In Spring 1945, a group of Navy flight nurses walk from their Douglas R5D (C-54) transport. They are, from left to right: Lt. JG Lydia Masserine, Lt. Stella Makar, Lt. JG Dorothy Wood, Lt. JG Hope Toone, Lt. JG Mae Hanson, and Ens. Winnifred Jennings.Source :
National Archives and Records Administration 80-G-K-5446
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
https://www.flickr.com/photos/airandspace/albums/72157715574200936
Celebration in Paris after the French capital was liberated in August 1944After more than four years of Nazi occupation, Paris is liberated by the French 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division on 25 August 1944. German resistance was light, and General Dietrich von Choltitz, commander of the German garrison, defied an order by Adolf Hitler to blow up Paris’ landmarks and burn the city to the ground before its liberation. Choltitz signed a formal surrender that afternoon, and on August 26, Free French General Charles de Gaulle led a joyous liberation march down the Champs d’Elysees.
Paris fell to Nazi Germany on June 14, 1940, one month after the German Wehrmacht stormed into France. Eight days later, France signed an armistice with the Germans, and a puppet French state was set up with its capital at Vichy. Elsewhere, however, General Charles de Gaulle and the Free French kept fighting, and the Resistance sprang up in occupied France to resist Nazi and Vichy rule.
The French 2nd Armored Division was formed in London in late 1943 with the express purpose of leading the liberation of Paris during the Allied invasion of France. In August 1944, the division arrived at Normandy under the command of General Jacques-Philippe Leclerc and was attached to General George S. Patton’s 3rd U.S. Army. By August 18, Allied forces were near Paris, and workers in the city went on strike as Resistance fighters emerged from hiding and began attacking German forces and fortifications.
At his headquarters two miles inland from the Normandy coast, Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower had a dilemma. Allied planners had concluded that the liberation of Paris should be delayed so as to not divert valuable resources away from important operations elsewhere. The city could be encircled and then liberated at a later date.
On August 21, Eisenhower met with de Gaulle and told him of his plans to bypass Paris. De Gaulle urged him to reconsider, assuring him that Paris could be reclaimed without difficulty. The French general also warned that the powerful communist faction of the Resistance might succeed in liberating Paris, thereby threatening the re-establishment of a democratic government. De Gaulle politely told Eisenhower that if his advance against Paris was not ordered, he would send Leclerc’s 2nd Armored Division into the city himself.
On August 22, Eisenhower agreed to proceed with the liberation of Paris. The next day, the 2nd Armored Division advanced on the city from the north and the 4th Infantry Division from the south. Meanwhile, in Paris, the forces of German General Dietrich von Choltitz were fighting the Resistance and completing their defenses around the city. Hitler had ordered Paris defended to the last man, and demanded that the city not fall into Allied hands except as “a field of ruins.” Choltitz dutifully began laying explosives under Paris’ bridges and many of its landmarks, but disobeyed an order to commence the destruction. He did not want to go down in history as the man who had destroyed the “City of Light”—Europe’s most celebrated city.
The 2nd Armored Division ran into heavy German artillery, taking heavy casualties, but on August 24 managed to cross the Seine and reach the Paris suburbs. There, they were greeted by enthusiastic civilians who besieged them with flowers, kisses, and wine. Later that day, Leclerc learned that the 4th Infantry Division was poised to beat him into Paris proper, and he ordered his exhausted men forward in a final burst of energy. Just before midnight on August 24, the 2nd Armored Division reached the Hótel de Ville in the heart of Paris.
German resistance melted away during the night. Most of the 20,000 troops surrendered or fled, and those that fought were quickly overcome. On the morning of August 25, the 2nd Armored Division swept clear the western half of Paris while the 4th Infantry Division cleared the eastern part. Paris was liberated.
In the early afternoon, Choltitz was arrested in his headquarters by French troops. Shortly after, he signed a document formally surrendering Paris to de Gaulle’s provisional government. De Gaulle himself arrived in the city later that afternoon. On August 26, de Gaulle and Leclerc led a triumphant liberation march down the Champs d’Elysees. Scattered gunfire from a rooftop disrupted the parade, but the identity of the snipers was not determined.
De Gaulle headed two successive French provisional governments until 1946, when he resigned over constitutional disagreements. From 1958 to 1969, he served as French president under the Fifth Republic.
Source :
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/paris-liberated
German civilians salvaging their possessions in bombed-out Berlin after the surrender of Germany, 1946.Source :
National Archives and Records Administration 342-C-K-3560
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
https://www.flickr.com/photos/airandspace/albums/72157715574200936
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
A female worker poses beside a display of finished decorations and medals at the Royal Mint based at Royal Mint Court in London in February 1946.
Source :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/237076659811098/permalink/1681446002040816/?__cft__[0]=AZXngA1ewGk8NVxw3ac79ihX8rrHfM7U1RIE0k9elf-V2RnZRHoOu99t0wvbvjmtrErP6_5DJ1m361z93mOk0fqcS0xbNM2yUojqBuaaOVAFdIvFhPGqCWerMNCq8FJXNn2NAdbt9Lszt_0Q9E-Rovyq&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R
During the last week of January 1942, Dr. Grögl moved from Przemyśl to Lwiw (Lemberg). On the way to Lwiw he took a series of pictures in Horodok (Grodek), including this one.Source :
Akira Takiguchi photo collection
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10222179929720689&set=gm.1576258015892949
From Akira Takiguchi: Comparison of the shape of perforation of 1945 Agfacolor film and the standard wartime piece. I noticed that on my iPhone the pictures will not show. If you can't see the pictures, view this on a PC. In HERE Axel Urbanke discussed about the Agfacolor slide films that appeared in 1943 with better colors. Recently I acquired a film from 1945 Hungary which has roundish perforation, quite different from the classic Agfacolor film (see attached image). Before the arrival of the the film, I had thought that it must be a postwar copy due to the shape of the perforation - they looked like Kodachrome or postwar Agfa. When I received the film and examined frames in my hands, my thoughts changed. They simply doesn't look like optical duplicates - no loss of sharpness and contrast. So I started to wonder if new films had hit the market. I added a close up of a Waffen SS soldier in pea dot camo (Erbsentarn) uniform to show how good the film is.
Source :
Akira Takiguchi photo collection
https://www.facebook.com/groups/237076659811098/permalink/1596740427178041/?__cft__[0]=AZVy5Lr9ZrnsRF5TSE7YyGfNngapRtEQYSH6JAzqqocKBEyDj0NYL7ygkhCxGwO8JA_QMmw0ZT5yYqBkL7QemHka03cARuBS0n2De_gHOe1wUNdG06Jz7pEQzdNxk0fotT20EYpyWjCg8IDthOT8m_GZ&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R
Villagers photographed while Organization Todt works in a village in eastern Europe, 1943. Another slide (a few frames back) added - dance time. Mostly women and children, a few young lads and one older man from the village.Source :
Akira Takiguchi photo collection
https://www.facebook.com/groups/237076659811098/permalink/1621195738065843/?__cft__[0]=AZVh0Uofo_RtYTAlS3_Z3kmliBbdIPBwud9ehnXi75oZyM-Od-41rELEu1jamMrM0UJ10dB2sKT5y8rLpGo-4sJf92YcN1zdElXqa4lnLj0SwyGOM0jcLPnBKibk8XiuziLH4Vv5sc-R7gmM9frZxTCK&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R
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
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
Source :
Akira Takiguchi photo collection
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10222441267213963&set=gm.1608344909350926
Air-observation Lotta Eillen Kiuru posed for a propaganda picture in front of Finnish and German war correspondents at Lahdenpohja observation tower on 11 July 1942. The women of Finland fulfilled numerous important roles, even near the front line. 'Lotta Svärd' was a Finnish voluntary auxiliary paramilitary organisation for women. Formed originally in 1918, it had a large membership undertaking volunteer social work in the 1920s and 1930s. During the Winter War some 100,000 men whose jobs were taken over by "Lottas" were freed for military service. The Lottas worked in hospitals, at air-raid warning posts and other auxiliary tasks in conjunction with the armed forces. The Lottas, however, were officially unarmed. The only exception was a voluntary anti-aircraft battery in Helsinki in the summer of 1944, composed of Lotta Svärd members. The battery operated the AA search-lights. The unit was issued rifles for self-protection, thus being the only armed female military unit of the Finnish Defence Forces history! The dire need for labor led to fast recruitment and there was often no time to properly train the new Lottas according to the principles of the organization. In addition, most new recruits were young and inexperienced. This caused some friction between the veterans and the new recruits. Lotta Svärd suffered relatively light losses, considering the number of women posted to a war zone and the length of the war. During the wars, 291 Lottas died, most of which (140) from diseases caught on duty. 66 were killed near the front, 47 in air raids and 34 in accidents. The fallen Lottas were buried in war heroes' graves in their home parishes. Finnish author Aila Virtanen argues that, their "accountability to the nation took a masculine and military form in public, but had a private, feminine side to it including features like caring, helping and loving." The organisation was suppressed by the government after the war.