La Segunda Guerra Mundial en Color

[JT8D]

la cobra fumo

Saludos,

JT

 

[michelun]

 

[CEN-222]

Esta foto no es de la SGM, me inclino que es de la guerra de Corea, por los Douglas A-1 Skyraider, ya que entrararon en servicio a fines de 1946

 

[Leutnant]

Columna de panzer II hacen un alto durante el Fall Weiß en Polonia, Septiembre de 1939...

Saludos!!!

 

[Merchant Marine one]

Esta foto no es de la SGM, me inclino que es de la guerra de Corea, por los Douglas A-1 Skyraider, ya que entrararon en servicio a fines de 1946

Hola CEN 222!!!

Para ser màs precisos, Ademàs de los Skyraiders, se ven en la foto a los corsarios del escuadròn VF 24, embarcados en el portaaviones USS PHILIPPINE SEA, CV 47, y el año es 1951

abrazo,
Merchant

 

[Merchant Marine one]

Miche sin desmerecer tu tremendo laburo, obviamente!!!!!!!!!!!!

abrazo,
Merchant

 

[Leutnant]

El Coronel J. L. Laughlin, combatiente del 362º grupo de caza de la USAAF, fuma un cigarro con su mascota "Príncipe" dentro de la cabina de su P-47D-30-RA Thunderbolt apodado "Five By Five". Tres victorias aéreas en su haber y un crucero ligero alemán hundido. Agosto 1944...

Saludos!!!

 

[emilioteles]

A US tank crew posing for the camera from a foxhole beneath their M-10 tank destroyer, north of Marigny, Normandy, 26 July 1944.

The men belong to the 703rd Tank Destroyer Battalion attached to Combat Command B of the 3rd Armored Division.

The unit landed in France on 1 July, and saw its first action near Hautes Vents a fortnight later. This photo was taken in the intervening week, before the unit participated in Operation Cobra - Lieutenant General Omar Bradley's push to break through the German defensive lines that were pinning down Allied forces in the Normandy bocage countryside.

(Photographer: Roger Hamilton, US. Army Signal Corp)

(Colourised and researched by Benjamin Thomas from Australia)

 

[emilioteles]

Panzer VI 'Tiger' II Nº233 of sPz.Abt.503 sits near St. Georges Square, Budapest, Hungary during 'Operation Panzerfaust'
15/16th of October 1944.

'Operation Panzerfaust', known as 'Unternehmen Eisenfaust' in Germany, was a military operation to keep the Kingdom of Hungary at Germany's side in the war, conducted in October 1944 by the German military (Wehrmacht). When German dictator Adolf Hitlerreceived word that Hungary's Regent, Admiral Miklós Horthy, was secretly negotiating his country's surrender to the advancing Red Army, he sent commando leader Waffen-SS Lieutenant-Colonel Otto Skorzeny to Hungary. Hitler feared that Hungary's surrender would expose his southern flank, where the Kingdom of Romania had just joined with the Soviets and cut off a million German troops still fighting the Soviet advance in the Balkan peninsula.

(Colourised by Royston Leonard from the UK)

 

[emilioteles]

US Army Private First Class Fred Linden of Detroit, Michigan, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd US Infantry Division, holds a young French boy following the liberation of the village of Trévières during the Battle of Normandy, France, 10th of June 1944.

(Photographer: Rodger Hamilton, Army Signal Corp

 

[emilioteles]

Troops of the 7th Seaforth Highlanders, 46th (Highland) Infantry Brigade of the 15th (Scottish) Division, watching out for snipers in Uelzen, Lower Saxony, Germany.
18th of April 1945.

Drive to the Elbe.
15th (Scottish) joined VIII Corps for the final drive on to the River Elbe. On the 11th of April 1945 the division led the corps advance on the Celle–Uelzen axis, with 11th Armoured Division using minor roads on its left. The division reached Celle against patchy opposition on the 12th of April, where it had to bridge the Aller. Switching to minor roads to avoid demolitions on the main road, the Scots made rapid progress during the night of 13–14 April, and by dawn were almost into Uelzen. There they ran into an advancing German force from Panzer Division Clausewitz and 233rd Reserve Panzer Division. There was bitter fighting that day and night, but on the 15th of April the Scots closed in on the town, while 11th Armoured and 6th Airborne Division bypassed it to north and south respectively to hem in the garrison. Although a group of Clausewitz Division got away during the night of 17 April, the town was captured the following day.

(Source - © IWM BU 3934 - Sgt. Laing, No 5 Army Film & Photographic Unit)

(Colourised by Leo Courvoisier)

 

[emilioteles]

A Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go light tank knocked out by US 32nd Infantry Division in Leyte, 1944.

(The Type 95 kyugo-shiki kei-sensha Ha-Go, also known as Ke-Go and Kyu-Go, was a rather small machine of seven tons with a main 37 mm (1.46 in) gun. The crew consisted of three men, the commander (who also operated the main gun), a machine-gunner, and the driver.)

A-Day for the attack on Leyte was set for the 20th of October 1944. This assault would be the largest operation in the Pacific Theater to date. For the first time during WWII, the vast majority of all of the Allied air and naval forces in the Central Pacific and Southwest Pacific Areas would be focused on a single operation; providing either direct or indirect support for the 202,500 ground troops initially committed to the invasion of Leyte.
The ground forces, LG Krueger's Sixth Army, were made up of MG John R. Hodge's XXIV Corps (7TH and 96TH Infantry Divisions), MG Franklin C. Sibert's X Corps (1ST Cavalry Division and 24TH Infantry Division), the Sixth Army Reserve (32D and 77TH Infantry Divisions), and the 6TH Ranger Battalion.

On the 1st of January 1945, the 77TH Division was directed to relieve the 32nd Division. Shortly thereafter, the 32nd began to assemble in the Carigara-Pinamopoan area on Carigara Bay. There it received some well-earned rest, but it couldn't rest for long because it also had to start preparing for its next mission, the invasion of Luzon.

The 32D Infantry Division suffered nearly 2,000 battle casualties during its 47 days of combat during the fight for Leyte, 450 of its soldiers had been killed, 1,491 soldiers wounded, and 8 soldiers were MIA.

(Colourised by Royston Leonard from the UK)

 

[emilioteles]

British commandos of the 1st Commando Brigade man two Vickers machine guns in the shattered outskirts of Wesel.

The 1st Commandos had formed the spearhead of the British assault by making a surprise crossing in assault craft on the night of 23 - 24 March, 1945 under a barrage of 1500 guns.

Beginning on the night of 23 March 1945, Operation Plunder was the crossing of the River Rhine at Rees, Wesel, and south of the Lippe River by the British 2nd Army, under Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey, and the U.S. Ninth Army, under Lieutenant General William Simpson.

(Source- © IWM BU 2329 - Sgt.Norris, No 5 Army Film & Photographic Unit)

 

[emilioteles]

A Cromwell Mk.IV Tank of the 2nd Welsh Guards during the liberation of Belgium on the 3rd of September 1944.
(L to R) Sgt T.E.Williams, L/Cpl R.Gibson, a Belgian girl, Gdsm R. T.Pedgeon, LCpl H.Thomas and Sgt. G. H. Greenstock.

This is most probably in the village of Leuze-en-Hainaut en-route to the liberation of Brussels via Enghien and Halle.

 

[emilioteles]

A German MG.34 machine gun element takes up position on the outskirts of Sevastopol in the Crimea. c.1942

The siege and battle for control of this port city unfolded from October 1941 well into the summer of 1942, with the last Soviet resistance suppressed by the Germans on the 9th of July 1942.

(Colourised by Royston Leonard from the UK)

 

[emilioteles]

Māori soldiers practice with Bren Guns near Maadi camp, just outside of Cairo in Egypt.
After enjoying a Christmas break behind the lines in December 1941, the 28th Māori Battalion resumed training almost immediately after the New Year of 1942.

(Source - Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand - Reference: DA-1068)

 

[emilioteles]

A US 7th Armored Division 3-inch M5 towed antitank gun covers the approach road near the Railroad crossing at Vielsalm, Belgium.
23rd of December 1944

The Battle of St. Vith was part of the Battle of the Bulge, which began on the 16th of December 1944, and represented the right flank in the advance of the German center, 5th Panzer-Armee, toward the ultimate objective of Antwerp.

".......fortunately for the Americans, the weather came to their assistance for the first time in the campaign. What the Americans called a “Russian High” began blowing on the 23rd of December. A cold wind from the northeast, and clear weather, froze the ground, allowing the free movement of tracked vehicles and the use of allied air superiority. American forces were able to escape to the southwest, cross country to Crombach, Beho, Bovigny, and Vielsalm west of the Salm River. The Americans were able to outrun the panzers, and join forces with XVIII Airborne Corps by 24 December 1944"

(Colourised by Jared Enos from America)

 

[emilioteles]

G.I.'s from (possibly) the 1st Btn, 314th Inf. Rgt. of the US 79th Inf. Div., during an attack on the Bolleville road, just north west of La Haye Du Puis in Normandy. c. 8th July 1944

The Dodge Command Car belongs to the 3rd A.D. 166th Signal Photo Co unit 6 and could be the transport of the photographer Rodger Hamilton.
The soldier on the right carries a .30 BAR Caliber Browning Automatic Rifle.

At 1830, on the 4th of July, 2nd Btn moved through 1st Btn's position to bypass La Haye du Puits to reach an assembly area about 800 yards northwest of Bolleville. 1st Btn was holding the line to the right, and 3rd was in a defensive position northwest of Ste. Catherine. 5 July - After six hours of heavy fighting, 2nd Btn managed to only advance one-half mile and was stopped cold until tank support arrived. 3rd Btn's K/Co was sent to recon La Haye du Puits and, at 0900, secured the railroad station on the north end of town. The Germans bombarded the station heavily and orders for K/Co to pull out were issued that afternoon. Later in the day, the entire 3rd Btn pulled back to regroup to the right flank (south of Bolleville) for the next day's assault.

1st Btn moved in south from Bolleville. Late in the afternoon, 3rd Btn ran into a battalion of Waffen SS in defensive positions of La Haye du Puits. The 315th, near Montgarden, was so far away that what resulted was a 500 yard gap in the 3rd's right flank. On the northern sector, a 1st Btn recon unit ran into resistance and had to fall back to Bolleville.

On the 7th of July, 2nd and 3rd Btn's tried to advance again with slight progress and at a high casualty cost. By nightfall, command of 2nd Btn had changed three times due to heavy losses. 1st Btn made another attempt to reconnoiter La Haye du Puits, but ran into heavy German defensive positions - mine-studded fields strung with checkerboard patterns of piano wire about one inch off the ground, mortar bursts, and machine gun batteries. Behind the 314th's position, the 8th Infantry Division was preparing it's 28th Regiment to relieve 2nd Btn's position. The next day's orders were for the 1st Btn to just contain the town, leaving the dirty work to the 8th Infantry Division.

But, as will become pattern, the orders changed sending 1st into town. The battalion broke up into smaller units to penetrate the German defensive positions. It was an awkward, almost Guerilla-like attack, but after a day of this tactic, on 8 July, the 1st Btn secured La Haye du Puits.

(Source - US Army Signal Corps)

 

[emilioteles]

British Infantrymen of 1st Ox and Bucks, 71st Infantry Brigade, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division in forward positions at Heike in North Brabant on the road to 's-Hertogenbosch take cover in a ditch.

German small arms fire was very active in this sector. With its railway station bombed by Royal Air Force planes on the 16th of September 1944, 's-Hertogenbosch would eventually be liberated between 24th and 27th of October 1944 by the 53rd Division. Heike, North Brabant, Netherlands. September 1944.

 

[emilioteles]

'First Battle of El Alamein'
An Australian soldier, possibly from 26 Brigade, 9th Division (Australia) with a captured German MG.34 in a machine gun post near the strategic high ground around Tel el Eisa, north-west of Alamein, Egypt. 25th of July 1942.

The 26 Brigade Group showed great skill and determination in holding this important salient, particularly over those first seven days, 10-16 July. While the DAF and the British, South African and Australian artillery was of invaluable support, the tenacity of the men in the front lines determined that the position would not fall. Rommel threw all he possibly could at them for a week; artillery, dive-bombers, tanks and infantry.The Australians lost some ground and even had the enemy penetrate the heart of the salient, but they always retook what they lost, and dug in again with renewed determination. Only first class troops could stand that sort of ordeal.

The salient remained a dangerous thorn in Rommel's side. Having given up hope of success in the north at Tel el Eisa, he launched his final bid to break the Alamein line, further south at Alam Halfa Ridge at the end of August. His new adversary Lt General Montgomery who had replaced Auchinleck, repulsed this attack convincingly. The Australians continued to hold the coastal sector around Tel el Eisa. It would be from this key position that they launched their attack on 23 October. On this day the Second Battle of El Alamein opened, in which ultimately the Eighth Army delivered a crushing defeat to Rommel's Afrika Korps.The pendulum had now swung irreversibly in favour of the Allies.

(Source - © IWM E 14847)
(Lt. Knight - No 1 Army Film & Photographic Unit)