Photos From Korea to the Falkland Islands - colourised images of conflicts after World War II.

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Unidentified Russian soldiers in the Afghan mountains, 1980s.
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The Soviet–Afghan War was a conflict wherein insurgent groups known collectively as the mujahideen, as well as smaller Maoist groups, fought a guerrilla war against the Soviet Army and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan government for over nine years, throughout the 1980s, mostly in the Afghan countryside. The mujahideen were backed primarily by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Kingdom making it a Cold War proxy war. Between 562,000 and 2,000,000 civilians were killed and millions of Afghans fled the country as refugees, mostly to Pakistan and Iran.

mujahideen died at least million

“Commando Kivu,” a mercenary unit fighting Simba rebels in the area along the west side of Lake Kivu, just across from Rwanda, 1964.

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The Simba rebellion of 1963–65, also known as the Orientale Revolt, was a rebellion in Congo-Léopoldville which took place within the wider context of the Congo Crisis and the Cold War. The rebellion, located in the east of the country, was led by the followers of Patrice Lumumba, who had been ousted from power in 1960 by Joseph Kasa-Vubu and Joseph-Désiré Mobutu and subsequently killed in January 1961 in Katanga. The rebellion was contemporaneous with the Kwilu Rebellion led by fellow Lumumbist Pierre Mulele in central Congo. The rebels were initially successful and captured much of eastern Congo, proclaiming a People's Republic in Stanleyville. However, the insurgency suffered from a lack of organization and coherence, as well as tensions between the rebel leadership and its international allies of the Eastern Bloc. When the Congolese government launched a number of major counter-offensives from late 1964, spearheaded by battle-hardened mercenaries and backed by Western powers, the rebels suffered several major defeats and disintegrated. By November 1965, the Simba rebellion was effectively defeated, though holdouts of the rebels continued their insurgency until the 1990s.

belgium veteran?uniform like belgium soldier!

 

[Connaught Ranger]

belgium veteran?uniform like belgium soldier!

Guy on the right has the Commando dagger emblem of the Belgian Para Commando in his beret.
Could be serving members of the Belgian military in the Congo.

 

[Conhoon]

Luxembourgish soldier, part of Belgian United Nations Command. in Korea, 1953

When the Korean War broke out in 1950, Belgium was experiencing a period of turmoil. Belgium had been occupied by the Nazis during the Second World War and reconstruction was still very much in progress. Politically, the country was torn over the issue of the so-called Royal Question. With the centrist parties thus occupied, both Communist and right-wing Flemish nationalist parties enjoyed considerable support. The Prime Minister in office, when the UN declaration calling for soldiers to be sent to the aid of Korea was sent, was Joseph Pholien of the Christian Social Party who was politically opposed to the rise of communism abroad and wished to gain support from the United States. Both the Belgian and Luxembourgish governments decided to comply with the UN request to send troops to assist South Korea.

In April 1951, the Belgians fought in one of the key battles of the Korean War – the Battle of the Imjin River. The First Battalion was relieved by a new battalion fresh from Belgium in August 1951which stayed until 1955.
At the Battle of the Imjin River in 1951, the Belgian battalion held a key pass alongside the British Gloucestershire Regiment. For actions at the Imjin, the Belgians received a US Presidential Citation. During the battle, Albert Crahay, commander of the unit, was wounded by a Chinese phosphorus shell and was evacuated to a hospital in Japan.
B.U.N.C. continued to see action and went on to earn further battle honours at Haktang-Ni – one of the series of battles at Broken Arrow – in October 1951 when the Belgians took up position on an isolated hillside and suffered relentless Chinese attacks which they successfully repelled, killing over a hundred Chinese and losing only a handful of men themselves. -wiki

 

[Conhoon]

Master Sergeant Orlando E. Huntoon of Windsor County, Vermont, USA posed with his M2 Carbine, 1950. According to the source, Hunton was a veteran of WWI and WWII, He enlisted in the Army in 1918 at age 20, and is seen here in Korea fighting a different war and enemies.

 

[santana]

Alan "Ace" Cozzalio



Alan "Ace" Cozzalio served as an Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam. As a member of the 5th Cavalry, attached to the 9th Infantry Division, Cozzalio enjoyed representing his unit's heritage by wearing the traditional 1860s cavalry uniform, complete with yellow scarf and saber, which he kept with him inside his chopper.

On January 25, 1969, Cozzalio received word of an infantry company pinned down and taking heavy casualties from a NVA machine gun bunker. The soldiers on the ground were too close to the bunker for aircraft like Cozzalio's Cobra gunship to light it up with rockets or bombs. Cozzalio landed his Cobra and moved into a smaller, more maneuverable OH-6 "Loach." He tore across the battlefield again, hovering a mere 10 feet off the ground. His used the chopper's minigun to eat into the bunker as he approached through a hail of fire, then landed on top of the structure. The Loach's gunner in back got out, dropped a grenade inside the bunker, then jumped back aboard. Cozzalio pulled away fast as the grenade detonated, killing those inside. Cozzalio returned to his Cobra and raced back to the scene, providing more air support while the infantry overran the enemy positions. For his outstanding initiative and creative action, Cozzalio was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
Cozzalio served 3 tours in Vietnam, being shot down 6 times. During his time in combat, he earned the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, 2 Bronze Stars, 4 Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Soldier's Medal, 48 Air Medals, and 2 Purple Hearts. He was medically retired in 1986 as a Lieutenant Colonel after contracting a rare virus affecting his heart. In April 1993, he underwent surgery for a heart transplant, which was tragically unsuccessful. Cozzalio died 2 days later. He was 46 years old.

 

[BravoZulu]

Master Sergeant Orlando E. Huntoon of Windsor County, Vermont, USA posed with his M2 Carbine, 1950. According to the source, Hunton was a veteran of WWI and WWII, He enlisted in the Army in 1918 at age 20, and is seen here in Korea fighting a different war and enemies.

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“MISTER INFANTRY” - Twenty years of military service, five of them in actual combat operations, have won the title “top combat soldier” for Sfc. Orlando E. Huntoon, above. Huntoon, a native of Barnard, Vermont., is with the 85th Tank Battalion at Indiantown Gap, Pa. He saw service in both World Wars and a full year in Korea. The fighting sergeant’s aim is to return to the Korean battlefront. (U. S. Army photo from NEA-Acme.)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32851566/orlando-enos-huntoon

 

[santana]

MAC-SOG Operators in Vietnam

 

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Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis welcomes Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Athens, February 1962

 

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Pvt. Robert Maye and his wife, Gloria, kiss goodbye with the help of Harvey Wilson, left, and Frank Harvey. The couple have been married 18 months and have a 6-month-old daughter.

September 6, 1950

 

[Conhoon]

Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam. 9 March 1970.

A rifle was an extra burden for machine gunner Private (Pte) Paul McGrath of Orange, NSW, who was sharing the load of a soldier who had collapsed from the heat. Pte McGrath, a member of B Company, 7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR), was taking part in the battalion's first operation only ten days after the battalion arrived on the troopship HMAS Sydney for its second tour of duty in the war zone. Codenamed Finschhafen, the operation took place east of the 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) base at Nui Dat.

Photograph taken by Peter Anthony Ward and was provided by The Australian War Memorial.

 

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A U.S. soldier from the 25th Infantry Division fires his M60 machine gun spraying a tree line. The platoon received sporadic sniper fire from that same tree line earlier. Operation Cedar Falls, Cu Chi, Republic of Vietnam, Jan 1967.

 

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North Vietnam Mig-21PFM Pilots Run to their fighter jets, 1972

 

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82nd Airborne members pose for a victory photo after the successful invasion of Grenada, October 1983.

Grenada had gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1974 and just 5 years later the Communist New Jewel Movement seized power in a coup in 1979 under Maurice Bishop, suspending the constitution and detaining several political prisoners. In September 1983, an internal power struggle within the began. At least 19 soldiers and civilians were killed on 19 October 1983 including Bishop, his partner Jacqueline Creft, two other cabinet ministers and two union leaders.

The Reagan Administration in the U.S. launched a military intervention following receipt of a formal appeal for help from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. In addition, Grenada's Governor General Paul Scoon secretly signaled he would also support outside intervention, but he put off signing a letter of invitation until 26 October. Reagan also acted due to "concerns over the 600 U.S. medical students on the island" and fears of a repeat of the Iran hostage crisis.

The invasion began on the morning of 25 October 1983. The invading force consisted of the Army's rapid deployment force, Marines, Army Delta Force, Navy SEALs, and ancillary forces totaling 7,600 troops, together with Jamaican forces and troops of the Regional Security System (RSS).The force defeated Grenadian resistance after a low-altitude airborne assault by Rangers on Point Salines Airport at the south end of the island, the 82nd Airborne at Point Salines Airport, and a Marine helicopter and amphibious landing on the north end at Pearls Airport.

By the next year Grenada returned to democratic elections. The date of the invasion is now a national holiday in Grenada called Thanksgiving Day, commemorating the freeing of several political prisoners who were subsequently elected to office.

 

[Conhoon]

️Polish soldier Jan Grzybek from the "Independent Podhale Highland Infantry Battalion Wadowice" drinking water with the horse "Orlik".
1970's.
Mr. Jan died in 2018.

Photo's author: L. Wróblewski.
At the Military Photography Biennale as part of the 7th Military Film Festival in Versailles, this photo (black and white) won the 3rd prize
Coloring - Mikołaj Kaczmarek

 

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American soldiers of the 9th Inf. firing at enemy troops somewhere along the South Vietnamese-Cambodian border area. May 1970

 

[Conhoon]

British soldiers of the 1st Battalion the Gloucestershire Regiment after fighting their way out of a Communist encirclement pictured on their Bren gun carrier. 9th May 1951.

1951 - The Battle of Imjin River
About 400 "Glorious Glosters" fought a last stand on Hill 235, which was later renamed Gloster Hill, they held out against 10,000 Chinese troops for three nights during the battle in April 1951.

They had started the Battle of Imjin River with 700 men but few avoided death or imprisonment.
Fifty-nine were killed and nearly 600 were taken prisoner. Thirty-four died in captivity.
Prisoners remained in POW camps for more than two years until after the armistice was declared in July 1953.

It remains the bloodiest battle fought by British Forces since World War II.

(Colourised by Royston Leonard from the UK)

 

[Conhoon]

An alleged communist is questioned under gunpoint by Indonesian soldiers in 1965.

This was part of The Communist Purge in Indonesia in 1965-1966, This event was large-scale killings and civil unrest that occurred in Indonesia over several months, targeting the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) party members, Communist sympathizers, Gerwani women, ethnic Javanese Abangan.

It began as an anti-communist purge following a controversial attempted coup d'état by the 30 September Movement. The most widely published estimates were that 500,000 to more than one million people were killed, with some more recent estimates going as high as two to three million. The purge was a pivotal event in the transition to the "New Order" and the elimination of PKI as a political force, with impacts on the global Cold War. The upheavals led to the fall of President Sukarno and the comment of Suharto's three-decade authoritarian presidency. To Western governments, the killings and purges were seen as victory over Communism at the height of the Cold War. Western governments and much of the West's media preferred Suharto and the "New Order" to the PKI and the increasingly leftist "Old Order"

 

[Connaught Ranger]

Saw this for sale recently in Romania - literal translation - "Air pirates of American imperialists, who have entered the airspace of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, caught in the criminal act of spying by courageous act of members of the Democratic Korean Army."

 

[BravoZulu]

Members of the 173rd Airborne, U.S. Army Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol armed with M16A1's and XM177 Model 629 Carbines and wearing Tiger Stripe camo in Vietnam, 1968.

 

[Connaught Ranger]

Saw this for sale recently in Romania - literal translation - "Air pirates of American imperialists, who have entered the airspace of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, caught in the criminal act of spying by courageous act of members of the Democratic Korean Army."

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Found this online -

https://shesnotpedallingontheback.com/2016/05/17/north-korea-a-race-in-the-hermit-kingdom/