Found in a dead Tommie’s pocket

[janrm]

This picture was found in the photo album of a German soldier stationed in Norway. It has, loosely translated, the text: «Found in a dead Tommie’s pocket». This British soldier(Tommies, as the Germans called them) most likely fell at Tretten in Gudbrandsdalen or possibly Gausdal in april 1940.

Has anyone in this forum any idea who the three soldiers might have been?

Any uniform-details etc would be much appreiciated!

Regards,

Jan

[q98]

Gausdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal.
British forces which had been landed at Andalsnes moved into eastern Norway. By 20 April three British half-battalions had moved as far south as Faberg, near Lillehammer. The main British units deployed to eastern Norway in April 1940 were the Territorials of the 148th Infantry Brigade and the regular 15th Infantry Brigade. In a series of battles with Norwegian and British forces over the next weeks, the Germans pushed northwards from Oslo, their main effort through the Gudbrandsdal valley.
Comment: It does not appear there were any Scots elements with either 15th or 148th Brigades in April 1940

[Ruskie]

If this photo was found in the soldier’s pocket, is it possible that is it a photo of a friend or relative rather than a photo of himself?

[Ruskie]

Doing a bit of googling I discovered that kilts were deemed impractical to be worn in battle in WW2, so I am wondering if this might be some kind of ceremonial dress unrelated to any conflicts in Norway in 1940.

I’m sure someone will be able to identify the badge and tartan.

[tonepad]

The soldiers in the photo could be Cameron Highlanders (from sporran and sporran badge):

https://www.britishempire.co.uk/media/cigarettecards/cigaretteterri/cigaretteterri22.htm

The Liverpool Scottish were linked to the Cameron Highlanders and sent a troop to Norway, part of the No. 4 Independent Company:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_Scottish


But the Tommie who had the photo in his pocket may not have been in the Liverpool Scottish and had other links to the Cameron Highlanders.


Tony

[Albufera32]

Does the original photo show any detail of buildings or anything to the left of the three men? It may be possible to identify the location if so, particulrly if the three men are pictured at some ceremonial event such as a Highland Games or some such.

Also is it possible to show the cap badges in any greater detail? Those would be the best chance of identifying the regiment, I would guess.

[janrm]

Thanks a lot for your time and effort so far!

The posting about the Cameron Highlanders sounds promising, at least there seems to be a connection to Norway!

Unfortunately no more details or higher resolution picture. Whether the photo is of the soldier himself or someone else could be either, I think...

Judging from other pictures in the album, my opinion is that it seems to be from the Tretten area of Gudbrandsdalen.

Regards,

Jan

[janrm]

Does the original photo show any detail of buildings or anything to the left of the three men? It may be possible to identify the location if so, particulrly if the three men are pictured at some ceremonial event such as a Highland Games or some such.

Also is it possible to show the cap badges in any greater detail? Those would be the best chance of identifying the regiment, I would guess.

This is the page from the German soldiers album. As you can see, all the other pictures are from TRETTEN. Before that, he was in Gausdal.  Later on, you can see from the two pictures, they stayed for a while in Løkken.  Somebody wil be able to tell us, who they were.  But I am not sure, if that can help finding the Scots on the picture.

[Ian999]

Curious! I agree with Tonepad that the uniform looks like the Cameron Highlanders, but I can find no mention of them being involved in Norway.

My father was in the 1st Battalion Scots Guards who were part of the 24th Infantry Brigade that landed in Narvik on April 15 1940. They got a real pounding and were evacuated on June 8th 1940 with my father missing various bits and pieces. That uniform is not the Scots Guards.

The problem is that there were no other Scots regiments in Norway around that time. Any dead in Tretten would have been from the 148th Brigade which landed at Andalsnes.

The one possibility is the TA regiment Liverpool Scottish which were often used to supplement the Camerons. Apparently also, they provided a small contingent to the "4th Independent Company" which went into Norway presumably as part of the 148th but I can find no other info on them.

Their dress is similar to the Camerons but not the same. Dare I say that the men look more Scouse than Scots?