[BroJoeK]

Photos from early Battle of the Bulge:

German troops fighting in the Ardennes.
The soldier in the foreground is equipped with the Heer's new StG-44, the world's first assault rifle:

A German machine gunner marching through the Ardennes in December 1944:

German troops advancing past abandoned American equipment:

Belgian civilians killed by SS units during the offensive:

Scene of Malmedy massacre:

British Sherman "Firefly" tank in Namur on the Meuse River, December 1944:

[Tax-chick]

It looks so cold.

[niteowl77]

A few of those pictures are part of a well-known series of carefully staged photos of Kampfgruppe Hansen; one of Steven Zaloga's books shows a bunch of them and provides a bit of background information. IIRC, there was one particular SS corporal who was placed hither and thither for best effect. The destruction was real enough, but supposedly the Germans who actually caused it had already moved on.

Mr. niteowl77

[central_va]

The kraut machine gunner with the cigarette(stolen) has “requisitioned” a .45 M1911 in his right hand.

[PeterPrinciple]

The Stg.44 also couldbe fitted with a special curved barrel attachment (“Krummlauf”), which allowed the gun to be fired “around the corner” or from inside a tank,without exposing the shooter to the enemy fire. Several types of these attachments were developed, but only one type, the 30-degree “KrummlaufVorsatz J”, was apparently manufactured in any significant numbers.This device had a special mirror sighting adapter and reduced the bullet velocity down to mere 300 meters per second due to the highfriction in the curved barrel extension. This apparently did not bother the German Army, since these curved barrel adapters were intended for short-range encounters only.

http://world.guns.ru/assault/de/mp-43-mp-44-stg44-e.html