Panzer IVs Before Operation Barbarossa

Two German Panzer IVs moving towards the German-Soviet demarcation line on 21 June 1941, less than 24 hours away before the start of Unternehmen Barbarossa, German invasion of Russia. In the foreground road sign "Grenze 1 km". For the campaign against the Soviet Union, the Germans allotted almost 150 divisions containing a total of about three million men. Among those units were 19 panzer divisions, and in total the Barbarossa force had about 3,000 tanks, 7,000 artillery pieces, and 2,500 aircraft.

Source :
https://9gag.com/gag/ajgVB0Q
https://en.topwar.ru/188854-21-ijunja-stalin-dilemma-prinjatija-reshenija.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barbarossa

City Gate of Ville de Mouzon

 

France, Ville de Mouzon.- Historic city gate (La porte de Bourgogne).- Sign reading "La mendicite est rigoureusement interdite dans La Ville de Mouzon" (prohibition of begging); approximately June-July 1940.

Source :
Bundesarchiv B 206 Bild-GD-82

A Signpost in Southern Russia

 

A signpost in southern Russia, 1941. Estate of Oberstleutnant Matthes of Flieger Nachschub Kolonnen Abteilung (motorisiert) II/200.

Akira Takiguchi: Wegweiser (pronounced vehk-veizer, signpost in German) / Schilderwald (pronounced shilder-valt, literally sign forest) is one of the main reasons for me to collect color slides. Signposts are quite often colorful and comes with various unit markings (which units can you find in these?). Also names of commanders are frequently encountered (like Sponeck). These help identification of the location and time of the slides groups.

 

Top sign is for Krankenkraftwagenzug 188 (Kr.Kw.Zg. 188) of 88. Infanterie-Division, while "Sponeck" is for 22. Infanterie-Division commanded by Generalleutnant Hans Graf von Sponeck

 

The oak leaf is the sign of II. Flakkorps, while the clock is for Regiment General Göring (later Hermann Göring Division)

 

Black arrow with bended swastika is for SS-Division "Wiking"

 

"Panzerstrasse M": M may refer to an axis of advance passable for armor, ie route M, A, G etc. At the bottom is the symbol of Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, which had a Pionier-Bataillon with 3 Kompanien

 

Source :
Akira Takiguchi photo collection
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10222887987661695&set=gm.1656183317900418

Interesting Red Cross Flag

Interesting Red Cross flag found in color slide group of 16. Panzer-Division. The sign says:  "Vorgeschobene Verwundeten-Hilfe" (advanced casualty assistance).

Source :
Akira Takiguchi photo collection
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10221014698350633&set=gm.1461844117334340&type=3&theater&ifg=1

Barracks at Camp Hale (Colorado)

View taken from the corner of A and 18th streets at Camp Hale, Colorado (the training center of the US 10th Mountain Division), showing the streets signs, barracks and a jeep. The aspen trees on the surrounding hills have spring leaves. Creating this camp was quite a feat of engineering and wartime construction. Beginning in April of 1942, an army of workmen completed the camp by December of that year... all for a price tag of $30 million. There were accommodations for over 16,000 troops and 4,000 mules and horses. The 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment moved into the new camp in January 1943, while another regiment, the 86th, was being formed. The picture was taken by David B. Allen in 1943 or 1944.

Source :
http://amyatishkin.livejournal.com/287245.html
http://www.slideshare.net/tcattermole/10th20-mountain20division20-20introduction1-7846475

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/

Corporal William "Bill" Southworth from 10th Mountain Division with a Road Sign

Tenth Mountain Division Corporal, William A. "Bill" Southworth poses for a portrait at the Continental Divide, Loveland Pass, Colorado (U.S.A.). He is wearing a khaki uniform with a white belt, which was not army issue. The signs at the side of the highway identify the place: the first is Colorado, U.S. Highway 6. Denver 62 miles east, Dillon 15 miles west. A larger sign reads Continental Divide, Loveland Pass, elevation 11,992 feet above sea-level; Atlantic Ocean watershead to the east, Pacific Ocean ; watershead to the west; Clear Creek County to the east, Summit County to the west. The picture was taken in 1943 or 1944.

Source :
http://amyatishkin.livejournal.com/287245.html

US MPs Guard a Bridge Over the Rhine

In a staged photograph, two III Corps MPs guard a pontoon bridge over the Rhine, connected Kripp to Linz (Germany), in 11-12 March 1945. Both men wear the cotton M1943 field jacket with wool shirt and trousers. They are also wearing two-buckle combat boots. Both men have white MP designation painted on their helmets. The MPs are both armed with .30 calibre carbines and carry extra magazines in a pouch attached to the right of their pistol belts. The flag on the right, and the shield at their feet, are the designation for the III Corps. The III Corps was part of the US Third Army from October 1944 to February 1945 and again at the end of the war.

Source :
Book "Patton's Third Army" by Christopher J. Anderson 
http://planet-clio.org/blog/category/stadtgeschichte/

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

Street Sign in the Border of Soviet-German Occupied Poland

Soviet-occupied Poland began 14 metres beyond this frontier sign on the river Granitsa, June 1941 just days before Unternehmen Barbarossa. German-held Poland, the so-called Gouvernement-General, comprised the lowlands on either side of the Upper and Centra Vistula down to the south of Warsaw; in the East it extended to the River Bug and in the South to the summits of the Carpathians

Source:

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