World War II in Color

World War II, WW2, Color, Farbe, Berwarna, ORI, Original, Germany, Italy, Japan, USA, Nazi, Great Britain, France, Soviet Union, Red Army, Waffen-SS, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Soldiers, Generals, Officers, Tank, Panzer, Tiger, Panther, Sherman, Aircraft, Bomber, Messerschmitt, Spitfire, Hitler, Churchill, Stalin, Rommel, Himmler, Goering, Roosevelt, Patton, Guderian, Mustang, Zero, Admiral, Sailot, Battleship, Holocaust, Third Reich, fascist, Kaigun, Rikugun, RAF, Battle, Operation

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

SS Normandie Capsized

French ocean liner SS Normandie (USS Lafayette) lies capsized at Pier 88 in New York City, after a fire broke out while she was being converted into a troopship on 9 February. 1942. The SS Normandie was a French ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France, for the French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT). She entered service in 1935 as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat, crossing the Atlantic in a record 4.14 days, and remains the most powerful steam turbo-electric-propelled passenger ship ever built. During World War II, Normandie was seized by U.S. authorities at New York and renamed USS Lafayette. In 1942, the liner caught fire while being converted to a troopship, capsized onto her port side and came to rest on the mud of the Hudson River at Pier 88, the site of the current New York Passenger Ship Terminal. Although salvaged at great expense, restoration was deemed too costly and she was scrapped in October 1946.

Source :

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=3414543215311583&set=gm.1619026891616061

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Joseph Stalin and Georgy Malenkov

Generalissimo Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin and his closest associate Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov (Stalin's first deputy) on the podium of Lenin's mausoleum, 1949. Photo by A. Novikov.

Source :

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=393437995258364&set=gm.1618259851692765

Sunday, November 29, 2020

The Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization

Members of the Swedish Lotta Corps in Stockholm, 1940. Photo by Carl Erik Suneson.

The Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization (Swedish: Riksförbundet Sveriges lottakårer, commonly known as Lottorna) is an auxiliary defence organization of the Swedish Home Guard, a part of the Swedish Armed Forces.

The organization currently consists of approximately 5,000 women of all ages throughout Sweden. Svenska Lottakåren's purpose is to recruit and educate women for tasks in the Swedish total defense, and to conduct comprehensive defense training. Lottorna works in both the Armed Forces and in Civilian Emergency Preparedness. The organization is politically neutral, and is one of the country's largest female networks.

It was created in 1924 inspired by the Finnish women's auxiliary organization, Lotta Svärd founded in 1920. The name comes from a poem by Johan Ludvig Runeberg, about a fictional woman named Lotta Svärd who took care of wounded soldiers during the Finnish War. The founder and the organization's first chairman was Tyra Wadner. The organization began as part of the then Landstorms movement (then named Sveriges Landstormskvinnor) but became an independent organization in 1942. In 1936 rules were laid down that regulated Lottorna's activities in peacetime and wartime. In peacetime, the activities would be concentrated in four areas: Collection of funds for the Landstorms movement, Provide service at Landstorm's mens exercises, Training of their own members, and Teaching work to "raise fatherland and homeland patriotic feeling and strengthen the nation's defense".

During the war, the Lottorna instead had to undertake various forms of assistance for defense in the homeland, especially during mobilization. The lots were divided into army, navy and airfields. During World War II, the organization received many new duties and the number of members increased. By the end of the war, the organization had more than 110,000 members, which meant that about five percent of women in the country over 15 years were part of Lottorna.

Source :

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=392103048725192&set=gm.1616593125192771

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Political Officer in War

Men in brown shirts: Oberabscnhittsleiter wearing Political leader buckle and visor cap with sleeve eagle. From a color slide series showing the award ceremony of Ritterkreuz (Knight's Cross) to Rudolf Bittner.

Source :

Akira Takiguchi photo collection

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10222366199217310&set=gm.1598983150287102

A Luftwaffe Helferin

A Luftwaffen-helferin poses in front of a photographer. Unfortunately the slide is not completely focused.

Source :

Akira Takiguchi photo collection

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10222400793522146&set=gm.1603444296507654

Flak Soldiers Wearing Sunglasses

Different shades worn by Flak soldiers (Sunglasses left. Welder goggles right). Which shades do you prefer to wear? From a color slide group of Flak-Regiment 3

Source :

Akira Takiguchi collection

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10222409857428738&set=gm.1604601179725299

Norwegian SS Nurse

A Norwegian SS nurse. Her name, location and time is missing. From the backdrop the photo appears to have been taken in Russia or Ukraine.

Source :

Akira Takiguchi photo collection

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10222441267213963&set=gm.1608344909350926

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Battle of Moscow 1941

Map of German offensives: September 1st - December 5th 1941

Eastern Front, Soviet Union, theater of war Heeresgruppe Mitte, Battle of Moscow October 1941 - January 1942: German tanks (PzKw II / 2 cm kwk) in winter camouflage in a Russian village in the Moscow area, November 1941 (Photo by Arthur Grimm/ullstein bild).

Eastern Front, Soviet Union, theater of war Heeresgruppe Mitte, Battle of Moscow October 1941 - January 1942: German tanks (Panzer III) in winter camouflage in a Russian village in the Moscow area, November 1941 (Photo by Arthur Grimm/ullstein bild).

Eastern Front, Soviet Union, theater of war Heeresgruppe Mitte, Battle of Moscow October 1941 - January 1942: German tanks of 11. Panzer-Division And infantry during an advance in the Wolokolamsk / Klin area, December 1941 (Photo by Arthur Grimm/ullstein bild).

Eastern Front, Soviet Union, theater of war Heeresgruppe Mitte, Battle of Moscow October 1941 - January 1942: German infantry in position in front of the village of Bultschewo, in the Wolokolamsk / Klin area, December 1941 (Photo by Arthur Grimm/ullstein bild).

Eastern Front, Soviet Union, theater of war Heeresgruppe Mitte, Battle of Moscow October 1941 - January 1942: German tanks of 11. Panzer-Division and infantry in position in front of the village of Bultschewo, in the Wolokolamsk / Klin area, December 1941 (Photo by Arthur Grimm/ullstein bild).

Source :

https://www.facebook.com/groups/237076659811098/permalink/1561918850660199/

Saturday, October 31, 2020

Bio of Benno Wundshammer

Benno Wundshammer (pseudonym: Heinrich Benedikt; born April 11, 1913 in Cologne; † October 1986 in Rottach-Egern) was a German journalist and press photographer. Wundshammer completed an apprenticeship as a chemigrapher and gravure photographer in Cologne from 1933 to 1936. He worked as a journalist (at Weltbild), as a sports reporter, war reporter and journalist (e.g. Pinguin, Ruf, Bild, Revue). From 1937 he worked as a reporter for the Reich Sports Association in Berlin. As a member of an Air Force propaganda company, he was one of the most important and well-known photo reporters and reporters in the service of the National Socialist regime during the Second World War, alongside Hilmar Pabel, Hanns Hubmann and Alfred Tritschler. From 1942 to 1945 he was part of the editorial team of the NS Foreign propaganda illustrated Signal. After the war he was able to continue his career as a reporter for the magazine Quick and editor-in-chief of the celebrity magazine Revue (until 1952). With his photos of post-war celebrities such as Konrad Adenauer, Franz Josef Strauss, Romy Schneider and Arndt von Bohlen and Halbach, he made a significant contribution to shaping German press photography. He also worked as a fashion photographer and dealt early with the possibilities of color photography. A large part of his photographic estate is in the possession of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Picture Archive in Berlin. The exhibition “Propaganda Photographer in World War II: Benno Wundshammer” (November 2014 - February 2015) in the German-Russian Museum in Berlin-Karlshorst showed his life's work in the context of contemporary history. The exhibition catalog with examples of Wundhammer's photo reports since the early 1930s analyzes the working methods of a German war correspondent.

Source :

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benno_Wundshammer

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=368994127702751&set=gm.1589445191240898

Sunday, October 25, 2020

Generalmajor Karl Koetz

Karl Koetz (8 February 1908 - 11 July 1977) received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 2 October 1941 as Hauptmann and Kommandeur II.Bataillon / Infanterie-Regiment 463 / 263.Infanterie-Division. On 17-18 August 1941 previously the 263. Infanterie-Division was deployed to the Yelnya salient, where they faced desperate Soviet attempts to push back the Germans. In this context Hauptmann Koetz and his Bataillon distinguished themselves near Jakowlewo in the fighting around Hill 256.9, also known as the “Chimborasso”, in the time period 17-28 August 1941. The Bataillon put up a tremendous fight against the overwhelming Soviet attacks, and for this Koetz would be decorated with the Ritterkreuz.

Koetz received the Eichenlaub #374 for his Ritterkreuz on 24 January 1944 as Oberstleutnant and Kommandeur Grenadier-Regiment 185 / 87.Infanterie-Division. On 13 December 1943 previously the Soviets began a major attack against the key positions of the 3. Panzerarmee north of Vitebsk. Despite fierce German resistance, the 87. Infanterie-Division became surrounded. It was however able to break out on the 16 December 1943 along with the subordinated Grenadier-Regiment 365 in the area Choljawki/Karewy, Slyndiki. It reached the main battle line of the 20. Panzer-Division near Ambrossenki (2 km northwest of Malaschenki), thus escaping the trap. This breakout was only able to succeed due to the performance of the Grenadier-Regiment 185, commanded by Oberstleutnant Koetz, and the Sturm-Bataillon Hochgartz. For his role in saving his Division Koetz would be decorated with the Eichenlaub.

Source :

https://alchetron.com/Karl-Koetz

https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/39158/Koetz-Karl.htm

Sunday, October 11, 2020

Tauchpanzer IV of 18. Panzer-Division

Two Tauchpanzer IVs from 18. Panzer-Division enjoy some rest. A Storch came in, then flies away (Photo: Heinz Eckert). Immediately after the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, when tanks of 18.Panzer-Division crossed the river with the submersible equipment. The tanks are painted in dark gray, but sand from the river completely covers the surface. Dark gray is showing clearly above the tail exhaust pipes as if painted in bands. Interesting is that a red large circle is painted on the back of the stowage behind their turrets.

Source :

Akira Takiguchi photo collection

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10222104137025919&set=gm.1567089906809760

Sunday, September 27, 2020

Training of Panzer Attack in the East

Training of Panzer attack in the east. Photo taken in early 1943 in Ukraine. Panzer III was probably painted gray over Tropen. Color slide group from Dr. Grögl, Film 62, Frame 12.

Source :

Akira Takiguchi photo collection

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10222023880259550&set=gm.1557944247724326

Sunday, September 20, 2020

USS Pennsylvania Drydocked in the Pacific

USS Pennsylvania (BB-38, originally Battleship # 38), 1916-1948, drydocked in an Advanced Base Sectional Dock (ABSD) at the Pacific, 1944. Note the extensive anti-torpedo blister built into her hull side and paravane streaming chains running from her forefoot to her foredeck.

USS Pennsylvania, lead ship of a class of two 31,400-ton battleships, was built at Newport News, Virginia. Commissioned in June 1916, she served as the Atlantic Fleet's flagship into the early "Twenties". Though her operations during this time were primarily off the U.S. east coast and in the Caribbean area, Pennsylvania briefly cruised to France in December 1918. Transiting the Panama Canal to the Pacific early in 1921, she became flagship of the newly-organized Battle Fleet. During the next eight years, she led the Navy's battleships in maneuvers in the Atlantic, Caribbean and in the Pacific, including a cruise to Australia and New Zealand in mid-1925.

From June 1929 to May 1931, Pennsylvania received an extensive modernization at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania. She emerged with new "tripod" masts, improved combat systems, and an enlarged armored conning tower to better support her mission as fleet flagship. Through the following decade, Pennsylvania continued her pattern of drills, at-sea exercises and periodic major "Fleet Problems" conducted to refine the Navy's war plans.

When Japan attacked on 7 December 1941, Pennsylvania, flagship of the United States Fleet, was in drydock at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. Her relatively light damage was repaired over the next few months, and she operated along the U.S. west coast and off Hawaii until October 1942. Following an overhaul that significantly updated her secondary battery of 5" guns and added many anti-aircraft machine guns, Pennsylvania went to Alaskan waters, where she participated in the recapture of Attu in May 1943 and Kiska in August.

In November 1943, Pennsylvania bombarded Makin during the amphibious assault on the Gilbert Islands. She repeated this role a few months later at Kwajalein and Eniwetok, and in June and July 1944 at Saipan, Tinian and Guam. Her guns supported landings in the Palaus in September 1944 and at Leyte in October. When the Japanese Navy responded vigorously to the latter operation, Pennsylvania helped to destroy part of the enemy fleet in the Battle of Surigao Strait.

In January 1945, Pennsylvania took part in the Lingayen Gulf invasion. Freshly returned to the combat zone after another overhaul, she was seriously damaged by a Japanese aerial torpedo off Okinawa on 12 August 1945, the last major Navy ship to be hit during the Second World War. Too old for retention in the post-war fleet, Pennsylvania was repaired only enough to fit her for target duty. She served in that capacity during the July 1946 Bikini atomic bomb tests. Subsequently moored at Kwajalein for studies of residual radioactivity, USS Pennsylvania was scuttled at sea on 19 February 1948.

Source :

https://www.facebook.com/groups/237076659811098/permalink/1551937918324959/?__cft__[0]=AZUDzQiyLPz2bweHE1SUCwl2L7gKl3yP0seWajeueHjH4iQwNasmezrrCQTSh9W2rRTpk-MEW7HPrk8pn1b1arFSu4LeKPI9TlRdRW0KMrxq5x2HSN0k3j_fRQcZzuQ0sHCy_P69XKM29nnmlxd4O26maDWbm5_ZBqUk9MNW4mLtCw&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

Inside a B-24 Liberator Express Transport Plane

Inside a B-24 Liberator Express Transport Plane during a mission, 1942. Interior view of the B-24 Liberator Express Transport Plane bringing soldiers from both the US Army Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force to the base in Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada. 1942. Photos by Ivan Dmitri / Michael Ochs Archives.

Source :

https://www.facebook.com/groups/237076659811098/permalink/1539353576250060

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Bus Trapped in the Crater at Balham Station

On 14 October 1940 at 8.02pm, a 1400 kilo semi armour piercing bomb from Luftwaffe bombers penetrated 32 feet underground and exploded just above the cross passage between the two platforms at Balham Underground station, London. Above ground a No.88 London double decker bus, travelling in blackout conditions, plunged into the crater created by the bomb. The dramatic spectacle of the trapped bus was to become emblematic of the dangers of the Blitz, a series of pictures of it appeared in publications around the world. The water and gas mains, along with the sewage pipes, had been broken: water poured down, flooding the tunnels below, and gas hampered rescue efforts. Almost all of the casualties would have resulted from the blast and debris. Yet stories soon developed of trapped people drowning in the flood waters and of miraculous escapes by people swimming along the tunnels to the next station. In total sixty six people died, although over the years there has been confusion over the exact number and only recently Transport for London has agreed to revise the memorial plaque at the station. The recovery of bodies was to take almost until Christmas yet remarkably the damage was repaired and trains were running through the station on 8th January 1941, and the station itself reopened on the 19th January.

For the collection of color photographs during the London Blitz, please see HERE.

Source :
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=3334514389935729&set=gm.1545682382283846
http://ww2today.com/14th-october-1940-disaster-at-balham-tube-station?fbclid=IwAR3glFnTFkJsTblkhY5a8a3B1xxHSjgn5OQT4QMp1jP5j0rdrcd6Xnz_kYA

The London Blitz (1940-1941)

Workers wielding pick-axes and shovels are tasked with clearing away the remains of bombed building that would have once stood next to this Central London church.

The appearance of German bombers in the skies over London during the afternoon of September 7, 1940 heralded a tactical shift in Hitler's attempt to subdue Great Britain. During the previous two months, the Luftwaffe had targeted RAF airfields and radar stations for destruction in preparation for the German invasion of the island. With invasion plans put on hold and eventually scrapped, Hitler turned his attention to destroying London in an attempt to demoralize the population and force the British to come to terms. At around 4:00 PM on that September day, 348 German bombers escorted by 617 fighters blasted London until 6:00 PM. Two hours later, guided by the fires set by the first assault, a second group of raiders commenced another attack that lasted until 4:30 the following morning.

This was the beginning of the Blitz - a period of intense bombing of London and other cities that continued until the following May. For the next consecutive 57 days, London was bombed either during the day or night. Fires consumed many portions of the city. Residents sought shelter wherever they could find it - many fleeing to the Underground stations that sheltered as many as 177,000 people during the night. In the worst single incident, 450 were killed when a bomb destroyed a school being used as an air raid shelter. Londoners and the world were introduced to a new weapon of terror and destruction in the arsenal of twentieth century warfare. The Blitz ended on May 11, 1941 when Hitler called off the raids in order to move his bombers east in preparation for Germany's invasion of Russia.

On the night of 14 October 1940, a bomb penetrated the road and exploded in Balham Underground station, killing 68 people. A No 88 bus travelling in black-out conditions then fell into the crater. In this extraordinary picture, the double-decker bus is still visible amid crumbling tarmac and bent girders left in an enormous crater.

The spire of the Central Criminal Court – better known as the Old Bailey – rises defiantly while all around it buildings have become jagged shells in a landscape scarred by the relentless German bombings.

Workers remove rubble from a building decimated in a heavy German air raid during the Blitz. Wallpaper inside the shattered bedrooms can be seen in the gap left in the row of houses.

Despite the terrifying raids by the Luftwaffe, they attacks failed to breaks the spirit of the British people. People pressed on with their lives and in one of these extraordinary images a man can be seen in a park calmly reading a book while a barrage balloon hovers close by and a second, right, soars above.

The random nature of the bombing is clearly demonstrated here as a church, right, remains untouched while a vast swathe of buildings close by were reduced to rubble.

The Houses of Parliament with part of them covered in scaffolding are seen across the River Thames on a sunny day in 1941.

Source :
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/blitz.htm
https://www.theundergroundmap.com/wp/the-london-blitz-in-colour/

Manstein and Breith Discussing Map Strategy

Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein (left, Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe Süd) met with General der Panzertruppe Hermann Breith (Kommandierender General III. Panzerkorps) to discuss the upcoming military operation in northeastern Bjelgorod, May 1943, as a preparation of "Unternehmen Zitadelle" (Operation Citadel) a.k.a. the Battle of Kursk. The officer wearing the monocle at right is Oberst im Generalstab Ernst Merk (Chef des Generalstabes III. Panzerkorps). After the conclusion of the battle for the Donets, as the spring rasputitsa (mud) season came to an end in 1943, both the German and Soviet commands considered their plans for future operations. Manstein arguing for a mobile defence that would give up terrain and allow the Soviet units to advance, while the German forces launched a series of sharp counterattacks against their flanks to inflict heavy attrition. But for political reasons, Hitler insisted that the German forces go on the offensive, choosing the Kursk salient for the attack. On 15 April 1943 the Führer authorised preparations for Unternehmen Zitadelle.

Source :
http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2011/10/album-foto-terbaik-erich-von-manstein.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Citadel