Very cool shots and thread!
A couple of corrections, though:
These are not German soldiers from WWI but Finnish engineers from 1941-44 wearing the Finnish insignialess summer uniform, and they're all privates. The WWI German Stalhelm had ventilation bolts on the sides, these helmets don't, so they're a model from the 30's. You can also see the traditional Finnish knife
puukko on the belt of the man in the center.
Only the first soldier is German/Germanic as he's the one wearing the SS sig-runes on his collar. The other two are apparently Croatians from the 13th SS Mountain Division 'Handschar'.
A couple of domestic in this theme:
Finnish anti-tank crew and a destroyed T-34 in Tali-Ihantala 1944, the largest battle ever in Scandinavia.
Finnish soldiers crossing the pre 1939 border in 1941.
Tired soldiers marching in eastern Karelia in 1941. Notice the button ribbon on the second soldier behind. He's already received the Iron Cross 2nd Class.
Hitler and Finnish Field Marshal Mannerheim in 1942. Keitel in the background.
Hitler, Mannerheim and Finnish President Risto Ryti the same day.
Finnish BF-109 G-2 ready to take off in Helsinki, apparently 1943. The Finnish Air Force swastika had nothing to do with nazism, but was chosen as a old symbol of luck in 1918, long before Hitler.
Ilmari Juutilainen, the top non-German fighter ace ever, with 94 confirmed kills between 1939 and 1945
Ilmari's brother Aarne, a former French Foreign Legion veteran and coined "the terror of Morocco". Here back in Finland as a Lt.
Finnish
Sissi (Rangers) in WWII. The person in the middle is Larry Thorne, a Finnish-American Mercenary who was one of very few who attained the rank of Captain in three armies, the Finnish Army, Waffen-SS and The US Army Special Forces. The commander of this unit here was Mauno Koivisto, who later became President of Finland. Thorne was KIA in Vietnam in 1965.
Finnish volunteers in the SS in Ukraine, 1941. As a sign of allegiance Finland sent 1500 troops to the SS in 1941. Finns weren't considered as "Aryan" as the Germanic nations, but close enough to be allowed to wear the double sig-rune on their collars. Germany later asked for 3500 more troops, but Finland refused, as it didn't want to become more entangled to Germany than necessary.
The statue of Alexander II, Czar of Russia, Grand Duke of Finland and the University of Helsinki and an illuminated sky during an aerial bombardment.
After signing a separate peace with the Allies in 1944 Finland was obliged to fight off the German troops in Northern Finland. The Germans retreated with a scorched earth policy. Here is the city of Rovaniemi, capital of Lapland, completely burned down.
The Finnish-Norwegian border in the extreme north of Finland in April 1945, with the last Germans retreated. That meant the end of WWII for us. The whole campaign involved some 300,000 troops combined, but less than 2000 died, which indicate that neither side was very interested in fighting their former allies.
Ok, enough of this nationalism. But it was fun to share.
edit: one more
House destroyed in a Russian aerial bombardment in 1939, despite Molotov saying that the Russians will only drop bread baskets on Finnish cities to help the starving people. So forth the Finns coined the incendiary anti-tank fuel bombs as the famous "Molotov Cocktail", which is known worldwide today.
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