Photos WW2 British & Commonwealth Forces

This Panzer III was comprehensively destroyed in the street fighting for the town of Centuripe, Sicily, during the drive for Messina, July-August 1943.
Its turret has been flipped and the engine deck detached, revealing the tops of the two cooling fans housed therein.
(IWM)

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Strict rationing in Great Britain during WW2 meant that most "luxury" foodstuffs were scarce.
However...this ship's cook proudly shows the camera the traditional British Christmas pudding he has made for his shipmates. December 1943.
This was / is a very rich mixture of suet, fruit and spices etc., usually laced with rum!
Back then, the mixture was rolled into a ball, wrapped in muslin, and steam-cooked for hours.
It was served with a sweet white brandy sauce...and a topped off with some flaming brandy.
Variations of the traditional pudding are still eaten in British homes to this day on Christmas Day.

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t was a tradition in both the Royal and Merchant navies that a Christmas tree was attached to the masthead of ships in port at Christmastime.
Here, an able seaman is about to climb to climb the shrouds to attach the tree to the masthead of HMS Turquoise, an armed trawler, whilst in port at Harwich, December 1943.
As a matter of interest, a friend of mine who served in the RN in the 70s-80s told me that the tradition was still maintained during his sevice, but became somewhat less prevalent as modern warships had antennae and radar-arrays rather than the masts of old.
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(IWM)

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The ATA's ( Air Transport Auxiliary ) contribution was vital in delivering new planes from the factory to the front line as well as collecting and returning damaged planes to maintenance units.
It was a hugely complex exercise in logistics and planning.
At one point it was referred to as the "Foreign Legion of the air" due to the great many nationalities involved.
And quite a few of the pilots and flight engineers who ferried the aircraft were women.
In a sense they were test Pilot's often required to deliver brand new planes that had never flown before direct from the factory. In some instances a new type of plane they had never seen before using a handbook called - Ferry Pilots Notes, as guidance through the hazards.
Even though they only operated around the UK (until D-Day) hazards still existed, barrage balloons tricky weather conditions usually without radio and fully functioning navigational instruments, and unarmed.
173 ATA's lost their lives including the pioneering aviator Amy Johnson.
Captions for photos below.
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Allied women pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary service. Their job done, four female ATA pilots (three Americans and one Polish) leaving an airfield near Maidenhead, 19 March 1943. They are from left to right: Roberta Sandoz of Washington; Kay Van Doozer from Los Angeles; Jadwiga Piłsudska from Warsaw; and Mary Hooper from Los Angeles.
Creator Trievnor J (Plt Off)
Royal Air Force official photographer
Production date 1943-03-19
© IWM CH 8945
Mary Ellis standing of front of one of her beloved Spitfires about to be delivered to the Front Line.
She had her first flying lesson in 1938, and flew for pleasure until 1941 when she heard a BBC radio appeal for women pilots to join the auxiliary service so service pilots could be released for combat duty.
The largest aircraft she flew solo was the Wellington bomber. She successfully delivered many aircraft with just a map, a compass and a stopwatch.....Incredible.
Aviationwriter.org
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Original wartime caption: (Picture issued 1943) The R.A.F. latest fighter - Typhoon - now fitted to carry two 500 lb. boms. Armourers prepare to load the Typhoon with its two 500 lb. bombs.
Source: IWM

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A British soldier examines the wreck of a Heinkel He 111 brought down by A/A on the coastal sector in the vicinity of Ardea, part of the Metroplitan City of Rome, Italy, June 1944.

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They might not have carried rifles, but signallers were a vital cog in the Allied military machine as it was imperative that lines of communication be kept open at all times.
Here, some British linemen have shinned up some telegraph poles with the aid of leg-irons to do some maintenance work on the wires.
XIII Corps area, Scarperia, Italy, March 1945.

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Exhausted Canadian tank crewmen of the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade catch up on some much needed sleep in a shallow scrape amidst some scattered jerrycans and alongside their Sherman Vs (M4A4s) following the assault on the Gustav Line, Cassino area, 19 May, 1944.
(IWM)

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Curious British/Commonwealth personnel inspect a wrecked Hawker Hurricane in North Africa - 1942
Appears to be a MkIIC variant, Note Hispano 20mm cannons in the wings
LIFE Magazine Archives - Bob Landry Photographer

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An RAF airman with a quadruple .303-in Browning machine gun mounting used for airfeild defence at Lille-Seclin, France, 1940.
Source: IWM

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3 dead British motorcycle troops lay on the ground during the Battle of France around May 1940, Allied forces were nearly destroyed by Hitler's surprise plan early in World War II and were completely overwhelmed though some fought bravely especially French soldiers it was to no avail and would take another 4 years before returning on mainland European soil.

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This dual-purpose 88mm Flak 36 has been neutralised...so the Churchill can now drive past it with impunity!
Vicinity of the River Ventena, central Italy, September 1944.

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An M4A2 of the British Eighth Army drives past during the Allied victory parade in Tunis, May 1943.
This tank has the early production "Combination Gun Mount, M34" with the narrow rotor shield.
(IWM)

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Senior British officers including Lieutenant-General Sir Richard McCreery and Brigadier-General Sir David Dawnay in conversation whilst behind them their staff officers examine the derelict hulk of a Tiger 1 in the vicinity of Riccione on Italy's Adriatic coast, October 1944.
The Tiger has been comprehensively destroyed, so much so that it is missing its mantlet complete with 88mm gun.
Also visible are multiple strikes on the frontal arc which suggests that perhaps the tank was used as a target whilst immobile?

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