Photos WW2 British & Commonwealth Forces

[morris]

Corporal Peter Teague, of the Australian 1st Armored Regiment, showing the Japanese sword which he captured after shooting a Japanese soldier in a tunnel on Vasey Highway during the "Oboe II. Operation" on Balikpapan, the island of Borneo, Indonesia; 2 July 1945.

 

[morris]

Australian troops advancing through the jungle toward the town of Lae on the island of Papua New Guinea against Japanese resistance. The town was taken on 16 September, 1943.

 

[morris]

Australian troops advance from the village of Gona toward the village of Buna, on Papua Territory, in New Guinea; 1943.
Papua New Guinea is the eastern half of the island of New Guinea in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, north of Australia.

 

[BravoZulu]

View attachment 267587
Australian troops advance from the village of Gona toward the village of Buna, on Papua Territory, in New Guinea; 1943.
Papua New Guinea is the eastern half of the island of New Guinea in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, north of Australia.

Buna and Gona, 2 of the nastiest, grimmest fights imaginable

 

[digrar]

View attachment 267583
Members of C Company (mostly from 14 Platoon), Australian 2/11th Infantry Battalion, part of the 6th Infantry Division, having penetrated the outer defences of Tobruk, Libya, assemble again on the escarpment on the south side of the harbour after attacking anti-aircraft gun positions; 22 January 1941

One of my most favourite pictures. Happy little vegemites. Unfortunately most would go on to be captured in Crete 4 months later.

 

[BravoZulu]

HMS Inconstant was an I-class destroyer built for the Turkish Navy, but was purchased by the Royal Navy in 1939.

Inconstant was laid down as TCG Muavenet for the Turkish Navy by Vickers Armstrong at their Barrow-in-Furness shipyard on 24 May 1939, purchased in September 1939 by the Royal Navy, launched on 24 February 1941 and commissioned on 24 January 1942. The ship participated in the assault on Madagascar in May 1942, and attacked and sank the German submarines U-409 in the Mediterranean north-east of Algiers on 12 July 1943 and U-767 while in company with the destroyers Fame and Havelock in the English Channel south-west of Guernsey on 18 June 1944. Inconstant was returned to Turkey on 9 March 1946 and renamed Muavenet. She was discarded in 1960.

 

[BravoZulu]

Sikh soldiers using a Bren light machine gun in the Italian campaign near Villa Grande, 15 January 1944,

 

[BravoZulu]

SAS in Tunisia - Willys MB 1/4 ton Jeep, these special operations vehicles were used by the British Special Air Service (SAS), Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) and Popski's Private Army (PPA)

 

[guest0001]

The photograph was taken in January 1944, of four exhausted Australian soldiers of 2/12th Battalion, who helped silence a Japanese mountain gun on Mount Prothero, New Guinea.
I don’t need to say much more as the faces of these soldiers say a lot about what they have experienced and been through.
The soldiers from left to right: 'Skinny' McQueen, Ron Lord, Eric Willey and Alan Hackett.
Lest We Forget.
Information and photograph came from the Australian War Memorial. Image file number AWM 064220.

 

[BravoZulu]

HMS Warspite after being refitted in the USA, September 1942

Force H warships HMS Duke of York, HMS Nelson, HMS Renown, HMS Formidable, and HMS Argonaut underway off North Africa, Nov 1942

HRH Princess Elizabeth climbs down the side of a 14" turret on HMS King George V, 29 October 1944

 

[BravoZulu]

Rough seas break over the fo'c'sle of battleship HMS King George V, January 1941

HMS Indomitable, c. 1944-45, with Grumman Avengers on deck

 

[BravoZulu]

British infantry waiting to move off 'Queen White' Beach, SWORD Area, while under heavy enemy fire, June 6, 1944

 

[BravoZulu]

Damage done to HMS Exeter at the Battle of the River Plate, December 13, 1939

B turret received a direct hit. The shrapnel damage you see to the bridge position killed everyone except the Captain & two others and cut all the voice pipes.

Exeter lost her X turret for all guns out of action later on and had to withdraw. Ajax and Achillies, the two Leander light cruisers made themselves a bigger threat to draw Graf Spee whilst Exeter escaped.

By the end of Exeter's participation in the fight, her last remaining turret was being directed by the gunnery officer standing on the turret's roof and shouting instructions to the crew inside.

Middle of a gunnery battle, and the gunnery officer is standing on the roof of a twin 8" gun turret. Balls of steel on that one...

 

[BCNTM]

Sherman Ic Hybrid Firefly tank armed with a 17-pounder Gun, 8th Princess Louise (New Brunswick) Hussars, 5th Canadian Armour Regiment, Putten, Netherlands, 18 Apr 1945. Firefly crews attempted to disguise the length of the 17-pounder gun barrel to confuse German anti-tank gunners by fitting a false muzzle brake half-way up the barrel and painting the forward portion in a counter-shaded pattern.
https://amzn.to/3m7GPSP

View attachment 267490

the addition of spare tank tracks to try and increase the front and side armour is also evident nice

 

[guest0001]

Father Christmas wearing a helmet, Regent Street, London.

 

[guest0001]

M4A4 Sherman tank (T-147477) of A Squadron, 4 Troop, Ontario Regiment, 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade passes through Via Don Luigi Sturzo, Trecastagni, Sicily. 9 August 1943.

 

[guest0001]

Women from the MTC or Mechanized Transport Corp push starting an ambulance – Photo ©Reg Speller

 

[guest0001]

The Ursula suit is a coveted British WWII artifact made expressly for Lieutenant Commander George Phillips (pictured in 1939) and the crew of the submarine HMS Ursula. Phillips was unhappy with the water stopping ability of the issued Navy kit, so he took matters into his own hands and commissioned Barbour to make what would become the famous (and standard issue) Ursula Suit.
Phillips was the Commanding Officer of HMS Ursula. The boat had just returned from North Sea patrol where it had attacked the German cruiser ‘Leipzig’. Phillips is pictured wearing his famous Ursula suit. Phillips was unhappy with the standard pre-war issue foul weather gear which consisted of oil skins, hats and towels wrapped around the necks. Watchkeeping onboard submarines could be quite a physical ordeal in rough weather, with the submarine bridge being only a few feet above the sea level. Lieutenant Lakin, Ursula’s navigating officer, was a keen motorcyclist who wore a one-piece over-suit made by Barbour. Phillips told him to wear it while he doused him with a fire hose. Despite the force of the water, Lakin remained dry. Phillips decided that the overalls, with a few alterations, might be the answer for submarine lookouts and bridge personnel. Phillips visited the company Barbour in South Shields and persuaded them to cut the suit in two, make the jacket hooded and the trousers with elastic at the waist and ankles. He paid for the prototype suits out of his own pocket. Warm, comfortable and waterproof, they became standard issue in the Submarine Service.

 

[guest0001]

Halifax B Mark II Series 1 (Special), JB911 KN-X, of No. 77 Squadron RAF, making a low-level pass over other aircraft of the squadron at Elvington, Yorkshire. Photo: Imperial War Museum
Image and caption thanks to www.vintagewings .ca

 

[uktabber]

The Ursula suit is a coveted British WWII artifact made expressly for Lieutenant Commander George Phillips (pictured in 1939) and the crew of the submarine HMS Ursula. Phillips was unhappy with the water stopping ability of the issued Navy kit, so he took matters into his own hands and commissioned Barbour to make what would become the famous (and standard issue) Ursula Suit.
Phillips was the Commanding Officer of HMS Ursula. The boat had just returned from North Sea patrol where it had attacked the German cruiser ‘Leipzig’. Phillips is pictured wearing his famous Ursula suit. Phillips was unhappy with the standard pre-war issue foul weather gear which consisted of oil skins, hats and towels wrapped around the necks. Watchkeeping onboard submarines could be quite a physical ordeal in rough weather, with the submarine bridge being only a few feet above the sea level. Lieutenant Lakin, Ursula’s navigating officer, was a keen motorcyclist who wore a one-piece over-suit made by Barbour. Phillips told him to wear it while he doused him with a fire hose. Despite the force of the water, Lakin remained dry. Phillips decided that the overalls, with a few alterations, might be the answer for submarine lookouts and bridge personnel. Phillips visited the company Barbour in South Shields and persuaded them to cut the suit in two, make the jacket hooded and the trousers with elastic at the waist and ankles. He paid for the prototype suits out of his own pocket. Warm, comfortable and waterproof, they became standard issue in the Submarine Service.

View attachment 268300

Bloody awesome, I had no idea about this plum of a story and I've read many of the WWII sub books without mention of such a kit!! Great story!!