Photos From Korea to the Falkland Islands - colourised images of conflicts after World War II.

US Navy Corsair fighters of VF-114 'Executioners' prepare to take off from the deck of the USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) of Navy Task Force 77, operating off the southwest coast of Korea in 1951/52.

View attachment 195116
It's amazing that just 6 years earlier, the Corsair was considered a world class carrier based air superiority fighter and by 1950 was relegated to only close air support. Technology was moving fast!
 
This is Major William B. Norris, formerly of the 453rd BG, having flown B-24s in over 30 missions with 8th AF, he stayed committed to the Air Force post war, doing high-altitude testing in various aircraft including F-104's. Here he is seen photographed just prior to such a test wearing an MC1 Pressure suit, with MB-5 helmet configuration.

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Photo: Robert Norris Family Collection - All Rights Reserved.

Image Repair & Colourisation - Nathan Howland @HowiColour.
 
US Marine's M-26 Pershing tanks scramble around the edge of a burning Korean village lately occupied by North Koreans, to get at an enemy tank delaying their advance. 4 September 1950
(Original caption)

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If this date is correct, then we think this could be an M-26 of the US 72nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Infantry Div., during the American counteroffensive of September 3–5 west of Yongsan.

(Source - NARA - photographer Sgt. Frank C Kerr USMC)

(Colorised by Benoit Vne from France.)
 
An M26 Pershing tank of the 72nd Tank Battalion, supporting troops of the Republic of Korea Army (ROK) units and soldiers of the 9th Infantry Regt., US 2nd Division along the banks of the Naktong River during the fighting at Yongsan. September 3, 1950.
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The Second Battle of Naktong Bulge was an engagement between United Nations (UN) and North Korean (NK) forces early in the Korean War from September 1 to September 15, 1950, along the Naktong River in South Korea. It was a part of the Battle of Pusan Perimeter, and was one of several large engagements fought simultaneously. The battle ended in a victory for the United Nations after large numbers of United States and Republic of Korea (ROK) troops repelled a strong North Korean attack.

Source - NARA FILE #: 111-SC-347856 Photographer, Cpl. Thomas Marotta. (Army)

(Colourised by Doug)
 
A US Marine M-26 Pershing tank grinds up heights along Naktong and gives close support to Marines driving enemy backward. 3 September 1950
North Koreans used anti-tank guns, tanks and automatic weapons in hours-long fire fight before Marines broke them.

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The bulk of the M26 (and M26A1) force saw action during the Korean war, from 1950 to 1953. The first units to be called were the four infantry division stationed in Japan, only counting a few M24 Chaffees and howitzer support models. The M24s were quickly found no match for the numerous T-34/85s fielded then by the North Koreans. However, three M26s were found in storage at the Tokyo US Army ordnance depot, and were quickly brought back in service with fortune-made fanbelts. They were formed into a provisional tank platoon by Lieutnant Samuel Fowler. They were deployed in mid-July, first seeing action when defending Chinju. However, their engines overheated and died out in the process. By the end of July 1950 more divisions were sent, but still counting mostly medium tanks, M4s of the latest types. Many M26s were hastily reconditioned and shipped. By the end of the year, some 305 Pershings managed to arrive in Korea.

(Source - NARA FILE# : 127-GK-234A-A2290)

(Colorised by Gabriel Bîrsanu from Romania)
 
US crewmen stand on their M4A3E8 Sherman tank stranded trying to ford the Pukhan River, April 7th, 1951. A recovery vehicle pulled it out of the water and the tank and crew were soon back in service.

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(Colourised by Royston Leonard)
 
Signaller or radio operator 3/4001123 Private Brian Geoffrey "Lofty" Heweston , attached to 'A' Company, 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), of West Brunswick, Victoria (Melbourne) contacts D Company Headquarters on his field wireless, Pusan, South Korea, ca. 1950-51.

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In mid-July 1950 General Douglas MacArthur was appointed Supreme Commander of United Nations forces in Korea and wasted no time in requesting the deployment of 3RAR to the peninsula.

The Australian government agreed, but stipulated that the battalion would deploy only when fully ready. The battalion was brought up to strength over the next month and a half with reinforcements from K Force, an Australian government initiative calling for volunteers to serve a three-year period in the army, including a year in Korea.

In early September, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Green took command of the battalion and put his men through an intensive training program.

In a brilliant master stroke, General MacArthur landed marines of the 1st Marine Division at Inchon on 15 September. Two days later, ROK, US, and British troops took part in the breakout from the Pusan perimeter. One week later, Seoul had been recaptured and UN units began their advance towards the North Korean border.

Anyone out there able to shed any light on 'Lofty's story beyond this photograph?

Phillip O Hobson, photographer
Gift of The Age newspaper, 1976
Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria
Text courtesy of the Australian War Memorial

(Colourised by Benjamin Thomas)
 
Special Forces Captain Vernon Gillespie Jr. at firing range, 1964.
Special Forces Commander, Buon Brieng Base, Vietnam.

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The Degar, also known as the Montagnard, are the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The term Montagnard means "mountain people"

As the Vietnam War began to loom on the horizon, both South Vietnamese and American policy makers sought to begin training troops from minority groups in the Vietnamese populace. The U.S. Mission to Saigon sponsored the training of the Degar in unconventional warfare by American Special Forces. These newly trained Degar were seen as a potential ally in the Central Highlands area to stop Viet Cong activity in the region and a means of preventing further spread of Viet Cong sympathy. Later, their participation would become much more important as the Ho Chi Minh trail, the North Vietnamese supply line for Viet Cong forces in the south, grew. The U.S. military, particularly the Special Forces, developed base camps in the area and recruited the Degar. Because of their quiet resolve and skills in tracking, roughly 40,000 fought alongside American soldiers and became a major part of the U.S. military effort in the Highlands and I Corps, the northernmost region of South Vietnam.

Outside of southeast Asia, the largest community of Montagnards in the world is located in Greensboro, North Carolina, US.

Originally Black & White
Cleaned up & Colourised by Paul Reynolds
 
M-46 Patton tank and crew passing through a village near the Kumho-gang River, a tributary of the Naktong in southern Korea., c.16 September 1950.

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The M46 was armed with a 90mm maingun and two .30 caliber M1919A4 machineguns.

(Source - U.S. Army Signal Corps)

(Colourised by Allan White from Australia)
 
Lt. J.J. Schneider, St. Louis, sits on the wing of a F-51 Mustang fighter plane of 18th FBG, 12th FBS with Capt. J.B. Hannon, right, from Omaha, Nebraska at an airfield in Korea (possibly Chinhae Air Base) on January 15, 1951.

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Between them is ‘Admiration Dog,’ the mascot of their wing, who it was said, sometimes flew with the airmen.

Lt. Schneider had completed 100 missions in Korea since June 27 1950 (two days after the outbreak of the war). He was soon due to return to the U.S. and planned to wed Miss Betty Rosholm, who was ‘Miss Omaha of 1950’.

Capt. Hannon was shot down in World War 2 over Germany, and was also shot down over Korea but escaped capture.

(Source - AP Photo/Jim Pringle)

From the start of the Korean War, the Mustang once again proved useful. A substantial number of stored or in-service F-51Ds were shipped, via aircraft carriers, to the combat zone and were used by the USAF, and the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF). The F-51 was used for ground attack, fitted with rockets and bombs, and photo-reconnaissance, rather than being as interceptors or "pure" fighters. After the first North Korean invasion, USAF units were forced to fly from bases in Japan, and the F-51Ds, with their long range and endurance, could attack targets in Korea that short-ranged F-80 jets could not. Because of the vulnerable liquid cooling system, however, the F-51s sustained heavy losses to ground fire.

(Colourised by Doug)
 
Australian Pilot Officer Randall (Randy) Green, a former member of No. 23 (City of Brisbane) Squadron RAAF prepares for a mission against targets in North Korea with No 77 Squadron RAAF.
The nose art on his aircraft reads "the Korean Kid'.

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This Meteor, A77-316, was normally flown by Sergeant James C Kichenside, who served in Kimpo, Korea, from March until September 1952, completing 148 operational missions.

Sgt Kichenside was the youngest pilot in the squadron and was known as 'the Korean Kid'. The ground crew of 77 Squadron decided to organise the painting of the logo on A77-316, after which a brief handing-over ceremony was held to 'present' the aircraft to Sgt Kichenside. It was standard practice that after a period of consolidation, and, whenever practical, a pilot could sign for and fly the same aircraft consistently.
He flew many missions in this aircraft until its last flight on 27 August 1952, when a mix-up meant he flew A77-258.
Aircraft A77-316 was piloted by Flying Officer Oelof M. Bergh RAF, an officer flying with 77 Squadron as part of an RAF exchange program to bolster the depleted numbers of operationally trained pilots. On this occasion the aircraft A77-316 was hit by ground fire, F/O Bergh ejected safely but spent the remainder of the conflict as a prisoner of war.

"Stories of Oelof are legion. He was one of the few RAF pilots who was chosen to fly in the Commonwealth Squadron in Korea.
He spent 18 months in the hands of the North Koreans who tried to break him. He spent most of his time up to his neck in freezing water in a pit. Oelof would always make light of this, although I believe he never fully recovered from the experience. He said that the North Koreans unusually sent him back before the end of the war as they couldn't put up with the hard time he was giving them!"
(Wing Commander Mick A F Ryan - Retd)

Oelof M. Bergh died 15th May 1983, aged just 58
Randall Green died 16th September 2008
Squadron Leader James C. Kichenside, RAAF, whilst commanding the Antarctic Flight at Mawson Station in 1960, had a glacier named after him.

(Source - Australian War Memorial collection JK0351)

(Colorized by Tom Thounaojam from India)
 
President Lyndon B. Johnson and a turkey presented to him by Senator Everett Dirksen and representatives from the poultry industry and farm organizations, in the Fish Room of the White House - November 16, 1967

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(Colour by Jecinci)
 

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