Photos Colour and Colourised Photos of WW2 & earlier conflicts

[BravoZulu]

Hero of the Soviet Union Natalia Meklin, a flight commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, completed 980 night missions
Colourised by Klimbim

 

[BravoZulu]

USN F4F Wildcats of VF-6 getting ready for action onboard USS Enterprise, 1942

 

[NebrHogger]

The young lady 2nd pic above EARNED that Hero of the Soviet Union medal!

 

[BravoZulu]

A unit postman with a sack of Christmas parcels decorated with holly near Weert, Netherlands - 16th November, 1944

 

[BravoZulu]

Officers of the 2/4th and 5th Battalions, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, 62nd Division, conferring with French and Italian officers in the Bois de Reims during the Battle of Tardenois, 24 July 1918. © IWM Q 11113

 

[BravoZulu]

One of the earliest enemy aircraft crashes in Kent. Dornier Do 17Z WNr.2642) 3Z+ 'red' G S of 8./KG77 shot down by Hurricanes of 32 Squadron into a hop garden between Beech Farm and Sheephurst Farm at Collier Street, Paddock Wood, near Tonbridge, Kent, England. 3 July 1940

 

[Newtonk]

A unit postman with a sack of Christmas parcels decorated with holly near Weert, Netherlands - 16th November, 1944
View attachment 318908

Interesting that he has tattoos on the back of his hand, which is quite the rage now.

 

[Conhoon]

Men of the 8th Battalion, Border Regiment, resting in shallow dugouts in a captured German trench to the south side of Ovillers-la-boisselle, ca. 4 July 1916.

"Having spent some time in the reserve trenches around the area of Albert, the 8th Border Regiment had been ordered to move up to the front lines again; the 7th and 75th Brigades worked together in a northward attack on Ovillers. According to the 25th Division's Records, the Border Regiment were successful in driving out the enemy from their front-line trenches under the cover of darkness without hindrance, however, the capture of the communication trenches were problematic and progress was much slower with many casualties as a result. Further orders were given stating that the Battalion, with 'C' and 'D' companies on the left and 'A' and 'B' on the right, had to attack and capture trenches on the south side of Ovillers, which, after little resistance, all the objectives were achieved."
(Photo source - © IWM Q 872)
Brooks, Ernest (Lieutenant) (Photographer)
Colourised by Doug

 

[Conhoon]

Mustang Mark I, AG431 D, of No. 16 Squadron RAF, being prepared for a reconnaissance sortie at Middle Wallop, Hampshire. The pilot, Flying Officer D W Samson RAAF, is buckling on his Life Jacket by the nose.

(Colour by RJM)

 

[Conhoon]

July 1916
An infantryman of 'A' Company, 11th Battalion, The Cheshire Regiment, on sentry duty in a captured German trench near the Albert–Bapaume road at Ovillers-la-Boisselle, during the 'Battle of the Somme'

(Photo source - © IWM Q 3990)
Brooke, John Warwick (Lieutenant) (Photographer)
Colourised by Doug

 

[Conhoon]

U.S. soldiers and locals share a pint and have a laugh at the Dove Inn, Southover, Burton Bradstock, Dorset, UK, 1944.

Deliberate Misinformation:
The location of these kind of photographs remained a national secret during the war.
This scene, in the Dove Inn at Southover, Burton Bradstock, has a prominent poster for Brewers H. and G. Simonds Limited of Reading . There is also a Simonds calendar, dating the series April 1944.
Though the company also has a depot in Blandford, the prominence of the poster and the projecting nail holding it in place are unlikely to be coincidental; every effort was being made to suggest that the invasion would come from further east. As for the setting, the GI offensive began with English public houses.
Their pint was beer - darker but less potent than the rough cider of the locals.
Colourised PIECE of JAKE
Caption: https://www.burtonbradstock.org.uk/.../BB.../In%20pub.htm
Photo: IWM D20142

 

[Conhoon]

Men from the 22nd Regiment (Van Doos) in the trenches - July 1916

The 22nd (French Canadian) Battalion, CEF was authourised on 7 November 1914 and embarked for Great Britain on 20 May 1915. It disembarked in France on 15 September 1915, where it fought as part of the 5th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Canadian Division in France and Flanders until the end of the war. The battalion was disbanded on 15 September 1920.
B/W from Library and Archives Canada
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/…/the-van-doos-and-t…/

 

[Conhoon]

2nd Hungarian Army, 29M Bofors 80mm AA gun in firing position in Stary Oskol, Russia. Summer 1942

The Swedish Bofors Model 29 was sold to various countries in both 75-mm (2.95-in) and 80-mm (3.15-in) calibres. It was a sound design produced by Bofors when German designers were working in Sweden on the 88, and so there were many design features common to the two.
The 209,000-strong 2nd Hungarian Army deployed to the German Army Group B at Kursk in Southern Russia from the 11th of April 1942.
It's III Corps fought in Operation' Blue1' on the 28th of June advancing 120 miles via Stary Oskol to reach the Don on the 7th of July, followed on the 27th of July by the rest of the 2nd Army.
The 2nd Army had suffered 30,100 casualties by September.
(note added by Peter Kisdaroczi "The photo was (probably) taken by Major Tamás Konok, commander of the 2nd Hungarian Army’s War Correspondent Company, using a Leica camera")
Colourised and by Paul Reynolds.

 

[Gordus]

The young lady 2nd pic above EARNED that Hero of the Soviet Union medal!

True, many people did.

 

[Conhoon]

Japanese Army Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki interceptor fighters at Akeno Army Flight School, Japan. 1942-45, exact date unknown.

The Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki -Allied codename ‘Tojo’ - was Nakajima’s answer to a Japanese Army’s requirement for an interceptor. The first prototype flew in August 1940 with the first production variant entering service in September 1942.
The design and development of the Ki-44 differed greatly from other Japanese fighters of the time, focusing on speed and rate-of-climb instead of manoeuvrability.
When first introduced into service, the high landing speeds and limited manoeuvrability of the Ki-44 made it unpopular among pilots accustomed to more nimble and manoeuvrable fighters such as the Ki-43 Hayabusa.
During the war several variants of the Ki-44 were built, differing mainly on engine power and armament, the latter being upgraded from two 7,7 mm and two 12,7 mm MG in the Ki44-I series to two 12,7mm MG and two 40 mm cannons (not always mounted due to poor combat performance) or four 12,7mm MG on the Ki44-IIb. Later versions such as the Ki-44-IIIa and b are supposed to have had combinations of 20 and 37 mm cannons but apparently never achieved operational status.
While there were performance restrictions at high altitude, its high rate-of-climb, speed and comparatively heavy armament made the Ki-44 an effective B-29 Superfortress interceptor and its name became commonly associated with Home Island defence operations although some units were also deployed to protect vital targets such as the oil fields of Palembang in Sumatra.
Production of the Ki-44 ended in late 1944 in favour of the more advanced Nakajima Ki-84. Of the 1,225 aircraft built, none survived the war.
Also of note in this photo is the excellent view of a Toyota GB Starter truck. In the background is an Isuzu TX-40 Fuel Truck.
Original: Japanese Army

 

[NebrHogger]

Sherman flamethrower tank destroying piled Japanese aircraft postwar at Sasebo, Japan, 1945.

 

[morris]

Winston Churchill with his chiefs of staff in the garden of No. 10 Downing Street on the day Germany surrendered to the Allies, 7 May 1945. Seated left to right: Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal, Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham. Standing left to right: Secretary to the Chiefs of Staffs Committee Major-General L C Hollis and Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence General Sir Hastings Ismay

 

[morris]

Sergeant R Gregory photographs Driver A Hardman during a tour of the Acropolis in Athens, October 1944.

 

[JimHPTN]

Men from the 22nd Regiment (Van Doos) in the trenches - July 1916
View attachment 319956
The 22nd (French Canadian) Battalion, CEF was authourised on 7 November 1914 and embarked for Great Britain on 20 May 1915. It disembarked in France on 15 September 1915, where it fought as part of the 5th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Canadian Division in France and Flanders until the end of the war. The battalion was disbanded on 15 September 1920.
B/W from Library and Archives Canada
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/…/the-van-doos-and-t…/

I'm surprised to see Ross Mk III rifles hanging on in service that late in the war. I was under the impression that they were replaced a couple of months earlier.

 

[Conhoon]

Warsaw insurgents 1944, from the "Chrobry II" group, 1st battalion of "Lech Żelazny", Polish Home Army.

From the left, Cpl. Kazimierz Wierzbicki "Kieł II", platoon officer cadet Stanisław Wierzbicki "Pantera" and with a machine gun MP 40 platoon officer cadet Władysław Strumiłło "Krakowiak".
They all survived war.