Photos Colour and Colourised Photos of WW2 & earlier conflicts

A CMP truck and motorcycle of 11th Royal Horse Artillery (Honourable Artillery Company), 1st Armoured Division, Tunisia, 22 April 1943.

13 October 1943
168th Infantry Regiment, 34 US Inf. Div. looking for possible snipers in Via Castello and the surrounding streets of Caiazzo, Italy - just north of the River Volturno.



The River Volturno in Campania was a line of defense for the Germans as they retreated following the Allied capture of Naples. This photograph was taken in the aftermath of the US Fifth Army's successful assault on the western sector of the river on 13th October 1943. This operation coincided with an attack in the east by elements of the British 8th Army. Both attacks forced the Germans to fall back to their next system of prepared defences on the Barbara Line.

Colourised by Paul Reynolds.

"Fox-Hole Buddies", 14 October 1943
"A Marine can share my fox-hole any day', says Rusty the Red Fox. Private Harry W. Weber, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. H.B. Weber of Skowhegan, ME does just that as he aims his rifle in the field at the Quantico, VA, Marine Base. Rusty is Private Weber's pet."



From the Photograph Collection (COLL/3948), Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections
Author USMC Archives from Quantico, USA

(Colourised by Royston Leonard)

Soldiers of Infanterie-Regiment 577 in Stalingrad. Near Red October works in October 1942.

Flight Lieutenant Walter Dring, commander of B Flight, No. 183 Squadron RAF, with his Typhoon Mark IB, R8884 HF-L, in a dispersal at Gatwick, Sussex.


Image IWM
ColourByRJM

Unteroffizier Alfred Döllefeld's Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 WNr.8086 "Gelbe 7", 9./Jagdgeschwader 54, after an emergency landing made due to engine damage. Eastern Front, January 28, 1942



(Colourised by Doug)

On the night of August 1, 1936, a single Ju 87A-0 (the 4th prototype built) was secretly loaded onto a German passengers ship which was leaving Hamburg on it's way to the Spanish port of Cadiz were it arrived 5 days later. For security reasons it was given the serial number 29-1 and assigned to VJ/88, the experimental ‘Staffel’ of Legion Condor - the Luftwaffe’s expeditionary force sent by Hitler to assist Franco’s forces during the Spanish Civil War. So secret was this lonely ‘Stuka’ that very little is known of his war service.
During 1937 it returned to Germany, and later, in January 1938, three Ju 87A-1s arrived in Vitoria, Spain, where they were given the serial numbers 29-2 to 4, and incorporated into the Legion Condor’s fighter wing (5.J/88).
These three Ju 87 ‘Antons’ formed a ‘Kette’ (unit of 3) and became known as ‘Jolanthe Kette’, using as a unit’s emblem a small piglet named after a cartoon of the period. These 3 A-1s were extensively tested in combat until October 1938, when they too were sent back to Germany, being replaced by the new B-1s.
During their time in Spain, the 'Antons' were used not only to form an experienced cadre of pilots, mechanics and ground crews, but also to find design flaws and improve operational tactics. Everything culminated in the spectacular successes of 1939/40, except on one thing: In Spain the 'Stuka' was not tested against a determined, well coordinated enemy fighter force. An oversight the Stuka crews would pay for dearly during the Battle of Britain.


This particular aircraft, 29-5, was a replacement for 29-4, which had been damaged by anti-aircraft fire and returned to Germany for repairs. It would be the last of the ‘Antons’ to see operational combat. Photo taken probably at La Cenia airfield, from where the Legion operated after April 21, 1938.

Original: TJ's collection

(Colorised by Rui Candeias)

Soldiers wearing gas masks while peeling onions at Tobruk, 15 October 1941



The Siege of Tobruk lasted for 241 days, 10 April – 27 November 1941

(Photo source - © IWM E 6034)
No 1 Army Film & Photographic Unit - Lt. William G. Vanderson

Photographer Lt. William G. Vanderson became a Prisoner of War during the North African Campaign and was released from Oflag 79 in Brunswick, Germany at the end of the war.
(Colorized by Jared Enos)

'Long Range Desert Group'
The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War.



Originally called the Long Range Patrol (LRP), the unit was founded in Egypt in June 1940 by Major Ralph A. Bagnold, acting under the direction of General Archibald Wavell. Bagnold was assisted by Captain Patrick Clayton and Captain William Shaw. At first the majority of the men were from New Zealand, but they were soon joined by Southern Rhodesian and British volunteers, whereupon new sub-units were formed and the name was changed to the better-known Long Range Desert Group (LRDG). The LRDG never numbered more than 350 men, all of whom were volunteers.

The LRDG was formed specifically to carry out deep penetration, covert reconnaissance patrols and intelligence missions from behind Italian lines, although they sometimes engaged in combat operations. Because the LRDG were experts in desert navigation they were sometimes assigned to guide other units, including the Special Air Service and secret agents across the desert. During the Desert Campaign between December 1940 and April 1943, the vehicles of the LRDG operated constantly behind the Axis lines, missing a total of only 15 days during the entire period. Possibly their most notable offensive action was during Operation Caravan, an attack on the town of Barce and its associated airfield, on the night of 13 September 1942. However, their most vital role was the 'Road Watch', during which they clandestinely monitored traffic on the main road from Tripoli to Benghazi, transmitting the intelligence to British Army Headquarters.
With the surrender of the Axis forces in Tunisia in May 1943, the LRDG changed roles and moved operations to the eastern Mediterranean, carrying out missions in the Greek islands, Italy and the Balkans. After the end of the war in Europe, the leaders of the LRDG made a request to the War Office for the unit to be transferred to the Far East to conduct operations against the Japanese Empire. The request was declined and the LRDG was disbanded in August 1945.
Originally Black & White
Colourised by Paul Reynolds

Sergeant Ilya Amelin poses with a German Panzerfaust in the village of Niklasdorf, Silesia.
Amelin used one of these hand-held anti-tank weapons to neutralize a German self-propelled gun during an engagement near the village.
This photo was shot after the action in order to be included in a propaganda sheet.

A carrier pigeon being released from a port-hole in the side of a tank near Albert, 9 August 1918. It's a Mark V tank of the 10th Battalion, Tank Corps attached to the III Corps during the Battle of Amiens.

Unidentified soldier of the First AIF



The photograph was probably taken in Australia, pre-embarkation, sometime between 1915 and 1918.

Featured in the Memorial's 2008 exhibition Icon and Archive, the identity of this striking-looking man is not known and the Memorial had a lot of responses from people with possible identifications, none of which have been him.

A team of Japanese-American G.I.'s throwing 105mm shells at Germans in support of an Infantry attack somewhere in Bruyeres Sector, France, 18 October 1944.(unconfirmed info)



The 442nd Regimental Combat Team of the United States Army was a fighting unit composed almost entirely of American soldiers of Japanese ancestry who fought in World War II. Most of the families of mainland Japanese Americans were confined to internment camps in the United States interior. Beginning in 1944, the regiment fought primarily in Europe during World War II, in particular Italy, southern France, and Germany.

The 442nd Regiment was the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of American warfare.The 4,000 men who initially made up the unit in April 1943 had to be replaced nearly 2.5 times. In total, about 14,000 men served, earning 9,486 Purple Hearts. The unit was awarded eight Presidential Unit Citations (5 earned in one month).:201 Twenty-one of its members were awarded Medals of Honor. Its motto was "Go for Broke".

(Left to right) Pilot Officer Mirosław Ferić, Flying Officers Bogdan Grzeszczak, Jan Zumbach and Zdzisław Henneberg and Flight-Lieutenant J. A. Kent, who commanded "A" Flight of No. 303 (Polish) Squadron RAF, October 1940.



No. 303 ("Kościuszko") Polish Fighter Squadron (Polish: 303 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Warszawski im. Tadeusza Kościuszki") was one of 16 Polish squadrons in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. It was the highest scoring of RAF squadrons during the Battle of Britain.

The squadron was named after the Polish and United States hero General Tadeusz Kościuszko, and the eponymous Polish 7th Air Escadrille founded by Merian C. Cooper, that served Poland in the 1919–1921 Polish-Soviet War. No. 303 was formed in July 1940 in Blackpool, Britain before deployment to RAF Northolt on 2 August as part of an agreement between the Polish Government in Exile and the United Kingdom. It had a distinguished combat record and was disbanded in December 1946.

Guards staff sergeant Victor Sovetov, born 1926 in Ivanovo region, driver of SU-76 since 01.1944, 312 SPG regiment.



Colourised by Klimbin

s.Pz.Abt. 503, Tiger II Nr. 233 sits near St. Georges Square, Budapest, Hungary, 15 or 16 October 1944.

A Halberstadt CL.II possibly of Schutzstaffel 27b. The Fuselage cross insignia (with white borders) was officially used from 29 October 1916 until 17 march 1918. As such this photograph was most likely taken in early 1918.

For @Bombardier and @BravoZulu

King George VI inspects the skills of a blindfolded Australian Vickers machine gunner from the 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion, 18th Brigade, 6th AIF Division which was based in the United Kingdom in 1940. (Possible taken at Colchester during October 1940)



In May 1940, the brigade embarked on HMT Queen Mary for the United Kingdom, arriving there in June. Established at Tidworth Camp in Wiltshire, and then later at Colchester, the regiment was employed on garrison duties to defend against a potential German invasion following the Fall of France.
In November, as the threat of invasion seemingly passed, they received orders to move to Glasgow to embark on the transport 'Otrango', bound for the Middle East where they were to rejoin the rest of the 6th Division.

(Photo source - Australian War Memorial collection 004573)
(Colourised by Royston Leonard)

Conhoon said:

For @Bombardier and @BravoZulu

King George VI inspects the skills of a blindfolded Australian Vickers machine gunner from the 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion, 18th Brigade, 6th AIF Division which was based in the United Kingdom in 1940. (Possible taken at Colchester during October 1940)

View attachment 192397

In May 1940, the brigade embarked on HMT Queen Mary for the United Kingdom, arriving there in June. Established at Tidworth Camp in Wiltshire, and then later at Colchester, the regiment was employed on garrison duties to defend against a potential German invasion following the Fall of France.
In November, as the threat of invasion seemingly passed, they received orders to move to Glasgow to embark on the transport 'Otrango', bound for the Middle East where they were to rejoin the rest of the 6th Division.

(Photo source - Australian War Memorial collection 004573)
(Colourised by Royston Leonard)

Click to expand...

Stolen

Actually, I forgot about this photo, and you actually showed it in this thread on July 28.
Sorry.