Photos WW2 British & Commonwealth Forces

[BravoZulu]

An Australian Bren gunner from the 2/8 Commando Squadron on Bougainville Island, New Guinea. June 1945.

 

[morris]

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[BravoZulu]

The wreck of the heavy cruiser HMS York, in Souda Bay, summer 1941; it was crippled by Italian explosive motor boats, further damaged by German air raids, and finally sabotaged by its crew before being abandoned

 

[BravoZulu]

HMS Queen Elizabeth, HMS Zulu, and HNoMS Sleipner, seen in the Basin at Rosyth, 1940

RN:
HMS Barham in the Mediterranean, circa 1940

HMS Illustrious steams into Grand Harbour, Malta as men line the flight deck of HMS Formidable to watch her progress, Oct 1943

HMS Newfoundland with HMS Rodney and HMS Nelson in the Mediterranean, April 1943

HMS Duke of York in Tokyo Bay for the surrender of the Japanese Empire

 

[BravoZulu]

HMAS Australia (D84) silhouetted against the sun, whilst at sea in the south Pacific, 4 August 1943. Her Supermarine Walrus is stowed amidships on the catapult. Photographed from USS Saratoga (CV-3)

Image believed to be HMAS Perth on sea trials, circa 1940 off New South Wales

 

[BravoZulu]

Motor Torpedo Boat Gunner, Able Seaman J Budden, at his post on board MTB 32, somewhere in the English Channel. MTB 32 was a 4th Flotilla vessel and was probably operating in the Channel out of Felixstowe in 1943.

 

[BravoZulu]

Archbishop Damaskinos inspecting the guard of honour of Royal Marines on the quarterdeck of the HMS Ajax, March 1945

 

[BravoZulu]

HMS Duke of York seen in 1942

HMS King George V seen flying a paid off pennant and a cockerel on B turret signifying that she is "Cock of the Fleet"

 

[BravoZulu]

Australia:
Bougainville Campaign. 14 April 1945. Private John Davies, 24th Infantry Battalion, conceals himself behind a tree with a Bren light machine-gun during an attack against the Japanese at the Hatai Junction on Buin Road.

5th December 1942 NEW GUINEA. GONA. THESE AUSTRALIANS HAVE JUST COME 100 YARDS BACK FROM THE FRONT LINE FOR FOOD DURING A LULL IN THE FIGHTING. THEY ARE PART OF A COMPANY WHICH HAS BEEN 2 DAYS AND NIGHTS WITHIN GRENADE DISTANCE OF THE JAPANESE. THE JAPANESE RETREATED TO THE COVER OF THE BUSH SO THAT THEY COULD MAKE USE OF SNIPERS. THE AUSTRALIANS ARE IN 5 FT. GRASS WITHIN GRENADE DISTANCE OF THE FRINGE OF BUSH SURROUNDING GONA. CPL. F.R. SMITH OF QUEENSLAND SQUATS IN THE GRASS WITH A TOMMY GUN. (NEGATIVE BY G. SILK).

 

[BravoZulu]

Canada:
A factory worker poses with a finished Sten submachine gun. Small Arms Plant, Long Branch, Ontario, Canada, 26 May 1942

 

[BravoZulu]

Navigator, rear gunner and bombardier in his Beaufighter 1943

 

[morris]

Pigeon service.

 

[BravoZulu]

HMS Nelson firing her main armament in a firing practice, May 17th 1942

 

[BravoZulu]

A view of HMS PENELOPE's starboard side abreast the bridge after her arrival at Gibraltar having endured severe Axis attacks en route. The photograph shows the plating covered in splinter holes which earned the ship the nickname of HMS "PEPPERPOT".

 

[BravoZulu]

The Queen and Princess Elizabeth talk to a camouflaged sniper during a tour of Airborne forces, 19 May 1944

 

[BravoZulu]

The aircraft carrier HMS FURIOUS taking a huge wave over the flight deck when ploughing through heavy seas off the northern coast of Norway.

HMS King George V, showing her 14" guns

 

[BravoZulu]

HMS Prince of Wales in Aug 1941

HMS Campbeltown (I42) being modified to resemble a German torpedo boat in advance of the Saint-Nazaire Raid, 1942

PM Churchill addressing the ship's company of HMS Renown before disembarking. Sept 20, 1943. Behind him is his daughter, Subaltern Mary Churchill.

Aftermath of a kamikaze hit on the HMS Indomitable, May 4, 1945

 

[BravoZulu]

Battlecruiser HMS Renown at Hvalfjord, Iceland, 1942. The USS Texas lies astern.

 

[BravoZulu]

French woman pouring cider for a British soldier fighting in Normandy (1944)

 

[BravoZulu]

HMS Malaya entering drydock at Scapa Flow, 1943.

March 1, 1945: HMS Illustrious seen at Sydney

HMS Barham