#viii corps

Examining Captured Weapons 

In this brilliant photograph, dating from 26th January 1945, shows Lt. General Sir Evelyn Hugh Barker inspecting some of the more interesting and advanced German small arms that men of the 3rd Division, part of Baker’s VIII Corps, had captured.

The captured small arms include a Panzerfaust anti-tank weapon, a number of varieties of grenade including the classic Stielhandgranate and a Filegerleuchtpistole (flare gun) Model 'L'.

There are a number of interesting rifles in the photograph too including an early model FG-42 instantly identifiable by its angled pistol grip, a Gewehr 43 self-loading rifle and the general himself is examining an StG-44.

Baker was a career soldier having joined the army before the Great War, he went on to command British forces in Palestine, where he handled the volatile situation poorly, and the Eastern Command before retiring in 1950, he died in 1983, aged 89. 

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