Photos Colour and Colourised Photos of WW2 & earlier conflicts

[Conhoon]

On the 19th of November 1941, the light cruiser HMAS Sydney participated in a single ship action with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran off the cost of Western Australia. Both ships were destroyed in the half hour engagement but the outcome was only realised after Sydney failed to return to port.

From the 24th of November air and sea searches were conducted for the missing ship. Boats and rafts carrying survivors from Kormoran were recovered at sea but none from Sydney were found. In total, 318 of the 399 personnel on Kormoran were found, but although debris from Sydney was located, no survivors were found.
It is assumed that in total all 645 men aboard Sydney were lost at sea. The loss of Sydney marked the largest loss of life in the history of the Royal Australian Navy and the largest Allied warship lost with all hands during WWII. The ship’s company made up over 35% of the RAN’s naval personnel killed during WWII.
In 2008, the wrecks of the two ships were discovered. The actual events of the battle were never confirmed, and speculation continues as to how a modified merchant ship was able to beat a modern cruiser with superior weapons range and armour.
Regardless of what happened, let us pause to pay our respects to the brave men of Sydney who fought and paid the ultimate price.

 

[Conhoon]

Soviet Junior Lieutenant Sergey Yefimovich Kazhdan aged 19, had killed 25 Germans and destroyed 4 machine-gun posts in the battle near Rzhev on November 3, 1942.

Sergey Yefimovich Kazhdan was born in 1923
and was awarded the - Medal of Valor, Order of honour
Order of patriotic war medal " for the victory over Germany in the great patriotic war 1941-1945."
The Battles of Rzhev were a series of Soviet operations in between January 8, 1942 and March 31, 1943.
Due to the horrific losses suffered by the Red Army, the campaign became known by veterans and historians as the "Rzhev Meat Grinder" ("Ржевская мясорубка").
(Photograph by A.S. Granin)
(Colorised by Olga Shirnina)

 

[Conhoon]

A Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL) patrol crosses a gorge in the Goenoeng Panjang, Aceh, North Sumatra, Dutch East Indies. (Period 1900 - 1920)

The Aceh War, from 1873 to 1942, can rightly be called a dark page in Dutch colonial history.
About 100,000 natives lost their lives in the occasional battles.
The war had many lows. One of the many are the war crimes committed by Dutch soldiers under Governor Joannes Benedictus van Heutsz (1851-1924), with his knowledge. A whistleblower, Infantery Captain J.J.B. Fanoy, wrote about this, but the potentates silenced this man.
"In some cases, even women and children are killed," wrote Fanoy in his letter of resignation that ended up at the Ministry of the Colonies. "Prisoners are tortured and executed without trial, all with the knowledge of Van Heutsz. It is incompatible with my conscience to participate in such operations.”
The letter was eventually covered up and Fanoy got an insignificant office job in Batavia.”
@ColourisedPieceofJake

 

[Conhoon]

Volunteer Women's Legion (Ochotnicza Legia Kobiet - OLK)- A Polish voluntary military organization established in Lviv in 1918 by women who wanted to fight for the independence of Poland. Members of this organization took part in all the fights until the end of the Polish-Bolshevik war (in 1920).

 

[Conhoon]

Operation Nordwind.
The Sherman M4 tank baptized "FLANDRES II" of the Peloton Leader, the Lieutenant of MOUNTAL, advances on a snowy path with a temporary camouflage, this is supported by the RIVES-HENRYS and BONY of the 2nd Squadron of the 12th RCA (Hunt Regiment African pains) from the Captain of VANDIERES, with a total of 8 tanks enter the village of Gros-Réderching in the French region of Lorena. France, January 1945.

(FGF Coloured)

 

[Conhoon]

"Black Cavalry", Polish 1st Armored Division before going to the front. In the foreground, the tank of the Division commander - General Stanisław Maczek. July 1944

Photo Czesław Datka
Polish National Digital Archives

 

[Conhoon]

Commander of the Marine detachment, senior lieutenant Zuev M.M. assigns a task to the commanders of the units of the 12th Marine Brigade 1943

Colour by Olga Shirnina (Klimbim)

 

[Conhoon]

24 November 1917
German and Canadian wounded receive hot coffee and biscuits from a YMCA hut near the front lines.

Source - Photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings and other records relating to the life and service of Brigadier General W.O.H. Dodds, CMG, DSO, in the Great War of 1914-1918 and extending to his death on 25 August 1934. Brigadier General Dodds joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1914 and was commanding officer of the 5th Canadian Division Artillery and served in France from 1917-1918.
(Colourised by Mark at Canadian Colour)

 

[Conhoon]

On the 24th of November 1943, Sergeant Tom Derrick performed a heroic assault on a heavily defended Japanese position at Sattelberg, New Guinea which would see him awarded the Victoria Cross. During the engagement, he scaled a cliff face whilst under heavy fire and silenced seven machinegun posts, before leading his platoon in a charge that destroyed a further three.

Diver saw service in North Africa prior to serving in the Pacific. It was during the First Battle of El Alamein that Tom would be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for singlehandedly destroying three machinegun positions and capturing over 100 prisoners, before destroying two German tanks using sticky bombs which had been launched in a counterattack. He then deployed with the 2/48th to the South West Pacific and participated in the Battle of Lae in the Huon Peninsula Campaign.
Following the capture of Lae, the 2/48th was involved in the capture of the town of Sattelburg. During the attack, Tom attacked a Japanese post that had been holding up the advance. Night was about to fall and an Australian withdrawal was imminent if the machinegun post could not be silenced. Advancing on his own, Diver personally destroyed the post with grenades, before ordering his section around the right flank. When his section came under fire from another six positions, he clambered ahead, exposing himself to throw grenade after grenade and giving his men the opportunity to secure the ground.
He then returned to his section and then proceeded to deal with another three posts in the area. On four separate occasions he dashed forward and threw grenades at a range of six yards until the positions were silenced. In all, Sergeant Derrick silenced posts during the evening.
For his bravery that day, he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He would later commission from the ranks before re-joining his battalion to fight at Tarakan. Derrick was killed in action on the 23rd of May 1945 whilst fighting at Tarakan.

 

[NebrHogger]

German dirigible L49 shot down in France 1917

 

[uktabber]

On the 24th of November 1943, Sergeant Tom Derrick performed a heroic assault on a heavily defended Japanese position at Sattelberg, New Guinea which would see him awarded the Victoria Cross. During the engagement, he scaled a cliff face whilst under heavy fire and silenced seven machinegun posts, before leading his platoon in a charge that destroyed a further three.

View attachment 353590
Diver saw service in North Africa prior to serving in the Pacific. It was during the First Battle of El Alamein that Tom would be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for singlehandedly destroying three machinegun positions and capturing over 100 prisoners, before destroying two German tanks using sticky bombs which had been launched in a counterattack. He then deployed with the 2/48th to the South West Pacific and participated in the Battle of Lae in the Huon Peninsula Campaign.
Following the capture of Lae, the 2/48th was involved in the capture of the town of Sattelburg. During the attack, Tom attacked a Japanese post that had been holding up the advance. Night was about to fall and an Australian withdrawal was imminent if the machinegun post could not be silenced. Advancing on his own, Diver personally destroyed the post with grenades, before ordering his section around the right flank. When his section came under fire from another six positions, he clambered ahead, exposing himself to throw grenade after grenade and giving his men the opportunity to secure the ground.
He then returned to his section and then proceeded to deal with another three posts in the area. On four separate occasions he dashed forward and threw grenades at a range of six yards until the positions were silenced. In all, Sergeant Derrick silenced posts during the evening.
For his bravery that day, he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He would later commission from the ranks before re-joining his battalion to fight at Tarakan. Derrick was killed in action on the 23rd of May 1945 whilst fighting at Tarakan.

This chap was a busy boy.......my goodness, God Bless him!!

 

[Conhoon]

Leutnant der Reserve Paul Schneider, 2nd comp., 1st Royal Saxon Jäger Battalion 12, killed in action on 26 November 1916 at Paralovo near Hill 1050 in Macedonia.

The battalion history reports the following about this day:
"Early on 26 November, lively artillery fire began against our position in the Crna Bend and continued unabated until noon. From 3 o'clock in the afternoon the enemy worked his way against our position. His attack was particularly directed against the 2nd company, which in turn suffered considerably from enemy machine gun fire. In spite of effective defence and our well-placed fire, the enemy managed to get to our position at 200m and to take hold of the Schleiergraben (base II). In order to make it more difficult for him to nest, the forecourt was kept under constant machine gun and infantry fire until a counterattack threw him back to his starting position. During this process Lt. d. R. Schneider met his heroic death."
Colour by Erwin Zeemering
Zeemering historic photo colourisation and restoration
Collection: Mark Beirnaert

 

[BravoZulu]

Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV (R3600) of 110 Squadron is here being armed with 250 lb HE bombs and SBCs (small bomb containers) of 416 incendiaries at Wattisham in June 1940. R3600 was shot down in May 1941.

 

[Conhoon]

Firecrew spray foam on RNZAF Corsair NZ5367, at Green Island. 24th February 1945

On the 2nd of January 1945, Corsair NZ5367 was damaged by anti-aircraft fire.
After repairs were made, Pilot Officer Noel McCready took her for a test flight, but on final approach for landing, the aircraft caught fire.
MacCready managed to land the burning Corsair and escape unharmed before the fire reached the cockpit
The Corsair was destroyed by the fire.
RNZAF Museum photo.

 

[Conhoon]

Photo of an Army service corps taken at Vignacourt during a short leave at the rear of the front. Vignacourt is located about 30 km from Amiens.
The photo was taken by the Thuillier couple on their farm in Vignacourt in 1916.

This section of the Long, Long Trail will be helpful for anyone wishing to find out about the history of the units of the Army Service Corps. Note that the ASC is the same as the RASC: it received the Royal prefix in late 1918.
The officers and men of the ASC – sometimes referred to in a joking, disparaging way as Ally Sloper’s Cavalry – were the unsung heroes of the British Army in the Great War. Soldiers can not fight without food, equipment and ammunition. They can not move without horses or vehicles. It was the ASC’s job to provide them. In the Great War, the vast majority of the supply, maintaining a vast army on many fronts, was supplied from Britain. Using horsed and motor vehicles, railways and waterways, the ASC performed prodigious feats of logistics and were one of the great strengths of organisation by which the war was won.
At peak, the ASC numbered an incredible 10,547 officers and 315,334 men
© Kerry stokes fundation, louis and antoinette Thuillier collection.
Photo colorised by Johnny Sirlande

 

[Conhoon]

Liberation of Belfort, late November 1944.

The French flag is hoisted at the top of the citadel. the Citadel still exists and is now a museum.
After the 1940 Battle of France with the German victory, Belfort fell within the Nazi German occupation zone. In November 1944, the retreating Wehrmacht held off the French First Army outside the town until French Commandos made a successful night attack on the Salbert Fort. Belfort was liberated on 22 November 1944.
Colour by Eddy Parin

 

[Conhoon]

British troops coming out of the trenches near Guillemont, 27 November 1916.

(Guillemont is a commune approximately 13 km east of Albert in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.)
(Photo source - © IWM Q 58340)
Colourised by Doug

 

[Hiryu2.0]

Photos from the Auschwitz album.

The victims.

Remember, the people in the picture were murdered within hours.

Auschwitz & the Holocaust

www.facebook.com

 

[Conhoon]

Battle of the Ancre. 'Bringing in an injured man'. Hamel, November 1916.

The battle of Ancre took place in November 1916. However for the 51st Highland Division it will be remembered as the Battle of Beaumont Hamel. Beaumont Hamel had been attacked on the first day of the Somme. The attack had failed and the heavily fortified area was regarded as almost impregnable.
The attack was to be carried out by the Fifth Army with the 2nd Corps South of the River bank and the Vth Corps north of the river. The Vth Corps attack would have the 63rd Division on the right 51st Highland Division and 2nd Division in the centre and the 3rd Division on the left with the 37th Division in reserve.
(Photo source - National Library of Scotland)
Colour by Doug

 

[Conhoon]

A captured German 15 cm naval gun. Ribecourt, 29 November, 1917.

(Photo source - © IWM Q 6338)
Colourised by Doug