The annoying part is that I've recently seen images of this stove, but didn't connect it to the military. And of course, I can't find the website now. It has two burners, protected with an oval windshield. The flame controls stick out the ends of the oval. I think it might be a Colemans, but really not sure. Any help appreciated. Thanks
The tank shape does not resemble Coleman or AGM of the era, so maybe a captured or issued foreign stove? Also looks modified to me, maybe to make it smaller.
I cannot ID that stove either. Possibly one meant for sterilizing medical instruments. But the square pans seem to be made for it. Looks like he's cooking up 2 gallons of Pork and Beans. Shoulder patch of man in center indicates Armored Division.
Seems likely to be American based on their rank insignia. Looks like US army staff sergeant and tech 5th class stripes to me but that's only after a very quick google search. Certainly not British. I stand to be corrected if anyone knows their army rank insignia better than me. Regards John
Definitely Americans. US Army post-1942. SSgt and T/5 are correct. A censor has red-pencilled the truck unit markings and vehicle number as well as the unit patch on the Tech Five's arm. Triangle is Armor. Looks like their vehicle is a Half Track or White Scout Car.
Unfortunately we live in the age of AI image fabrication/ manipulation. Use caution with claimed historical images. This might be a real photograph. Or not. The image sharpness, focus, lack of grain, and uniformity at edges look beyond the capability of film cameras of the era. Hair and faces look too sharp. Shoe laces perfectly lined up. No trace of mud. Pots and cups in mint condition. The censor marks do not adequately hide the image data. We can still read the information underneath. And the red marks look very crisp, bright, and uniform. A reverse image search found the same image posted by a museum, so the image might be real. Museum image claims to be from France, 1944. Those guys and their gear look incredibly clean for the brutal fighting conditions during the Normandy breakout. I could be wrong. Use caution and a critical eye. AI’s no longer make obvious mistakes like extra arms, legs, or fingers.
The only “hit” my computer identified was this; Soldiers cook rations in the field in Trévières, France on 26 June 1944 | The Digital Collections of the National WWII Museum : Oral Histories We need to ask a teenage computer whiz. I’m just an old guy who thinks we made a mistake upgrading from clay tablets to papyrus scrolls.
Found another telling hit; Photos of Le Mollay-Littry in 1944 | D-Day Overlord With black censor marks and different unit and location claims. So I’m skeptical. And no teenager handy to look into it further.
The image is claimed to be over 80 years old. It seems that in the first link you posted, the accession number begins 2015, suggesting the web page published the photo then. I think it's more likely that one or both of the website's claims of location etc. is inaccurate than it is to be an AI generated image.
I think rather than AI it might be an original but posed picture. Here are some other photos attributed to the same photographer, Allan Voluck. Photographer Allan Voluck and fellow soldiers at the seaside in Nice, France circa 1944-45 | The Digital Collections of the National WWII Museum : Oral Histories https://www.ww2online.org/image/pho...her-soldier-seaside-nice-france-circa-1944-45 Soldiers, including Allan Voluck, walk along the seafront in Nice, France circa 1944-45 | The Digital Collections of the National WWII Museum : Oral Histories He looks a lot like the one stirring the pan in the stove picture. I agree they look way too clean to be anyone who came ashore on D-Day, but by June 26th a lot more troops had landed. They could very well be recently arrived, rear echelon types. The time and place could also be mistaken. Given the other pictures show him in Nice it quite possible he wasn't involved in Overlord at all but rather in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France. That was a much less contested invasion. However, the center man has a 2nd Armored patch and they did land in Normandy, three days after D-Day. Here is a collection of Voluck's other photos The Digital Collections of the National WWII Museum : Oral Histories | Oral History Certainly Voluck was in the ETO so I tend to believe the picture is legit but there are still a lot of questions.
Looks off to me. Something's not right. Does not seem like AI to me. Possibly digitally denoised. Also found the link gasweld provided (Soldiers cook rations in the field in Trévières, France on 26 June 1944 | The Digital Collections of the National WWII Museum : Oral Histories) Seems it was posted 2015.
