Generalmajor Ernst Schnarrenberger and Oberst Gerhard Müller from Afrikakorps

Generalmajor Ernst Schnarrenberger, Kommandant für das rückwärtige Armeegebiet 556 (Korück 556), and Oberst Gerhard Müller, Kommandeur Panzer-Regiment 5 / 21.Panzer-Division

Source:

http://www.afrika-korps.de/uniformen-und-effekten/die-tropen-uniformen-des-heeres/

Hungarian soldier training by photographer Konok Tamás. He was less interested in the war, but rather the landscapes, ordinary people, or even the movement itself: This picture derived from the image sequence which recorded the different stages of the jump. The shooting has not been calculated at this time as an 'art', but only in the 60's when the picture made its way to the museums, it has become an art form of photography

Source:
http://index.hu/nagykep/2013/01/12/egy_humanista_fotiszt_kepei_a_don-kanyarbol/

Barrack exercise for the member of Hungarian Air Force

Barrack exercise for the member of Hungarian Air Force

Source:
http://index.hu/nagykep/2013/01/12/egy_humanista_fotiszt_kepei_a_don-kanyarbol/

Hungarian 29M Bofors 88mm and crew at the outskirt of a Ukrainian city

Hungarian 29M Bofors 88mm and crew at the outskirt of a Ukrainian city. Photo by Konok Tamás

Source:
http://www.vintag.es/2014/01/amazing-color-photographs-of-everyday.html

Adolf Hitler and Luftwaffe Heroes After Award Ceremony at Obersalzberg

Adolf Hitler chats with his heroes from Luftwaffe after award ceremony (Eichenlaub and Schwertern) at Berghof Obersalzberg on 4 April 1944. From left to right: Major Werner Streib (Geschwaderkommodore Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. Schwertern #54, 11 March 1944), Hauptmann Gerhard Barkhorn (Gruppenkommandeur II.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 52. Schwertern #52, 2 March 1944), Oberst Erich Walther (Kommandeur Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 4 / 1.Fallschirmjäger-Division. Eichenlaub #411, 2 March 1944), Major Kurt Bühligen (Gruppenkommandeur II.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen". Eichenlaub #413, 2 March 1944), Hauptmann Hans-Joachim Jabs (Gruppenkommandeur IV.Gruppe / Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. Eichenlaub #430, 24 March 1944), Major Bernhard Jope (Geschwaderkommodore Kampfgeschwader 100. Eichenlaub #431, 24 March 1944), Major Reinhard Seiler (Gruppenkommandeur I.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 54. Eichenlaub #419, 4 March 1944), Major Hansgeorg Bätcher (blocked by Hitler. Gruppenkommandeur I. Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 4 "General Wever". Eichenlaub #434, 24 March 1944), Adolf Hitler (Führer und Reichskanzler), Hauptmann der Reserve Horst Ademeit (Gruppenkommandeur I. Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 54. Eichenlaub #414, 2 March 1944), Major Johannes Wiese (Gruppenkommandeur I.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 52. Eichenlaub #418, 2 March 1944), Wachtmeister Fritz Petersen (Geschützführer 6.Batterie / Flak-Regiment 4 [motorisiert]. Eichenlaub #438, 26 March 1944), Major Dr.jur. Maximilian Otte (GruppenKommandeur II.Gruppe / Schlachtgeschwader 2 "Immelmann". Eichenlaub #433, 24 March 1944), and Oberleutnant Walter Krupinski (Staffelkapitän 7.Staffel / Jagdgeschwader 52. Eichenlaub #415, 2 March 1944). Actually there's one more recipient: Leutnant Erich Hartmann (Staffelkapitän 9.Staffel / Jagdgeschwader 52. Eichenlaub #420, 2 March 1944), but he is not visible in this picture!

Source:
http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2011/11/album-foto-upacara-penganugerahan.html

Pilots from Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1) in Winter 1940/41

Pilots from Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1) pictured in the winter of 1940/1941 in front of a U.S. made Ford 1939 Mercury Eight car. FLTR: Leutnant Reinhold Knacke (Flugzeugführer in 2./NJG 1. Ritterkreuz 1 July 1942 and Eichenlaub 7 February 1943. 44 abschusse), Leutnant Kurt Loos (Flugzeugführer in 2./NJG 1. Deutsches Kreuz in Gold 21 August 1942. 10 abschusse), Leutnant Wolfgang "Ameise" Thimmig (Flugzeugführer in 2./NJG 1. Deutsches Kreuz in Gold 12 July 1943. 23 abschusse), Leutnant Hermann Reese (Flugzeugführer in 2./NJG 1. Ehrenpokal. 5 abschusse), and Leutnant Hans-Dieter Frank (Flugzeugführer in 2./NJG 1. Ritterkreuz 20 June 1943 and Eichenlaub 2 March 1944. 55 abschusse)

Source:
http://www.historicalwarmilitariaforum.com/topic/6937-ritterkreuztr%C3%A4ger-photos-in-color-thread/page-33

Officers from Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1) at Venlo

Officers from Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1) at Venlo, Holland, Spring 1941. FLTR: Nachtflugleiter Hauptmann G. Hitgen (Fluglotse a.k.a. air traffic controller), Hauptmann Werner Streib (Staffelkapitän 2./NJG 1), and Leutnant Hans-Dieter Frank (Flugzeugführer at 2./NJG 1). They're wearing ledermantel M1936

Source:
http://www.historicalwarmilitariaforum.com/topic/6937-ritterkreuztr%C3%A4ger-photos-in-color-thread/page-33

Wehrmacht Inspection at Paris

Wehrmacht inspection at Paris, France, in 1941, possibly before going to the Eastern Front. Please note the standard issue M31 Clothing bag

Source:
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/page/84

Wehrmacht Inspection at Paris

Wehrmacht inspection at Paris, France, in 1941, possibly before going to the Eastern Front. Please note the standard issue M31 Clothing bag and kids roaming freely!

Source:
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/page/84

German Generals in Slovenia

From left to right: Generalleutnant Hans Suttner (?), SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Polizei Oskar Knofe (Befehlshaber der Ordnungspolizei in Salzburg), SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Polizei Karl Heinrich Brenner (Assigned to the Aufstellungsstab of the SS-Generalkommando), and SS-Standartenführer Dr. Walter Blume. The event was Gauleiter Dr. Rainer proclamation of giving the People of Upper Carniola/Oberkrain/Gorenjska, Slovenia, German citizenship on revoke (auf Widerruf), 27 September 1942. It started with parade in Krainburg/Kranj at 9:00. Around 11 it was a visit of "Heldenfriedhof" Military cemetery in Krainburg/Kranj (and where the above picture was taken). At 12:00 was Gauleiter Dr. Rainer proclamation speech in Krainburg/Kranj. Upper Carniola was never part of Nazi Germany, it was Occupied territory with resistence movement

Source:
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=197735

U-Boat Crew Wearing Diving Equipment

U-boat crew outside the boat hatch wearing tauchretter. Looks like on training. Taken from Signal magazine, May 1943 edition. An escape set (in German Tauchretter = "diver rescuer") is a breathing set, which lets its wearer survive for a time in an environment without (sufficiently) breathable air, in particular underwater, primarily or originally intending mainly to survive long enough to reach safety where the air is breathable

Source:
http://greec.free.fr/diaporama/u%20171/U-boot/album/slides/Tauchretter-Signal-051943-0-site.html

German Soldiers Relaxed at the French Beach

There are no sunbeds in sight, but this picture is clear evidence, as if any were needed, that the German aptitude for bagging the best sunbathing spots goes back a long way. There’s barely room to move on this beach near Boulogne, and any Britons trying to find a spot wouldn’t have been terribly welcome. The year was 1940 and this rare colour photo shows a unit of Hitler’s army relaxing as they waited to see if they would be called on to cross the Channel and attack. It was taken on June 6, two days after Churchill told Great Britain – standing alone after the collapse of France – ‘We shall fight them on the beaches…’ As it turned out, the invasion was called off after the Luftwaffe’s failure to defeat the RAF in the Battle of Britain during the exceptionally hot summer of that year. But the picture offers a glimpse of how relaxed and confident these crack troops were after their unstoppable Blitzkrieg through the Low Countries and France. One or two even seem to have packed Das Speedos in their kit bags in preparation for the excursion to the seaside. (Though look closely and it appears that some clearly didn’t.) And is the figure in bright red trunks a shapely collaborator in bikini bottoms? Some are drying out after a swim. Combat gear is scattered across the beach and their rifles are stacked in neat pyramids. They are infantrymen from the 1st Gebirgsjäger (Mountain Huntsmen) Division and were preparing to take part in Operation Sea Lion, which would have seen them streaming across the Channel in landing craft. Further up the coast, British and French troops were fighting for their lives at Dunkirk. The extraordinary snapshot is one of a series taken by an unnamed officer. Others show the same men marching along country lanes and through rubble-strewn towns. The officer seems to have dumped his box of negatives four years later as he fled Paris. They were discovered by photographer Marcel Gesgon but he simply filed them away. Now his son Alain, a Paris-based historian, has had them printed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the planned invasion. He said: ‘These young men were simply enjoying the sun in a newly-created outpost of the Third Reich. Many of were in their teens or early 20s but they had swept all before them so far, and seemingly had nothing to fear.’ Might some still be alive today? Unlikely, Mr Gesgon said. Some time after this sun-kissed day, the 1st Gebirgsjäger was posted to the freezing, blood-soaked Russian front. 

Source:
http://plasmaticplastic.blogspot.com/2011/11/battle-for-boulogne.html

The German Pilots of the Bombers Heinkel He-111 and Symbolic Funeral

It is extremely unusual photograph of World War II in color. The German pilots of the bombers Heinkel He-111 and symbolic funeral. At a coffin inscription in German: “Dein leben – dein gewinn” – your life – your reward. And “mich auch” – for me, too. Picture was taken by Siegfried Lauterwasser at Tatsinskaya airfield (Stalingrad), fall of 1942

Source:
http://albumwar2.com/he-111-pilots-and-symbolic-funeral/

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

Wehrmacht proxy marriage wedding ceremony

German Army officer shake hands with his soldier in the latter's proxy marriage wedding ceremony. Picture allegedly taken in the outskirts of Stalingrad, summer 1942

Source:

http://thirdreichcolorpictures.blogspot.com/2012/05/wedding-ceremony.html

German Motorcycles at Rest

Kradmelder wearing Kradmantel

Source:
http://thirdreichcolorpictures.blogspot.com/2010/08/german-motorcycles-in-color.html

Erwin Rommel in Africa

Erwin Rommel as Generaloberst and Oberbefehlshaber Panzerarmee "Afrika"

Source:

"Die Wehrmacht" magazine, 12 May 1942 edition

US Private Jerry Smith

US Private Jerry Smith, on Okinawa during World War II. Jerry served in the Army's 718th Amphibious Tractor Battalion of XXIV Corps. He was a driver and armorer on an LVT-4 amphibian tractor, or "amtrac." Picture taken in Nishihara-Cho, Okinawa Prefecture, June 1945

Source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11046337@N07/2306611086

King Boris III of Bulgaria with one of his army general

King Boris III of Bulgaria with one of his army general

Source:
http://ww2-weapons.com/Orders-of-battle/Bulgaria/Armed-Forces.htm

Bulgarian Civilian Giving Water to a German Army Motocyclist

Bulgarian civilian giving water to a german army motocyclist or Kradmelder (1942). The bike is NSU 601TS

Source:
http://thirdreichcolorpictures.blogspot.com/2010/08/german-motorcycles-in-color.html

German Flame-Thrower in Action

Flammenwerfer 35 – from a german postcard printed in 1944. The Flammenwerfer 35, or FmW 35 (literally, "flame thrower") was a one-man German flamethrower used during World War II to clear out trenches and buildings. It could project fuel up to 25m from the user. It weighed 35.8 kilograms (79 lb), and held 11.8 litres (2.6 imp gal; 3.1 US gal) of flaming oil, (Flammöl 19), petrol mixed with tar to make it heavier and to give it better range, which was ignited by a hydrogen torch providing about 10 seconds of continuous use. The firing device is activated at the same time with the Selbstschlussventil and is inside the protective pipe. The Flammenwerfer 35 was produced until 1941, when the lighter, slightly redesigned Flammenwerfer 41 began replacing it

Source:

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/articles/in-their-own-words-german-veterans-of-wwii-by-rob-schafer.html

Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt Looking at a Map

"Why always me old donkey?" - Statement of Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshall) Gerd von Rundstedt (1875-1953), several times discharged by Hitler, as many times called back. Eisenhower and Montgomery regarded him as the most dangerous and most capable German field marshall, not Rommel. When in 1944 he was asked by Generalfeldmarschall Keitel how to improve the critical situation of German forces in general, von Rundstedt answered (in front of Hitler and the whole Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht): "End the war, you idiots!"

Source:
https://www.ww2incolor.com/german/GFM+v.html?g2_fromNavId=xc00551b0

Mutterkreuz Recipient

Mutterkreuz (Mother's Cross) recipient. The Cross of Honour of the German Mother (German: Ehrenkreuz der Deutschen Mutter), referred to colloquially as the Mutterehrenkreuz (Mother’s Cross of Honour) or simply Mutterkreuz (Mother’s Cross), was a state decoration and civil order of merit conferred by the government of the German Reich to honour a Reichsdeutsche German mother for exceptional merit to the German nation. Eligibility later extended to include Volksdeutsche (ethnic German) mothers from, for example, Austria and Sudetenland, that had earlier been incorporated into the German Reich. The decoration was conferred from 1939 until 1945 in three classes of order, bronze, silver, and gold, to Reichsdeutsche mothers who exhibited probity, exemplary motherhood, and who conceived and raised at least four or more children in the role of a parent. A similar practice, that continues to this present day, was already established in France since 1920, by conferring the Médaille de la Famille française (Medal of the French Family), a tribute to the French mother who raised several children in an appropriate way.

Source:
http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191725

A Wehrmacht Religious Service in the Field Before Operation Barbarossa Began

Men from a German 6. Armee infantry unit attending divine service in the field before going into battle, June 1941. They had not been told what their objectives were: a drive from the south of the Polish Gouvernement-General towards Kiev and the Dnieper

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

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

Erwin Rommel (Left) and Ludwig Crüwell Chats in North Africa

Two prominent German generals in North African theatre takes a little walk while discussing the recent situation: Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (Oberbefehlshaber Panzerarmee "Afrika") and General der Panzertruppe Ludwig Crüwell (Kommandierender General Deutsche Afrikakorps)

Source:
Book "Für Rommels Panzer durch die Wüste" by Hellmuth Frey

An Armored Crew Washing their SdKfz 250 Halftrack

An armored crew washing their SdKfz 250 Leichter Schutzenpanzerwagen (Light-Armored Personnel Carrier). Hanging from his neck, the soldier on the left has his identification disc in a leather pouch

Source:
Book "Uniforms of the German Soldier; an Illustrated History from 1870 to the Present Day" by Alejandro M. De Quesada

German Anti-Aircraft Crew

These men are wearing the Model 1936 Tunic with the bottle-green collars. The soldier on the left is wearing a Model 1938 Field Cap. A pair of MG34 Machine-Guns have been placed on an anti-aircraft mount

Source:

Book "Uniforms of the German Soldier; an Illustrated History from 1870 to the Present Day" by Alejandro M. De Quesada

General Kurt von Briesen Reviewing His Troops in Paris Parade

Generalleutnant Kurt von Briesen (Kommandeur 30. Infanterie-Division) reviewing his troops in a parade at Avenue Foch, Paris, 14 June 1940. The German 30. Infanterie-Division was approaching Paris from the north, but its original intention was to by-pass the city and continue its pursuit of the French forces retreating southward. When the commander of the division, Kurt von Briesen, heard that Paris had been declared an "open city", he decided to send units into the city outskirts to test whether the declaration was genuine. Those units reported back that there was no French resistance, and that all French forces had left the city. At that point, von Briesen decided to change the 6th Army's line of advance, and route through the city centre.When the advancing German units had reached the Champs Elysees, von Briesen decided to hold an extempore parade, so the 6th Army marched down the Champs Eysees accompanied by a band, with von Briesen taking the salute. The film footage of that parade is well known, but is usually mistakenly presented as the German victory march after the French surrender. In fact, after the parade the 6th Army kept on moving, exiting Paris from the south and continuing its pursuit of French forces.

Bernard Montgomery decorates Konstantin Rokossovsky

British Field Marshal Sir Bernard "Monty" Montgomery (17 November 1887 - 24 March 1976) decorates Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Rokossovsky (21 December 1896 - 3 August 1968) with a Knight Commander of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (K.C.B.) at the Hindenburg Platz near Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, 12 July 1945, while other Soviet generals waiting for their turn

Source:
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205189188