WEHRMACHT MOTORIZED NEWS SERVICE PHOTO ALBUM
Excellent presentation photo album prepared by Luft. N. Alt. (mot.) 7, a mobile photography and news service attached to the Wehrmacht. The album, 16 1/2" x 12", was presented as a Christmas gift in 1940 and contains about 225 photos, average size about 4" x 5".The first page bears a large map showing the unit's travels through Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and France and initial photos show their wrecked vehicle and some field training. Following images show them crossing a bridge on the day Holland is invaded, May 10, 1940 with images showing destroyed aircraft and scattered bodies. They continue through Bastogne, with the following photos showing utterly destroyed French villages and shattered tanks interspersed with photos of German soldiers cavorting at a lakeside. Captured black North African French colonial troops are casually labeled "Flowers of the army" and "French hillbillies", with additional satirical commentary. The photographers also visit Compiegne, site of the French surrender, and mock the French World War I dead "Once upon a time...", and then make their way towards Dunkirk. They take the time to photograph a German soldier's funeral and cemetery, and then arrive on the scene of the British Army's escape, capturing images of sunken ships, abandoned equipment, and destroyed aircraft. The group then visits a coastal radar and communications installation, and also photographs Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goring's arrival to view preparations for the invasion of England. A very impressive collection of professional photos from the early days of the conflict.