Picture of the day. (2 Viewers)

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When did the Germans go to double riders?
I don't think they did in WW2. Every picture I've seen of a WW2 Fallschirmjager harness shows a single connectiont between their shoulder blades, they hung at about a 45 degree face down angle, with no control of the canopy.
The painter of that scene might have been a very realistic painter, but I doubt any paratrooper jumped with that much loose equipment on them. Can you imagine how many men would be injured trying to do a forward roll type parachute landing, with a folding bicycle behind them and a MG34, complete with a belt of ammo on their front.
The German paratroopers kept their MGs in containers dropped with them, not on their person.
 
German Fallschirmjager from a Ju52 over Crete, 1941.

fallschirmjager_crete[600].jpg
 
Painting representing German paratroopers ''Fallschirmjäger'' enter in Holland during the West Front offensive by the German Army in May 1940. During the first 9 months of the war, Hitler decided not to attack on the Western Front in order to mobilize his troops for the conquest of Poland and the Baltic States. But, once his conquest of the East ended, the attack of France began, Hitler directed his forces through the forest of the Ardennes deemed impassable by the Allies in order to circumvent the line Maginot and encircling the advanced French army in Belgium. The conquest of Holland was made by the German paratroopers, the "Fallschirmjäger", proof of the modernity of the German army. Picture by Fortunio Matania. -
Fortunino Matania - Wikipedia
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Well thats one hell of a good painting. Although i think he let his mind elaborate a little on the uniform...
 
Royal Air Force Fighter Command, 1939-1945. Boulton Paul Defiant Mark I night fighter, N1801 'PS-B' 'Coimbatore II', of No. 264 Squadron RAF, undergoing a routine service in a dispersal, probably at Colerne, Wiltshire. This aircraft was flown by the effective night-fighting team of Flying Officer F D Hughes (pilot) and Sergeant F Gash (gunner), and displays a victory tally of 5 enemy aircraft shot down. In 1942 Hughes converted to the Bristol Beaufighter and, flying with Nos. 125 and 600 Squadrons RAF, further increased his score. By the end of the war, he commanded No 604 squadron and finished with 18.5 kills.
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