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Comments on Jig Radio, Wiesbaden?

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Jig Radio, Wiesbaden?

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I found the picture below in a stash of things that belonged to my father.

My father served in the US army during WWII in the signal corps. He was referred to unofficially as a "radio repairman" apparently. After the war ended, he continued to be employed by the army as a civilian for a couple of years or so, primarily stationed in Berlin. However, I know he occasionally would travel to other communication installations in Europe during this time.

Probably he or someone he worked with took this picture in 1945-1946. It's his handwriting on the back, and appears to say "Jig" radio Wiesbaden. The military often had short codenames for things like radio installations, and him traveling to Wiesbaden Germany seems quite plausible.

I'd like to know more about this picture, like the location, historical context, etc. I tried searching for "Jig Radio" and "Wiesbaden", but didn't find anything from that era. Looking around Wiesbaden with Google Earth wasn't helpful, probably because things look quite different today.

I'm guessing that the picture was taken by climbing up a radio tower. He or a buddy who might have taken the picture would have had that kind of access. This could have been a temporary US army installation, but could also have been a German installation taken over by the US after the war.

Clues in the picture

The trees being in neat rows at right, and the fixed height of various stands, shows that this was a highly managed forest for many years. It wasn't just in the "middle of nowhere".

The shadows show that the sun was a bit below 45° height in the sky. Wiesbaden is at 50°N, so the average sun angle at noon would be 40°. This means the picture was taken near the middle of the day, which in turn means the view is towards the east. There are hills west of Wiesbaden, so this picture could have been taken from one of them. If someone here happens to know the area, I'd love to get more information, especially historical context.

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2 comment threads

I'm wondering if the island in the river in the background (https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage.qpixel.a... (5 comments)
Maybe you could try to contact https://www.darc.de/der-club/distrikte/f/ortsverbaende/20/kontakt-ansp... (1 comment)
I'm wondering if the island in the river in the background (https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage.qpixel.a...
Olin Lathrop‭ wrote almost 3 years ago

Great clue! I missed that one. I have to do some real work now (the kind they pay me for), but I'll do some digging with Google Earth later using your clue. You should put this in an answer so that it can be upvoted.

samcarter‭ wrote almost 3 years ago

You're welcome! ... but I am really not sure if it is correct, so I think a comment is more appropriate. From my last visit to the area, I don't remember the Rhine to be quite so curvy around Wiesbaden, but many rivers were straightened since the time of WWII to allow for bigger ships, so it might look different now.

Canina‭ wrote almost 3 years ago

I noted the bodies of water in the background as well; they look quite distinct, so given a candidate location, they might provide a reasonable starting point for where the photos was taken, including a plausibility check on the distance. Also look at the shadows in the foreground; there seem to be a few from the taller towers toward the left in the image, visible across the road, which considering that the photo would almost certainly have been taken during local daytime could at least rule out certain directions from landmarks. (The shadows would seem more likely to point toward the north than toward the south, which means that the scene is more likely westward than eastward of the island.)