skorzeny 57
Thanks for granting me a win on a very general answer.
Here’s my puzzle. Easy for those who know, and hard for those who don’t.
U.S. Army troops operating their asses in the Italian mountains circa 1944? 
These soldiers are undoubtedly Americans. As far as i know, the US Army during the WW2 used mules in Italy and in the jungles of Burma. The muddy ground of the picture sounds familiar to me… I go for US Army on the Appennini Range (Italy), october 1944 (probably the same area of the previous puzzle…).
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answer…10 us mountain division in tunesia end 42 beginning 43…
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answer… 10 us mountain division near cassino 43
Pack mules were used by US forces in Tunisia during the winter of 1942-43 and were employed extensively in the rugged mountain terrain of Italy. In the hard mountain fighting before Cassino, pack animals were extensively used. During 1944-45, the 10th Mountain Division employed over 14,000 mules in the rugged terrain of northern Italy during its drive through the North Apennines Mountains and the Po Valley.
Hi Sergeant Ronnyguitar,
that’s not fair, giving two answers in one post!! 
You’d better pay attention, if you don’t want to be sent to Guantanamo Prison by our Mods… 
Ok pal just skip the wrong answer 
btw glad you’ve noticed my promotion, never made it in RL more than a corporal… :army:
Wrong choice.
US GI either north Africa or Sicily
is this the same donkey?,. might need to check on the type :D:D
“…Easy for those who know, and hard for those who don’t.” I knew that i was part of the second group… Anyway, i go for the second option that i posted before… US Soldiers, Burma, 1944.
ps - Rising Sun*, what about the post of Nikdfresh and the double-post of Ronnyeguitar? Did you already send him to Guantanamo? ;)
That’s it!
I confess that I selected the photo as it didn’t look like jungle. And it worked! I am a very naughty boy.
The photo is of ‘Merrill’s Marauders’, with Brigadier General Merrill on the left.
"The American force which emerged, the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) known as GALAHAD, proved a far cry from the elite unit which the Army’s leaders had envisioned. In the South and Southwest Pacific, the Caribbean, and the United States, the call for jungle-tested volunteers for a hazardous mission produced a collection of adventurers, small-town Midwesterners, southern farm boys, a few Native and Japanese-Americans, and a number of disciplinary cases that commanders were only too happy to unload. As the volunteers assembled in San Francisco, one officer remarked, “We’ve got the misfits of half the divisions in the country.” After arriving in Bombay, India, on 31 October, GALAHAD trained in long-range penetration tactics under Wingate’s supervision and soon earned a reputation as an unruly outfit. A British officer, who had been invited to GALAHAD’s camp for a quiet Christmas evening, noted men wildly firing their guns into the air in celebration and remarked, “I can’t help wondering what it’s like when you are not having a quiet occasion.” Although GALAHAD presented some disciplinary problems, Stilwell and his staff were overjoyed to obtain some American combat troops, and Stilwell managed to wrest control of the unit from the angry Wingate. To command GALAHAD, he selected one of his intimates, Brig. Gen. Frank D. Merrill, leading correspondents to dub the unit “Merrill’s Marauders.”
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-C-India/index.html
ps - Rising Sun*, what about the post of Nikdfresh and the double-post of Ronnyeguitar? Did you already send him to Guantanamo? ;)
Nick can do no wrong in my eyes, while Ronnyguitar gets the benefit of my distaste for Guantanamo and the abandonment of the rule of law it represents.
However, if Ronnyguitar offends again I shall sentence him to a severe flogging with a damp bus ticket. If that doesn’t bring him into line, I doubt that anything will.
Hi naughty boy,
the picture you selected, didn’t seem something related to the junglas of Burma. I had the feeling that all that mud and the lack of vegetations around, gave the idea of some Italian mountains. Thank for your clue… Concerning Ronnyguitar, i’m scared that you’ve chosen a sort of excessive punishment for him…
Thanks for the info about “Merrill’s Marauders”, too. I’ll try to be a kind of naughty boy, too, in the next post, since i haven’t yet any idea…
Best regards.
Not really.
I could have him flogged with a dry bus ticket.
This could expose him to the risk of paper cuts.
You see I was thinking that you’d post a picture of the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations under the guise that you’d normally post a pic of the PTO and we’d think you’d normally post only a pic of the PTO and therefore it couldn’t be the MTO or ETO!
I knew that you and others of similar rat cunning would think that, so I did exactly what you expected in the knowledge that you’d all outsmart yourselves by thinking that my PTO pic was MTO or ETO and therefore you’d all make asses of yourselves. :mrgreen:
Hi naughty boys…
your discussion about MTO, PTO & ETO has made spinning my head… Some smoke’s coming out from my ears. 
That’s why i probably haven’t been able to find something really hard for the next puzzle… For the series “Easy for those who know, hard for those who don’t”, here’s the next puzzle.
You should guess the name of the Unit (the name includes the Country of origin)
Enjoy the hunt!
ps- Rising Sun*, i have to tell you that your attempt to avoid pain for Ronnyguitar, is very touching… I wouldn’t never see the effects of paper cuts on him… 
I’ll start what may be a process of elimination.
Troops are in British uniforms with 37 pattern webbing, minus basic pouches but plus ammo pouches.
I don’t think British drill in WWII had hands flat on the pants seams at attention, which suggests European troops in British service.
Can’t identify the flag.
Polish troops in British service?
Agree with you that the process of elimination it may be the best solution…
Your intuition about the position of attention is right… Anyway you removed one of the candidates. Infact these soldiers are not Polish troops…
Bump!
I’m still inclined to troops from middle Europe or thereabouts.
The bloke (officer?) in the backrgound to the right of the flagpole could be wearing a French cap, or any of several other European caps. To the extent that I can make out any detail, which I can’t.
Ranging shots.
Czech?
Or, at the other extreme, British Freikorps shot in Germany circa 1944.
They are soldiers of the 1st Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade, I guess Aren´t they?
The regimental banner pattern elements look similiar to —>
