Photos Colour and Colourised Photos of WW2 & earlier conflicts

[Fish&Chips]

Soldiers of the Lancashire Fusiliers, part of 29th Division, are seen on board Trawler 318 used during the Dardanelles landings, before disembarking at 'W' and 'V' beaches off Cape Helles on 5 May 1915.

Imagine a direct artillery hit...

 

[morris]

As other soldiers run for the cover of slit trenches, an Indian Lewis gun team engage an enemy aircraft, Mesopotamia 1918.
During the long and arduous campaign along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, from Basra to Baghdad and beyond, over 29,000 Indian soldiers perished in what was their most significant contribution to the war effort.
(Source - Imperial War Museum- Q 24781) (Colourised by Royston Leonard)

 

[morris]

A German Schutztruppe askari poses for the camera with the German Imperial flag. German East Africa, 1906.

Although all the contenders fielded their own ‘askari’ troops during the African campaigns of 1914-18, it was the German native soldiers that became famous due no doubt to the impressive campaign conducted by German General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck in East Africa.
Starting the war with no more than 260 German Officers and NCOs and 2,472 askari, von Lettow never had at his disposal more than 3,000 Germans and 12,000 Africans (not counting native porters). Nevertheless, for four years his forces held in check 300,000 British Empire, Belgian and Portuguese troops.
When he finally agreed to a ceasefire, von Lettow still had 1,500 men under arms, most of them askari.

In 1964, the year of Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck’s death, the West German parliament voted to deliver back pay to all surviving askaris, and a temporary cashier’s office was set up at Mwanza on Lake Victoria. Of the 350 aged veterans who gathered, only a handful could produce the certificates that von Lettow-Vorbeck had given them in 1918, though others presented pieces of their old uniforms as proof of service.
The German banker who had brought the money came up with an idea: as each claimant stepped forward, he was handed a broom and ordered in German to perform the manual of arms. Not one man failed the test.

Original: Bundesarchiv (Bild 105-DOA6369) Colour by: In Colore Veritas

 

[morris]

Convoy to Russia, with a British cruiser escort on Arctic lifeline, December 1941, on board the cruiser HMS Sheffield. In the Russian base HMS Sheffield anchors and waits once more for the sailing orders. In the background can be seen snow covered hills.

 

[Conhoon]

1943
Ahead of the battalion was Junior Lieutenant Mikhailov with his company

Photo by A.I. Brodsky
Colour by Olga Shirnina (Klimbim)

 

[morris]

ww2 pacific "Group of Construction Battalions (Seabees) acting as stretcher bearers for the 7th Marines. Peleliu.", 09/1944

 

[BravoZulu]

HMS Tiger

 

[morris]

A New Zealand soldier undergoing a dental extraction at the New Zealand Dental Corps hospital in Nielles-lès-Bléquin, France, during the First World War. November 1917.

In the early stages of the war, between a quarter to a third of recruits were rejected for service on account of dental defects.
The New Zealand Dental Association, seeing an opportunity to raise their profile, took up the challenge to treat these men and contribute to the war effort. They lobbied the Defence Force to create the first ever Dental Corps in November 1915, with the aim to have every soldier of the Expeditionary Force dentally fit for service. This was by no means an easy feat. Dental officers inspected the teeth of prospective soldiers in New Zealand mobilisation camps, and accompanied troops when they were mobilised overseas.
Between 1915 and 1918, the New Zealand Dental Corps (NZDC) performed 221,214 filling operations and 98,817 teeth extractions.

Photograph taken by Henry Armytage Sanders. (Colour by RJM)

 

[Conhoon]

A German Fallschirmjäger armed with a Maschinenpistole (and possibly a holstered Walther flare pistol), also carrying an M35 map-case on the march in Nettuno, Italy. Winter 1943/44.

The 4. Fallschirmjäger-Division was formed in Venice, Italy, in November 1943 from elements of 2. Fallschirmjäger-Division with the addition of volunteers from the Italian parachute divisions 184. Parachutist Division Nembo and 185. Parachutist Division Folgore.
It was sent into action against the Allied landings at Anzio (Operation Shingle) as part of I. Fallschirm-Korps in January 1944. It fought the Allied forces in Italy until the surrender in May 1945 in the area between Viacenza and Bozen.
(Photo source - Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-575-1824-22)
Colour by Doug

 

[morris]

New Zealand soldiers washing socks in wooden tubs near the New Zealand Divisional Headquarters at Bus-les-artois, 7 May 1918.
The town of Bus-lès-Artois is located in the department of Somme of the french region Picardie.

Photograph taken by Henry Armytage Sanders Nº H-563 (Colorized by Marina Amaral from Brazil)

 

[morris]

American troops pack a landing craft underway to a beachhead at the northern coast of france during the allied invasion of Normandy June 19 1944.

Lots of pushbikes.

 

[berkut76]

View attachment 250443
American troops pack a landing craft underway to a beachhead at the northern coast of france during the allied invasion of Normandy June 19 1944.

Lots of pushbikes.

Troops look decidedly British / Commonwealth to me.

 

[morris]

Troops look decidedly British / Commonwealth to me.

The caption says American, to me they look Canadian who after all are from America

 

[berkut76]

The caption says American, to me they look Canadian who after all are from America

In my mental WWII images, GIs just not associated with riding bikes, Brits and, especially Germans are

 

[morris]

I found another but b&w photo with pushbikes pinterest.com.au

Caption says
De Canadezen landen op Juno-strand, bij Bernières-sur-Mèr, Normandië, op D-Day 6 juni 1944. Het originele Canadese bijschrift luidt: 'While snipers' bullets still whined in the air and flames and
Canadian Mobile Troopers landing at Normandy.....I love it - Americans bring tanks ashore...Canadiens bring BICYCLES.

 

[berkut76]

I found another but b&w photo with pushbikes pinterest.com.au
View attachment 250454
Caption says
De Canadezen landen op Juno-strand, bij Bernières-sur-Mèr, Normandië, op D-Day 6 juni 1944. Het originele Canadese bijschrift luidt: 'While snipers' bullets still whined in the air and flames and
Canadian Mobile Troopers landing at Normandy.....I love it - Americans bring tanks ashore...Canadiens bring BICYCLES.

Considering the number of Shermans lost in the bocages, bringing a bike to a fight doesn't sound like a terrible idea.

 

[BravoZulu]

The caption says American, to me they look Canadian who after all are from America

Don't ever say that to a Canadian??

 

[BravoZulu]

A US soldier on the deck of the destroyed French battleship Strasbourg in Toulon. Alongside the battleship lies the light cruiser La Gallissoniere, Aug 1944.

 

[BravoZulu]

HMS Eagle seen in 1937. She was sunk by U73 on the 11th of Aug 1942 during operation Pedestal.

 

[BravoZulu]

A Panzer IV Ausf. H crew of the 22. Panzer Regiment, 21. Panzer Division, near Rouen. France, August 1944

The young German Leutnant wears a fallschirmjäger tunic Heer eagle and collar tabs applied- tucked into his Pz trousers.

This is one of several close-ups of this particular panzer crew, taken by KB Karl Müller, during the German retreat of August, 1944. Rouen was one of the few places were heavy vehicles could be ferried across the Seine and the quais were packed with war material and men when on the 25th August, after 4 days of rain, the clear skies brought Allied bombers who carpet bombed the area for 45 minutes with some bombs falling on the other side of the river along the Boulevard were this photo was taken. Although an exact date is not given, this photo was probably taken on the 25th August, the day Müller crossed the river, and before 7 p.m., the time of the Allied bombing.

"In Rouen, the railway bridge Eauplet, though damaged, allowed to evacuate tens of thousands. A Elbeuf, another bridge remained in operation until the occupation of the city at the junction of the allied forces. In addition to three boats bridges, the Germans resumed their service several tanks - as Caudebec - to get out of the loops of the Seine. In the end, fifty crossings allowed the evacuation. By the 29th of August, the crossing operations were completed. Of all the troops who were outside the Falaise pocket, over 90% were able to go with three quarters of the tanks. It is estimated that nearly 230,000 men, 30,000 vehicles and nearly 150 tanks managed to escape the allies. After the bloody fiasco Chambois and strategic defeat in the Battle of Normandy, this escape under the very noses of the pursuers was an undeniable success."

(Photographer - Kriegsberichter Karl Müller)

Coloured By Richard James Molloy