#alpine troops

[doctor-uchron99]

Trainees of the High Mountain Military School during a combat exercise, French Alps, 2023.

[georgy-konstantinovich-zhukov]

French postcard from the First World War.

(Collection of Eric Crosnier)

[georgy-konstantinovich-zhukov]

A Soviet alpine soldier in Afghanistan.

(US DOD)

[georgy-konstantinovich-zhukov]

Alpine troops of the Polish 3rd Carpathian Rifles, armed for fighting in the mountains of Italy.

(Sikorski Institute)

[georgy-konstantinovich-zhukov]

A pair of Polish soldiers, dressed in French provided uniforms. They are from the elite Highland Brigade, one of the French raised units in the wake of the fall of Poland. These two are deployed to Norway, where the Brigade was sent in late April, 1940. Their time there would be short lived, since with the invasion of the low countries on May 10th, they were withdrawn soon after and returned to France, where, after fighting in Brittany, they disbanded and mostly fled to Great Britain.

(Sikorski Institute)

[georgy-konstantinovich-zhukov]

Italian Alpini, the elite mountain troops of the Italian Army, and easily reconizable by the black feather decorating their caps. They carry the 7.62 NATO Beretta BM59, a modification of the American M1 Garand, capable of select fire, and utilizing a 20 round, removable magazine.

(NATO)

[georgy-konstantinovich-zhukov]

Canadian soldiers of the Special Service Force. The SSF was disbanded in 1995.

(Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe)

[georgy-konstantinovich-zhukov]

Finnish ski-troopers glide over the snow, using reindeer to tow their gear. The superior winter-fighting of the Finns was an integral part in their ability to hold off the Soviet forces, and a popular Finnish joke at the time was that a Soviet ski-trooper could quickly be identified by the skis being carried on his back.

(AP)