Photos Colour and Colourised Photos of WW2 & earlier conflicts
- Thread starter BravoZulu
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U-848 under attack from a very low flying aircraft. The submarine was intercepted on 5 November 1943, off the coast of Brazil, by US Navy aircraft from VB-107. She was depth charged by 3 PB4Y-1 Liberators. All 63 hands were lost. Colour by Nathan Howland (@ HowdiColourWorks)
VB-107 war history covering this attack
VB-107 war history covering this attack
So it seems efforts were made to direct a vessel to search for the men in the rafts. No idea if the ship actually tried to find them and failed, or ignored the request; but in the end as mentioned none of the sailors survived.
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V-2 assemblies with forced labor.
A quiet moment on the Eastern front
Soviet Naval Infantry - Baltic Sea Fleet
A quiet moment on the Eastern front
Soviet Naval Infantry - Baltic Sea Fleet
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Photograph from the Warsaw Uprising 1944.
South Downtown - A group of soldiers from the Scouts Company, "Gustaw" Battalion at the barricade on ul. Krucza, after crossing the sewers from the Old Town to the Downtown.
South Downtown - A group of soldiers from the Scouts Company, "Gustaw" Battalion at the barricade on ul. Krucza, after crossing the sewers from the Old Town to the Downtown.
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Japanese Navy’s Nakajima J-9Y ‘Kikka’ (Orange Blossom) jet fighter during tests in August 1945 at Kisarazu Naval Air Base.
Although inspired by the German Messerschmitt Me 262, the Japanese Naval Airforce’s Kikka jet fighter/bomber was not a copy of the former, but an original design by Nakajima’s aircraft designers Kazuo Ohno and Kenichi Matsumura.
It was smaller (about 2/3 the size of the Me 262) and it had straight wing assemblies while the Me 262 had swept-back wings. Most probably as a result of Japan’s chronic lack of metal, the Kikka’s control surfaces were fabric-covered in an otherwise-all-metal airplane.
One prototype was built and a second was almost finished when the first flight took place on August 7, 1945. The flight lasted 20 minutes. Eight days later the war ended and with it the Kikka’s project.
Original’s source unknown
(Color by: Rui Candeias)
Although inspired by the German Messerschmitt Me 262, the Japanese Naval Airforce’s Kikka jet fighter/bomber was not a copy of the former, but an original design by Nakajima’s aircraft designers Kazuo Ohno and Kenichi Matsumura.
It was smaller (about 2/3 the size of the Me 262) and it had straight wing assemblies while the Me 262 had swept-back wings. Most probably as a result of Japan’s chronic lack of metal, the Kikka’s control surfaces were fabric-covered in an otherwise-all-metal airplane.
One prototype was built and a second was almost finished when the first flight took place on August 7, 1945. The flight lasted 20 minutes. Eight days later the war ended and with it the Kikka’s project.
Original’s source unknown
(Color by: Rui Candeias)
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11 August 1918
Battle of Amiens. Canadian medics dressing a wounded soldier at an open-air field dressing station at Le Quesnel.
The Battle of Amiens, 1918
On March 21, 1918, the Germans suddenly and unexpectedly struck at two British armies on the Western Front. That night they broke through the Fifth Army front. However, on April 5, they were held short of Amiens. The Canadian Cavalry Brigade, fighting both as cavalry and infantry (dismounted) helped bring this about.
Halted at Amiens, not having driven a wedge between the British and French, the Germans mounted offensives elsewhere on the Western Front. By now the Americans had arrived in force and the Allies had superior numbers. The time had come for a counter-blow.
The Canadian Corps, as such, had not taken part in these offensives. Haig had ordered the Canadians, piecemeal by divisions, to shore up the crumbling British front. By the time the German offensives had ended, the Canadians fielded a strong, fresh, well-trained and well-organized corps, ready to play an important part in the fighting that lay ahead.
For Amiens it was more important to conceal from the enemy the intentions of the Canadian Corps than any other formation. "Regarding them as storm troops," wrote Sir Basil Liddell Hart, an eminent British military historian, "the enemy tended to greet their appearance as an omen of a coming attack." A mock attack was therefore launched on the Arras front to delude the enemy and then, at the last possible moment before the real attack that was scheduled for August 8, the Corps was moved south to Amiens by night. The front of the attack extended 22.5 kilometres with the French in the southern half; the Fourth Army named two corps for the assault, the Canadians on the right and the Australians on the left, with the British 3rd Corps acting as flank-guard on the extreme left.
An hour before dawn on August 8, the attack began and surprise was total. More than 2,000 guns suddenly flashed out in barrage, while 420 tanks, closely followed by the infantry, surged forward over ground that was heavily shrouded in mist. German machine-gunners found few targets as the tanks, accompanied by determined men, crashed through their positions. The enemy artillery, which might have been counted on to break up the attack despite the fog, had been effectively neutralized by counter-battery fire; batteries were quickly overrun, many of them without having fired a shot. In what was then open warfare, massed cavalry and light "whippet" tanks swept ahead to exploit success. On that first victorious day, "The Black Day of the German Army", as the enemy termed it, the Canadians gained 13 kilometres, the Australians 11, the French eight and the British three. The Germans lost 27,000 men and 400 guns as well as hundreds of mortars and machine-guns. The Canadian Corps alone captured 5,033 prisoners and 161 guns. Against this, Fourth Army's casualties totalled 9,000 - about 4,000 for the Corps. The Battle of Amiens continued until August 11.
(Photo source - © IWM Q 7298)
Brooke, John Warwick (Lieutenant) (Photographer)
Colourised by Doug
Battle of Amiens. Canadian medics dressing a wounded soldier at an open-air field dressing station at Le Quesnel.
The Battle of Amiens, 1918
On March 21, 1918, the Germans suddenly and unexpectedly struck at two British armies on the Western Front. That night they broke through the Fifth Army front. However, on April 5, they were held short of Amiens. The Canadian Cavalry Brigade, fighting both as cavalry and infantry (dismounted) helped bring this about.
Halted at Amiens, not having driven a wedge between the British and French, the Germans mounted offensives elsewhere on the Western Front. By now the Americans had arrived in force and the Allies had superior numbers. The time had come for a counter-blow.
The Canadian Corps, as such, had not taken part in these offensives. Haig had ordered the Canadians, piecemeal by divisions, to shore up the crumbling British front. By the time the German offensives had ended, the Canadians fielded a strong, fresh, well-trained and well-organized corps, ready to play an important part in the fighting that lay ahead.
For Amiens it was more important to conceal from the enemy the intentions of the Canadian Corps than any other formation. "Regarding them as storm troops," wrote Sir Basil Liddell Hart, an eminent British military historian, "the enemy tended to greet their appearance as an omen of a coming attack." A mock attack was therefore launched on the Arras front to delude the enemy and then, at the last possible moment before the real attack that was scheduled for August 8, the Corps was moved south to Amiens by night. The front of the attack extended 22.5 kilometres with the French in the southern half; the Fourth Army named two corps for the assault, the Canadians on the right and the Australians on the left, with the British 3rd Corps acting as flank-guard on the extreme left.
An hour before dawn on August 8, the attack began and surprise was total. More than 2,000 guns suddenly flashed out in barrage, while 420 tanks, closely followed by the infantry, surged forward over ground that was heavily shrouded in mist. German machine-gunners found few targets as the tanks, accompanied by determined men, crashed through their positions. The enemy artillery, which might have been counted on to break up the attack despite the fog, had been effectively neutralized by counter-battery fire; batteries were quickly overrun, many of them without having fired a shot. In what was then open warfare, massed cavalry and light "whippet" tanks swept ahead to exploit success. On that first victorious day, "The Black Day of the German Army", as the enemy termed it, the Canadians gained 13 kilometres, the Australians 11, the French eight and the British three. The Germans lost 27,000 men and 400 guns as well as hundreds of mortars and machine-guns. The Canadian Corps alone captured 5,033 prisoners and 161 guns. Against this, Fourth Army's casualties totalled 9,000 - about 4,000 for the Corps. The Battle of Amiens continued until August 11.
(Photo source - © IWM Q 7298)
Brooke, John Warwick (Lieutenant) (Photographer)
Colourised by Doug
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LIGHTING BATTALION 10 MAS FLOTTILLA - ITALIAN R.S.I.
The Battalion Lightning, established in La Spezia in the spring of 1944, operated in the provinces of Turin and Cuneo, in the Treviso area, in Carnia, in the Gorizia area and, at the end of the conflict, also in the Vicenza area, a period to which the volume devotes several pages.
He often clashed with the partisans: the best-known war episode is the bloody battle of Tarnova della Selva, in which the unit sacrificed a large part of its personnel to prevent Tito’s partisans from invading Gorizia.
The 10th MAS Flotilla was an independent military corps, officially naval infantry of the Republican National Navy of the Italian Social Republic, active from 1943 to 1945. The 10th MAS Flotilla in the north, under the command of frigate captain Junio Valerio Borghese later at the armistice of Cassibile he made alliance agreements with the captain of the vessel Berninghaus of the German navy.
During the two years that followed he operated in coordination with the German units, both to counter the allied advance after the landing of Anzio and on the Gothic Line and in the Polesine, and in operations against the Italian resistance with strong determination and significant losses.
Activity during which the unit employed typical counter-guerrilla strategies and in some episodes it was stained with war crimes. The Xth MAS Division surrendered on April 26, 1945 to the representatives of the National Liberation Committee (CLN) in the barracks in piazzale Fiume (now Piazza della Repubblica) in Milan after the ceremony of the flag drop.
From 1943 till 1945 Italy was involved in a civil war wich view against each other the ones that supports allies and the one who choose to coninue the fight beside their axis allies.
Source: Pinterest/unknown owner
COLOR: Ghost Of Past - Colourizations
The Battalion Lightning, established in La Spezia in the spring of 1944, operated in the provinces of Turin and Cuneo, in the Treviso area, in Carnia, in the Gorizia area and, at the end of the conflict, also in the Vicenza area, a period to which the volume devotes several pages.
He often clashed with the partisans: the best-known war episode is the bloody battle of Tarnova della Selva, in which the unit sacrificed a large part of its personnel to prevent Tito’s partisans from invading Gorizia.
The 10th MAS Flotilla was an independent military corps, officially naval infantry of the Republican National Navy of the Italian Social Republic, active from 1943 to 1945. The 10th MAS Flotilla in the north, under the command of frigate captain Junio Valerio Borghese later at the armistice of Cassibile he made alliance agreements with the captain of the vessel Berninghaus of the German navy.
During the two years that followed he operated in coordination with the German units, both to counter the allied advance after the landing of Anzio and on the Gothic Line and in the Polesine, and in operations against the Italian resistance with strong determination and significant losses.
Activity during which the unit employed typical counter-guerrilla strategies and in some episodes it was stained with war crimes. The Xth MAS Division surrendered on April 26, 1945 to the representatives of the National Liberation Committee (CLN) in the barracks in piazzale Fiume (now Piazza della Repubblica) in Milan after the ceremony of the flag drop.
From 1943 till 1945 Italy was involved in a civil war wich view against each other the ones that supports allies and the one who choose to coninue the fight beside their axis allies.
Source: Pinterest/unknown owner
COLOR: Ghost Of Past - Colourizations
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Imperial Japanese Navy Warrant Officer Takeo Tanimizu poses beside his Mitsubishi A6M5c Model 52 Reisen fighter. June 1945.
At the time this photograph was taken, Tanimizu was assigned to the 303 Hikótai, 203 Kókūtai which was based at Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan. He is credited with between 18 to 32 kills, making him an ace.
It was rare for Japanese fighters to have kill markings -as kill scores weren’t officially kept- but Tanimizu chose to put them on his aircraft as a way to boost morale among the many inexperienced pilots that predominated the ranks by 1945. The five stars with arrows through them indicate a sure victory, the remaining one indicates a probable. Obscured by the strong sun’s reflection there were two head-on silhouettes of B-29s painted above the stars.
Despite, like any other pilot, following a ‘kill or be killed’ philosophy, Tanimizu seems to have been an honorable combatant who felt compassion for his opponents.
It is said that on January 4, 1944, while returning from combat, he saw a lone Corsair pilot parachute from his damaged aircraft into the waters off Cape St George. Tanimizu struggled out of his life preserver, came down at low altitude, opened his canopy, and threw his life preserver to the pilot, Captain Harvey F. Carter of VMF-321. Apparently, Carter collected the life preserver and waved to Tanimizu but he was never found again and is listed as MIA to this day*.
Claiming to feel regret and sadness for the lives he took in combat, after the war Tanimizu erected a small Buddhist shrine in his residence and every night would offer prayers to those men whose lives he had cut short.
Tanimizu’s Reisen fighter survived the war but was eventually collected in Nagasaki and reduced to scrap in November 1945. Tanimizu himself passed away on March 12, 2008 at the age of 88.
Note: Concerning the color of the kill markings, although many representations of this aircraft show the markings in one single color (usually blue), in my opinion, there are clearly two different colors: probably red and blue.
*Some internet sources claim Capt Carter survived the war but according to VMF321 records, his fate is unknown and he’s MIA since 1944. The only other possibility is that it is not the same Capt Carter but the date and approximate location coincide. If this incident was witnessed by any other pilots besides Tanimizu himself, I do not know.
Original: T. Tanimizu
Color by: In Colore Veritas
At the time this photograph was taken, Tanimizu was assigned to the 303 Hikótai, 203 Kókūtai which was based at Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan. He is credited with between 18 to 32 kills, making him an ace.
It was rare for Japanese fighters to have kill markings -as kill scores weren’t officially kept- but Tanimizu chose to put them on his aircraft as a way to boost morale among the many inexperienced pilots that predominated the ranks by 1945. The five stars with arrows through them indicate a sure victory, the remaining one indicates a probable. Obscured by the strong sun’s reflection there were two head-on silhouettes of B-29s painted above the stars.
Despite, like any other pilot, following a ‘kill or be killed’ philosophy, Tanimizu seems to have been an honorable combatant who felt compassion for his opponents.
It is said that on January 4, 1944, while returning from combat, he saw a lone Corsair pilot parachute from his damaged aircraft into the waters off Cape St George. Tanimizu struggled out of his life preserver, came down at low altitude, opened his canopy, and threw his life preserver to the pilot, Captain Harvey F. Carter of VMF-321. Apparently, Carter collected the life preserver and waved to Tanimizu but he was never found again and is listed as MIA to this day*.
Claiming to feel regret and sadness for the lives he took in combat, after the war Tanimizu erected a small Buddhist shrine in his residence and every night would offer prayers to those men whose lives he had cut short.
Tanimizu’s Reisen fighter survived the war but was eventually collected in Nagasaki and reduced to scrap in November 1945. Tanimizu himself passed away on March 12, 2008 at the age of 88.
Note: Concerning the color of the kill markings, although many representations of this aircraft show the markings in one single color (usually blue), in my opinion, there are clearly two different colors: probably red and blue.
*Some internet sources claim Capt Carter survived the war but according to VMF321 records, his fate is unknown and he’s MIA since 1944. The only other possibility is that it is not the same Capt Carter but the date and approximate location coincide. If this incident was witnessed by any other pilots besides Tanimizu himself, I do not know.
Original: T. Tanimizu
Color by: In Colore Veritas
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Paratrooper from the 10th Parachute Battalion photographs himself as he falls from a modified Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber in training at RAF Ringway, Cheshire, England, March 1943
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