German Bicycle Soldiers Before Barbarossa

German soldiers on bicycles (Radfahrtruppen) driving towards the German-Soviet demarcation line to their deployments before the attack on the USSR a.k.a. "Unternehmen Barbarossa" (Operation Barbarossa), June 1941. The Wehrmacht did invest in bicycle troops for Barbarossa, but the soviet road system was bad enough that most bike columns looked like this and mobility was effectively foot mobile with perhaps slightly greater combat load per soldier. As well, German bike troops frequently lacked organic artillery and engineers that the giant kessels that Barbarossa created forced the infantry to use to grind them down, and this further limited bike troop’s utility.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_infantry
https://www.feldgrau.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22483
https://www.reddit.com/r/WarCollege/comments/h0afzb/why_no_bikes_in_barbarossa/
https://www.themodellingnews.com/2015/05/build-review-135th-german-military.html

French Colonial Soldiers in 1940

French colonial soldiers as a prisoners of war on the march through a city guarded by Wehrmacht soldiers on bicycles. The picture was taken somewhere in France, June-July 1940.

In 1940, the French army included more than 100,000 black French soldiers from France’s African colonies, mainly Senegal, Mauritania,and Niger. More than 75,000 of them served in France before and during the German invasion; the rest of them served guard duty in the various colonies. As the Wehrmacht panzer divisions swept across France in May-June 1940, some of those black French soldiers (about 40,000 of them), mainly organized in black regiments or mixed units, were engaged in fierce combat against German soldiers. About 10,000 black soldiers were killed, some wounded, and others taken prisoner during the French debacle. Between 1,500 to 3,000 black French prisoners of war were massacred throughout the campaign, either during or after combat. Generally speaking, Tirailleurs Sénégalais were treated differently from other war prisoners by the victorious army. The existence of a well-implanted anti-black racism and stereotypes among the German soldiers frequently resulted in the black French troops being separated from other prisoners of war. Fear of coupes-coupes (a hand-to-hand weapon used by the Tirailleurs Sénégalais that German soldiers considered a treacherous weapon), latent desire for revenge because of German losses, or simple racism, resulted in random massacres of black French war prisoners by members of the Wehrmacht.

Source :
https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=24173

English Women Watching U.S. Air Force Maintenance Crew

 

English women watch an Eighth Air Force maintenance crew work on a B-24 engine.

Source :
National Archives and Records Administration 342-C-K-2357
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
https://www.flickr.com/photos/airandspace/albums/72157715574200936

Polish Refugees Near Warsaw

Polish refugees clog the streets near Warsaw despite the Sign (in German) that reads: "Getahrenzone - Nicht Weiterfahren" (Danger Zone - Do not Proceed). The picture was taken by German photographer Hugo Jaeger. During the Wehrmacht siege of the Polish capital (8-28 September 1939), around 18,000 civilians perished. As a result of the air bombardments 10% of the city's buildings were entirely destroyed and further 40% were heavily damaged. From the very first hours of World War II (1 September 1939), Warsaw was a target of an unrestricted aerial bombardment campaign initiated by the German Luftwaffe, which was controlled by Generalfeldmarschall Hermann Göring. Apart from the military facilities such as infantry barracks and the Okęcie airport and aircraft factory, the German pilots also targeted civilian facilities such as water works, hospitals, market places and schools, which resulted in heavy human casualties that possibly led to the early surrender by lowering of morale of the Polish army defending the city.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Warsaw_%281939%29
http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/world-war-ii-poland
http://weltkrieg2.de/kriegstagebuch-13-september-1939/

Trucks and Tanks of the 752nd Tank Battalion Leaving Rome

During the Second World War, despite being the capital of Italy, Rome was declared an "Open City" and never bombed or otherwise damaged by the war. After the Allies captured Sicily in 1943, the Mussolini's Fascist government collapsed. The Allies invaded mainland Italy on September 3, 1943 and slowly moved up the peninsula. Even after the American invasion at Anzio on January 22, 1944, it was hard to advance north toward Rome. Finally on June 4, 1944, American troops liberated Rome. Crowds of ecstatic Italians spilled into the streets to welcome the Americans as the main elements of the U.S. Fifth Army moved north through the city. This rare color photo showing trucks and tanks of the 752nd Tank Battalion leaving Rome on 5 June 1944. A small crowd of curious civilians watches the column move through the Porta del Popolo and past the Chiesa di San Maria del Popolo. The Signal Corps shot only a relatively small number of color photos during World War II. Fortunately, color photographers followed the 752nd during the summer and fall of 1944

Source :
http://www.752tank.com/ebolitorome.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~mcgady/Rome/rome.html

Whistle-Blower Wehrmacht Officer

Ritterkreuzträger (Knight's Cross recipient) Oberleutnant Viktor Lindenmann (23 November 1916 - 9 September 1942) directing his bicycle troops using a whistle, somewhere on the Eastern Front, 1941-1942. Two M24 Stielhandgranaten tucked in his leather belt with private/NCO koppelschloss (belt buckle), even though he is an officer. Note also the captured Ushanka (Russian fur cap). Lindenmann received the coveted Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross) in 21 September 1941 as a Leutnant and Adjutant of III.Bataillon / Infanterie-Regiment 124 / 72.Infanterie-Division, for his bravery in the battle for Neusatz Bridgehead (Tilligul Liman/Ukraine) against the Soviet forces. A year later he was killed by shell-splinters in September 1942 in the heavy defense fighting on the south of the Eastern Front near Dubakino as Chef of 4.Kompanie / Radfahr-Abteilung 72 / 72.Infanterie-Division

Sources :
http://www.online-instagram.com/tag/%C3%B8stfronten
https://web.archive.org/web/20111228125851/http://www.ritterkreuztraeger-1939-45.de/Infanterie/L/Li/Lindenmann-Viktor.htm

Signposts in occupied Warsaw

Signposts in occupied Warsaw. The picture was made in 1943 by Reichsbahn photographer Walter Hollnagel

Source:
http://www.eisenbahnstiftung.de/bildergalerie/Reichsbahn%20im%20Krieg

German Soldiers Reporting to their Marshalling Areas on Bicycle

German soldiers reporting to their marshalling areas on bicycle before Operation Barbarossa begin. The regrouping of german units for deployment to Russia began as early as February/March 1941

Source:

Book "The Onslaught; The German Drive to Stalingrad Documented in 150 Unpublished Colour Photographs" by Max Hastings

Possibly a German retreat or even a surrendering ceremony

Picture taken late in May 1945 in Czechoslovakia, possibly a German retreat or even a surrendering ceremony

Source:
http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82787&page=2

Disarmed French soldiers file pass German officers on the outskirts of Dunkirk

German forces move into Dunkirk. Disarmed French soldiers file pass German officers on the outskirts of Dunkirk. The evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force had been completed a few hours earlier

Source:
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/listing/object-205012729?items_per_page=10&page=1

A beached French coastal patrol craft at low tide at Dunkirk

German forces move into Dunkirk hours after the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force was completed. A beached French coastal patrol craft at low tide at Dunkirk. The ship is armed with a 75mm canon on its foredeck and probably dates from the First World War. A British Universal Carrier and a bicycle lie abandoned half buried in the sand

Source:
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/listing/object-205012729