Neutral · June 17, 2013, 4:59pm

Constructive criticism is welcome, I will do my best to answer any legit questions and doubts concerning this work. Every detail was researched to the best of my abilities using the resources at my disposal. Whenever possible, information collected from one source was confirmed by other sources, preferably published ones.

Cheers

system · August 1, 2021, 4:59am

_JR · June 18, 2013, 10:34am

I do like this. My instant reaction was that the green was a little bright, but a moment’s reflection showed me that, given the strength of the light suggested (stronger than the previous colorisation), this is how the colour should look.

On a side point, Lusitania, I don’t know whether you are familiar with this story (true) relating to the late Airey Neave, a UK Conservative politician disgracefully murdered by the so-called Irish National Liberation Army ? During the war, Neave was a British officer. He spent most of the war in German PoW camps or, more accurately, attempting to escape from them. As a serial escaper, it was only a matter of time before he ended up in Colditz Castle, where he promptly joined the resident escape industry becoming, in the end, one of the few to achieve an escape “home run” from that camp. This was preceded, however, by a number of failed attempts. In one, he was fitted out in what looked at first glance like a very good imitation German infantryman’s uniform, made by a tailor among the incarcerated French officers. The idea was that he would tag along with a German patrol on relief, march nonchalantly through the main gate with the patrol, and then make himself scarce. All went well until the patrol passed under the strong searchlights covering the gate, at which point Neave was grabbed, arrested, and returned to the castle ward prior to a spell in solitary. What had gone wrong ? Neave subsequently discovered that the hapless French tailor had made up his uniform, not in “feldgrau”, but in some Police Green material that the prisoners had somehow laid hands on. This passed off well, until the searchlights literally lit up the green material in contrast with the surrounding feldgrau in such a way as to suggest that Neave was distinctly out of place.

This treatment of the green uniform is remarkably similar to the postwar Police Green uniform used, at least until recently, by the postwar German Landespolizei. I will take the liberty of posting an example under this forum, to show what I mean. Best regards, JR.