I'm going to make a model of this scene:



Tonally the 88mm and M4 are about equal, so did the US Army repaint the 88mm in OD or leave it in it's original colour? I also can't find any references to the unit involved, so cannot make out the correct markings for the M4.

Any help would begratefully received.

Hello Dave. I can´t help very much with specifics of this build .. but only posted to welcome you back to Armorama. Great to see you back again.
Personally Id leave the 88 in German colours, to add colour contrast.

Thanks Frank

It was alegedly taken in 1944, so I assume that the original coulour would be dark yellow?

Also looks like a very worn white wash is on the wheel archesof the 88 and maybe the M4, nice photo

Your copy of this pic isn't very sharp. I've seen a better one and the tonal qualities do appear. One thing about viewing B/W pics and German dk yellow that I've noticed -- it comes up VERY dark. Just how it is.

I'd say that the 8.8cm Flak you have here is dk yellow with a likelihood of worn whitewash.

Dave:
The only help I can give is when the US captured german tanks/vehicles the painted the white star on it, nice and big. If there was a german cross, then it was x-ed out.

Thanks Roy,

This is the best copy of the pic that Google turned up. Bearing in mind the idiosyncracies of orthochromatic film (the outer yellow ring of RAF A1 roundels looks black), I'll accept that the gun is dark yellow with a worn whitewash. The M4 will of course be OD. Checking some other references some of the captured guns were used by the 7th Army in Jan '45 and that could be the origin of the photo; so a bit more research into artillery units of that theatre could turn up some more info.
I can't tell from the photo whether the M4 is the 90mm AA version or the 155mm/8" version - I guess the latter from the beam across the rear opening.

Copied from : THE UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II
by Rich Anderson




"In the ETO the 79th Field Artillery Battalion (Provisional) was formed from personnel of the 79th and 179th Field Artillery Groups to fire captured German artillery pieces during the height of the ammunition shortage. Similarly, the 244th Field Artillery Battalion was temporarily equipped with a miscellany of captured German 88mm guns and 105mm and 150mm howitzers."


How can I trace unit/vehicle markings for these units? If anyone can point me to the right sites I can do my own research.

If I'm reading the Bumper Code correctly

999th FA Bn(8in Tractor Drawn)(Colored)
Formed: 23 Feb 43 Ft. Bragg, NC
Disbanded: 17 Dec 45 Cp. Kilmer, NJ
POE(NY): 3 Jun 44
Arrive England: 12 Jun 44
Arrive France(ETO): 17 Jul 44
Campaigns:
Ardennes-Alsace
Central Europe
Normandy
Northern France
Rhineland

There aren't a lot of photos around, but those I've seen seem to show the German vehicles with a CAP-XXXXXX serial number and little more. After all, why would you repaint it in the field? There really wasn't a lot of time or facilities for painting vehicles from all I can see.