✅ SOLVED Photo subjects identity Help

[oldbattleaxe]

Ok forum. back to the experts. This looks like a WW11 photo that looks like at the end of the war. There are several well known names on here that I just cannot identify. I should be able to but I know with this forums help I will find out. Also where would this have been taken? Thanks again

 

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[Treasure_Hunter]

Are the originals in focus, the ones posted are kinda out of focus.

 

[DCMatt]

I agree. The photos are a little blurry.

Is there any back story? Where was it taken? By whom? How did you get it?

 

[oldbattleaxe]

A WW2 soldiers photos. I will tray and get a better selection of pictures for your observation.

 

[duggap]

The flag says "Welcome", so they are speaking English. The men are wearing fedoras so that would likely put it back to at least the 1950s, since those hats were mostly gone by the 60s.

 

[DCMatt]

A WW2 soldiers photos. I will tray and get a better selection of pictures for your observation.

Who was the soldier and what unit was he in?

I made an assumption based on everyone wearing winter clothing that the photo could be from the January 1946 NYC Victory parade. But I can't figure out where they are. The levels of people in the background almost look like they are in a stadium. The parade started at Washington Square and went 4 miles on 5th Ave.

The guy on the right with all the medals looks like a Soviet Union officer. Next to him looks like Army Air Corps ("50 mission crush" hat). The guy next to him, if my assumption is correct, could be former NYC mayor Fiorello La Guardia. But frankly, it could be anybody...

 

[jambone]

The flag on the right could be a Polish flag.


OR it might just be a flag/guidon for the US Army.

 

[jeff of pa]

sign says more then welcome

Could Be Soldiers Or Home



may be neither

 

[Plug N Play]

. Packin' heat

 

[Red-Coat]

The flag says "Welcome", so they are speaking English. The men are wearing fedoras so that would likely put it back to at least the 1950s, since those hats were mostly gone by the 60s.

Is that not your ’48-star’ US flag? The pic couldn’t have been taken after 4th July 1959, when you replaced it with the 49-star version.

I would be pretty sure that’s a Polish flag to the right. I’m wondering if the guy in the light-coloured greatcoat (next to the chubby guy in the forage cap with all the gongs) might be General Władysław Sikorski, Poland’s military and government leader in exile at the beginning of WWII. I’m going more by the cap than anything. He had a sparse, pale-coloured moustache that often doesn’t show up in pictures. Here he is in 1941 on a visit to Britain.



He visited the US in March 1941, March 1942 and December 1942 but was killed in a mysterious plane crash in 1943.

 

[DCMatt]

Is that not your ’48-star’ US flag? The pic couldn’t have been taken after 4th July 1959, when you replaced it with the 49-star version.

I would be pretty sure that’s a Polish flag to the right. I’m wondering if the guy in the light-coloured greatcoat (next to the chubby guy in the forage cap with all the gongs) might be General Władysław Sikorski, Poland’s military and government leader in exile at the beginning of WWII. I’m going more by the cap than anything. He had a sparse, pale-coloured moustache that often doesn’t show up in pictures. Here he is in 1941 on a visit to Britain.

View attachment 1805890

He visited the US in March 1941, March 1942 and December 1942 but was killed in a mysterious plane crash in 1943.

Wow! Good eye! I thought that guy was US Army Air Corps. I wash the pic a little with photoshop and I beleive you are right.

It is Sikorski.



I used that bit of info to discover that Sikorski was the guest of NYC Mayor LaGuardia in January of 1943. So it likely is LaGuardia standing next to him.

Here's a label on the back of a news photo from Sikorski's visit:

 

[DCMatt]

I think this guy is Thomas E. Dewey. He was District Attorney for Mayor LaGuardia. Later was Governor of NY and is most famous for his unsuccessful run for president in 1944.

 

[GoldieLocks]

If you scanned this image in it would be so much clearer.

 

[oldbattleaxe]

 

[oldbattleaxe]

Good job fellas. I still think there is an American soldier or leader in the crowd with an American flag displayed. The fellow in the front with two stripes on his sleeve is a US officer.

 

[jambone]

From some old newspaper articles, I see that Sikorski visited Fort Meade on April 10, 1941 and was welcomed with a 19-gun salute. The building in the background resembles the NSA building at Fort Meade, but I'm not certain:

 

[DCMatt]

Good job fellas. I still think there is an American soldier or leader in the crowd with an American flag displayed. The fellow in the front with two stripes on his sleeve is a US officer.

Sikorski had a couple of US Army officers as aides during his visit. One was Captain James Donnelly. The other was Lieutenant M. Moffett. I can't find any pictures of either of them.

The guy in the dark uniform could be NYC Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine.

 

[oldbattleaxe]

All great information for my search. I knew you guys could help me. Time, place, and some names. Better than I could do for sure.

 

[Machkin]

Maybe reach out to the Polish Union of America - [email protected] to see if they might have any answers to Sikorski's visit.

 

[DCMatt]

I found some of Sikorski's personal correspondence, including a letter to La Guardia thanking him for the reception in NYC, here:

https://sikorskimuseum-my.sharepoin...xHKjGJYoBc&e=311012f4b7574a74866a99815c6d7734

BTW - Lieutenant Moffett's first name was Milton.

I still can't figure out exactly where in NYC the photo was taken. People in the background appear to be on levels or in stands - like in a stadium or theater. I looked for pictures of the various sports arenas in NYC at the time but couldn't find a match.

The reception for Sikorski was at City Hall, but I don't think the photo is from City Hall.