Photos WW2 British & Commonwealth Forces

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German personnel inspect Calgary Regiment Churchill Mk III "BERT" T68560R of B Squadron 6 Troop that was the tank that made it furthest inland during the Dieppe Raid before being immobilized by gunfire in August 1942

 

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A French farmer driving a horse-drawn water cart waving his cap at the crew of a Light Tank Mark VI from 13/18 Royal Hussars, October 1939

 

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A Stuart and Sherman tanks of 33rd Armoured Brigade during Operation 'Charnwood', the attack on Caen, 8 July 1944.

 

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The crew of a Crusader tank prepare a meal in the Western Desert, 20 September 1942.

 

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An RNZAF F4U-D Corsair (NZ5424) from No 24 Squadron, is looked at by Australian Army personal and some the natives of Papua New Guinea at Jacquinot Bay airstrip. May 1945.

NZ5424 carried the nose art 'Nan' and 32 bomb markers.

24 Squadron had just come from Green Island was probably stopping at Jacquinot Bay on their way Bougainville.

 

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Five Australian former prisoners of war catch up on news from home after their release from Japanese captivity in Singapore, September 1945.

 

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Flight Lieutenant Charles H. 'Smokey' Stover of No. 414 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force with a dog mascot "Blackie" and his Mark 1 Mustang at Dunsfold, Surrey, 15 January 1944.

 

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6 November 1944. Men of the 36th Infantry Division advance through a banana grove in Burma.

 

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Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) team in North Africa

 

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Troops of the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division, in action in the streets of Geilenkirchen, Germany. December 1944.

 

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Battle of Crete. 20 May - 1 June 1941. Members of the New Zealand 5th Field Ambulance attend to German Fallschirmjäger casualties.

 

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Nissan Atoll, Green Islands, Papua New Guinea. Jan 1944
Inside enemy territory, a recon party lands, senses keyed up for sounds of the Japanese troops known to be present. A perilous fact-finding mission is under way.

Establishing a beachhead HQ at Pokonian Plantation, the boat crews fanned out to explore the atoll and collect vital data. A mile south, a harsh greeting awaited.

When a New Zealand Air Force Ventura bomber flew overhead and dropped a toilet-paper roll, the raiders below thought it was a prank. But the roll had contained a warning about Japanese boats in the vicinity—a warning that was lost in the descent.

New Zealand mortar crew of 30 Battalion, 3rd New Zealand Division, 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Pacific, on Nissan Atoll, Green Islands, Papua New Guinea. They are firing at Japanese barges concealed on the shore. All persons unidentified. Photographer unidentified. Note on back of file print reads:"...Commando raid mortar gun teams firing at Jap barges and installations. In rear, officer observes effect of the fire in the Jap area."

 

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RAF officers pose with the remains of a 4.7cm PaK(t) (Sfl.) auf Fgst.Pz.Kpfw.35 R 731(f) (4.7 centimeter Panzerabwehrkanone (tschechoslowakei) (Selbstfahrlafette) auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampfwagen 35 Renault 731 (frankreich)) in 1945

 

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Fairey Barracuda aboard HMS Furious during Tirpitz strike 3rd Apr 1944

 

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German soldiers inspecting 4th Royal Tank Regiment Matilda II's knocked out by dug in 88mm flak guns during Operation Battleaxe - Halfaya Pass, June 1941. British forces lost over half of their tanks on the first day and only one of three attacks succeeded

 

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German propaganda photograph of a Matilda II abandoned during the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940.

 

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Sherman DD going into the water while towing the fuel trailer of a Churchill Crocodile during trials

 

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M3 Grant medium tank in the UK

 

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Sergeant John Kevin Wood, RAAF and R78542 Warrant Officer Robert Leslie Spence, Royal Canadian Air Force, who evaded capture when their Wellington aircraft DV504/G of 40 Squadron RAF was forced down near Fort Capuzzo after an attack on Tobruk, and walked 350 miles through the Libyan and Egyptian desert in 24 days.
On 2 November 1942, several kilometres north of El Maghra, they were discovered by a British advance armoured division who took them to safety. After recovering from their ordeal, Wood and Spence returned to flying.
November 1942

 

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"Falkland Islands IV" - one of ten Spitfires the Falkland Islanders contributed to the war effort in WW2 at a cost of £50,000 (around £3 million today) provided by just 2,300 Islanders. Over 150 Falkland Islanders volunteered for service in WW2 and 24 were killed.