Photos Colour and Colourised Photos of WW2 & earlier conflicts

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On the 4th of June 1944, Rome was liberated by American and Allied troops.
U.S. soldiers of the 5th Army march past the historical Roman Colosseum and follow the retreating enemy in Rome, Italy, on June 5, 1944.
After the nearly concurrent breakthroughs at Cassino and Anzio in spring 1944, the 11 nations representing the Allies in Italy finally had a chance to trap the Germans in a pincer movement and to realize some of Winston Churchill's strategic goals for the long, costly campaign against the Axis "underbelly". This would have required U.S 5th Army under Lieutenant General Mark Clark to commit most of his Anzio forces to the drive east from Cisterna, and to execute the envelopment envisioned in the original planning for the Anzio landing (i.e., flank the German 10th Army, and sever its northbound line of retreat from Cassino). Instead, fearing that the 8th Army might beat him to Rome, Clark diverted a large part of his Anzio force in that direction in an attempt to ensure that he and the 5th Army would have the honour of liberating the Eternal City.
Because of this the German 10th Army were able to retreat north inflicting delaying tactics on the allies, securing time for the German Army to reinforce the Gothic line.
(Source - AP Photo)


The Liberation of Rome - 4 June 1944
German POWs with a pet dog in the Italian city of Rome
4 June 1944.



"Kiss of joy in Rome"
US Fifth Army Private Elmer Sittion, gets a kiss from an Italian lady on his arrival in the eternal city. 4th/5th June 1944.
Allied soldiers said that seeing the joy on people's faces made them feel proud.
"As the Germans defences south of Rome crumbled and rapidly retreated Rome was declared and open city.
Joyous celebrations commenced when it became clear that the Germans were gone. Despite the fact that Fascist Italy had been one of the key Axis powers, the Allies, especially the Americans, were treated as liberators when they entered Rome. This was in part because of the German occupation. It was also because of the notable affection of the Italian people toward the Americans. Many Italians had either lived in America or had American relatives. The American combat units paused only briefly before continuing north to resume the campaign against the Germans."

 

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3 June 1941
Maori troops line up on the quayside at Alexandria in Egypt following their evacuation from Crete, 3 June, 1941. Between 28 May and 1 June 1941, 18,000 Australian, New Zealand and British troops were rescued by the Royal Navy following a week of bitter fighting against German Fallschirmjäger.

The 28th (Māori) Battalion, more commonly known as the Māori Battalion, was an infantry battalion of the New Zealand Army that served during the Second World War. It was formed following pressure on the Labour government by some Māori Members of Parliament (MPs) and Māori organisations throughout the country which wanted a full Māori unit to be raised for service overseas. The Māori Battalion followed in the footsteps of the Māori Pioneer Battalion that served during the First World War with success, and was wanted by Māori to raise their profile, and to serve alongside their Pākehā compatriots as subjects of the British Empire. It also gave a generation of people with a well-noted military ancestry a chance to test their modern warrior skills. Raised in 1940 as part of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF), the 28th (Māori) Battalion was attached to the 2nd New Zealand Division as an extra battalion that was moved between the division's three infantry brigades. The battalion fought during the Greek, North African and Italian campaigns during which it earned a formidable reputation as a fighting force which has subsequently been acknowledged by both Allied and German commanders. It was also the most decorated New Zealand battalion during the war. Following the end of hostilities, the battalion contributed a contingent of personnel to serve in Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force, before being disbanded in January 1946.

 

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Audie Murphy of B Company, 15th Regiment, Third Division. The most decorated soldier in the U.S. Army.

At Salzburg, Austria on 2 June 1945, Lieutenant General A.M. Patch, Commander of the 7th Army presented Murphy with the Medal of Honor and Legion of Merit for his actions at Holtzwihr.

When asked after the war why he had seized the machine gun and taken on an entire company of German infantry, he replied, “They were killing my friends.”

Murphy was born on June 20, 1925, in Kingston, Texas as the seventh of 12 children. Murphy’s mother died just before his 16th birthday in 1941. He tried to enlist in both the Army and Marines but was rejected for being both underage and underweight. His older sister helped forge his birth certificate and signed an affidavit where he was finally accepted into the Army on June 30, 1942. He was just 16 years old.

In late February 1943 he was shipped out to Casablanca, Morocco as part of B Company, 1st Bn. 15th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division. He was assigned as the platoon messenger. As a division runner, Murphy was with the division as they fought across Sicily, into the ancient city of Palermo and finally on to Messina where they closed the door on the German’s withdrawal.

He took part in the Salerno landings on mainland Italy at Battipaglia. He and another soldier broke up a German ambush by killing five of the enemy. The fighting in Italy raged thru the autumn and Murphy was promoted to Sergeant in December 1943. Less than a month later he was promoted again to Staff Sergeant in January 1944.

After the landing at Anzio, Murphy took part in the Battle of Cisterna where the 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalions were annihilated due to faulty intelligence and poor planning by the Corps Commander MG Lucas. Murphy was made a platoon sergeant after the battle. He hadn’t yet turned 19 years old.

Holding up in an abandoned farmhouse, Murphy destroyed a German tank with rifle grenades and killed the crew. For that, he was awarded the Bronze Star with “V” device.

Murphy and the division took part in Southern France and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for actions taken on August 15, 1944. Murphy’s platoon was fighting through a vineyard when the men were attacked by German soldiers. Murphy grabbed a machine gun, returned fire at the German soldiers, killing two and wounding one. Two Germans exited a house about 100 yards away and asked to surrender.
Murphy’s best friend responded and as he moved forward to take them, prisoner, they shot and killed him. Murphy advanced alone on the house under direct fire. He killed six, wounded two more and amazingly after what happened to his friend, took 11 prisoners. The 1st Bn. received a Presidential Unit Citation for their fighting around Montélimar.

He received a Purple Heart from mortar shrapnel in September.
Murphy’s Silver Star medal was for his action in charging a German machine gun position where he killed four and wounded three more.

He received a Bronze Leaf on his Silver Star when he crawled up a hill and directed fire against the Germans while under constant, direct fire. His actions resulted in 15 killed enemy and 35 wounded.

Less than four months after his 19th birthday, Murphy was given a battlefield promotion to 2nd Lieutenant. He was wounded for the 2nd time on October 26, when he captured two Germans before being shot through the hip by a sniper. He returned fire, shooting the sniper right between his eyes. His wound would keep him out of action until January.

He was wounded in both legs in mid-January after rejoining his troops in the fighting around Holtzwihr. On January 26, he became the Company Commander of B Co. On that day as they were attacking the German positions, an M-10 Tank Destroyer supporting the infantry was hit and set afire. While ordering the company to retreat to the woodline, he remained at the flaming M-10, firing his M-1 Carbine and calling in fire on the German troops. The entire time Murphy was in full view of the Germans and they were pouring fire in his direction. Then he did the unimaginable. Murphy climbed up on top of the burning tank destroyer and mounting the .50 caliber machine gun, he poured fire at the German troops. The enemy sent a squad crawling up a ditch trying to get to him but he saw them and cut them all down. He stood alone, on a flaming open-topped tank destroyer for an hour with German infantry and tanks advancing and pouring fire at him. He killed or wounded 50 of the attacking enemy. The Germans finally wounded him in the leg, but he remained on the TD until he ran out of ammunition. He then made his way back to his men and refused medical evacuation until he personally led them back to push the Germans back.
For this incredible action, Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor.
He was promoted to First Lieutenant and moved off the line and into a Regimental Headquarters slot as a liaison officer.

Postwar: Murphy suffered from what we now call PTSD. He spoke to the Veterans Administration about it. In an effort to ease the strain on returning Vietnam veterans, he spoke candidly about his own problems and called on the government to give increased consideration and study to the emotional impact of combat experiences and to extend health care benefits to war veterans.

Film Career: Murphy launched a 21-year career as a film star being active from 1948-1969. He was known mainly for his westerns but he later played himself in the autobiographical “To Hell and Back.” That film became the biggest hit in Universal’s history at that time

He was killed in a plane crash in Virginia in 1971 and was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. His gravesite across from the amphitheater is one of the most visited other than JFK’s.

 

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Men of the Dutch submarine Hr.Ms. K-XV test fire their 40 mm Vickers-Armstrong 'Pom Pom' machine gun. c. 1941, Netherlands East Indies. The machine gun could be retracted into a closed compartment while the boat was submerged.

The submarine was laid down in Rotterdam at the shipyard of the 'Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij' (RDM) on 31 May 1930. On 30 December 1933 the boat was commissioned in the Dutch navy.

During WW2 K-XV sank several Japanese ships. She survived the war and was decommissioned on 23 April 1946 and scrapped in 1950.

At the start of WW2 the Dutch had five cruisers, eight destroyers, 24 submarines, and smaller vessels, along with 50 obsolete aircraft. During the Second World War, the Dutch navy was based in Allied countries after the Netherlands was conquered by Nazi Germany in a matter of days: the Dutch navy had its headquarters in London, England, and smaller units in Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka) and Western Australia.
During the relentless Japanese offensive of February through April 1942 in the Dutch East Indies, the Dutch navy in Asia was virtually annihilated, and it sustained losses of a total of 20 ships (including two of its three light cruisers) and 2,500 sailors killed

A small force of Dutch submarines based in Western Australia sank more Japanese ships in the first weeks after Japan joined the war than the entire British and American navies together during the same period, an exploit which earned Dutch Admiral Helfrich the nickname "Ship-a-day Helfrich". The aggressive pace of operations against the Japanese was a contributing factor to both the heavy losses sustained and the greater number of successes scored as compared to the British and Americans in the region.

Both British and American forces believed that the Dutch admiral in charge of the joint-Allied force was being far too aggressive. Later in the war, a few Dutch submarines scored some remarkable hits, including one on a Kriegsmarine U-boat U-95 in the Mediterranean Sea, which was sunk by O 21.

 

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May 29, 1944
In the foreground is U.S. sniper Pfc. Edward J. Foley, Co 'G', 143rd Infantry, 36th Infantry Division cleaning his Springfield 1903A4 rifle, Near Velletri, Lazio, Italy.

Bill Gorman, a veteran who served with Foley stated "Foley soon realized being a sniper was not a good career" It brought too much fire to him. Gorman also stated that "the 5 shot 1903A4 bolt sniper rifle - with a 4 power scope was a waste" Foley swapped it for an M1 Garand and took the helmet camo off.

On the 18th of May the 143rd Regiment sailed from the port of Pozzuoli near Naples and closed in at the Anzio beach head on the following day. On the morning of May 23d, the Regiment jumped off in an attack to break out of the beach head and entered the line on the road to Rome near the town of Velletri.

The Division, in a daring maneuver, sent the 142d Infantry and the 143 Infantry from the left flank squarely across the Division front under cover of darkness and the two regiments infiltrated to the rear of Velletri, up a 2,000-foot peak before the Germans realized what had happened. With the capture of the hills in rear of Velletri, the town folded and the race to Rome was on. Charging through the Alban Hills, the regiment arrived in the outskirts of Rome about 4 p.m. on the afternoon of June 4th, 1944.

(Nb: Foley came from 10 Odile St., Methuen, Massachusetts. He appears to be wearing Corcoran Jump boots)

 

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May 27, 1944
Trapped in Cisterna, Italy by the advancing US Fifth Army, 3rd infantry Division, these Germans raise their hands in surrender while being searched for hidden weapons.
These German soldiers fought the Allies in Cisterna until their ammunition was exhausted. This photo was taken immediately after their capture as they were being searched for hidden weapons and their equipment confiscated. It was said that these Germans sniped at the attackers incessantly.

The job of taking Cisterna rested with General O’Daniel’s 3rd Infantry Division. The heaviest fighting on May 24 and 25 was in the 7th Infantry Regiment’s sector. The 1st Battalion was brought forward from reserve and sent in to clear the ruins.

 

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Lanchester armoured car of the Royal Naval Air Service Armoured Car Expeditionary Force (Russian Armoured Car Division) bogged down in the mud of Galicia, Austria-Hungary, during the Kerensky Offensive. June 1917

In 1916 No 1 Squadron, Royal Naval Armoured Car Division, returned to Russia with their Lanchesters and other vehicles, and the entire unit drove to the Caucasus, the majority of the force operating throughout the Caucasus down to the Turkish border, whilst a detachment went into north Persia. When the rainy season arrived in October, the force drove via the northern shores of the Black Sea into Romania. In June 1917 the unit moved into Galicia to support the unsuccessful Kerensky Offensive. In November 1917 the Russian Revolution had overthrown the Imperial government, putting an end to the force's operations, so in January 1918 the entire unit was evacuated out of Archangel back to England.
In December 1914, the prototype of what was to become the Lancaster armoured car was produced from a Lancaster Sporting Forty in the service of the Royal Naval Air Service
(Photo source - © IWM Q 81097)
Turner (Lieutenant) (Photographer)
Colourised by Doug

 

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Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mark Vs (P5028 'GE-R' and N1469 'GE-H') of No. 58 Squadron RAF, being prepared for a sortie at Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire, June 1940.

At the start of the Second World War 58 Squadron was based at RAF Linton-on-Ouse flying Whitley bombers as part of No. 4 Group RAF in RAF Bomber Command, flying its first mission of the war, a leaflet raid on the Ruhr, on the night of 3/4 September 1939. From October 1939 until February 1940 it was based at RAF Boscombe Down attached to Coastal Command carrying out convoy escort patrols.
The squadron then returned in February 1940 to Linton-on-Ouse as part of Bomber Command and remained there for the next two years, undertaking its first bombing raid on the night of 18/19 April 1940, when three Whitleys set out to attack Fornebu airfield, Oslo, with one aborting and two attacking the target. In April 1942, the squadron transferred to Coastal Command.
The squadron was based at RAF St Eval and flew anti-submarine patrols over the Western Approaches as part of No. 19 Group RAF. On 23 June 1942, a Whitley of 58 Squadron attacked the German submarine U-753 in the Bay of Biscay, badly damaging the submarine. At the end of August 1942 the squadron moved to RAF Stornoway in the Western Isles. On 15 September 1942 a 58 Squadron Whitley sank the German submarine U-261 near the Rosemary Bankwest of Scotland.
In December 1942, the squadron moved to RAF Holmsley South in Hampshire, converting to the Handley Page Halifax in January 1943. The squadron flew a total of 1,757 sorties in 227 operations (219 bombing raids and 8 leaflet raids) during its time in Bomber Command, losing 49 aircraft on operations.
Colour: Colourised PIECE of JAKE
Photo: IWM

 

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9 April 1941
A Guardsman of 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, 7th Guards Brigade, 3rd Division rides a Norton Model 18 motorcycle fitted with a special mount to accommodate a Thompson sub machine gun, allowing the rider to fire while in motion. Swanage, Dorset, UK.

 

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Operation Jedburgh

“Jedburgh”. Operation Jedburgh was a clandestine operation during World War II in which three-man teams of soldiers of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the Free French Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action ("Central Bureau of Intelligence and Operations") and the Dutch and Belgian armies in exile were dropped by parachute into occupied France, the Netherlands and Belgium. The objective of the Jedburgh teams was to assist allied forces who invaded France on 6 June 1944 with sabotage and guerrilla warfare, and leading local resistance forces in actions against the Germans.

The name of the operation was chosen at random from a Ministry of Defence code book, although several of those who took part in the operation later reflected that the name was apt as the town of Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders was notorious in the late Middle Ages for the activities of the raiders known as the Border Reivers.

Operation Jedburgh represented the first real cooperation in Europe between SOE and the Special Operations branch of OSS. By this period in the war, SOE had insufficient resources to mount the huge operation on its own; for example, it had access to only 23 Handley Page Halifax aircraft for dropping agents and stores, barely sufficient to maintain SOE's existing networks. OSS was able to augment this force with Consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft operating from RAF Harrington.

The OSS sought to be involved since, in a single swoop, this would result in the OSS inserting more agents into northwestern Europe than it had during the entire previous period of US involvement in the war. Nevertheless, General Eisenhower, the American Supreme Commander, ensured that the French would lead the operation and on 9 June 1944 gave command of the Jedburgh teams to France.
The Jedburgh teams were known by codenames which usually were first names (such as "Hugh"), with some names of medicines (such as "Novocaine") and a few random names thrown in to confuse German intelligence. The teams normally consisted of three men: a commander, an executive officer, and a non-commissioned radio operator. One of the officers would be British or American while the other would originate from the country to which the team deployed. The radio operator could be of any nationality.

About 300 Jeds were selected. After about two weeks of paramilitary training at commando training bases in the Scottish Highlands, they moved to Milton Hall near Peterborough, which was much closer to the airfields from which they were to be launched, and to London and Special Force Headquarters. At Milton Hall they received an intensive course in unarmed combat and sabotage techniques.

In addition to their personal weapons (which included an M1 carbine and a Colt automatic pistol[8] for each member) and sabotage equipment, the teams dropped with the Type B Mark II radio, more commonly referred to as the B2 or "Jed Set", which was critical for communicating with Special Force Headquarters in London. They were also issued pieces of silk with five hundred phrases that they were likely to use in radio traffic replaced with four-letter codes to save time in transmission, and one-time pads to encipher their messages. Each officer wore a money belt containing 100,000 francs (about 500 British pounds or 2,500 U.S. dollars) and 50 U.S. dollars. Radio operators carried only 50,000 francs. The money was to distribute to resistance fighters, called maquis in France, many of whom had families to support. Equipment and supplies were airdropped with the Jeds.

Many of the surviving American "Jeds" later held various positions of great responsibility in the US Army or the CIA. Examples include William Colby, who became director of the CIA, Lucien Conein, who was a key CIA officer in Vietnam, General John Singlaub and Colonel Aaron Bank (first commander of United States Army Special Forces).

Among French Jedburghs were Paul Aussaresses, later founder of the SDECE's 11e RPC, and war criminal in French Algeria; Jean Sassi, another who later served in the 11e RPC, who pioneered conventional guerrilla commandos GCMA with Roger Trinquier during the First Indochina War; Guy Le Borgne, commander of the 8e Choc Parachute Battalion in Indochina, the 3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment in Algeria and 11th Parachute Division. Brig. General Joe Haraki SOE, Special Operations Mediterranean SO(M), special forces in Lebanon, ISF Commander Internal Security Forces.

 

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1944. A young Warsaw insurgent is reading the Polish version of the comic book about the adventures of Flash Gordon - "Błysk Gordon i Królowa Błękitnej Magii" ("Flash Gordon and the Queen of Blue Magic"), sitting at the back of the building of the pre-war Polish Ministry of the Interior at ul. Nowy Świat 69.

Photo Tadeusz Bukowski

Colour Mikołaj Kaczmarek

 

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General James Gavin (The Jumping General) and the command staff of the 82nd Airborne Division geared up for take off aboard their C-47.

General Gavin made four combat jumps during the war including D-Day where he led roughly 7,000 men into the battle before dawn on June 6, 1944. His trademark was leadership by example. During the first anxious days of the invasion of Normandy, he repeatedly exposed himself to heavy fire in order to motivate young men who were seeing combat for the first time. At a vicious battle for the causeway along the Merderet River, some paratroopers froze under the heavy fire from the Germans. Gavin joined them on the causeway, encouraging the men to go forward with a calm, “Son, you can do it.”

At 37 years old, General Gavin was the youngest major general to command a division in World War II. He was awarded two Distinguished Service Crosses and several other decorations for his service in the war.

 

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Gordon ‘Gordy’ Carson and Frank Perconte of Easy Company, 101st Airborne Division 506th PIR, lean against a wooden fence on the banks of the Dommel River which runs through Eindhoven (Bleekstraat), The Netherlands.
17/18 September 1944.

Both troopers survived WW2 and returned safely to their families.

 

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During World War II this photograph taken by W. Eugene Smith entitled the “Weary Warrior” circulated throughout Florida and the United States as a representation of the Marines fighting in the Pacific Theater. On July 8, 1944 Smith captured this famous image during the fighting on Saipan. Saipan was declared secure the next day and the photo hit the press. Identified as Thomas Ellis from St Petersburg Florida, this photo became a representation of the US Marine. (The First Battalion, 24th Marines Web Archive)

Private First Class Thomas Ellis Underwood, of St Petersburg Florida, registered for service with the Marine Corps on October 22, 1942. Thomas was 20 years old. He served with Company B, First Battalion, 24th Marines, Fourth Marine Division. Thomas saw his first action on the island of Namur.

"Underwood was examined for promotion and re-graded with the MOS of 653 (squad leader) at Camp Maui on 1 April 1944. Corporal Underwood made his third combat landing on the island of Tinian. Fighting for this island lasted just over a week. Underwood and Baker Company were then sent to Iwo Jima. During the intense fighting on D plus 13 Corporal Underwood was fatally wounded on March 4, 1945." (The First Battalion, 24th Marines Web Archive)

Corporal Thomas Ellis Underwood was 22 years old at the time of his passing. He lies in rest at the Sunnyside Cemetery in St. Petersburg Florida.

 

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D-DAY PLAN

 

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Easy Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, the "Screaming Eagles".

 

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Georgy Shpagin and the PPSh-41 submachine gun

Georgy Semyonovich Shpagin (Russian: Георгий Семёнович Шпагин; 1897 – 1952) was a Russian weapons designer. He is widely recognized as the creator of the famous PPSh-41 submachine gun, a protagonist during World War II, in the hands of Soviet infantrymen and popularly known as "Papasha".

During the Russian Revolution, he became a member of the Red Army and worked as a gunsmith in the Vladimir Oblast. After 1920, he worked in a weapons design workshop in the same area, working with Vladimir Grigoryevich Fyodorov and Vasili Degtiaryov (he would learn much from the latter). After a decade and a half of unsuccessful attempts, in 1938 his workshop released the DShK heavy machine gun. Which is still used in some countries as an anti-personnel weapon and anti-aircraft weapon. About 8,000 of these weapons were made during World War II. It is in 1940 that he designs his emblematic weapon, the PPSh-41 submachine gun, which was the basic automatic weapon of the Red Army during World War II. It was cheap to produce, versatile, and easy to maintain.

For many connoisseurs the development of the PPSh-41 was heavily influenced by the Finnish Suomi KP-31 submachine gun, more effective but more expensive to produce than the Soviet submachine gun. The PPSh-41 was a magazine-fed, mass recoil-actuated, automatic submachine gun that fired from an open bolt. It was one of the main light weapons of the Soviet armed forces during World War II. The total number of PPSh-41 submachine guns manufactured during World War II is estimated at more than 6 million. Made mainly of stamped sheet steel, it could be fed by a curved magazine or a drum, with the 7.62 x 25 Tokarev cartridge. The widespread use of the PPSh-41 by German soldiers when they had the opportunity to capture these weapons is known, and its great reliability in the harsh conditions of the Eastern Front is known.

Shpagin received the Stalin Prize, in 1941, and the title of Hero of Socialist Labor on September 16, 1945, for "creating new types of weapons and increasing the combat power of the Red Army." He received three Orders of Lenin during the war, in 1941, 1943 and 1945, in addition to the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class, in 1945 and the Order of the Red Star in 1938. Shpagin was a member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 1946 to 1950. He became seriously ill with stomach cancer and died in early 1952.

 

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Normandy June of 1944

 

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The cruisers Furutaka, Kinugasa, Aoba, and Kako formed the 6th Cruiser Division of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The cruisers succeeded in the Battles of Guam, Wake Island, Rabaul, survived the Coral Sea, but only Aoba would survive beyond 1942.