40 and 8 by bmac62
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
"Take my hand, Sir".
...This is the ride no allied WWII aircrewman or soldier ever wanted to take.
...This is a early 20th century French box car. It is the type of railcar British, French and American soldiers rode going to the front during WWI. It was marked 40 and 8 for capacity of 40 persons or 8 horses.
...in WWII POWs and Holocaust victims were shipped to POW or concentration camps in these railcars.
...picture taken at the National Museum of the US Airforce in Dayton, Ohio.
Bill
"Lines and Curves"

Comments (34)
Very poignant Bill, great capture.
Fascinating! I didn't know that!
Great shot Bill. I've just watched 'Escape From Sobibor' last night, and in it the prisoners were forced to greet the new trains with smiles and laughter to give the new people a false sense of security and to stop them becoming panicked. Then of course things went from bad to worse for them. It's a bit of an old movie but worth seeing if you like that sort of thing.
Great display of a sad history.
That's what happened to my dad. Pilot of a B-17 that crash landed, caught on the train=stalag. Pretty cool pic. Excellent work! (:
I love learning new things, thankyou!!!
interesting stuff
This is so cool!
Very interesting scene and information Thanks for sharing, Bill
Excellent shot of this poignant reminder!
Very fine shot Bill. I like the light playing on the train.
poignant reminder
Bill, you gat some of the most excellent museum photos, I've seen! Great shot! It must have made for a really long, uncomfortable journey in those boxcars.
Great capture Bill
Oh wow Bill...quite the reminder here.
Wonderful job capturing this historic scene.
Cool shot!!
Genial composition...cool shot
Very good photo. What most people don't realize is that these types of box cars were the same ones used to transport German troops to the front lines, transport wounded German soldiers home, and when possible, bring home their dead. So, transporting POWs or other people in box cars was quite natural during WWII. Sad, but true. This was also done in all other countires in Europe at the time, including Sweden, which was not at war. As for the captured fliers, Hermann Göring had a soft spot for captured flyers. Many of the German soldiers were secretly sympathetic to the captive flyers (despite the destruction wreaked by the bombings). Many German soldiers in the western part of Gemany secretly wished the end of the Nazi regime (as opposed to the eastern part, where fear of the Russians prevailed). Keep up the good job, Bill. I'd like to see some more from this. :-)
Great shot but truly a sad reminder of some of the worse years of world history. Super posting Bill
Quite chilling, and I don't mean the snow. Such a basic, simple piece of rolling stock, that has served well down through the age of trains. Yet, put it in a military context, particularly WWII, and it brings one memory to the fore.I for one applaud such memory 'nudges' for we must never forget. As T-Rex points out, so many other uses......primarily target practice for U.S P-47 Thunderbolts and RAF Typhoons :-) An interesting subject / diarama to find in the Airforce Museum, you've caught it perfectly to tell it's story, in what appears to be minimal light.
Great image Hugs Susan~
superlative, excellent image!
A lovely capture of this very well constructed scene. Excellent lighting too.
Super capture of the POWs and boxcar that looks virtually real and lifelike, Bill. If my World War I DVDs are any criterion, I believe there were similar 40 and 8 boxcars back in WWI, when they transported Allied troops.
wonderful image
Excellent low-light photography. The display is well done, and where you're standing makes it seem so immediate, as if you were standing right there when it happened, waiting your turn. VERY nice work!
Great capture in history Bill.
Great capture Bill. I saw that last summer when I stopped at the museum!
wonderful photo!!