I bought these photos on eBay from one of the various money-hungry unethical ghouls who sadly strips original photo albums and groupings into individual parts. Most of the photos were inscribed by the original owner with “Halberstadt 1940.” The seller indicated the photos depict Landesschützen-Bataillon 716.
Most of the men appear to wear converted Czech uniform tunics. The weapons in the photos are also Czech. 1940 was a critical time for the Wehrmacht supply chain as new waves of divisions were being called up as the war escalated. It was impossible to make enough new uniforms and equipment to supply all the new troops. These captured stocks had to be utilized. The boots, also, are mostly the obsolete Reichswehr model.
The Wehrmacht never was able to get away from using captured and obsolete uniforms, especially in second-line and home front units like Landesschützen troops. I previously posted a 1944 photo album showing converted parade tunics.
