Lt. Jack Reynolds from the mortar platoon, 2nd Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment photographed after being taken prisoner during the Battle of Arnhem.
In the photo, he is seen giving the “two-fingered” salute to the German photographer. The British hand gesture is an offensive gesture similar to the middle finger in other countries.
He said: “I was so angry at the loss of fine young men and the carnage. Down the road I saw a German chap with a camera and a huge grin on his face and I thought what a b*****d and gave him the opposite ‘V’ sign’.
In September 1944, 1000’s of British airborne troops landed behind enemy lines in Holland. They were overrun by the Germans and taken prisoner. Reynolds saw the photographer filming the captured Brits with a grin on his face. Reynolds was offended by the photographer’s reaction after all the destruction and loss of life in the war, so he flashed the gesture.
He called the defiant moment “a momentary lapse of military judgement” but felt that it was justified at the time.
Reynolds was in a prisoner of war camp in Brunswick, Germany, until April 1945 when the camp was liberated by American forces. From there he went home.
Once home, Reynolds met Eulalie Willcocks, the younger sister of his commanding officer, Captain AH Willcocks. The two men had been in the Brunswick camp together. Jack and Eulalie were married until she died in 2006. Jack passed away in August 2019, aged 97
