Images of the Second World War - Possibly NSFW

killerking

German infantryman.



Russian infantryman.



British infantryman.



American infantryman.

killerking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFjt0qmoNSA

marcsignal

My Grandfather (2nd from left, standing beside the Oriental bloke with the trilby hat) on the deck of the SS Severn Leigh in 1937 somewhere in the Far East.



A pic of his Discharge Book showing his time on the SS Severn Leigh.
(First Entry)



The Fate of the SS Severn Leigh in 1940 below.

http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?14971

@ colorwarphotos : I haven't forgotten about uploading these on your site, I'll get to in over the next few weeks.

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citizen_p

just posted this in the photos that shook the world thread, seems apropriate here to

Battle of the Bulge
it certainly shocked the allies and was the last big offensive of the germans in the west.

Poteau Ambush
on December 18, 1944 the 14th US Cavalry Group, was ambushed by Kampfgruppe Hansen.
the photos and films that follow were captured by the americans from a Waffen-SS war correspondent. the shots were posed for after the ambush, but seem to have been just hours after.

a US newsreel
this is from the time and not a modern documentery.
3:45 to 4.35 is the ambush

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev6FIlexpsE

Poteau Ambush

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E22UGMjpQx8

Another film from after the ambush

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9EkaeaX7E8

Aerial shot of the ambush
Numbers correspond to the following images


1. the standing soldier is wearing a captured US coat

2.A famous shot, he can be seen in the third video above also

3.

4. same soldier as image 2, notice also the captured pistol

5.

6. sodier on the right has a captured m1 carbine, seen again below

7.

8. burning jeeps


Cameraman filming

Captured Rifle m1 carbine

Smoking

Another famous shot of the ambush

Resting

Jagdpanzer IV


limited to 15 images so a few had to be cut

jonniebgood1

After battle shots of German soldiers on the eastern front;

FiSe

Those shots of frozen bodies are from the 'collection point' ater Stalingrad. I believe.
On the 1st one, in the top right corner, you can see German POWs gathering around lorry, probably after another 'dump'. You can see how the bodies are pilled up - one pile, one load.
And, although, there are WH soldiers clearly visible on the last two photographs, soldiers from all sides would be gathered and burried in mass graves.


....just thinking, maybe they were left as they were.

marcsignal

FiSe wrote: »

Those shots of frozen bodies are from the 'collection point' ater Stalingrad. I believe.

I remember seeing them before in relation to Stalingrad. They're particularlly horrific.

In the top one you mentioned, at the bottom of the pic, left of centre, a pair of legs can be clearly seen standing up on their own, without a body attached :eek:

The sheer scale of the slaughter is difficult to properly comprehend.. very very sad to see.

marcsignal

My sister married a German in 1984. She has lived in Munich since 1972. His Father "Willi" was in the HJ and was a highly decorated member of the Waffen SS Divisions Wiking, Nordland, and Germania. Like many other waffen SS members, he was interred in KZ Dachau at wars end, and later released. He was originally from what is now Poland (Then Germany) Luckily his wife "Charlotte" and child escaped the Russians at wars end and made it to the West.

"Willi" and "Charlotte" settled in the district around Dachau after his release because they had nothing, no money, no home, no posessions. Years later my Brother in Law was born, who met my sister and they consequently married.

Despite the image of the SS, Willi was a very nice old man, who spoke frankly about the war and never tried to play down his wartime service in the Waffen SS. I had many long conversations with him about this, but never felt I had to judge him for anything he may, or may not have done. He always maintained that in joining up, he made the decision that he believed was right at the time, for himself and his wife and family.

I have ommited his family name from this post for the purposes of privacy, and am simply posting these pics for posters perusal.

I also realise there are posters on this forum who may have strong negative feelings about the SS. However I would ask, that if you don't approve, please don't bollock me out of it, or post any derogatory replies, as a result of my sharing these pictures.

Willi died in 2007.

HJ ID Card




Willi on leave from the front with his Mother and Friend (year unknown)


Willi on leave from the front with his Mother and Father (year unknown)


Willi and Charlottes wedding (year unknown)


Unknown friend of Willi


Willi RHS (year and location unknown)


Willi (possibly in Bad Tolz)


Willi with his Dad, a WW1 Veteran


Arbeitsdienst, year and location unknown.


Arbeitsdienst, year and location unknown.


Arbeitsdienst, year and location unknown.






Yours truly with Willi in 2005.
He was awarded all of the decorations attached to the framed pic for his service during the war.


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marcsignal

Willi in 2005 R.I.P.


A portrait of Willi in uniform, painted by his son shortly after his death.


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Morlar

That's very interesting and I am sure he had some interesting stories to tell. Quite highly decorated too - it's hard to make out but looks like an Infantry Assault Badge, Iron Cross 2nd Class, Winterschlacht im Osten, Anschluss and possibly a KVK. Also the Wound badge in Black (from the painting) and in one of the other photos what I guess is his fathers Hindenburg/Front fighters cross for WW1 Veterans.

Mahatma coat

Eh Marc, do you have the names of the other guys on the Severnleigh??

marcsignal

Mahatma coat wrote: »

Eh Marc, do you have the names of the other guys on the Severnleigh??

No, unfortunately not Mahatma. I've been trying to search for some kind of crew archive on the site below. He worked for White Star / Cunard Line so it's possible I may come across what I'm looking for through some enthusiasts website eventually.

http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?14971

I also remember having another photo of him on the deck of the same boat with the guy with the guitar, but I can't find it. my Grandad seemed to be a bit of an 'Uncle Albert' from 'Only Fools and Horses' tho, judging by his discharge books, because many of the ships he served on during WW1 were sunk on their return voyages after he had left the ship

Morlar wrote: »

That's very interesting and I am sure he had some interesting stories to tell. Quite highly decorated too - it's hard to make out but looks like an Infantry Assault Badge, Iron Cross 2nd Class, Winterschlacht im Osten, Anschluss and possibly a KVK. Also the Wound badge in Black (from the painting) and in one of the other photos what I guess is his fathers Hindenburg/Front fighters cross for WW1 Veterans.

Winterschlacht im Osten award : He used to call this his 'Frozen Meat Medal'

Iron Cross 2nd Class award : He was awarded this for ordering an 88 Crew to fire on a heavily camouflaged barge the Russians were using to cross a lake. He noticed that this 'small island' was moving slowly across the water. As a result of his diligence, the barge took a direct hit and was blown to bits. All of the Russian troops on board were killed, or subsequently drowned.

Mahatma coat

Ah Well, fair enough Marc, onme of em sorta reminds me of a cousin and his Da had been Merchant Navy around the same in the Far East.

Was Willie's Surname Signal?????:D:D:D
Did he drive a BMW :D:D:D:D:D:D

marcsignal

Mahatma coat wrote: »

Was Willie's Surname
Signal?????:D:D:D

God No... I'm sure he read the mag tho ....
http://www.signalmagazine.com/signal.htm

Mahatma coat wrote: »

Did he drive a BMW :D:D:D:D:D:D

Naw, an old golf which he put into a ditch one night when we were driving back from a vets night in the pub... full of schnapps

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citizen_p

What year did uncle "willi" join the Waffen-SS? Did he go straight from HJ to the SS?

marcsignal

Mousey- wrote: »

What year did uncle "willi" join the Waffen-SS? Did he go straight from HJ to the SS?

not sure Mousey, afaik he went from the HJ to the Arbietsdienst (Labour Service) but pretty sure he was in the SS before the war started.

FiSe

...and in NSDAP I believe? Judging by the badge on his tie.

Just out of curiosity, he was obviously an artillery man, as the incident with the 88 suggest, but looking at the types of the uniforms, was he selfpropelled gun crewman later on?
Any pictures of his mount?

Dachau, survivor of the Wiking/Nordland massacre in there, or just coincidence?

And lastly, I always wonder about those medals in general, how come that the ex-axis soldiers have their medals in their possession. I thought that anything which had something to do with 3rd Reich was removed from their uniforms as soon as they entered gate of POW camp - nat. insignia from the chest, shoulder straps, collar badges, medals... were those re-issued later on or was there some sort of 'medal-bank' with a name-box in in?
I can imagine that any medal was cool souvenir for folks over the ocean.
Just curious, it's the same with east and west POW.

Morlar

I have wondered about that too.

I think many medals would have been kept with family (along with the award docuemnt) and the ribbon worn.

Others including the IAB would not have survived captivity and may be replacements either official or otherwise.

The ones re-issued officially after 1957 of course were of a completely modified design.

I have read of isolated instances where earlier in the war prisoners in american captivity kept their insignia and even saluted in the customary manner. I doubt this policy lasted too long though it is possible items were taken and returned on release. In soviet captivity I'd expect nothing to survive having read accounts of even the gold fillings being removed with pliers, shoes /boots taken away and so on. This would of course be even worse in the case of an ss prisoner the vast majority of whom didn't survive soviet captivity.

marcsignal

Not really sure of those details Fise. My nephew (his Grandson) is caretaker of all of his stuff now, and has built up a chronology of his wartime service over the years, so I can find out over the next while. I'm not sure in what order he served in the relevant Divisions, but the Grandson does still have his original cuff titles etc, so maybe he will know. I do know he did still have his uniform after the war, because, believe it or not, my brother in law remembers it still being in the house as he grew up in the late 50s. In fact I believe it was lost after it was loaned to someone for a costume party, and never returned.

Morlar wrote: »

I think many medals would have been kept with family (along with the award docuemnt) and the ribbon worn.

yeah afaik that would seem likely, looking at those medals up close, they looked their age. I'll tryn get the nephew to take some detailed pics (front and back) and mail them over so I can post.

FiSe

Thanks.
And if he was serving as a crewman on one of those self propelled guns and if you can get a picture or two that would be a bonus /you can PM or email them to me, no rush/.
It would be nice to have a modelling project 'with a face'

marcsignal

2 A.R.P. men in Dublin during WW2, location unknown, possibly Dublin 4.
The man on the left is named as Bernard Tonge.



Air Raid Wardens in Dublin during WW2, Location and year unknown.


A.R.P. men survey damage after the North Strand Bombing May 31st 1941

marcsignal

Irish Army Vickers Machine Gun team in the 1930s, with German style helmets.

Snickers Man

Morlar wrote: »

They were croatian muslims if I am not mistaken - they fought with the germans in the balkans (while the serbs fought against the germans).

You are very much mistaken!! The Ustashe were Croatian Catholic Nationalists. Deadly enemies of the Serbs. They weren't too keen on Muslims either. Or Jews.

They were allied with the Nazis and ran a puppet state in Croatia following the German invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia. Their brutality was such that even the Germans complained about their worst excesses. Tito sorted them out rather brutally after the war, but the bitterness and inter-community hatred from the war, and indeed from many earlier wars preceding the big one, flared up again in the 1990s when Yugoslavia imploded.

An Irish connection is that one of the Croatian puppet state's big wigs, an Ustashe member called Andrija Artukovic hid out in Dublin under an assumed name for a while after the war before escaping to America.

Mahatma coat

the Ustasi did in fact have Bosnian Muslims in its Ranks

Wiki wrote:

The Ustaše used Starčević's theories to promote the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Croatia and recognized Croatia as having two major ethnocultural components: Catholic Croats and Muslim Croats.[17] The Ustaše deliberately sought to represent Starčević as being connected to their views, and falsely asserted that Starčević as a liberal never supported human equality or women's equality while portraying him as a racist.[18]

marcsignal

http://www.waffen-ss.no/SS-Waffen-Gebirgs-Handschar.htm

Mahatma coat

diddlybit

Apologies in advance if this isn't the place for this but, I really needed to share this with someone as it is possibly the strangest photo I've seen in a while.

http://gawker.com/#!5780316/a-picture-of-hitlers-mistress-in-blackface

Life magazine have just digitised Eva Braun's personal photos and they are just fascinating. Complete collection here...

http://www.life.com/image/109852765/in-gallery/57511#index/4

Morlar

diddlybit wrote: »

Apologies in advance if this isn't the place for this but, I really needed to share this with someone as it is possibly the strangest photo I've seen in a while.

http://gawker.com/#!5780316/a-picture-of-hitlers-mistress-in-blackface

Life magazine have just digitised Eva Braun's personal photos and they are just fascinating. Complete collection here...

http://www.life.com/image/109852765/in-gallery/57511#index/4

Yep saw that in the independent today. Not that unusual to see a blackened face from the 1930's era though.

Life magazine also has a very impressive Third Reich Colour photo series, I read that they have software that trawls the web using image recognition to catch anyone posting them without their permission however

tricky D

Morlar wrote: »

... I read that they have software that trawls the web using image recognition to catch anyone posting them without their permission however

http://www.tineye.com does this. It won't catch all images but it's still pretty good.

diddlybit

Morlar wrote: »

Not that unusual to see a blackened face from the 1930's era though.

True. My incredulity was best phrased by the commentator on Gawker that descibed it as, "Wait, so it's a Nazi woman dressed as a Jewish man who himself is impersonating black people by wearing blackface. Great."

FiSe

Morlar wrote: »

Yep saw that in the independent today. Not that unusual to see a blackened face from the 1930's era though.

Life magazine also has a very impressive Third Reich Colour photo series, I read that they have software that trawls the web using image recognition to catch anyone posting them without their permission however

Jaeger file it's called /google: jaeger file source:life

Impressive stuff

Morlar

Most are propaganda shots (and not all of them Communist) but some of these are quite good, never seen an anti-tank rifle used in air defence:



http://www.themysteryworld.com/2010/11/red-army-during-world-war-ii-109-pics.html

marcsignal

Posted the last 3 of these before, but came across some more.

Police and Officials survey damage to a house in Rathdown Park Terenure after German bombs fell in the early hours of January 2nd 1941

Further info Here

BlackEdelweiss

Not quite WW2 but still a good advert for German wartime manufacturing standards.

marcsignal

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

Not quite WW2 but still a good advert for German wartime manufacturing standards.

Great pic ! There must have been quite a few MP40s knocking around Lybia after WW2. Would love to know where the guy in the pic got his.

Morlar

marcsignal wrote: »

Great pic ! There must have been quite a few MP40s knocking around Lybia after WW2. Would love to know where the guy in the pic got his.

Here are some pics of Libya under the Deutsche Afrika-Korps :

http://www.militaria-archive.com/Luftwaffe-DAK/index.html


& reverse

marcsignal

Morlar wrote: »

Here are some pics of Libya under the Deutsche Afrika-Korps :

http://www.militaria-archive.com/Luftwaffe-DAK/index.html

Hats off for all the work you've done putting that site together Morlar, it really is first class.

I particularly like the way you've included the flip side of the photos. The handwritten captions are great and add a human element that would otherwise go unnoticed.

BlaasForRafa

Morlar wrote: »

Here are some pics of Libya under the Deutsche Afrika-Korps :

Is that photo giving a location of Misirata? ie where the most intense of the current fighting in Libya is going on?

Also nice pic of the guy with the MP40! That magazine receiver looks a bit banged up though :eek:

Morlar

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

Is that photo giving a location of Misirata? ie where the most intense of the current fighting in Libya is going on?

Also nice pic of the guy with the MP40! That magazine receiver looks a bit banged up though :eek:

Yes a lot of the photos are from there. I got those about 2 yrs ago and had to look it up on the map. I believe they spelled it differently but it is the same place. Also Tripoli and Bengazi I believe, as well as Italy and Greece.

colorwarphotos

hi guys.
I just wanted to let you know.
I changed the name of my forum today.
the new name and address is PIXPAST.com

Thanks and best wishes.
Ian

www.pixpast.com
sharing our photographic past

Number Nine

Waffen-SS Obersturmbannführer Hans Dorr Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.Holding a Kar98k with a Zf41 scope.

Dorr served with the 5. SS-Panzer-Division Wiking and was a commander of the SS-Regiment Germania. He was wounded 16 times during WWII and died at a Field hospital near Judenburg only a month before the war's end

Number Nine

Number Nine

German Hitec Communication Equipment



Russian Hitec Mine Clearance Equipment

Morlar

The Atlantic is running a series showing photographs of WW2 which they plan on updating weekly. I'd highly recommend it :

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/ww2.html

The first 2 installments are in place 'Prelude to War' and '1939 Poland & The Winter War':



Four Nazi troops sing in front of the Berlin branch of the Woolworth Co. store during the movement to boycott Jewish presence in Germany, in March, 1933. The Hitlerites believe the founder of the Woolworth Co. was Jewish.



Japaneese executing Chineese prisoners



'Three hundred fascist insurgents were killed in this explosion in Madrid, Spain, under the five-story Casa Blanca building, on March 19, 1938. Government loyalists tunneled 600 yards over a six-month period to lay the land mine that caused the explosion. (AP Photo) '



German troops marching into the city of Bromberg (the German name for the Polish city of Bydgoszcz) found several hundred German nationals dead from Polish sniper fire. The snipers were equipped with arms by the retreating Polish forces. Bodies are shown on a forest road, September 8, 1939



A ten-year-old Polish girl named Kazimiera Mika mourns over her sister's body. She was killed by German machine-gun fire while picking potatoes in a field outside Warsaw, Poland, in September of 1939.




A Swedish volunteer, "somewhere in Northern Finland," protects himself from the sub-zero arctic cold with a mask over his face on February 20, 1940, while on duty against the Russian Invaders.

Morlar

Taken from 'The Atlantic - a retrospective in 20 weekly parts'
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/ww2.html

London's Westminster Bridge and the Houses of parliament, shrouded in darkness, after the great black-out began, on August 11, 1939. This blackout was the first trial conducted by the Home Office, in preparation for possible German air raids.




Spoils of war -- captured Soviet tanks and cars, along a road in a snow covered forest on January 17, 1940. Finnish troops had just overpowered an entire Soviet division.




German Chancellor and dictator Adolf Hitler consults a geographical survey map with his general staff including Heinrich Himmler (left) and Martin Bormann (right) at an undisclosed location in 1939.

Ping Chow Chi

There are some great photo's in there. Thankyou

Tabnabs

German and Norwegian officers in courses at the Winter School of Infantry in March 1939. Number 2 from the left is Otto Ruge. Then the two German officers, Müller and Hofbauer. At least Hofbauer came back to Norway after 9 April


Germans bury their dead in the Solheim Cemetery on 13 April 1940. Fallen Norwegian soldiers from Hellen Fortress was buried in the Solheim Cemetery later the same day


German light cruiser Köln on April 9th 1940


1st May 1940 German reinforcements arrive in Bergen


“SCHNELLBOOT” German torpedo boat.


HMS Venturer (P68) Read about her action against U-864 here


Panic as the air raid sirens sound


Men of the B-35 Company – Bjørn West; “Fana-troppen” resistance group arrive in Bergen armed and in uniform to oversee the peaceful transition back to Norwegian rule.


After the war, the round up of the Nasjonal Samling (National Socialist Party) members begins.


More NS members being escorted for questioning.


Back to the Fatherland. For practical reasons, a division of German naval men - enlisted and officers - have been ordered to stay back after the liberation. These men were then returned to Germany.

Belfast

Captured American B-17 used by the Luftwaffe

marcsignal

some great pics up lately ! thanks all for posting

I just spent the last 10 days in Germany (Dachau and surrounds).
Here's a pic of a memorial to WW2 Veterans from the village of Kleinberghofen, near Dachau.
I was having an evening meal with a mate there who's associated with a veterans organisation. The pic below is up on the wall of the local Beer Kellar, where the association still have their meetings. A cross beneath any particular soldiers photo, signifies the man was killed during the war.

colorwarphotos

a new scan from today from my private color slide collection 1935 to 1945.
Here is a private color slide taken of the State Opera House in Vienna Austria 1941.
Its so cool to see this history in colour...
enjoy.
Ian