
A series of fascinating photographs showing how German Nazi soldiers would dress up in women's clothing and put on cross-dressing shows on the front line, has been compiled in a new book.

Artist Martin Dammann had intended to research soldiers' lives in the Third Reich, and ended up stumbling across a surprising number of amateur photographs of Nazi conscripts dressed as women.

They show Nazi soldiers in everything from bras and dresses to home-made crop-tops and skirts created from blankets.

Great abandon: These are two of the photographs recently unearthed for the new book, showing German Nazi soldiers dressing in women's underwear. One man, to the left, has put on a delicate bra, which has been stuffed to create an illusion of breasts, and put make-up on, including painting his cheeks, lips and eyebrows. Another, seen to the right, is striking a pose for the camera in a home-made bra and headgear

Put your best foot forward: Five young German Nazi recruits are seen putting on a dance performance in skirts made out of what appears to be towels and a blanket

Theatre time: This image has been included in a chapter of the book called 'Company parties' and appears to show a sketch involving a German Nazi guard being visited at his guard hut by a young 'lady' under a glittering half-moon

Cross dressing during times of war was not isolated to the German Nazis, and notably also took place during World War I.

It is thought it served as a way to lighten the mood of soldier life, and to provide entertainment to tired and bored soldiers, a large majority of them heterosexual men starved of female company.

Many of the photographs in the book appear to have been taken during celebrations or parties, at which point the soldiers had to do the best they could to make each other laugh and raise their spirits.

Sociologist Harald Welzer rejects the notion of interpreting the images of these German soldiers as something unusual and restricted to World War I and the Wehrmacht.

'As paradoxical as it may seem, these photographs of Wehrmacht soldiers in female underwear, on first glance so exotic, actually corroborate the normality of the situation, and not its exceptionality, precisely in times of war.'

Fashion show: It is not known where this photograph was taken, but according to Martin Dammann it was taken on the front line during World War II and shows three German soldiers dressed up in long home-made gowns and hairbands as they look out over a village from a garden

The German forces' sweetheart: With the abject lack of female singers performing for these troops on the frontline, one of the soldiers has had to step up and take the stage in a dress to sing for his fellow soldiers

Playing dress-up: It is unclear where these German Nazi soldiers got their hands on female civilian clothing on the front-line, or where this photograph was taken, but they appear to be pretending to be taking off on a motorcycle, with one of them shaking an umbrella after them

Airing the Private: A German Nazi soldier had got his hands on a bra and a scarf and appears to have gone one a wander in a field in nothing but his underwear

Use what you've got: Five German Nazi soldiers appears to have gotten creative in obtaining costumes, as well as wigs and underskirts, they have made their own bras