Photos 1-23, part two

[Harold Lake]

Ouidjat,

No, the individual in the photo is NOT an American mechanic. Notice he is wearing soiled pants, a leather belt with a bright buckle. American army mechanics were never issued leather belts. Instead they always wore olive drab fabric belts with adjustable brass buckles. Unless the EM (enlisted man) was stationed in the tropics or was on a strenuous work detail, he would never have worked "topless" without the approval of the OIC (Officer in Charge). Violators would have been called-down for being "out of uniform" and risked loss of their job, rank and other privileges.

It is more likely the photo was taken late summer 1944 and the mechanic was probably a civilian Messerschmitt employee. In addition, the "FT" you mentioned was German-applied and stood for "Funkanlage" or "Funktechnisch" and used to call-out the location of the radio equipment within the fuselage.

Hal