Looks more German than French to me. At least the car is... (I think an Opel Rekord would be something of a rarity in France in the fifties). Also the suburban looking building on the selfie doesn't look very French. But of course I can be wrong.
Could be, I really don't know for sure. The building in the Opel shot says "Allons," which might refer to the town in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in SE France.
Actually that is the distinctive unit insignia and motto of the 11th US (Armored) Cavalry Regiment, the "Blackhorse Regiment". They were stationed in Germany in 1957-64, before going to Vietnam in 1966
Thanks Rick, that's great information. I will contact the Blackhorse Association (blackhorse.org) and offer the images to them. The gents in the photo would be in or near their eighties by now.
The left fender on the tank probably says 7A-11ACAV. I couldn't place the Kepis lying upside-down in the grass on the photo of the men playing cards, I thought it was typically French headwear, but it turns out they were part of the US uniform at the time.
Nice find and thanks for sharing. Glad the negatives had already been processed as undeveloped film can be tricky.
Basically it translates to: 7th Army - 11th Armored Cavalry The code on the other fender tells you which company it belongs to and vehicle number in the regiment's table of organization.
Some eBay auctions for undeveloped old film go for more than I would have expected. I suppose there are ones for developed negatives, too. I did once buy some slides in a thrift store, but didn't scan them. They were in a store that sells things for USD 0.49/pound. I have also seen old 8mm movies in auctions, but never bid on them. Pretty nice pictures!
