The Daily Postcard No. 4

An Italian-manufactured card, despite the French writing, featuring a captured German Taube surrounded by French officers, the photo taken in Salonika, on the Macedonian Front. 

The card was written on 18th April 1917, and, of course, the plane isn’t a Taube at all.  Taube was frequently used as a generic term for any or all German aircraft (the original Etrich Taube – later manufactured by Rumpler – which first flew in 1910 was a monoplane which, when looked at in silhouette, had those swept-back, almost aliform wings, if you know what I mean.  Look it up – you’ll probably recognise it.).  This is actually an Albatross B II, an unarmed two-seater which, along with the slightly bigger B I, was the Imperial German Flying Corps’ main reconnaissance plane well into 1915.

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6 Responses to The Daily Postcard No. 4

  1. Sid from Down Under says:

    Very interesting photo and Sir AC Doyle detective work on the plane – in the right background is a steam ship and on the left what appears to be a sailing ship. I also notice several different hats/caps – does anyone know what these each represent?

    • Magicfingers says:

      Do you know, I was happily writing away – and I’ve had this card a few years now – when I suddenly realised I was typing Taube without even thinking about it. So then I thought about it for two seconds and realised that it wasn’t any sort of Taube I knew of. I did have to do a quick book-check to find the plane’s true identity. The Albatross B I had, in car terms, a longer wheelbase, but otherwise was identical, I believe.
      The only cap I can identify is the normal French officer’s red cap with gold braid; I wonder if the light blue caps are French Air Force?

  2. Daisy in Indonesia says:

    Hello MagicFingers,

    A photo older than 1917? From 1914 perhaps? Don’t think many Frenchmen were still wearing the kepi cloth cap after 1916… I read somewhere they manufactured 20 million steel helmets, the Adrian helmet… the horrific losses of French troops by 1917 would mean any Frenchman with half a brain would be wearing an Adrian helmet to protect his head.

    • Magicfingers says:

      Oh absolutely. If you go out and buy a new postcard tomorrow, and I don’t advise it, I bet, if you knew it, the photos on many would be several years, and more, old. So yes, photo from 1915, postcard sent in 1917.

  3. Sid from Down Under says:

    The plot thickens along with the grey matter – I’m wondering, Daisy, whether the Kepi hats of 1917 have some connection with Thessaloniki and nearby French North Africa with the Adrian helmets being used far away on the Western Front.

    I notice different colour caps and what appears to be a solitary flat (or peak) cap in the left background. In all, a rather interesting postcard including the ships. Much analysis could be expended with much fun in these current days of being made to stay at home. And I again thank Magicfingers for his initiative.

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