110% correct.
Your turn.
Thank you very much, my esteemed colleague. You know, that was not extraordinarily difficult – if truth is to be said, those completely visible ATA-wings were quite helpful. 
And now – something completely different:
Of course, our standard question still is the same: Who are these guys? 
No idea at the moment, but despite the apparent battlefield surroundings the creases in the American officer’s trousers suggest he hasn’t been living rough in the field, which makes me think the Germans under a flag of truce are approaching an American headquarters of some sort of at least battalion but more probably brigade (or US regiment) level or above where officers haven’t been sleeping rough.
Excellent observation, my dear Mr. Rising Sun! As you know, lieutenant-colonels are representing a sufficiently high-ranking class of military personnel which is capable to shield itself from those sorrowful rigors of a grubby field-business and to take some breaths in relative comfort, enjoying all those blessings of simple military excessiveness.
Thank you for that, not least because I couldn’t identify the American officer’s rank.
A moderately expendable but sufficiently, in the circumstances, senior officer is most likely to be sent out to receive the truce party.
A lieutenant-colonel is not expendable in a battalion, given that he’s commanding it.
Possibly expendable in a brigade / regiment.
Much more expendable at divisonal level.
Hugely expendable at corps or army level, but the picture doesn’t suggest that.
Which brings us back to the question of the rank of the German officer, which I can’t identify but which might indicate the level of the unit / formation he represents.
Is there some significance in the cane the American officer is carrying? Seems rather British in a way, except theirs tended to be shorter and carried with more elan. As perhaps the German officer might be doing, or maybe it’s just the position of his hand. It doesn’t appear to be a true walking stick as the American officer’s grip is wrong for weight support.
The German officer appears to be wearing a gaiter rather than the boot which one might expect with jodphurs.
The other German could be very young and, even allowing for battle, poorly clothed.
All of which suggests to me that this in the closing stages of the war, which suggests in Germany.
Oh, always be aware of those completely nonexpendable divisional lieutenant-colonels, my dear Mr. Rising Sun - especially when they are carrying our some very sensitive, principally exceptional and intrinsically delicate assignments.
After all – you will have a sufficient amount of majors on your disposal, and they will be completely adequate leaders for your battalions. On the other hand, talented, educated and well-mannered lieutenant-colonels are quite… sporadic military flowers, you know, and they must be preserved for some special tasks. For instance, functioning as mediators in sensitive bargains with German Generalleutnant along one of famous European rivers …
In those cases, sticks are very useful - and not only as symbols of special military status, but as well as very practical docking devices.
Thanks for the (somewhat cryptic) clues.
Would this have anything to do with surrender negotiations with Patton after he crossed the Rhine?
Bavardage obligé, mon cher Ami. Especially now, in early spring, when the orchards are covered with white flowers and have yet no grown leaves, while we are somehow inclined to pathetically compare ourselves to la Fontaine’s pigeon… In any case, what you got was the factual rank of the German officer.
And no, contrasting general Leland Stanford Hobbs, Patton was not connected with this case in any way.
Thanks again.
Somewhere around Brunswick?
No, actually that picture was taken in the vicinity of a lovely German town where Otto von Guericke became a mayor and also fruitfully disproved the famous hypothesis of “horror vacui”.
Magdeburg Hemispheres ?
Elbe river crossing?
March 1945?
Kurt Dittmar?
“…Generalleutnant Dittmar surrendered to troops of the U.S. 30th Infantry Division after crossing the Elbe in a small boat near Magdeburg. During his time broadcasting communiqués from the front he became known as the “Voice of the German High Command.” A widely respected radio commentator, he drew a following not only in Germany but also among the Allied monitoring staff…”
BUT WHAT WAS THE STICK USED FOR???
Capt. Abbes, Co. K, 117th with captured Lt. Gen. Kurt Dittmar.
Bravo, my dear Mr. Tiger 205 – Wednesday, 25. April 1945, Magdeburg – Biederitz: General Kurt Dittmar, his 16 years old son and US Liutenent-Colonel S. T. McDowel, all safe and sound after successfully finished negotiations. My sincerest congratulations – job well done!
And yes, I almost forgot that: stick is an excellent extension of human arm, very useful in docking operations and absolutely excellent for hoisting a flag.
So, Who are this guys (where are they came from?)
Well, well, well… Quite interesting snapshot, my dear Mr. Tiger 205: Italian officers (one among them equipped with the Alpine Infantry Tyrolean style field cap) are carefully observing the good old Schwarzlose M 07/12 medium machine gun – weapon that was not the standard equipment of their own units, and that terrain looks like a mountainous one to me …
Not very much for the start, but we have to begin with something. Therefore allow me a question, my dear Mr. Tiger 205: is this picture somehow connected with the Italian forces in the Greek campaign?
Dear Mr. Librarian,
“eagle-EYES” as always.
You are in a very good path, ITALIANS,and the Fauna & Flora is REALLY Greek.
Can you guess the nationality of the other parties???
Of course - Bulgarians! Bulgarian and Italian officers in Greece back there in 1941. Here is a direct link:
http://www.axishistory.com/fileadmin/user_upload/b/bg-it-officers.jpg
BTW – thank you for that truly magnificent compliment. You know, for a man with a highly accentuated myopia, who was even unable event to catch any trace of fauna on that snapshot, that really is a flattering remark. Once again - thank you very much. 
Well done, Congrat, it’s your turn!
Thank you, my dear Mr. Tiger 205. So, here we go:
Once again, our question is the same: who are these guys?