| Original caption: “A Nazi soldier, heavily armed, carries ammunition boxes forward with companion in territory taken by their counter-offensive in this scene from captured German film.” SS-Kampfgruppe Hansen of the 1st Schutzstaffel (SS) Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler ambushed the 14th Cavalry Group outside Poteau in heavy fog. The Americans tried to turn around, but their vehicles stuck in the soft ground, so they abandoned them and pulled back to Poteau. He carries 7.92 millimeter (.312 caliber) Mauser belted ammunition for a machine gun; note soldiers carrying additional boxes of ammunition behind him. While there has been much speculation about his name, his has never been conclusively identified. He was seen smoking captured American cigarettes in Die Deutsche Wochenschau (“The German Weekly Newsreel”) the Nazi weekly propaganda film. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0326.jpg |
| Image Size | 656.62 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2344 x 2970 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Die Deutsche Wochenschau |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | December 18, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Poteau |
| State or Province | Wallonia |
| Country | Belgium |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-111-SC-197561 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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