Photos Colour and Colourised Photos of WW2 & earlier conflicts

[Connaught Ranger]

The crew of a British Sherman named 'Akilla' of 1st Nottingham Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, 8th Armoured Brigade, after having destroyed five German tanks (2 x Tiger, 1 x Panther and 2 x Panzer IV’s) in a day, Rauray, Calvados France - June 30, 1944.

View attachment 371642
Left to right:
Sgt J Dring; Tpr Hodkin, Tpr A Denton; Tpr E Bennett; L/Cpl S Gould

IWM - Christie (Sergeant) Photographer

Old Robin Hood would have been proud of their marksmanship lol!

 

[Conhoon]

Italian partisan troops in Pistoia, Tuscany. 1944.

 

[Conhoon]

Unknown second lieutenant of the Russian Imperial Army

Colour by Olga Shirnina (Klimbim)

 

[Conhoon]

Training of machine gunners of the 442nd Kashinsky regiment, 1916

Colour by Olga Shirnina (Klimbim)

 

[Conhoon]

Teenage German POWs from the Luftwaffe ground unit arrested near Doussfeld, Germany in March 1945.

 

[Conhoon]

This photo was taken in 1915-1916 on the Northern Front by a battalion doctor Alexander Zusmanovich.

During WWI, when he served as the engineer battalion, which was located not far from the towns of Smorgon and Oshmyany, he took photos of everyday war life with his Leica camera.
Alexander Zusmanovich was born in 1883 in Oddesa in the family of a doctor. In 1911 he graduated from the university and in 1912-1913 worked as a district doctor in Volynskaya and Moscow provinces. In 1913 he had a contractual work in Egypt.
In 1914 after the break out of the world war he was called up to the service in the acting army where he served as a doctor in the second Caucasian engineer battalion.
In 1919 he entered the Bolshevik Party, was member of the Odessa Soviet of Working deputies. In 1920-s and 1930-s he occupied various positions in the People’s Commissariat for Health of the USSR. In 1929 he was sent to Mongolia to fight epidemics. Headed a hospital during the Great Patriotic War. After the war he lived in the Moscow region, died in 1956.
Color by Klimbim

 

[Conhoon]

The Sherman Firefly Mk IC, Hybrid English type commanders' Coupola of Trooper Ernie Leppard is passing through Geldern, Germany, 6 March, 1945.

The nickname "Firefly" was adopted due to the bright muzzle flash of the main gun. The name "Firefly" in period sources often refers to any vehicle with a 17-pounder gun, often the 17pdr SP Achilles M10C variant of the M10 tank destroyer.
As for 1st Trooper Ernie Leppard of B Squadron Sherwood Rangers; he was born in Battersea, London and at the outbreak of war joined the Battersea Home Guard. He joined the army in 1943 and was posted to the Royal Armoured Corps.
He joined the Sherwood Rangers as a Wireless Operator in time for Operation Market Garden in September 1944 and served with the Regiment in 1st troop B Squadron until the end of the war.
He served with the 1st Royal Dragoons in Germany from 1946 till demobbed in 1947.
An audio interview with Ernie Leppard can be heard here in which he talks about his entire war career including robbing a bank in Germany using a German prisoner and a Panzerfäust!

Colourised PIECE of JAKE
Photo: IWM

 

[Conhoon]

16-18 February 1944
"2 Luftwaffe Ground troops wearing Italian M29 camo and carrying captured American weapons. Near Nettuno, Italy."

We see two varieties of Thompson SMG's, M1 Garands, Springfield rifle, etc
Other sources give them as " .... two Jägers belonging to the armored battalion of the reconnaissance parachutist "Hermann Göring" (Fallschirm-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung, commanded by the Hauptmann Rebholz).
Photographer: Rauchwetter, Gerhard (Luftflotte 2)
Colour by RJM

 

[Conhoon]

Liberated Italians welcome the soldiers of the Polish II Corps. Bologna, Italy, 21 April, 1945

The offensive on Bologna started on 9 April at 4:00 am local time, with a major air and artillery bombardment of 400 guns firing on German positions, followed by an advance of ground forces the same evening. Friendly fire caused casualties as American bombers killed 38 advancing Polish troops on that day.
The American and British units engaged the German flanks, while the Polish units broke through to the city. On 10 April, Polish forces pushed the Germans away from the Senio River. From 12–14 April Polish forces fought the Germans at the Santerno River and captured Imola.
From 15–16 April, the Poles fought at the Sillaro River and the Medicina Canal. On 17 April, the commander of the Eighth Army ordered the Polish forces to continue their push towards Bologna from the east. The town was to be taken initially by the American troops of the Fifth Army advancing from the south.
On 21 April the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Brigade of the Polish 3rd Carpathian Infantry Division entered the city, where only isolated German units were still fighting.(Another source attributes the entrance to the Polish 5th Kresowa Division).
By 6:15 am the Poles had secured the city, displaying Polish flags from the town hall and the Torre Asinelli tower, the highest tower in the city. The local Italian population welcomed the Poles as their liberators. At 8:00 am, American (South African) tanks arrived in the city, followed by Italian partisans and the "Friuli" division of the Italian Co-Belligerent Army.
Colour by Mikołaj Kaczmarek - Kolor Historii
Photo by Sikorski / The Polish Institute and Museum, London.

 

[Conhoon]

"Night witches" Serafima Amosova, Evdokia Bershanskaya, Evdokia Nikulina.

'Night Witches' was the German nickname for the all-female military aviators of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, known later as the 46th "Taman" Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, of the Soviet Air Forces.
Though women were barred at the time from combat, Major Marina Raskova used her position and personal contacts with the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to obtain permission to form female combat units. On October 8, 1941, an order was issued to deploy three women's air-force units, including the 588th Regiment.
The regiment, formed by Raskova and led by Major Yevdokiya Bershanskaya, was composed primarily of female volunteers in their late teens and early twenties.
Colour by Olga Shirnina (Klimbim)

 

[santana]

February 1945. US Personnel examine a M5 Stuart Light tank, captured and used by the Germans, and then re-captured somewhere in the vicinity of Düren Germany near the Rur/Roer River.

The M5 Stuart was the Army’s standard light tank at the beginning of World War II.
It was primarily used in reconnaissance, flank security, and infantry support roles. The M5 was lightly armored, quick and maneuverable, with a top speed of 36 miles per hour.

Originally designed as a light battle tank, its role was limited because its 37mm main gun and thin armor could not stand up to German tanks in direct combat. The tank did prove useful in an infantry support role where it knocked out machine-gun nests and other enemy strong points, supporting soldiers as they advanced.

 

[santana]

Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, Portrait of Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle at his desk.

During 1943 to 1946 Air Commodore Whittle was attached to Power Jets Ltd for the development of the Aircraft Gas Turbine for Jet Propulsion.

Known as the 'father of the jet engine', the prototype of which was 'bench run' in 1937.

The models on his desk are the first British prototype jet aircraft to fly and of the Meteor, the first jet to enter service with the RAF, circa 1942.

 

[santana]

Framed by fire and smoke, an unidentified soldier dressed in camoflage and face-paint holds a flamthrower during a training exercise, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, 1942.

 

[santana]

An original colour Kodachrome. United States Army Lieutenant General Jacob L Devers (1887-1979) pictured saluting the crew of the Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress Memphis Belle prior to the aircraft's return to America after completing 25 operational sorties, England, June 1943.

General Devers has recently been appointed Commander of European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) following the death of General Frank Maxwell Andrews.

 

[santana]

Portrait of US Lieutenant General Frank Maxwell Andrews (1884-1943) Commander of United States forces in Europe at his desk, March 1943.

 

[santana]

United States Army Lieutenant General Jacob L Devers (1887-1979) seated at his desk at US Army headquarters in England on 23rd June 1943.
General Devers has recently been appointed Commander of European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) following the death of General Frank Maxwell Andrews.

 

[santana]

Pilots assembled for a briefing on board USS Lexington (CV 16) in June 1943.

 

[santana]

B-25J "Ave Maria" of the 447th BS 321st BG over Italy 1945.

 

[santana]

F6F Hellcats of Squadron VF-25 warming up on the flight deck of the USS Cowpens during the Marshall Islands campaign, January 1944.

 

[Conhoon]

Operation Market Garden
A Luftwaffe Field Division Obergefreiter, with his binoculars, dressed in a Splittermuster 41 (Splinter Pattern) jacket. Autumn 1944, The Netherlands, Arnhem.

Credits: ? Photographer Roder / Bundesarchiv German Federal Archives - Image 101I-497-3503-14 (FGF Colourised)