Showing posts with label Terrain - Forest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terrain - Forest. Show all posts

Friday, November 25, 2022

Sherman Tanks during Maneuvers

M4A3 Sherman tanks moving through a wooded area during maneuvers. Because most served as training vehicles in the US during World War II, Ford M4A3s have survived in greater numbers than other 1942-43 production Shermans (about 80 units). The M4A3s in the photo above appear to be "as built," which was usually the case with Shermans in the US. The "padded" hull lifting rings combined with the vertical headlamp plug holders, suggest a production date between November 1942 and January 1943. There was a critical shortage of rubber at the time, and Ford was contracted to produce the particular type of "three bar cleat" steel tracks that can be seen on these tanks. The above Signal Corps photo is part of a color series unfortunately captioned "desert maneuvers, USA, 1944." The fall foliage seems inappropriate for the desert, as does the year. Tracing their movements, we think it is more likely that this series shows units of the 10th and 81st Tank Battalions, 5th Armored Division at Pine Camp, New York in the Fall of 1943.

Source :
https://historylink101.com/ww2_color/WorldWarIITanks/PICT0515.html
http://the.shadock.free.fr/sherman_minutia/manufacturer/m4a3ford/m4a3ford_variants.html

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Funeral of General Hans Kamecke


Funeral of Generalleutnant Hans Kamecke, the second commander of 137. Infanterie-Division, who was severely wounded in the battle against the Red Army at Ostrowy / Lojew, Belarus, on 15 October 1943. He then died because of his wounds in the field hospital near Kolpen the next day, 16 October 1943. Kamecke would posthumously awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 27 October 1943.

Source :
https://www.facebook.com/ww2soldiers/posts/funeral-of-lieutenant-general-hans-kamecke-the-second-commander-of-the-137th-inf/2596754230582882/

Sunday, August 14, 2022

Tiger I in the Spring of 1943


View of a German Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf.E (Tiger I) heavy tank in the spring of 1943 in the Eastern Front. This one seems to be somewhat damaged as it is missing track guards as well as one of its front fenders. The tank was given its nickname "Tiger" by Ferdinand Porsche, and the Roman numeral was added after the Tiger II entered production. The initial designation was Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausführung H (literally "armoured combat vehicle VI version H", abbreviated PzKpfw VI Ausf. H) where 'H' denoted Henschel as the designer/manufacturer. It was classified with ordnance inventory designation Sd.Kfz. 182. The tank was later re-designated as PzKpfw VI Ausf. E in March 1943, with ordnance inventory designation Sd.Kfz. 181. The image was taken by Kriegsberichter Schroter, and originally published in 'Das Heer im Grossdeutschen Freiheitskampf' (translated as 'The Army in the Greater German Freedom Struggle'), a collection of 50 plus images taken by the German Army's combat photography unit (Propagandakompanie).

Source :
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-events-second-world-war-wwii-russia-1942-1943-german-tank-pzkw-vi-95432179.html?imageid=34A168B8-59C9-4319-91BD-4A1E1EEEB3DF&p=58867&pn=1&searchId=a6ea1c5f07a3760c805f5113704cf038&searchtype=0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_I
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/view-of-a-german-tiger-i-heavy-tank-early-1940s-this-one-news-photo/104329312

Sunday, January 17, 2021

Bio of Major Adolf Clemente

 

Major Adolf Clemente (born 13 July 1910) from Dingolfing, in a picture taken in early 1944. This highly decorated officer from the Artillerie-Regiment 7 / 7.Infanterie-Division received the following awards and decorations: DRL Sportabzeichen in Bronze, Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse (6 October 1939) und I.Klasse (1 August 1940), Allgemeines-Sturmabzeichen (18 November 1941), Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz (1 December 1941), Medaille "Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42" (20 July 1942), Deutcshes Kreuz in Gold (21 April 1943), Anerkennungsurkunde des Oberbefehlshabers des Heeres (27 Oktober 1943 and 5 November 1944), and Nahkampfspange in Bronze (8 January 1944).

Promotions:
January 30th, 1939: Leutnant der Reserve;
May 1st, 1941: Oberleutnant der Reserve;
January 1st, 1943: Hauptmann der Reserve;
August 1st, 1943: Major der Reserve;
October 1st, 1943: Major.



Source :
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=420727422529421&set=gm.1653101868208563
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/3173/Clemente-Adolf.htm?c=aw&fbclid=IwAR1Fo0aJVQANE4ZOJIdYwYw89DMbYsELTfWckkZ8nSKs-MBh3BjS5G2ejHs

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Flak Soldiers Enjoying Meal in Winter

Soldiers of Flak-Regiment 3 enjoying hot meal in winter. Lots of great stuff on display here: double decal helmets, tabs on mantels, and good shots of field equipment and trucks. If you look closely, there is an enlisted man on the left appears to have no gulls on his mantel. This is occasionally seen for one reason or another on enlisted men. The regiment itself were formed on 1 October 1936 in Weimar. Renamed on 15 June 1939 to Staff of Flak Regiment 11. Repositioned in Weimar in December 1939, the staff was relocated to Stettin in 1941 and was there under Luftgau III. The staff here reformed to became Flakgruppe Stettin. In 1945 the staff was used with the subordinate units in the ground combat near Pölitz near Stettin as part of the 6. Flak-Brigade.

Source :
Akira Takiguchi photo collection
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/FlakRegimenter/FR3-R.htm
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/forum/wehrmacht-era-militaria/photos-and-paper-items-forum/935046-post-your-atmospheric-photos?p=11771809#post11771809

Sunday, July 26, 2020

Buick Cabriolet Belong to Gebirgsjäger

A very fine 1937 Buick Cabriolet from a Wehrmacht Mountain unit (WH-707309), from the estate of former Kai Rossmann collection, dissolved many years ago on ebay. Note the unidentified unit marking - A grape and a guy with a wine bottle. Different variants of grapes were on badges of 94., 263. and 332. Infanterie Division. Unfortunately none of them is really close to this badge.

Source :
Akira Takiguchi collection
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10221460267009571&set=pcb.1500530410132377&type=3&theater&ifg=1

Monday, July 20, 2020

German Officers Holding Wolchowstock

Officers of 212. Infanterie-Division in Wolchow, holding Wolchow stocks in their hands. Variations of their uniform colors is remarkable.

Source :
Akira Takiguchi photo collection
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10221420448414131&set=gm.1497216527130432&type=3&theater&ifg=1

Friday, June 12, 2020

German Prisoners in the Last Day of the War

May 8th 1945...the war is over.

Source :
Courtesy of Markus Hawranke at https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=642184269841443&set=gm.1464638437054908&type=3&theater&ifg=1

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Generalfeldmarschall Reichenau in Russia 1941

Generalfeldmarschall Walther von Reichenau (facing the camera, Oberbefehlshaber 6. Armee) in the summer of 1941 during Unternehmen Barbarossa - German invasion of Soviet Union. The picture was taken by Alois Beck, a Parish priest and amateur photographer in the Second World War on the Eastern Front and in Stalingrad. After the war Beck gave many lectures on the Battle of Stalingrad and tried to clarify the fate of fallen or missing German soldiers in Russia.


Source:
https://www.akg-images.com/Package/2UMEBMJZRZRZ

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

American Soldier in India

India, 1944-45. An American soldier in a Willys MB jeep (with a civilian front tire). He wear a 1943 HBT pants OD shade 7 with US white military shirt and British forest hat. This hat is commonly associated with Australians, but is actually the ordinance hat for the British and Commonwealth forces in tropical countries (in addition to the South Africans that will also use it in their desert uniform). The New Zealanders do have a distinctive hat.


Source :
http://www.panzernet.com/foro4/showthread.php?11073-Uniformes-mezclados/page3

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

US Mountaineers Walk Down a Trail

Four U.S. 10th Mountain Division soldiers, also known as "Mountaineers" walk down a trail lined with golden aspen trees, 1943 or 1944; they wear knapsacks and khaki uniforms. There was a great deal of improvisation in unit tactical training for the first (and only) American mountain division. It was one thing to teach individuals skiing, snowshoeing, technical climbing, and cold-climate survival, but it was another to develop and teach tactics and weapons employment incorporating these skills in extreme terrain and weather conditions.


Source :
Book "US 10th Mountain Division in World War II" by Gordon L. Rottman and Peter Dennis
http://amyatishkin.livejournal.com/287245.html

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Finnish Soldiers Advancing Under Barbed-Wire Obstacles

Finnish soldiers advancing under barbed-wire obstacles on the Hanko front. Fearing an assault over the ice during the oncoming winter, the Soviet garrison fled during the night of 2 December 1941. The evacuation of Hanko itself was performed in several convoys, between October 16 and December 2, 1941, which managed to transport roughly 23,000 troops to Leningrad. The fleet suffered casualties from Finnish minefields and coastal artillery, losing 3 destroyers and 2 large transports (Andrei Zhdanov and Iosif Stalin) as well as several smaller vessels. Finnish troops entering the area found it heavily mined.


Source :
Book "Finland at War: The Continuation and Lapland Wars 1941-45" by Vesa Nenye, Peter Munter, Toni Wirtanen and Chris Birks 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hanko_%281941%29

Finnish Infantry Advancing Through a Smoke Screen

Finnish Infantry advancing to a new position through a smoke screen - possibly in a training. The grand majority of Finnish infantry served in infantry regiments, which belonged to some certain division. Finnish Winter War era division and infantry regiment were much lighter and more weakly equipped armament-wise than their Soviet equivalents, hence the major improvement made by starting of Continuation War was giving them additional units, which gave them reasonable antitank- and antiaircraft-capacity, that they had been earlier lacking. Since the Soviets at the same time downsized their own divisions, in 1941 Finnish division actually ended up being larger than their Soviet equivalent. Around 1942 - 1943 Finnish Army downsized its divisions, but this was to release more manpower to home front, which was struggling to keep the military provided with weapons, food, ammunition and other equipment. While necessary, from purely military point of view this downsizing proved very poor idea, since it basically ruined the system in which way infantry regiments of division were used. After this downsizing divisions had only two infantry regiments, which made impossible the previous system of division typically using two of its regiments in frontline while keeping the third regiment as reserve. For all practical purposes this meant leaving divisions without their own reserves of useful size. At the same time Soviet infantry divisions developed to what could be described being close to brigade concept and relied more to firepower than manpower. During World War II Finnish Army also noted, that division was so large, that it was often difficult to command effectively. One solution for this problem was creating new (infantry) brigades around 1943 - 1944. These were units about size of infantry regiment, but with support units usually provided to Division. But the transition was not completed to many of the designed brigades and this new formation type didn't replace divisions in Finnish Army until after the war ended. Compared to their Soviet equivalent, Finnish divisions and infantry regiments were motorised in much lesser extent, even if the number of trucks in their use was considerably increased after Winter War (1939 - 1940).


Source :
Book "Finland at War: The Continuation and Lapland Wars 1941-45" by Vesa Nenye, Peter Munter, Toni Wirtanen and Chris Birks 
http://www.jaegerplatoon.net/FORMATIONS3.htm

Friday, April 15, 2016

Soldier of SS Division Nord Wearing Winter Camo

Soldier of 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division "Nord" wearing winter camouflage. The division was formed as SS-Kampfgruppe "Nord" in February 1941 in Norway but it was turned into a division in September 1941. It was composed of SS men used for garrison duties in Norway. Then it was transferred to Finnish Lapland prior to Operation Barbarossa as part of the German XXXVI. Gebirgs-Armeekorps under Armee-Oberkommando Norwegen. In July 1941 the division took part in Operation Silberfuchs with the German 169. Infanterie-Division and the Finnish 6th Division. Due to lack of training the soldiers were routed in the first attack against the Soviet forces at Salla. The division was later attached to the Finnish III Corps operating in the Kiestinki area. In September 1942 the division was renamed as the SS-Gebirgs-Division "Nord" (SS Mountain Division "North") and in October 1943 finally as the 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division "Nord". In 1944 the division took part in the Lapland War against Finland. After pulling out of Finland the division was transferred to Denmark and later to Germany. "Nord" fought against US forces during Operation Nordwind in winter 1944-45. The division surrendered in May 1945 to US forces in Bavaria.


Source :
http://www.gebirgsdivisionnord.com/original.html
http://www.ww2f.com/topic/48211-6-ss-nord-a-brief-history/

Kleinheisterkamp with SS Nord Officers

Officers of SS-Gebirgs-Division "Nord" with Finnish officers in Finland. From left to right: SS-Standartenführer Dr.-Med. Wilhelm Fehrensen (Divisionsarzt SS-Gebirgs-Division "Nord") and SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (Kommandeur SS-Gebirgs-Division "Nord"). The picture was taken in the summer of 1943, probably after the award ceremony of the Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty 1st Class with Swords (Vapaudenristin Ritarikunta) for Divisionskommandeur Kleinheisterkamp in 13 May 1943. In this picture we can see the neck medal is hanging below the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes weared by Kleinheisterkamp.


Source :
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=146826&sid=8920e48a56c8de96c7ba6d0d9c305e24&start=450
http://www.historicalwarmilitariaforum.com/topic/6937-ritterkreuztr%C3%A4ger-photos-in-color-thread/page-3?hl=kleinheisterkamp#entry36671

Monday, March 21, 2016

10th Mountain Soldiers Line Up for Food

Approximately twenty U.S. Tenth Mountain Division soldiers line up for chow during a climbing school at Camp Hale, 1943 or 1944. The food is being served from a tent in a clearing inside a pine forest. In the front line, whenever field kitchens cannot be set up, powdered coffee, tea, and other foods will be distributed so that the soldiers can prepare their own meals. However, only essential rations will be issued - otherwise, the men will throw away whatever seems superfluous at the moment. Flour rations can be stretched by adding sawdust - preferably from pine trees, but birch bark can also be used. During cold weather and snow, special measures must be taken to transport food. Commissary wagons should be built with double walls packed with hay or wood shavings, and the floors should be covered with straw. Food containers must be protected with straw mats and blankets.


Source :
Book "Packs On!: Memoirs of the 10th Mountain Division in World War II" by A. B. Feuer and Bob Dole
http://amyatishkin.livejournal.com/287245.html

Sunday, January 24, 2016

German Corps HQ in a Small Russian Village

In this photo we see a small Russian village surrounded by forest. The standard in front of the house on the left reveals that the commander of an Armeekorps has set up his headquarters here. In the background is a Fieseler Fi 156 "Storch", which was used either to fly the corps commander to visit his front-line units or bring division commanders to him. Liaison aircraft was indispensable for maintaining direct contact between the headquarters of armies and front-line units. Without them, it would have been impossible for senior commanders to meet with subordinates at short notice to discuss the situation or make snap visits to the front. Since command posts and headquarters were often well-camouflaged in wooded areas, small villages or other inaccessible locations, there was normally no regular runway for aircraft to land on. For this reason, the Fieseler Storch, with its short takeoff and landing capabilities, was favored by senior staff officers. The Storch could even land on rough ground, as might be found in a cow pasture, for example.


Source :
Magazine "Luftwaffe im Focus", Spezial No.1 - 2003

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

The Crew of an American M4 Sherman Tank Ressuplying the Ammunitions

A U.S. 5th Armored Division tank crew load round's for their tank's 75mm gun. All four of the men are wearing herringbone twill (HBT) coveralls, winter combat (tanker's) jacket and armoured forces' crew helmet. The cords that are draped over the left shoulders of the two men on the ground carry jacks for the headset. The cord would be plugged in to the tank's intercom system so that the man could communicate. Three of these men have sewn the 5th Armored Division patch to their left shoulders.


Source :
Book "Patton's Third Army" by Christopher J. Anderson

Monday, July 21, 2014

German Troops Overran Border Fortification

German troops overran the border fortifications very quickly after Operation Barbarossa begin. East of Krystynovol, 2 kilometres beyond the frontier, they came within range of the concrete border bunkers. The ensuing battles lasted two days before the Soviet troops retreated. Both sides recorded their casualties


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