Photos Colour and Colourised Photos of WW2 & earlier conflicts

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Captain Reinhard "Teddy" Suhren taking a break from his duties aboard U-564. So much for the idea that submarine officers and crew couldn't have a good time if they had a sense of humor.

Teddy Suhren was one of the most renowned U-boat captains of World War II (1939-1945). His personality, built on great charisma, a good sense of humor, and a healthy dose of rebelliousness, made him a highly competent officer in the German Navy. According to records, as first officer and commander, he was credited with sinking nearly 300,000 tons of Allied shipping, plus another 30,000 tons of damaged vessels that managed to escape.

He was also the U-boat commander who successfully launched the most torpedoes during the entire war.His underwater exploits earned him a name within the Third Reich, although he did not subscribe to the National Socialism imposed by Adolf Hitler. Nevertheless, thanks to his victories, he was able to mingle with the country's elite, even once dancing a lighthearted swing with Eva Braun, the secretary and future wife of the German dictator.

 

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During the Second World War, the Luftwaffe anchored a series of Rettungsbojen … rescue buoys … along the Continental side of the English Channel. These floating shelters were intended to give downed airmen somewhere dry and relatively secure while they waited for recovery.

The buoys were painted for visibility and equipped with bunks, rations, fresh water, medical supplies and signalling equipment. Some could hold four men, others more. In the Channel, where cold water and strong tides killed quickly, they offered a slim but real chance of survival.

The RAF introduced its own rescue buoys in response. Air Sea Rescue units from both sides operated in the same waters, often racing weather, fuel limits and enemy patrols. The buoys were neutral in function but not in consequence. German and Allied airmen used them alike. Rescue and freedom or becoming a POW depended entirely on who reached them first!

If you were fortunate enough to climb inside one, it became a waiting game. You were out of the sea, but not yet safe. Rescue depended on visibility, patrol routes and chance. The Channel decided the rest.

 

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Paratroopers of Canada’s only airborne battalion stand in field camouflage during operations in Northwest Europe, 1944–45. Trained to drop behind enemy lines, they fought from Normandy to the Rhine.

 

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General Erwin Rommel (1941).

 

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German officers in a trench observe a possible battle on the Eastern Front through a telescope (1941).

 

[Conhoon]

March 1917
Serving hot stew to the troops of the Lancashire Fusiliers in the front line trench from a container. Opposite Messines, near Ploegsteert Wood.

(Photo source - © IWM Q 4843)
Brooke, John Warwick (Lieutenant) (Photographer)
Colourised by Doug

 

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Josef Niemietz (born 1914), from Oberglau, Silesia, joined the Wehrmacht as an infantry recruit in 1933. By 1943, he was commanding an anti-aircraft platoon of the 3rd Company/332nd Tank Destroyer Battalion of the 332nd Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht at Kursk.

During the Battle of Kursk, on July 6, 1943, upon seeing his company commander killed, Sergeant Major Niemietz assumed command and helped secure the left flank of the entire division against a large Soviet force. He was wounded in the action.

In the process, Niemietz and his men captured an officer and 80 enemy soldiers. Later, on July 8, 1943, Niemietz captured a significant high ground with three anti-aircraft guns.

During the following night, the Soviets launched an attack with 30 tanks that managed to capture a village. This was recaptured by the Germans the next morning, led by Niemietz.Over the course of these three days, Niemietz and his anti-aircraft company also shot down three enemy aircraft. For his actions, he was awarded the Knight's Cross on July 24, 1943.The photograph was probably taken between August and September 1943 after the awarding of the Knight's Cross. He also wears the Iron Crosses 1st and 2nd Class, the General Assault Badge, the Eastern Front Medal, and the Wound Medal in Black.

The two ribbons on the sleeves of his uniform indicate that he is a Hauptfeldwebel. This was known as the "mother of the company" or the Spies ("spear"). A Hauptfeldwebel was in charge of the administrative and logistical aspects of the company and of guard duty. He could authorize or revoke leave and punishments. The Company Officer, Leutnant (Lieutenant) or Hauptmann (Captain), had the final say, but as a rule, the Hauptfeldwebel's decision was accepted. For this reason, they were highly respected by the enlisted men.

Sergeant Major Niemietz returned home in August 1945 after four months of captivity. He died at the age of 87 in the Rhineland, Germany, on March 13, 2001, after a four-year battle with cancer.

 

[Conhoon]

March 1944
Entertaining the troops: Cinema was a popular form of recreation for men and women in uniform. Potential audience members (Corporal F Spink, Driver A J Harvey, Sapper E Thomas, Sapper J Dymott, Driver J Waite and Private H Gibson) talk with Corporal M A Moyse of the Army Kinematograph Service (AKS) at the entrance to the Anzio Ritz, a small dug-out cinema created for Fifth Army troops on the heavily-shelled Anzio Bridgehead in Italy.

(Photo source - © IWM NA 13256)
Spittle (Sergeant) No. 2 Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit
Colourised by Doug

 

[Conhoon]

THE BATTLE OF NEUVE CHAPELLE - March 1915
Troops of the Gordon Highlanders washing themselves in a yard of a house in Laventie, Hauts-de-France.

(Photo source - © IWM Q 90287)
Colourised by Doug

 

[Conhoon]

Personnel with captured Fokker D. VII aircraft of the German Air Force, Hounslow, Mddx., 1919.

Ground crew, other ranks, and a least one officer in front of captured Fokker DVII 6822/18 and others at Hounslow, handed over to Canada as war trophies.
Colour by RJM

 

[Redav]

A photograph shows Generaloberst Eduard Dietl visiting his mountain troops in the polar region. Captured in 1942, this image depicts the commander at the height of the war against the Soviet Union, overseeing operations across the Finnish and Norwegian borders.

 

[Redav]

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the "Desert Fox," pictured having a simple lunch inside his command vehicle during the North African campaign (circa 1941–1942). Known for his tireless energy and for leading from the front lines, Rommel often neglected formal meals, opting for quick rations like sandwiches or canned sardines to maintain his focus on the ongoing operations in the Libyan desert.

 

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German soldier tying up an Stg-44 assault rifle with a ZF-4 scope.

 

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German soldiers in the Ardennes (1944).

 

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A group of British and Indian officers of the 15th Ludhiana Sikhs stand in a French farmyard in July 1915. (British Library/Album/Alamy Stock Photo)

 

[Conhoon]

March 1917
Officers of the Royal Engineers (RE) cooking in the open air in a steel helmet over a brazier. Near Miraumont-le-Grand.

(Photo source - © IWM Q 4956)
Colourised by Doug

 

[Redav]

Croatian Cavalry Officers: The Eastern Front (Golubinskaya), Sept 1942
▪︎ location: Golubinskaya on Don, Soviet kolkhoz

(~80 km west of Stalingrad in a direct line)

▪︎ photo was taken at the end of September 1942

▪︎ in the middle of the photo are two Croatian officers, accompanied by the Germans

▪︎ on the left side of the Wehrmacht officer's cap, Croatians wear the "Linden Leaf" (the "Croatian Legion" emblem) tucked in

[An ancient Croatian symbol of home and longing, and the connection of blood with the soil, it was believed that the linden tree spread the scent of childhood spent on the land of our ancestors]

– (unknown) NDH-Cavalry Officer in the middle

▪︎ his cap is for Wehrmacht cavalry officers:

[Silver border on the crown and front of the cap and an inverted V of golden yellow color – the insignia of the cavalry in the Wehrmacht]

▪︎ on the left side of his uniform he wears Croatian decorations:

Military Order of the Iron Trefoil, 4th degree with oak branches

Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir, 1st degree

▪︎ he also wears the following German decorations:

Iron Cross 1st degree/Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse

Iron Cross 2nd degree/Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse

Infantry Assault Sign/Inf. - Sturmabzeichen

▪︎ Croatian legionnaires camped in Golubinskaya on Don for almost a month

▪︎ conducting exercises with German infantry weaponry and mechanization + exercises for performing in unified regiment formation

▪︎ waiting for freshmen/recruits and recovered fighters from the Homeland to fill the losses

▪︎ the final combat preparations, before the storm into the street fights in Stalingrad 🗡

 

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Lieutenant Erwin Rommel with his wife Lucía María Mollin (1918).

 

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Oberschütze Roberto Mericaechevarria armed with his MP40 submachine gun on the Eastern Front (1943).

 

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On March 3, 1945, several soldiers from the 69th Infantry Division, who had just fought the Germans on the Siegfried Line, were asked to describe their first experience under enemy fire. Their responses were varied and revealing; but despite their best efforts, these men could not fully convey the essence of the combat experience to those who had not been there. According to Private Fred I. Green, “It was unlike anything I had ever seen before.

On this picture is Private Fred I. Green, of Eton, Ohio, takes a break with his M1 Garand near Ramscheid, Germany, March 4, 1945. Note the Danish M1889 Krag rifle leaning against the wall behind him; this rifle was likely captured from the Danes in 1940 and put into service in Germany. Fred was with Company B, 1st Battalion, 273rd Infantry Regiment, 69th U.S. Infantry Division.