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This picture was taken the morning of Dec 18 1944 during the Ardennes Offensive after a successful German ambush on the American 14th Calvary Division at the cross roads of Poteau and Recht in Belgium. The soldiers pictured in this set of photos are taking a break from combat smoking American cigarettes captured from the ambush. After the fighting a film crew arrived to take propaganda footage of the men enjoying their victory over their clash with American forces earlier in the morning meant to inform the public on the progression of the war from the front lines. The images never made it back to Germany as the photographer was later captured by American forces and these propaganda photos and films were confiscated.
The identity and fate of this Waffen SS soldier from Kampfgruppe Hansen, one of three Kampfgruppe of the Liebstandarte Adolf Hitler Division, of the I./SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt 1 is unknown. He is commonly referred to as “Mr. Battle of the Bulge” or “Winter Fritz” due to these images being some of the most recognized and symbolic images of the Battle of the Bulge. He is a machine gunner of the Schutze (rifleman) rank and is equipped with an MG-42 and a Browning Hi-Power 9mm pistol manufactured in Belgium under Nazi occupation. He is also outfitted with an entrenching tool, a knife sticking out from his salvaged American raincoat, and a belt of machine gun ammunition around the neck.

**The image is one of my favourites of WW2, I wonder the things this man has seen and often imagined his thoughts.**

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