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Top view Sobe Deux, Trident decal placed on front/back armor came from 1.35th German Hetzer tank destroyer unit. There is also a Skull decal placed on front armor's right side (not shown), marking from 1.35th German 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" (Death Head), members from this unit were initially recruited from concentration camp guard units, which was under administrative control of overall SS department. Side note, 3rd SS Panzer fought its last battles May 1945 defending Vienna from Soviet forces. They surrendered to US 11th Armored Division at Linz-Austria on May 9th, but US reneged on surrender protocol and handed them all back to Soviets whereby vast majority were executed by Soviets or died in Siberian slave labor camps, only a handful survived for repatriation to West Germany 10 years later after WW2. 3rd SS Division Totenkopf - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_SS_Division_Totenkopf
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Note on definition, concentration camp is not synonymous with extermination/death camps. Former camp system used mainly for institutionalized slave labor, by which inmates were pressed into menial work gangs for agricultural, industrial, and armaments production. These camps were located throughout Germany (ex. Dachau near Munich) and occupied territories. All be it, inmate executions did take place for one reason or another. Dachau concentration camp - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_concentration_camp
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Latter camps were explicitly built for production-line genocide of targeted people, its efficiency was necessary to eliminate mass people both effectively and hygienically to prevent disease outbreaks from undisposed bodies, hence their crematoriums had to operate in 24-7 capacity (ex. Auschwitz in Poland). In one "practical" German commentary of that period akin to "plagues do not recognize whether one is aryan or not". WW2 Germans judiciously decided to place all death camps outside of Reich borders, in the so-called "boonies" out of way of large population centers. Auschwitz concentration camp - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp
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Rollover : Sobe Deux chest with Chinese character inscription "Shou-Pi" (Chief Executioner), a phonetic equivalent to SOBE. Its meaning outlined in detail below.
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 Chinese character inscription on Sobe Deux chest armor is concatenation from 2 Chinese words.
SHOU JI : 1st word SHOU JI, literally meant Head/Front Grade. Colloquially it meant, cut off enemy's head in combat, bring it back to base camp to verify one's claim, and receive financial or promotional award base on this merit.
FYI, although social caste systems existed in Asia for thousands of years up until post-WW2 era (ex. India did not abolish caste system until 1947). Imperial China under 1st Emperor Qin Shi-Huang (also romanized as Ching Sher-Huang) was first nation to formally abolish nobility / caste system over 2,000 years ago. Qin Shi Huang | Wiki
Basically, China's 1st Emperor stated anyone who achieve great victories in battle will be promoted from lower caste echelons to upper aristocratic classes. This have his imperial forces great social & financial incentive to conquer rival kingdoms to unify China under singular imperium.
Caste System | Wiki
Da Pi : 2nd word DA PI, literally meant Great Severance or Big Execution Event, is usually heard among China's feudal history or famed theatrical soap opera series depicting public executions of criminals or enemies of the imperium. These events had a public spectacle and curiosity, much like public American hangings or European beheading events up until post-WW2 era.
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Thus, leveraging socio-linguistic, parts of 2 Chinese words were spliced together to form SHOU PI, colloquially meaning Chief Executioner.
Also a play on word homonym equivalents of SOBE into SHOU PI. |
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Soldier outfitted in full Danish Flecktarn BDU, including backpacks and stowage pouches.
He is also wearing US Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops (PASGT) helmet, commonly called Kevlar helmet.
Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops | Wiki
BTW, common observation is that US kevlar helmet resembles WW1 & WW2 German Stahlhelm helmet, all be it ballistic qualities differs significantly.
Stahlhelm | Wiki
Armed with M16A2 coupled to M203 grenade launcher and bottom of barrel. This Rifle-Launcher combination derived from US 1960s-era Vietnam operations when M203 was a separate weapon system, leaving its operator with only a M1911 pistol (also known as Colt 45) as his primary defensive arm against enemies with full automatic assault rifles.
M-16 Rifle | Wiki
M203 Grenade Launcher | Wiki
M1911 Pistol | Wiki
This personnel is probably a US Soldier rather than Danish Soldat, decked out in Danish Fleck for some demonstration purposes.
Royal Danish Army | Wiki
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German Army Flecktarn pattern, they produced 3 variants : 1) 1976 Flecktarn A - small, 2) 1976 Flecktarn B - large, 3) 1991-present Bundeswehr Flecktarn.
Kamouflage.Net Germany Patterns
Bundeswehr Flecktarn | KFN
Flecktarn B (Gross) | KFN
Flecktarn A (Klein) | KFN |
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Close-up of Bundeswehr Flecktarn pattern. Major difference between German and Danish patterns is former inclusion of Red Brown in the pattern.
Kamouflage.net Thumbnail Search |
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In 1993, Germans introduced desert version called Bundeswehr-Steppentarn (Federal Army Steppe Camouflage). This pattern used up to present with German forces in NATO Afghanistan operations.
Bundeswehr-Steppentarn | KFN
Bundeswehr Steppentarn | Henrikc.dk
Steppe refers to grassland plain without trees indicative geographic features such as southern Ukraine, northern American Dakota States, or mountainous Afghanistan.
Steppe | Wiki
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For winter operations, German introduced Bundeswehr-Schneetarn (Federal Army Snow Camouflage) in 1964, used up to present.
Bundeswehr-Schneetarn | KFN
German Federal Republic Patterns | KFN
Soldier in photo with German NATO Balkan peace-keeping force in Bosnia. NATO forces main threat are from armed smugglers, criminal mafia gangs, and ethnic riots.
Bosnia and Herzegovina | Wiki
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