Photos Colour and Colourised Photos of WW2 & earlier conflicts

The cruisers Furutaka, Kinugasa, Aoba, and Kako formed the 6th Cruiser Division of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The cruisers succeeded in the Battles of Guam, Wake Island, Rabaul, survived the Coral Sea, but only Aoba would survive beyond 1942.

British tanks passing through the main square of Portomaggiore near Ferrara,which was captured by troops of the 8th Army, during the Italian campaign , 20 April 1945.


This is photograph NA 24367 from the collections of the Imperial War Museum.
Photographer : Wooldridge (Sgt), No 2 Army Film & Photographic Unit.
Resolution : 796X800 pixels
Photo source : Wikimedia Commons
Licensing : The original black and white image is in the public domain, free of copyrighs.
Restored and colourised by Nikos Hatzitsirou.

The Polish Navy destroyer ORP Krakowiak in WWII

Pfc. Robert Leigh, a rifleman with B Company/329th Infantry/83rd Division, and his collection of enemy weapons taken from the Germans by the 83rd Infantry Division during the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest.

The Battle of Hürtgen Forest was a series of fierce battles fought from September 19 to December 16 1944 between American and German forces. It would be the longest battle on German ground during World War II. When the battle was over, American forces had suffered 33,000 casualties…9,000 of which were not related to combat

The Wehrmacht in Paris

June 14, 1940 and one of the iconic photographic shots of World War II. German troops parade down Avenue Foch, very close to the Arc de Triomphe. Generalleutnat Kurt von Briesen, commander of the German 30th Infantry Division salutes the passing military column. The so-called Battle of France was dying out and the parade of the German army in the City of Light was the corollary to a brilliant campaign on the Western Front. The German 30th Infantry Division was approaching Paris from the north, but its original intention was to bypass the city and continue the pursuit of the retreating French forces to the south. When the division commander, Kurt von Briesen, heard that Paris had been declared an "open city", he decided to send units to the outskirts of the city to check if the declaration was genuine. Those units reported that there was no further resistance and that all French forces had abandoned the city. At that point, von Briesen decided to change the line of advance of the troops from him and the route through the center of the city. When the advancing German units reached the Champs-Élysées, von Briesen decided to hold an impromptu parade, so the soldiers marched down the Champs-Élysées accompanied by a band, with von Briesen waving. The case of Paris in 1940 is an example of a true "open city". The French government and military forces had abandoned the city, with the French 7th Army in the lead, and there was no resistance to the approaching German forces. The German response to the French statement was appropriate. Since the city is not defended, the large industries, such as the Renault tank factory at Billancourt and the Schneider-Creusot armament factories, are intact and ready to produce weapons for the German occupiers.

An aerial view of Polish Navy destroyer ORP Krakowiak, 1941.

Royal New Zealand Air Force P-40 pilots sit on a Dodge weapons carrier, that is parked in front of a line-up of No. 2 Servicing Unit P-40N Kittyhawks.
P-40 '77' is loaded with a 500lbs bomb.
Torokina, Bougainville. 1944



RNZAF Museum photo
Colourised by Daniel Rarity

Artillery commissar of the Sumy partisan unit under the command of S.A. Kovpaka Alexey Ilyich Korenev (born 1887) near the 76 mm model 1927 regimental gun. AI. Korenev was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War of the first degree, and the Order of the Patriotic War of the second degree. April 1943 The Sumy partisan formation spent more than 10 thousand kilometers with battles in the rear of the Nazi troops, defeated the enemy garrisons in 39 settlements. The connection totaled about 2000 partisans. They were armed with 130 machine guns, 380 machine guns, 9 cannons, 30 mortars, 30 anti-tank rifles, rifles and other weapons. The Kovpak raids played an important role in the deployment of the partisan movement against the German occupiers.

Lieutenant Alex Vraciu, US Navy, stands proud next to his"killmarks". He shot down 5 Japanese aircraft in the "Marianas Turkey Shoot".

JUNE 19, 1944:
THE “TURKEY SHOOTING” IN THE MARIANAS.

We go back a year on our imaginary journey and return to Saipan, Mariana Islands. By this time some 50,000 US Marines and GIs had landed on the island and having gained local control of the air in the Mariana area, the Allies launched attacks on nearby Japanese airfields to maintain air supremacy. The US Navy raiding the Sea Islands had to be neutralized at all costs, no matter what the cost. Despite the already glaring Allied superiority, the Imperial Japanese Navy always remained aggressive, hoping to launch a devastating attack on the American fleets to improve their nation's bargaining position, or even reverse the fortunes of the war.

Superbly equipped and confident in its technological capabilities and the superiority of its radar, the U.S. The Navy was deliberately exposing itself to the Japanese plan: to lure the enemy navy within range of its land-based planes, so that they, in conjunction with the aircraft carriers and the rest of the imperial fleet, would annihilate it in the ultimate battle, which was so taste of Japanese strategy. To this end, a powerful air force had been based on the islands of Tinian, Saipan, Guam, and Rota, while the Japanese carrier mobile force, under the command of Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa, awaited the enemy's appearance at Tawitawi.

On June 19, 1944, the Japanese fleet made an appearance when the American fleet was located at 0500 in the morning. A first wave of attacks was launched, but the Japanese aircraft were slow to concentrate and radar gave the Hellcats the opportunity to intercept the Japanese almost 100 km from their objective. In what would be called the "Marianas turkey shoot" the American fighters decimated the attacking forces. The Japanese lost 480 Japanese aircraft to 49 Americans.

Paratroopers of the 17th Airborne Division are briefed for their first and only Airborne mission of World War II known as Operation Varsity.

The next day’s jump would find them across the Rhine River in March of 1945. The 17th Airborne participated in its first and only airborne operation dropping alongside the British 6th Airborne Division as part of Operation Varsity. Their mission was to capture the village of Diersfordt and clear the rest of the Diersfordter Wald of any remaining German forces in order to aid the Allied ground forces in their advancement.

The “Golden Talons” of the 17th Airborne completed their mission and helped make Operation Varsity a success, but the cost of their first jump would be high with these brave paratroopers suffering a total of 1,346 casualties in five days of fighting…including 430 killed in action

The Allied landing and Pliofilm technology

US soldiers aboard a US Coast Guard assault transport shortly before the voyage across the English Channel.

First days of June 1944. A detail that stands out in this photograph is that the rifles are protected in plastic wrap, which was called Pliofilm. Pliofilm was invented by Harold J. Osterhof at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in the early 1930s and was first marketed in 1934. The product found early use as a food wrap, its very low oxygen permeability Helped keep food fresh. Its adhesion and better stability in a range of humidities was an advantage over previously used cellulose films; Pliofilm became as popular as cellophane in 1937 and had replaced cellulose films by 1942.

Pliofilm could also function as shrink wrap and was marketed as a means of resealing bottles (it was advised to place Pliofilm on a rack). embroidery and heat it while turning the bottle). The material was also used to make aprons and protective sleeves to protect factory workers from dangerous substances. Pliofilm saw widespread use during World War II as a means of protecting tools and engines during long distance shipments. For aviation parts a modified product was produced; A chemical known as RMF was added in amounts of 1 to 5% to make the product less susceptible to deterioration by ultraviolet light. RMF caused dermatitis in workers who came into contact with it.

The United States Public Health Service investigated the factories involved and recommended that workers wear protective sleeves made from regular Pliofilm. The manufacturing process also caused workers to be exposed to benzene. A study of Pliofilm workers at Goodyear plants in Akron and St. Marys, Ohio, between 1936 and 1976, was used as the basis for determining the cancer-dependent factor and occupational exposure standards for benzene.

The United States Armed Forces used Pliofilm to waterproof firearms during the amphibious landings of World War II. The sleeves were produced in three sizes to fit pistols, rifles and machine guns and were sealed by tying a knot in the sleeve or using an elastic band. The Pliofilm generally trapped enough air to keep the gun afloat if dropped in water. Because the sleeve prevented the use of the normal weapon sling, some troops made ad-hoc slings out of ropes that could be used over the Pliofilm. The material was thin enough that you could rip the bag when you were on land, but it was waterproof and fairly durable. Most of this material was prepared during Operation Overlord, semi transparent, but later they also came in an olive green variant.

The Houston Chronicle series "D-Day In Color" noted that Pliofilm wrapped around weaponry is evident in an image of US Army infantry at the Normandy landings

Captain Don Gentile of the 336th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group in front of his P-47.


Two victories on the scoreboard indicate this photo was taken before the January 5th, 1944 mission when he shot down a single FW 190.
The nose art on the cowling was applied first to 42-7884 but when he switched to 42-8659, he had the painted cowling swapped to his new plane.
Colour by Renee Colours

Georgy Zhukov and the "Victory Parade", June 24, 1945.

It is the "Victory Parade" in Moscow, it is ten o'clock on the morning of June 24, 1945, two horsemen appeared at the gate of the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin making their entry into the Red Square of Moscow. Then one of them came to the corner of Kuibysheva Street: it was Marshal Georgy Zhukov, who began to trot his white horse along the cobblestones of the square, along the facade of the GUM Stores, which boasted the insignia of the Soviet republics, to review the troops, while the Glinka march sounded, played by fifteen hundred military musicians. It was raining, and the water slipped off the visors of the troop caps on that gray and jubilant day.

Then, Marshal Konstantin Rokossovski, also on horseback, caught up with Zhukov in front of the popular stores adorned with banners, while the Red Army soldiers watched the horseman's martial step, aware that they were the protagonists of one of the historical moments for the Soviet Union. .

At that moment, a young photographer armed with his Leica camera was on the other side of the square, to the right of Lenin's mausoleum where the Soviet leaders were: it was Yevgeny Khaldei, who photographed Zhukov as he passed Saint Basil's Cathedral , and, a few seconds later, he pressed the shutter again to capture the scene in which the marshal, holding the reins and with his eyes on the red flag that covered the baroque facade of the History Museum, passed with his steed while his four helmets was in the air...

Luftwaffe ace Gerhard Thyben,

a globetrotter on Colombian soil Gerhard Thyben, one of the youngest aces of the Luftwaffe was born in Kiel, Germany, in 1922. He joined the Luftwaffe in 1940 and in the summer of 1941 he earned the pilot's badge. His first operational assignment was to a fighter wing on the Eastern Front as an enlisted pilot. Just 2 days after his 21st birthday, on February 16, 1943 he claimed his first aerial victory when he shot down a medium bomber, a Douglas Boston. However, a period of frustration came when in March and April no other kills could be recorded. His luck improved, when in May 1943 he shot down a Supermarine Spitfire. He honed his skills and, by January 1944, Thyben had 37 victories.

In June 1944, he transferred to the "Green Hearts" fighter wing to lead the 7th Squadron. In September 1944, his victory list exceeded 100. He was awarded the Knight's Cross in December after 116 aerial victories. His success continued with a four-victory mission on the 21st and a five-victory mission on the 22nd. He received the Oak Leaves on his Knight's Cross in April 1945 and on May 8, 1945, just before the war ended in Europe, intercepted and shot down a Petlyakov tactical bomber. By the end of World War II, Thyben had flown 385 missions and shot down 157 Allied aircraft.

Thyben surrendered to the British after his last mission. After his release in 1946, he emigrated to Spain, going through a thousand adventures, after spending a few weeks in the courtyards and dungeons, and presenting his papers to the authorities, he obtained a residence permit. It didn't take him long to understand that it was impossible for a German, ex-combatant, to fly in Spain, so the possibility of traveling to South America arose, specifically to go to Argentina. Arriving in 1949, he built up a small but successful auto repair and painting business, but longed to fly again. A frequent client, Adolf Galland, a resident of Argentina, mentioned that there were opportunities to fly in Colombia. Thyben bet everything again in pursuit of a new destination, moving to Bogotá. Once in the Colombian capital, he lived through the hardships imposed by the Civil Aeronautics, however, he aroused the interest of the Air Force Officers who were there on commission.

At Palanquero, in the Magdalena Valley, he tested Colombian Republic P-47 Thunderbolts for a year and also instructed Colombian Air Force fighter pilots. In 1955, he moved to Cali and instructed cadets at the Colombian Air Force Academy aboard Stearman PT-17, Texan T-6, and Beechcraft Mentor T-34 aircraft. Later, he worked for an air taxi subsidiary of Avianca, Colombia's national airline. He later became interested in aerial agricultural spraying and started his own business flying a variety of aircraft over rice and cotton fields. Having moved to Cali, he had a terrible accident and suffered extensive injuries to his legs, chest and face. After eight months and once recovered, he returned to work with Fumivalle in Valle del Cauca. There, he flew Piper Pawnee and Cessna -188s and sometimes moved to the coast flying a Thrush Commander. Thyben retired in 1978, but aviation was still a part of his life. In 1990, he built a Kit Fox and flew it many times before giving it to his son, Gerhard.

In 1994, the US Air Force War College invited Thyben to Maxwell, Alabama, USA. Not as a German pilot with 157 victories, but as a representative of Colombia (Gerhard Thyben was already nationalized) and of the Colombian Air Force. In May 2000, Thyben suffered a stroke and his health deteriorated considerably. Cali had been his home for 45 years. On September 4, 2006, Gerhard Thyben passed away.

Two Dutch girls, Ria Vermeulen and Ineke van Wijck write messages on a 1st Polish Armoured Division Sherman tank after the liberation of Breda, their hometown, Noord-Brabant Province, The Netherlands, (likely late October) 1944.
Because the Shermans, soon, pass through neighboring villages and districts, people use them as a 'message carrier' letting their, soon to be liberated family and friends, know, that they were ok.

Polish Navy flying boat Lioré et Olivier LeO H-13 over Gdynia, Poland, 1925

Supermarine Spitfire Mark IXB, MH809 'LO-P' of No. 602 Squadron RAF being guided out from its dispersal at Ford, Sussex, for a fighter sweep over occupied Europe. (Photo source - © IWM CH 12890) Broom (Cpl) RAF official photographer.



(Colour by RJM)

Lt. Gen Ulysses S. Grant, his friend Brigadier General John Rawlins (left), and an unknown lieutenant colonel in 1865.

Union Captain Cunningham poses next to the command tent in Bealeton, Va., 1863. Cunningham was a member of the staff of Brigadier General Thomas F. Meagher, who commanded a primarily Irish contingent during the Civil War.

Why did the Allies not declare war on the Soviets when they invaded Poland?
but on Germany?

Heinz Guderian presides over the German-Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk (present-day Brest, in Belarus), on September 22, 1939.

To his right, Generalleutnant Mauritz von Wiktorin - later discharged from the Army after the July 20 plot - and to his left, Soviet tank commander Semyon Moiseevich Krivoshein. On September 22, a joint parade of German and Soviet troops paraded through the occupied Polish city of Brest. The operation was actually a show of force before the Nazi high command ordered the mobilization of its forces behind the new German-Soviet border established and signed within the framework of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. That pact included a secret protocol that was discovered and published by the British after the end of the war. The USSR denied the existence of this secret protocol for more than 40 years, until it finally recognized it in 1989. In it, Hitler and Stalin shared Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland.

Regarding Poland, the pact stated that “the spheres of influence of Germany and the USSR will be limited by the line of the Narew, Vistula and San rivers”. The USSR invaded Poland from the east on September 17, 1939. On September 22, the Germans and Soviets met in the Polish town of Brześć Litewski (today Brest-Litovsk, in Belarus). The commander of the German forces was General Heinz Guderian, then in command of the XIX Army Corps.

Russian nationalists and communist users began denying the parade's existence in September 2009. They claimed that the alleged parade had actually been a withdrawal of German troops from that city, monitored by the Soviet commanders.

They tried to try another argument: to compare that joint parade with the Japanese and German surrender ceremonies to the Americans.

But it is clear that these are not comparable cases, starting from a most elementary fact: at Brest in 1939, the Germans and the Soviets were not surrendering to each other, but were celebrating their victory over the Poles.

At the height of the attempts to manipulate what was clearly an invasion of a sovereign nation, a Russian communist complained that the partition of Poland between Hitler and Stalin was described as "occupation", when in Belarus they call it "reunification".

But the Allies did not declare war on the Soviet Union as well, because that would be equivalent to foolishly converting the [temporary] Non-Aggression Treaty between Germany and Russia into a full alliance between the two. Fighting against two great states (three, soon, with Italy!) instead of one would have been a militarily ruinous decision for the allies, which, at the time (with the exception of Poland), were only Great Britain and France.

As much as the allies did not like the eastern invasion of Poland by the Russians, they had to put up with it, because the situation was what it was. (The "moral" rings did not fall off, it must be said, at the end of the First World War, to split German Prussia in two, and hand over a piece of it, just for the sake of it, to a restituted Poland (subjected, until then , to the Russian Empire), in order to create an economically viable firewall (exit to the sea) to prevent revolutionary contact between the Russian soviets, which had taken power, and those of Berlin that were spreading, in a threatening way for the capitalist order, throughout the German territory.

They also put up with it, later on, in 1944 (the same allies that some believe are guided by principle, by a beautiful extramaterial morality...), not to help and cruelly let the Polish rebels, who rose up against the German occupation, die during the insurrection. of Warsaw, since this disturbed Stalin's plans, very snubbed, he flatly refused when they asked him to allow the British planes to land, which had to drop food and ammunition, on the Polish insurgents, on the banks of the Vistula occupied by the Russian troops. In short, what I have come to say is that declarations of war are not made for moral or principled reasons.

t the dawn of the Second World War, the interests of the powers involved prevailed over any other consideration, measured, always, with great care.

These calculations are not, of course, exempt from error, many historians argue about whether or not Roosevelt yielded a great deal to Stalin in Yalta (remember that the latter had, at that time, almost within range of half of Europe under his tanks and that, at past bull, it's always easy to talk...), but from there to committing the madness of simultaneously declaring war on the Third Reich and the USSR, there is an abyss.