Photos Colour and Colourised Photos of WW2 & earlier conflicts

[morris]

Maoris of 'C' Company, 28th Maori Battalion of the 2nd New Zealand Division, perform the Haka war dance for the visit of King George II of Greece, his wife the Queen, his cousin Prince Peter and Major General Freyberg. The location was at an army training camp at Helwan in Egypt in June, 1941

 

[morris]

Dinner time: US troops huddle around a M1937 Field Range cooker while Sgt Louis S. Wallace of Meadville, Mississippi prepares turkey for Thanksgiving. It is not clear where or when the image was captured

 

[Conhoon]

"Shoeing smiths at work". Smiths of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps at work in an open-air smithery, England, 16 November 1940.

The handwritten annotation of the back of the original image reads:
'A number of Indian Soldiers, members of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps, were among troops of the BEF [British Expeditionary Force] successfully evacuated from Dunkirk.'
'They have been re-equipped and provided with new mules and are now doing their part in the defence of Great Britain. Despite being so far from home they are provided with regular shipments of rice and spices from Indian - another indication of Britain's control of the seas.'
Photographer: Lt E.G. Malindine, War Office official photographer

 

[Conhoon]

Lieutenant Edward 'Ted' Frederick Byrne, NX58832, from the 2/7th Cavalry (Commando) Squadron at Bumbum in the Ramu Valley, New Guinea, 20 October 1943.

Born on 23 May 1921, to William and Edith Byrne in what was then bushland at Campsie in New South Wales, Ted was the seventh child of a seventh child - his mother - and looked upon this unusual circumstance as being lucky. He did well academically at school, and was a keen cricketer at his local Croyden Park Club where he won trophies as an all rounder.

Ted enlisted in July 1940, and at the time this photograph was taken, he been with the 2/7th since the Battle of Wau (New Guinea), in January-February 1943.

He was mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Military Cross for his 'skill and coolness' in patrolling, is 'great offensive spirit in the face of heavy casulities' and for trying to rescue wounded men.

Promoted to captain, Byrne was wounded in action during his second campaign in New Guinea on 12 January 1945.

After the War and his service in Malaya with the Royal Sussex Regiment to which he had been seconded, Ted returned to Australia and civilian life again.

He married his wartime sweetheart, Betty Reta Chamberlain, at Sydney in 1946 and they went on to have three children, Garry, Gail and Teddy. Although Ted and Betty later divorced they remained close and especially loved being together with their grandsons Christopher and Ted's beloved dog, Jason, and later with Luke.

Ted worked for some time at the stockbrokers Joseph Palmer and Sons. Ted set up his business as the Sydney agent for some of Melbourne's finest fashion manufacturers and built it up in Culwulla Chambers to being one of the most respected in Sydney.

Being a man who loved building, Ted built himself three homes before finding his "spot in life", a rugged steep block of land at Northbridge on Sailor's Bay. He then proceeded to build the home for his family which he continued to add to or change through the rest of his life. He spent his last years happily living on a property in the Northern Rivers of NSW where he still indulged his love of building.

 

[Connaught Ranger]

It looks like the tank is behind the rocks, I am not sure what he seats on but the dogs are most definitely stand on the rock.
In any case that is what the caption reads.

The dogs are on the tank turret, in the immediate foreground is the gun mantlet, after that a lifting hook/ring,
the color effect is that of the faded chipped paint applied to the turret, he is seated to the right side of the turret top,
not a rock in sight despite the caption, but its easy to see how the mistake was made.

 

[Conhoon]

Jagdpanzer 38(t) of 2./PzJg-Abt 1708 of the 708. Volkgrenadier-Division which was knocked out by an M10 tank destroyer of 813th TD Battalion in support of the US 79th Infantry Division. Halloville, France. November 17 1944

(Nb. the M-10 76mm damage can be seen in the hull)
The Jagdpanzer 38 (Sd.Kfz. 138/2), later known as Hetzer ("pursuer/hunter"), was a German light tank destroyer based on a modified Czechoslovakian Panzer 38(t) chassis.
314th Infantry Regiment, US 79th ID. Report;
15 Nov 1944
Halloville and Harbouey were taken by 314th and 315th. 1st Bn 315th with "C" Co to support 114th in attack. 8 tanks supported advance to take Halloville, ... Harbouey. 3 enemy tanks obs near town. 7 enemy assault guns and 4 AT guns destroyed, 100 Pws. Only 5 tanks left for attack. 100 PWs at Harbouey. 7 enemy Mark IV assault guns and 4 AT guns destroyed by "B" Co. 813 TD Bn knocked out 3 Mark IV tanks, 2 Mark IV tanks, 1 ½ track, 1 self-propelled gun, 2 staff cars.
(Photo source -NARA)
Colour by Doug

 

[morris]

Two skulls rested on top of a warning sign at the US Army's 363rd Station Hospital at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea during World War II. Also known as quinacrine and mepacrine, the drug atabrine acts against the protozoan that causes malaria.

 

[morris]

Unsinkable Sam, the only cat in the Second World War to have served in both the Kriegsmarine - the navy of Nazi Germany - and the Royal Navy.

 

[morris]

A US Marine feeds bananas to a goat, in Saipan, the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific in 1944.

 

[BravoZulu]

German soldiers posing in gas masks in the Vosges Mountains in 1918

 

[Conhoon]

Private B. Jones of the 5th Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, 43rd (Wessex) Division, during the assault on Geilenkirchen in Germany, 18 November 1944.

Photograph taken by Sergeant C. H. Hewitt. © IWM (B 11927)/artistic rendition 2020.

 

[Conhoon]

Men of the British 2nd Parachute Brigade patrolling in Βουτάδων, γκάζι, a neighbourhood of Athens during operations against members of ELAS. December 1944

Greek People's Liberation Army - Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós (ELAS)
Colour by Doug

 

[Conhoon]

"Combat crew" of the T-20 Komsomolets artillery armoured tractor before entering combat mission, 25.06.1943

Color by Olga Shirnina (Klimbim)

 

[morris]

"Combat crew" of the T-20 Komsomolets artillery armoured tractor before entering combat mission, 25.06.1943

View attachment 261354

Color by Olga Shirnina (Klimbim)

Troopers on the back of the machine look more like partisans rather then regulars.

 

[BravoZulu]

Sturmgeschütz III Ausf. G crew observe the results of their marksmanship on the Eastern Front, a burnt out T-34-76 Model 1942

Panzer IV Ausf. H with Zimmerit protection of 5./SS-Pz.Rgt. 9, 9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen" passes a small Galician village. The turret number of the Panzer IV Ausf H is masked by the open Schürzen. Several tanks of this company bore a baptismal name painted at the base of the gun: "York".

 

[Conhoon]

A RRAB-3 "Molotov bread basket" in Sortavala, Finland 1939/40.

The RRAB-3 was a Soviet-made droppable bomb dispenser that combined a large high-explosive charge with a cluster of incendiary bombs. It was used against the cities of Finland during the Winter War of 1939–1940.
In 1939, the Soviet Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov, claimed the Soviet Union was not dropping bombs on Finland, but merely airlifting food to “starving Finns”. So they were nicknamed “Molotov bread baskets” by the Finns.
Photographer unknown and was provided by Sotasampo/Sa-kuva.

 

[BCNTM]

It looks like the tank is behind the rocks, I am not sure what he seats on but the dogs are most definitely stand on the rock.
In any case that is what the caption reads.

Sorry but he is sat on the turret - just look to the right hand side of the white dog it's one of the turret lifting lugs - (the other two are on the back) - going further back from that lug there is a raised area which is actually circular if you see it from above

It might look like rock, but some of the ones I have worked on in the past are unbelievably rough

 

[morris]

Sorry but he is sat on the turret - just look to the right hand side of the white dog it's one of the turret lifting lugs - (the other two are on the back) - going further back from that lug there is a raised area which is actually circular if you see it from above

It might look like rock, but some of the ones I have worked on in the past are unbelievably rough

Ok, I'm not going to copy-paste captions so everybody can imagine own story

 

[BCNTM]

Ok, I'm not going to copy-paste captions so everybody can imagine own story

View attachment 261560

View attachment 261564

View attachment 261565

I am sure that is Hitler in the final picture

 

[morris]

I am sure that is Hitler in the final picture

Before he left for South America?