Photos WW2 Allied Forces

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Warsaw, September 1939. A photo of a Polish boy sitting amid the ruins. Picture by Julian Bryan, an American correspondent.

 

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September 1939, former State of Poland.
Soldier of the invading Soviet army guarding a Polish PWS-26 fighter downed by the Luftwaffe over Równe, East of Warsaw earlier in the month.

 

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Native boatmen transport Allied supplies by water in New Guinea; ca 1942-44. The jungle terrain in New Guinea was a major challenge to both the Allies and the Japanese for moving troops and supplies. The native porters were instrumental in the Allied success during the New Guinea Campaign.

 

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Allied cargo vessels burning in the harbor of Bari, Italy. On December 2nd 1943 the Luftwaffe attacked the port with 105 Ju 88 Bombers and successfully sank 27 cargo ships and one schooner. The raid was covered up by Allied Supreme command and not declassified until 1959.

 

[BravoZulu]

Personnel from 4 Pułk Pancerny "Skorpion" observe the lateral hit to M4A2 Sherman "PIGMEJ" that killed the entire crew on November 21st 1944 in the Apennine Mountains

Inset is Captain Władysław Drelicharz who was killed in action along with the other members of his crew Stanisław Ogórkiewicz, Antoni Piłatowicz, Józef Ozga and Stanisław Korpyś.

 

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n early 1930s the Polish Army was looking for a modern anti-tank and anti-air weapon. In 1931 the Poles acquired weapon systems from Hotchkiss, Solothurn and Oerlikon, and tested models of each, but all were considered unsuitable for Polish needs. The Poles instead developed their own design, a dual-purpose AA/ anti-tank weapon, with the first order for 100 being made August 1938. Production commenced that year, with the intention to provide each infantry division with 8 guns for AA defense, and it was used to up-gun the new TKS tankette armed with this 20mm weapon. Only 55 were produce in total before the September 1939 German invasion.
Penetration Capacity
Hardened Steel
Distance100 m - thickness 20mm
200 m 18 mm
300 m 17mm
400m 15mm
500m 13mm
Steel
300m 25mm
400m 23mm
500m 20mm
Note: Capable of destroying any German tank of 1939 except for possibly Panzer IV. The more recently provided photos show that the tank driven by Prince Wiktor IV Albrecht von Ratibor, destroyed by Mr. Cadet Roman Orlik, was indeed a Panzer IV and not a Panzer 35(t).

 

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Berlin, 1945. Red Army BA-64 armored car and what looks like a German truck & car.

 

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27th Nov, 1941, Dutch sub O-21 torpedoed U-95 in the Mediterranean. 12 Germans survived, 35 died

 

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(November 1944.) Dutch people - in local dress - paying tribute at the graves of men of a minesweeper who lost their lives during the sweeping of the Scheldt.

 

[SamWell]

British home guard armed with the Owen gun

 

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During the Battle of Britain, 303 (Polish) Squadron members (from left): Sgt Kustrzynski, Sgt Popek, Sgt Szlagowski, F/O Feric, P/O Daszewsski and F/O Zumbach.

303 (Polish) Squadron became the most successful Fighter Command unit in the Battle of Britain, shooting down 126 German machines in only 42 days. Czech Sergeant Josef Frantisek, also of ‘303’, was the top scoring pilot with 17 confirmed victories.

 

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Hawker Hurricane Mk.I, V7538. PK-0 of 315 (Polish) Squadron "Dębliński" with pilot Squadron leader Stanisław Pietraszkiewicz at RAF Speke, 1941.

 

[SamWell]

Red army with liberated british and australian paratroopers in wittenberg,germany

 

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polish POWs in 1939

 

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Probably taken from a newsreel, here are three Br693 dropping inert bombs during a raid drill.

@AtlanticFriend, if you are happy I will create a specific French forces in WW2 for you and transfer all French images there

 

[AtlanticFriend]

@AtlanticFriend, if you are happy I will create a specific French forces in WW2 for you and transfer all French images there

With great pleasure! I have a few hundreds pics to share with the WW2 France aficionados, and this way I won't clog the Allied thread for those who focus on US/British pics.

 

[BravoZulu]

General Stanislaw Franciszek Sosabowski: commander of the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade (1. Samodzielna Brygada Spadochronowa), Driel, (4 km) southwest of Arnhem, German-occupied Netherlands, Operation Market Garden, September 19th - 26th, 1944.

 

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The 533.4mm triple torpedo launcher of Polish destroyer ORP Błyskawica in 1940, taken by William Vandivert, © LIFE Magazine. Note the operator using a sight and director in the background. Local torpedo fire control was little more than adjusting a set of sliding rulers.

 

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Polish soldiers fire a mortar, taking cover behind a knocked out German Sturmgeschütz M42 mit 75/34 851(i) self-propelled gun; Faenza, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, 13 February, 1945

 

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Polish 1st Armoured Division. M4A4 Sherman MK V