Photos Colour and Colourised Photos of WW2 & earlier conflicts

[Conhoon]

An Abandoned Panzerkampfwagen VI ausf B (SdKfz 182) Tiger II or Konigstiger of Schwere Panzer Abteilung (Heavy Tank Battalion) 506, Sixth Panzer Army, is inspected by American soldiers of the 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division.

Note the Tiger II's 88mm (3.46 inch) locked in the recoil position, destroyed by the retreating crew. The 35th Infantry Division was rushed into the area to stop the German offensive around December 20, 1944. On December 28, the Division had fought their way to Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, near Bastogne, attempting to relieve the 101st Airborne Division and elements of the 10th Armored Division. By December 31 the 137th Infantry had lost two companies captured by the 1st SS Panzer Division, attempting to retake the village after Bastogne's relief. The 137th had lost 200 men killed or captured. On January 10, the 137th retook Villers. The 506th was the only Heer (Regular Army) unit equipped with the Tiger II, as opposed to the Waffen SS Abteilungs in operation in Belgium.
The unit had only operated Tiger tanks, and for the Ardennes Offensive, a fourth company, Schwere Panzer Abteilung Hummel, was attached operating Panzerkampfwagen IV ausf E Tiger Is.
On January 17, 1944, as the Sixth Panzer Army retreated from American breakthroughs around Bastogne, the 506th was forced to abandon two Tiger IIs and one Tiger I.
While individually superior to any Allied tank, the Tiger II consumed considerable resources and was yet another tank type that a strained German quartermaster corps had to supply with fuel, ammunition, and spare parts.
The Tiger II had a range of only 90 miles (145 kilometers). In its rush to combat it suffered from mechanical reliability defects; most Americans saw abandoned, not destroyed, Tiger IIs. This was a blessing for the Americans, whose M4 Sherman medium tanks and M10 Wolverine tank destroyers, both armed with 3-inch guns, could not penetrate the 180mm (7 inch) thick frontal armor. Only the M36 Jackson, with a high velocity 90mm gun, could stop a Tiger II, and only at a range within that of the German tank. All of the American tanks and tank destroyers had armor that was easily defeated by the Tiger II's 88mm KwK 43 L/71 main gun. The Americans counted on their superiority in artillery and air power to destroy Tigers.
Caption Written By: Jason McDonald, worldwar2database.com
(Photo source - US Army Signal Corps)
Color by Nikos Hatzitsirou

 

[BravoZulu]

A Saxon soldier of 192nd Infantry Division. Social mores of the time dictated that smiling was frowned upon (pun intended ). The photograph showing the pair holding hands would indicate the likelihood he is holding his mothers hand as it was generally a "no-no"

 

[BravoZulu]

Austro-Hungarian soldiers in their trench with gas masks on, Eastern front, 1916

 

[Conhoon]

The Second Boer War ( Anglo - Boer War 11 October 1899 - 31 May 1902 )
Battle of Ladysmith (30 October, 1899)

(The failed attempt to take hill top Boer positions around Ladysmith)
Photograph was taken on battlefield and represents the Devonshire Regiment (1st BN)
facing Pepworth Hill firing from behind boulders which form an effective cover,
One of the men has risen to watch the effect of his shot.(original Caption).
Note, Rear Sight elevation on Lee-Metford rifles(MK1) indicates long distance engagement.
Two men have their Foreign service helmets reversed to possibly keep sun out of their eyes as they shoot.
Photographer- H. Nicholls.
Source- With the flag to Pretoria ( book published 1902 vol 1) by H.W Wilson.
Colourised by Tinus Le Roux

 

[Conhoon]

Savage Station,Virginia. Union Field Hospital.
Seven days battles(June 25 - July 1 1862)
Wounded soldiers,including the straw-hatted men of the 16th New York Infantry,lying on the ground while some recieved attention after the aftermath of the Battle of Gaines mill on 27 June 1862.

This Regiment had just recieved its baptism of fire at Gaines Mill and suffered 200 casualties.
Straw hats were provided by the Colonel's wife in early June.
The Seven days battles (or Campaign)
A series of battles over 7 days goal of the Federal army under Major General George B.McCellan to push north and capture Richmond,Virginia.
The newly appointed commander of the Army of Northern Virginia General Robert E.Lee forced the Federal army into retreat to the James River.
Casualties over the 7 days;
Union 15,500
Confederate 20,000.
*Note these men along with 2,700 wounded were left behind for whom transportation was not available,some of the Federal surgical staff elected to remain behind with the wounded,
Medical attention for many would come at the
hands of the pursuing Confederates.
Photosource-library of Congress LC-B815-491
Photographer- Gibson James F.
28 June 1862.

 

[Conhoon]

The Second Boer war. (Anglo-Boer War 11 October 1899 - 31 May 1902)
C Company, 2nd Battalion, (Special Service) Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry seizing a Kopje (hill) during actions at the Battle of Sunnyside, Cape Colony, 1 January 1900.

In addition to C Company Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry, the following units were involved;
250 men from the 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry ( Australia)
2 x Company's of The Duke of Cornwall's light Infantry (British).
Photograph was originally on the front cover
Of " The Graphic" An illustrated weekly newspaper,14 February 1900. With following headline" The Toronto Company's Baptism of Fire".
Photosource-Hulton-Deutsch Collection.
Photographer- Reinhold Thiele.
(Colourised by Tinus le Roux)

 

[Conhoon]

Portrait of Sergeant John Geary,Thomas Onslow and lance Corporal Patrick Carthay.
95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot,wearing their packs and equipment 1856.

After Inkermann,during the Crimean campaign,
The Regiment was reduced to less than a hundred officers and men,but continued to serve in the trenches,which led to their nickname....."there may be few of the 95th left but those are hard are nails".
The Regiment won eight Victoria Cross Awards
In the Crimea.
Photosource-© IWM (Q 71638)
Creator- Cundall&Howell
Colourised by Doug Banks.

 

[Connaught Ranger]

Portrait of Sergeant John Geary,Thomas Onslow and lance Corporal Patrick Carthay.
95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot,wearing their packs and equipment 1856.


View attachment 268575
After Inkermann,during the Crimean campaign,
The Regiment was reduced to less than a hundred officers and men,but continued to serve in the trenches,which led to their nickname....."there may be few of the 95th left but those are hard are nails".
The Regiment won eight Victoria Cross Awards
In the Crimea.
Photosource-© IWM (Q 71638)
Creator- Cundall&Howell
Colourised by Doug Banks.

All wearing the 1856 Crimea Campaign medal and associated battle-bars.

 

[Conhoon]

Troops of the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne, move through the fog to a new position, Ardennes, Belgium, December 20, 1944.

Colour by Jake

 

[Conhoon]

A British M4 MkV (M4A4) Sherman tank of the 23rd Armoured Brigade in Athens,during the Greek civil war, December 1944.

The 23rd Armoured Brigade arrived at Piraeus port on 12 October 1944,as part of the British occupying force in Greece (initially designated as Force 140) when the Germans withdrew and remained until the end of World War II in Europe.
The Sherman tank is parked on Panepistimiou street,in front of the cinema Titania where at that time was playing the film "Desert Victory"(NIKH EΡHMOY in Greek).
Photographer: Dmitri Kessel
Photo source: TIME/LIFE

 

[BravoZulu]

General Patton Aboard USS Augusta Before Operation Torch, Oct-Nov 1942. Colourised by vorst17735

 

[BravoZulu]

Battlecruiser HMS Tiger during trials, October 1914. In the distance can be seen the bows of the liner RMS Olympic sister of the ill fated Titanic. Colourised by Alex Wolf.

 

[BravoZulu]

USS Fiske breaking apart and sinking north of The Azores, 2nd August 1944

On 2 August, during a special hunt for submarines known to be transmitting weather information from stations in the central Atlantic, Fiske and USS Douglas L. Howard were detached from the task group to investigate a visual contact both had made. The contact (north of the Azores), surfaced U-804, quickly dived, but the two escorts picked it up on sonar, and began their attack approach. Suddenly, Fiske was torpedoed on her starboard side amidships, and within 10 minutes, she broke in two and had to be abandoned. Thirty-three of her men were killed and 50 badly wounded by the explosion, but all who survived it were rescued by USS Farquhar.

 

[Conhoon]

Soviet combat medic, 1941

 

[Conhoon]

Christmas Eve in the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Polish Legions, Karasin, 1915.

 

[BravoZulu]

HMS Furious in 1918 after the removal of her aft 18" turret and the extension of the flight deck. Colourised by Irootoko Jr.

HMS Tribune, forward view from the conning tower running on the surface in Scottish waters.1942

Battleship HMS Howe passes through the Suez Canal on her way to join the British Pacific Fleet, 14 July 1944

 

[BravoZulu]

Imperial Russian Navy Baltic Fleet, 1912-14, colourised by Irootoko_Jr.

 

[BravoZulu]

Meeting of the Supreme Command, Allied Expeditionary Force, Feb 1944

General Dwight D Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force (centre), flanked by his senior commanders, 1 February 1944. Left to right: Lieutenant General Omar Bradley; Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay; Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder; General Sir Bernard Montgomery; Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory; and Lieutenant General Walter Bedell-Smith. photos at SHAEF HQ in Norfolk House, St James's Square, London

 

[BravoZulu]

Pfc. Jack H. Pulliam, from Company G / 513th PIR captured by the Germans and escape after a month-long ordeal. He went into hiding in a town called Prüm. Here just after being rescued by the men of 4th Infantry Division. February 13, 1945

Jack was born on January 7, 1925, and spent his youth in Lucerne, PA. He was a volunteer for the Army on January 7, 1943, and was inducted on February 20, 1943, at Altoona, PA. He received ASN 33573517 and was sent to the 44th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, WA. He was a volunteer for the Airborne troops and was transferred to Parachute School at Fort Benning in March 1944 where he was finally assigned to Company G / 513th PIR as a light machine gunner after having successfully completed his paratrooper course.

On January 7, 1945, on his 20th birthday, he was captured at Flamierge during the terrible battle of "Dead Man's Ridge". He was sent to Clervaux, then to Prüm. He was wounded at Garolstein, Germany, and escaped the Germans on February 7 with Ed SUMMERS. They reached Prüm on February 9 and went into hiding until the town was taken by the men of the 4th Infantry Division on February 13.

He spent two weeks in the hospital to recover from malnutrition and was unable to return to his unit because of his Prisoner of War status. He was finally shipped back to States in March 1945 and completed military as an automatic weapons instructor at Fort Benning. He was discharged in November 1945 as S/Sgt.

 

[Conhoon]

Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair "Paddy" Mayne, DSO & Three Bars

(11 January 1915 – 14 December 1955)
British Army soldier from Newtownards, capped for Ireland and the British Lions at rugby union, lawyer, amateur boxer and a founding member of the Special Air Service (SAS).
During the course of the Second World War he became one of the British Army's most highly decorated soldiers and, by destroying 47 aircraft in a single action, he may well have destroyed more German aircraft than the RAF's highest scoring ace.
He was controversially denied a Victoria Cross.