La Segunda Guerra Mundial en Color

[emilioteles]

General Bernard Montgomery stands beside an M3 Grant command tank near Tripoli, Libya.
27th of January 1943.

The British Eighth Army entered Tripoli on the 23rd January, exactly three months since they had launched the offensive against the Afrika Korps at El Alamein, on 23rd October. They had been pursuing the Germans and Italians, led by Rommel, all the way west ever since.
The myth of Rommel had been broken, at least as far as the Eighth Army was concerned.
Rommel wrote how he could easily have broken the weak British line of advance if only he had had enough petrol. He was never to learn that Montgomery had been able to plan his dispositions in the full knowledge that Rommel did not have any petrol – because of British Enigma intelligence.

(Source - © IWM (E 21701) - Photographer Capt. Poston)

 

[emilioteles]

Allied M4 Sherman Tanks pass through Douvres-la-Délivrande on the way to Caen, Normandy, France, June 1944.
During the Second World War, Douvres-la-Délivrande was the site of an important German air-detection radar installation, part of the strategic Atlantic Wall defences. Completed in the autumn of 1943, the station was split into two zones by the road from Douvres to Bény-sur-Mer; and heavily fortified with bunkers, machine guns and minefields.
The Northern zone held a large Siemens 'Wasserman' long-range radar and associated structures. The larger Southern zone had two intermediate-range Freya and two short-range Würzburg Riese radars; as well as command and infirmary bunkers, garages and artillery placements. Some 230 Luftwaffe personnel were based at the station, including electricians, engineers and 36 air controllers.
At 11 pm on the night of 5/6 June 1944, the Allies launched intensive jamming of radar frequencies which blinded the entire German radar network from Cherbourg to Le Havre. On the morning of the 6th (D-Day) the antennas at Douvres-la-Délivrande were rendered inoperative by Allied naval artillery bombardment.
Canadian troops who had landed nearby on 'Juno Beach' isolated the station but the Germans successfully defended it for 12 days, a a counter-attack by Panzers; on one occasion it was resupplied with food via a nocturnal paradrop mission from Mont-de-Marsan.
On 17 June, a massive offensive by the British 41 Commando, Royal Marines - preceded by an artillery bombardment and supported by mine-clearing and anti-bunker tanks of 79th Armoured Division - secured the surrender of the garrison.

Colourised and Researched by Paul Reynolds.

 

[emilioteles]

Elizabeth L. Remba Gardner, of Rockford, Illinois, Class 43-W-6 WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilot) at the controls of a Martin B-26 'Marauder' medium bomber. Harlingen Army Air Field, Texas. 1943 (Aged 22)

About Me and My Experiences
"My name is Elizabeth L. Gardner, or for short, Libby Gardner. I am a pilot for the Women Aircraft Service Planes. a.k.a. WASP, which is considered a civil service. Before the war, I was a housewife and a mother who stayed home to take care of my family. I was called to duty when the war started to learn how to test planes, instruct pilots, tow targets used for anti-aircraft artillery practice, and assemble planes. I was grateful for the opportunity because it made my childhood dreams of flying and fascinations with planes a reality. I work 7 days out of the week and some of those days happen to be better than others. When I first started learning, I was eager and nervous and also had two days of training under Lieutenant Col. Paul Tibbets who later commanded the B-29 that dropped the first atom bomb on Hiroshima. The training consisted of three phases; primary, basic, and advanced. On the days that we have check rides, a lot of pressure can be put on us women, and we feel that we must make a name for ourselves in this industry. I had a check ride the other day, and I must say that things did not go so well for me that day. The man testing me was very quiet and sarcastic and did not give me much information or say a lot to let me know how I was doing. I would make mistakes as turning to far out or using too much rudder on the turns; I did my best to relax, but his sarcastic remarks did not make it easy and different items in my performance were still sloppy including my stalls. The only good thing that came from that test was my landing; it was possible that he would give me credit for that, but instead he stepped out of the airplane without saying a word about whether or not I passed. I held back my tears. The opportunity is wonderful, and I love doing this every day. It was an opportunity I never expected which gave me an amazing life experience. It has it’s hardships like everything else in life, but the opportunity to serve my country by doing flying aircraft is unimaginable and is a wonderful privilege." (c.1943)

Elizabeth "Libby" Gardner 1921 - 2011 - died aged 90

Of the more than 1,100 women who volunteered and flew every fighter, bomber, transport and trainer aircraft in the inventory 72 years ago, only about 300 were still alive when the survivors of the first female military pilots received the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony in the US Capitol of Washington on March the 11th 2010.

 

[SnAkE_OnE]

Que buenas fotos!

 

[Merchant Marine one]

Las fotos son sencillamente alucinantes!!!!!!!

+ 1000 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

abrazo,
Merchant

 

[Merchant Marine one]

Elizabeth tremenda bellezaaa eh???????

 

[emilioteles]

A Sniper (scharfschützen) aiming a Karabiner 98k 7.92x57mm with a telescopic sight and the 'Spotter' on the right who wears a Close Combat Clasp (Nahkampfspange) which was awarded for 15, 30 and 50 days of consecutive close action with the enemy. It came in three grades: bronze, silver and gold. It was instituted on November 25th, 1942 after 'Stalingrad'. The sleeve badge is the 'Krim Shield' which was presented to all members of the 11th German Army being instituted on July 7th, 1942, it commemorated the German advance into the Crimea led by General von Manstein.

Sniper Strategy and Targets;
Always two snipers at a time; one shoots, the other spots. Usual general order:- Elimination of observers, of the enemy's heavy weapons and of commanders, or special order, when all important or worthwhile targets were eliminated; for example, Anti-tank gun positions, machine gun positions etc. Snipers followed closely the attacking units and whenever necessary eliminated enemies who operated heavy weapons and those who were dangerous to their advance.

The German Sniper Code
1. Fight fanatically.
2. Shoot calm and contemplated, fast shots lead nowhere, concentrate on the hit.
3. Your greatest opponent is the enemy sniper, outsmart him.
4. Always only fire one shot from your position, if not you will be discovered.
5. The trench tool prolongs your life.
6. Practice in distance judging.
7. Become a master in camouflage and terrain usage.
8. Practice constantly, behind the front and in the homeland, your shooting skills.
9. Never let go of your sniper rifle.
10. Survival is ten times camouflage and one time firing.

Three top German snipers;
Matthais Hetzenauer of Tyrol fought at the Eastern Front from 1943 to the end of the war, and with 345 certified hits is the most successful German sniper.

Sepp Allerberger of Salzburg fought at the Eastern Front from December 1942, to the end of the war, and with 257 certified hits is the second highest scoring German sniper.

Helmut Wirnsberger of Styria fought at the Eastern Front from September 1942, to the end of the war and scored 64 certified hits (after being wounded he served for some time as instructor on a sniper training course).

 

[emilioteles]

Ordnance men moving a 16" shell from its storage stall to ammunition hoist on board the Iowa Class Battleship USS New Jersey (BB-62).
Nov 1944.

16"/50 calibre Mark 7 gun

These guns were 66.6 feet (20 m) long—50 times their 16-inch (406 mm) bore, or 50 calibres, from breech-face to muzzle. Each gun weighed about 239,000 pounds (108,000 kg) without the breech, or 267,900 pounds (121,517 kg) with the breech. They fired projectiles weighing from 1,900 to 2,700 pounds (850 to 1,200 kg) at a maximum speed of 2,690 feet per second (820 m/s) with a range of up to 24 miles (39 km). At maximum range the projectile spent almost 1½ minutes in flight. Each turret required a crew of 79 men to operate.

 

[emilioteles]

A sniper from "C" Company, 5th Battalion, The Black Watch, 51st (Highland) Division, takes aim through the window of a building in Gennep, Netherlands.
**This is a posed photo** taken after The Black Watch had entered Gennep on the 13th February 1945.

The Reichswald and Gennep
After the winter campaign in the Ardennes, the 51st Highland Division returned to Holland. The Battle for the Rhineland started on 8th February 1945. There was a sudden thaw and everywhere roads turned to mud. The Allies entered the Reichswald just across the Germany Border. The 5th Battalion The Black Watch was on the southern edge of the forest.

On the 11th of February the 5th Battalion The Black Watch was ordered south to take the Dutch town of Gennep on the river Niers. 'B' Company took the bridge, church and hospital. 'C' Company then got into the main street and took the right hand side of the town.

 

[emilioteles]

Evdokia Pasko - a legendary woman-aviator from the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment ("Night Witches").
She went to the war from the 3rd year study at Moscow State University, Mechanic-Mathematic faculty. During the war years she made 800 sorties!

After the war she graduated Moscow University, became PhD in mathematics and taught for over forty years in the famous Bauman University.
On December 30th 2014, The Hero of the Soviet Union Evdokia Pasko celebrated her 95-year anniversary.

The regiment flew harassment bombing and precision bombing missions against the German military from 1942 to the end of the war. At its largest size, it had 40 two-person crews. It flew over 23,000 sorties and is said to have dropped 3,000 tons of bombs. It was the most highly decorated female unit in the Soviet Air Force, each pilot having flown over 800 missions by the end of the war and twenty-three having been awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title. Thirty of its members died in combat.

Evdokia Pasko aged 95 in 2014

 

[emilioteles]

The Consolidated B-24 'Liberator' waist gunner c.1944

Waist gunners were charged with the defence of the Liberator’s vulnerable sides through use of single 12.7mm machine guns. As such, these positions aboard Liberators suffered the most casualties by incoming fighters ready to strafe the large profile sides of the bomber. These two positions, left and right, were later staggered to compensate for each gunners firing arc. Unlike other turreted positions in the B-24, spent shell casings at these waist positions were not jettisoned from the aircraft automatically, forcing crew-members to clear their areas themselves. Since firing from these side-perspective positions required a great deal of hand-to-eye coordination via tracer rounds while taking into account target speed and the Liberator’s airspeed itself, waist gunners relied on simple targeting sights in the early years. Only later did they receive assistance in the form of compensating sights to help improve accuracy.

(Colorised by Mike Gepp from Australia)

 

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Biplaza de caza nocturna P-38M,derivado de la versión "L" Estaba equipado con radar,siendo operado este por un segundo tripulante tras la posición del piloto.Venía a complementar al número insuficiente de P-61 que operaban en el vasto teatro de guerra del PACÍFICO.

 

[emilioteles]

Cambio de motor DB a un ME-109E en un taller de campaña,BULGARIA 1941.

 

[emilioteles]

A British 6th Airborne Division sniper on patrol in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge, wearing a snow camouflage suit and armed with a Scoped Lee Enfield Rifle, 14th January 1945.

With the Allies at a standstill and forced to bide their time, the Germans prepared a large scale counter-offensive, later known as the ‘Battle of the Bulge’ in December 1944. The 6th Airborne Division recovering in England after Normandy was suddenly moved to the Ardennes forest area between Belgium and France to help repel the unexpected German counter-attack.

The 6th Airborne Division was put in the line between Dinant and Namur under command of the British 30th Corps to assist in the forthcoming Allied counter-offensive, and was ordered to advance against the tip of the German salient.

The 5th Parachute Brigade tasked 13 Para (Lancs) to attack the village of Bure as part of this advance and breakthrough to Grupant, assisted by Sherman tanks from the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry.

Severe casualties resulted from the break-in to the village, which began on 3rd January 1945. Bitter fighting raged for three days with little sleep conducted in atrocious winter conditions. German infantry and tank attacks were repeatedly beaten back until with reinforcements from C Company 2nd Ox and Bucks and additional tanks from the 23rd Hussars, the whole village was taken on 6 January 1945. 13 Para suffered heavy casualties, the Ox and Bucks also lost nearly two dozen men whilst 16 Sherman tanks were destroyed.

 

[emilioteles]

A U.S. combat engineer from the 184th Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, searches for buried mines, using a SCR-625 detector on the island of Leyte, in the Philippines. In the background are a couple of wrecked and smoldering Type 95 "Ha-Go" Japanese tanks.

184th Regt. at Leyte.
On the morning of 20 October 1944, the regiment landed on the beaches near Dulag on the east coast of the island of Leyte. With the beachhead secured, they moved inland. The island provided the Japanese with an ideal defensive terrain, as Leyte is a large island, covered with mountains, rain forests, and swamps. The Japanese were long accustomed to fighting in the jungle, and had over three years of occupation to learn the terrain and plan defenses. Additionally, it was easy for the Japanese to reinforce their garrison on Leyte from Luzon in the north and Mindanao in the south. The Japanese 34th Army, consisting of four divisions, including the infamous 16th Division that was credited for the "Rape of Nanking" and the "Bataan Death March," was the primary opponent on Leyte. The 184th Infantry Regiment pushed through the Dulag Valley and experienced high casualties. When the Japanese counterattacked the 32d Infantry Regiment, which had spread out along the Palanas River, the 184th was sent to reinforce them. Several attacks were repulsed and the enemy was driven into the bamboo thickets. This action later became known as The Battle of Shoestring Ridge.

On 28 November 1944, the 11th Airborne Division relieved the division, less the 17th Infantry Regiment. The division then moved to Baybay, and the 184th started a drive from Damulaan towards the port of Ormac. They then seized the town Albuere and had joined up with soldiers of the 77th Infantry Division, which had landed near Ormac. The remainder of the 7th then moved to Ormac to regroup. From there, they spent several weeks landing on and securing several of the small islands that surround Leyte. On 10 February 1945, they were relieved by the Americal Division and started to prepare for the Ryukyus Campaign. When the division left, they were credited with inflicting more than 54,000 enemy deaths.

 

[Rober D]

Perdon por el OT(no sabia donde poner la foto), pero este señor estuvo en la "Segunda Gran Guerra" y la foto es color...

Luciéndose el veterano!

 

[Shandor]

Some amazing WWII color footage of the German Wehrmacht, truly stunning and some never before seen footage included!

 

[emilioteles]

'Operation Husky'
A Sherman tank of ‘A’ Squadron, 50th Royal Tank Regiment, 23rd Armoured Brigade is silhouetted by the setting sun. 1st of August 1943, in Sicily.

As part of 'Operation Husky', HQ 23rd Armoured Brigade HQ fought as 'Arrow Force' in mid-July with the 2nd battalion Seaforth Highlanders (from 152nd Brigade) under command together with elements of the 50th RTR and 11th (HAC) Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery as well as an anti-tank battery and a machine gun company.

 

[emilioteles]

Squadron Leader J.A.F. MacLachlan, the one-armed Commanding Officer of No 1 Squadron RAF, standing beside his all-black Hawker Hurricane Mark IIC night fighter, 'JX-Q', at Tangmere in West Sussex, England.

MacLachlan flew bombers in France in 1940, but transferred to fighters in June 1940 and shot down 6 enemy aircraft during the Battle of Britain.
He joined No. 261 Squadron RAF in Malta, as a flight commander, and was shot down in February 1941, as a result of which his left arm was amputated.
He quickly returned to operations after being fitted with an artificial limb, flying with No. 73 Squadron in North Africa, but in July 1941 returned to the United Kingdom to take command of No. 1 Squadron.
The Hurricane is sporting his personal emblem showing his amputated arm waving a 'V' sign. He was again shot down in 1943 and became a prisoner-of-war, by which time his score had risen to 16.5 victories.
MacLachlan was awarded the Distinguished Service Order,
the Distinguished Flying Cross & Two Bars
and the War Cross (Czechoslovakia)
During the course of his combat career he flew the Fairey Battle, Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire and P-51 Mustang.)

Nb. On the 18th of July 1943, the P-51 Mustang in which he was flying was hit by flak and crashed over France. The Germans reported him as a prisoner of war but he died from his injuries on the 31st of July 1943 in a military hospital, aged 24.
He was buried at Pont-l'Évêque in France.