Photos WW2 British & Commonwealth Forces

[BravoZulu]

Light cruiser HMS Manchester at Spithead, May 2, 1942

MV Alexia was a British merchant aircraft carrier (MAC), converted in in December of 1943. During her MAC days, Alexia was given a full-length deck and a small island. She carried four Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers. At the end of the war, Alexia was reconverted to an oil tanker.

 

[BravoZulu]

Armourer of the R.A.F.’s middle east command prepares a bomb for its mission against the Italian forces campaigning in Africa. This bomb is not yet fused. Photo taken on October 24, 1940

 

[BravoZulu]

Christmas celebration in Ortona, Italy, where Canadian troops were fighting to liberate the city from entrenched German forces, December 25, 1943

B Company, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, is forced to follow a narrow footpath for two miles along the hilly Adriatic coast during the Allied advance through Italy in the Second World War.

 

[BravoZulu]

Fairey “Fulmar” fighters from the 808 squadron take off from HMS Ark Royal, April 1941. In the background is HMS Renown.

Dido class light cruiser, HMS Sirius in the Mediterranean, 1942.

 

[BravoZulu]

Australia:
New Guinea Campaign. Karawop. 22 April 1945. A forward observation patrol from C company, 2/1st Battalion enjoy a smoke and a rest after striking level ground once more.

 

[BravoZulu]

The Battlecruiser Squadron, consisting of HMS Hood (center), HMS Renown (left), and HMS Repulse (far left) are framed under the guns of HMS Rodney; anchored in Scapa Flow, early 1941

HMS Victorious (R38) during operations with the U.S. Navy Task Force 36 in the Solomons, between May and September 1943. The photo was taken probably at Noumea, New Caledonia.

 

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FO Hubert Beech (L) & FO Noel Whitford (R) both CAC-Boomerang pilots from 5th Army Cooperation Sqn RAAF on a patrol with the 55th/53rd Bn near Chabai, Bougainville, June 19th 1945. In a process of learning about conditions on the ground for the infantry.

 

[BravoZulu]

Australia:
Egypt, 30 July 1942. Mortar platoon diggers from 2/43rd Battalion, 9th Division, go about their business.

 

[BravoZulu]

HMS REPULSE, painted in a dazzle camouflage scheme, while escorting the last troop convoy to reach Singapore. The ship was sunk a few days later with great loss of life on 10 December 1941 by Japanese torpedoes. The sinking, along with that of HMS PRINCE OF WALES, was an appalling blow to British prestige in the Far East.

One of the last images of HMS Hood, taken from a Coastal Command aircraft on 24 May 1941. She'd be gone just hours later.

Corsair Mk I lands on HMS Victorious after a raid on Sigli, Sumatra, September 18 1944

While making an emergency landing on board HMS VICTORIOUS, a Chance-Vought Corsair's auxiliary petrol tank became detached and burst into flames, setting fire to the undercarriage during the carrier-borne air attack against the Japanese repair and maintenance centre at Sigli, Sumatra.

 

[BravoZulu]

HMS Howe Joins the Fleet, Glasgow, Scotland, July 1942

C-Class light cruiser HMS Carlisle in 1941 after conversion to an anti-aircraft cruiser in 1939

Aircraft carriers HMS Argus and HMS Eagle and battleship HMS Malaya under the 5.25" guns of HMS Hermione, 7 March 1942, whilst conveying Spitfires to Malta

 

[BravoZulu]

LIEUTENANT (LT) R.W. SAUNDERS, 2/7TH INFANTRY BATTALION (3), IN THE RANKS DURING THE GRADUATION CEREMONY FROM THE OFFICERS' CADET TRAINING UNIT SEYMOUR. IDENTIFIED PERSONNEL ARE:- LT T.J. DONOGHUE (1); LT J.W. THIRKILL (2); LT H.H. WOOLCOTT (4). 25th Nov 1944

LT RW Saunders, the first aboriginal officer in the Australian Army and the legendary LT 'Diver' Derrick VC DCM shake hands at their graduation ceremony from Officer Training College. 25th November 1944.

Reg later served in the Korean War, where he was promoted to captain in charge of “C” Company of the 3rd Battalion, and took part in the famous battle of Kapyong in 1951.

Reg finally left Korea in October 1952, and resigned from the regular army in 1954. He moved to Sydney after the war and soon became the captain of his local cricket team and president of a sub-branch of the RSL.

In 1969, Reg moved to Canberra and took up employment as liaison officer at the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, remaining there until his retirement in 1981.

He was awarded an MBE in 1971, and was appointed to the Council of the Australian War Memorial in July 1985. Reg died on Friday 2 March 1991, aged 69.

 

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WWII. New Guinea Campaign. October 1942. Soldiers from the 2/6th Commando Squadron (Australia) move through the jungle from Wanigela to Pongani during the company's arduous march. [AWM 127503]

 

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(© IWM (TR 103)) Covenanter on manoeuvres in the UK, 1942. The Covenanter (A13 Cruiser Tank Mk V) was an up-armoured development of the original A13. It entered service in 1940 but was so unreliable it had to be relegated to training duties.

 

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"You call...we haul!"
A Bishop QF 25-pdr self-propelled gun of 142nd Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, aboard an M19 tank transporter (M20 Diamond T 980 tractor + M9 Trailer) of 610 Heavy Recovery Section, REME, 46th Division sector, Fifth Army Front, Italy, 23rd December 1943.

 

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The retreating Germans destroyed much of Italy's infra-structure in their wake in their efforts to slow down the allied advance.
Unfortunately, the historic significance of the beautiful city of Firenze ( Florence) was ignored and also suffered at their hands.
The many old bridges across the River Arno were blown-up...but fortunately the medieval Ponte Vecchio survived intact.
Here we see a Bailey bridge spanning the River Arno in Firenze, 15th August 1944.
The bridge was constructed by 577 Field Company Royal Engineers on the piers of the original Renaissance "Ponte San Trinita", dating from the 1500s, and blown-up by the Germans.
Top right can be seen the historic Duomo di Firenze / the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore.

 

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The British were beneficiaries of America's phenomenal military mass-production.

Long lines of assorted "Lend-Lease" Shermans and Stuarts at No. 1 Advanced Base Workshops, Italy, 18th April 1944.

(IWM)

 

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Emerging from a cloud of dust, men from 40th Royal Tank Regiment (40RTR) try out a captured German StuG III assault gun, near Fiano in the 56th Division sector, 14th September 1943.

Note the bolt-on applique armour on its glacis.

(IWM)

 

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A Messerschmitt Me 323 powered glider under attack off Cape Corse, Corsica, by a Martin Marauder Mark I, flown by the Commanding Officer of No. 14 Squadron RAF, Wing Commander W Maydwell. The aircraft crash-landed on the shore and disintegrated.

 

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profiles of a British Dispatch Rider ( known as a "Don R") in the Western Desert circa 1943.
He wears tropical "khaki drill" (KD) and the special helmet issued to motor-cyclists.
He is armed with service revolver. Apart from any messages, his pack probably contained a water bottle and other necessities for survival in the desert.
I believe his machine is a BSA 496cc SV M.20.
(IWM / Beaton)

 

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Under the supervision of NCOs, troops learn to handle mines and booby-trap devices 'blind' using a special screen at X Corps Mine School, Sparanise, Italy, 28th December 1943.
(IWM)