17-2-27 Garand Picture of the Day - US 26th Infantry Division

[Mark in Rochester]

Men of the 328th Infantry Regiment, US 26th Infantry Division riding on an M8 ‘Greyhound’ light armored car of the 735th Tank Battalion near Neustadt, Germany. April 5 1945.

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[RCS]

It is very difficult to find a WW2 photo of the Model 1918A2 with the carrying handle. the handle was authorized but few units ever received them before the war ended. Even early Korean War photos show the BAR without the
handle. After firing from the prone position with the bipod, it is very easy to burn your left hand picking up the weapon. The wood 1918A2 stock is very rare, but there were some manufactured

[matthanne1]

I'm also thinking that this was the Regiment that cleared Hanau just a week before, including the airfield Fliegerhorst, where I would be stationed some fifty years later. We had a 50th Anniversary parade all set up, local reenactors in gear and all, but terrific snow and rain screwed it all up. By now I am sure no one wanted to be the 'last man'.

[Mark in Rochester]

American soldier killed by German snipers on the balcony of a house in Leipzig on April 18, 1945.
Photo by Robert Capa



Pfc. Charley Havlat, who is buried at Lorraine American Cemetery in France was killed on May 7, 1945 just hours before Germany’s unconditional surrender.



World War II United States Army Soldier. He is considered to be the last member of the United States Armed forces to be killed in combat in the European Theater. A member of the 803rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, he was a veteran of the June 6, 1944 landings at Normandy Beach, France, the combat in the Huertgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. He was on reconnaissance patrol in what was then Czechoslovakia on May 7, 1944 when he and his comrades were ambushed. The gunfire from the concealed German positions killed Private Havlat only minutes after a cease fire order had been implement, which both the American patrol and the German soldiers were unaware of. Only a few hours after the ambush Germany formally surrendered unconditionally to the Allied Forces, ending World War II in Europe.

[browningautorifle]

It is very difficult to find a WW2 photo of the Model 1918A2 with the carrying handle. the handle was authorized but few units ever received them before the war ended. Even early Korean War photos show the BAR without the
handle.

That's the first time I've heard that...I thought the men took them off, FH, bipod and handle. I was sure they went out with them.

Pfc. Charley Havlat, who is buried at Lorraine American Cemetery in France

I saw this pic years ago...very sad. Like WW1 having men killed in the last minutes. This would be bad for parents, thinking he made it and will be home.

[Mark in Rochester]

This is my friends brother he told me his parents never got over the loss

Llyod later joined the Marines but stayed in the states during Korea

[Bob Seijas]

M8 photo looks colorized... it's hard to get the ground and background right.

[13Echo]

Notice the black soldier in the picture? One of the integrated units as a result of the Battle of the Bulge. The performance of the colored troops mixed in all white units was one of the reasons Harry Truman integrated the Army in 1947.

[browningautorifle]

Notice the black soldier in the picture

Which pic? The first one? Don't see any black men.