In the Faces Of War Series #facesofwarkb41 !
The photograph here shows a young sailor in the German navy (Kriegsmarine) called Heinz. Heinz seen here poses for the camera, a studio portrait seen here with a black background. Heinz is looking to the right in thought to capture the mood of thought for the photograph. The young age of the sailor gives empathy for him, he is unfortunately just one of the many young lives that were affected by the war. The story of Heinz is told to us on the reverse shown that reads “zur erinnerung an weinen freund Heinz ostfriesland den 5 Juni 1944”. This translates to " In memory of crying friend (From) Heinz in East Frisia. 5 June 1944". This being possibly that Heinz is writing to his friend at a sad time from what he has experienced whilst at war, the horrors and upsetting times faced that he and other Soldaten experienced from across the Wehrmacht was very soul destroying, distressing, upsetting and in times of low morale, thoughts of home came all too often. The other possibility is that the reverse indicates that the Young Heinz seen here has unfortunately passed away and this is written to his friend as a final goodbye. Either could be true but in any case the story of Heinz like many others of the war was unfortunately an upsetting one. The End of the war being just over a year away, the war for the Wehrmacht worsening and the losses increasing as the fall of the Reich drew closer, the unfortunate cost of war. A young man and a true face to experience the war.
Another extremely moving and timeless photo from the period, presented by KB41. The Battle of the Atlantic alone took a high toll, with "the cruel sea" claiming: -British (inclusive of all Empire and Commonwealth) Merchant Navy 36,000 souls -Royal Navy - 36,200 souls - Kriegsmarine (mostly Submariners) 30,000 [of a total U-Boot strength of 40,000] Of this figure of just over 100,000, nearly all of the Kriegsmarine and a high proportion of the Allied losses having no known grave but the sea itself.