An informal photo of a muddy German squad, possibly fresh out of the trenches. Date and location unknown.
Given the stahlhelme, an acceptable time frame would be 1916-18, possibly closer to 1916 given that all the soldiers are still wearing the early -war M1907/1910 tunic.
Under close inspection, this photo provides some interesting details:
The man in the middle carries a large leather pouch hanging from his belt: possibly a map case? His shoulder boards seem to be too reflective and light-colored to be feldgrau cloth. They might be an officer’s shoulder boards given that aluminum thread braid is quite reflective. If so, he was possibly a Leutnant (plain braid, no pips). He seems to have made everything possible to blend in with the soldiers.
An interesting detail on the gas mask containers is the keyhole-shaped object attached to two of the cans (3rd and 5th man from the left). Quoting Thomas Wictor on Flickr: “These are clips that allowed the container to be worn on the belt during trench raids. Often the metal containers were left behind because they were so noisy, but then the mask could easily be torn on barbed wire. The cloth containers were quiet, but they didn’t protect the mask as well as the metal. The clip allowed the soldier to put the can on his belt in the small of his back, for example, out of the way and quiet.”
Also of interest are the two soldiers with rifle covers protecting their weapons.
Note: I just noticed that the two men on the left have their shoulder boards’ cipher/numeral covered with a piece of cloth.
Original property of Wooway1 Collection.