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No, your eyes are not deceiving you - that really is the Nazi salute being given to Wolverhampton’s war dead at the city’s war memorial

Is this the most infamous picture ever taken at Wolverhampton war memorial?

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Supporting image for story: No, your eyes are not deceiving you - that really is the Nazi salute being given to Wolverhampton’s war dead at the city’s war memorial
nostalgia pic. Wolverhampton. Visiting German ex-servicemen give the Nazi salute at Wolverhampton's War Memorial on Monday, May 18, 1936. They were among of party of 40 ex-servicemen from 15 nations who were on an eight day visit to Staffordshire, during which they camped at Sandon Hall, near Stafford, and had a programme of activities which included wreath-layings and so on in the spirit of reconciliation and comradeship. The wreath at the Wolverhampton memorial was laid by the French delegate. There were eight Germans in the party, which is why others are not giving the Nazi salute, although presumably some did as there are 11 or 12 arms raised. On the run-up to the Second World War the gesture had not yet become associated with the worst excesses of The Third Reich. Library code: Wolverhampton nostalgia 2014.

It was surely one of the most infamous incidents in the history of the memorial, although there appears to have been no fuss at the time as the occasion was one of reconciliation, friendship and peace, in which German veterans of the Great War honoured their former foes.

You’ll notice that not all are giving the Nazi salute, which is because the Germans were just part of a group of 40 foreign ex-servicemen who came to Staffordshire in 1936 in an eight-day visit under the auspices of the British Legion, in which they were the guests of the Earl and Countess of Harrowby at Sandon Hall, near Stafford.

The Earl was the patron of the North Staffordshire county branch of the British Legion (the legion’s Royal prefix came much later, in 1971).

Crowds cheered as they arrived at Sandon station on the evening of Tuesday, May 12. The station was decorated with bunting, and the Germans in the party acknowledged the welcome by returning Nazi salutes.

There was even a telegram from the King saying he hoped the visitors would enjoy their stay.

The contingent comprised former servicemen from 15 nations, including Italy, France, Belgium, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, America, and Germany.