Photos WW2 British & Commonwealth Forces

[BravoZulu]

Spitfire V (tropical) of RAF 253 Squadron and 32 Squadron. Italy 1944

 

[BravoZulu]

Supermarine Seafire being brought up onto the flight deck of HMS Furious, August 1944. Possibly during Operation Goodwood to attack the German battleship Tirpitz at anchor in Kåfjorden, Norway

 

[BravoZulu]

New Zealand soldiers from 22nd Motorised Battalion, 4 (NZ) Armoured Bde. advance through a smokescreen at Cassino Italy - 15 March 1944

 

[BravoZulu]

Troops of 1 Kings Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB), 9th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, firing a captured Hotchkiss machine gun during street fighting in Caen, 10 July 1944.

 

[BravoZulu]

26 March 1945, Winston Churchill crossed the Rhine into the heartland of Germany on a U.S. Navy landing craft. The American coxswain reported that the prime minister did not say anything notable on the journey. Churchill only took the cigar out of his mouth to spit in the Rhine.

 

[BravoZulu]

Comet of the 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, 29th Armoured Brigade, in the Weser bridgehead - 7 April 1945
The infantry are from the 159th Infantry Brigade, together the two brigades formed the 11th Armoured Division.

 

[BravoZulu]

A corporal handles several Thompson submachine guns at an ordnance depot in the Midlands following their arrival from the United States of America through the Lend-Lease scheme, 23 March 1942.

 

[BravoZulu]

The crew of a Universal carrier proudly advertise their Scottish heritage, North Africa, 27 October 1942.

 

[BravoZulu]

Knocked-out German Panther is examined by British personnel in Italy - 24 May 1944
dd

 

[BravoZulu]

Bristol Beaufighter Mark VIF 'F-Freddie' of No 272 Squadron, Royal Air Force on the taxiway at Ta'Qali, Malta. 27 June 1943.

 

[BravoZulu]

Sherman Vs of 11th Armoured Division lined up in the village of Creully Normandy await the order to move into action - 15 June 1944

 

[BravoZulu]

Horsa gliders litter the British 6th Airborne landing zone North of Ranville, Normandy - 15 June 1944

 

[BravoZulu]

Glider Troops with the British 6th Airborne Division pose with a French girl on a DKW NZ350 motorcycle in Normandy - 15 June 1944
These were some of the first British Glider troops to set foot on French soil on DDay, note the soldier on the left has a captured German MP40 SMG.

 

[BravoZulu]

Soldiers of 5th Battalion Welsh Guards, Guards Armoured Division, advancing in Normandy - 17 June 1944

 

[BravoZulu]

Airmen of No. 487 Squadron, RNZAF, gather around their Ventura bomber at RAF Methwold in early 1943

 

[BravoZulu]

During a training exercise in the Middle East, Australian soldiers peeling potatoes are helped by a young apprentice, dressed in a makeshift "uniform" of an Australian sergeant, 1942.

 

[BravoZulu]

Four Home Guard Members / Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) in central London - 21 June 1940
They are being inspected by General Nation and Major Hughman

 

[BravoZulu]

David Smiley standing in back of a knocked-out German Panzer III in North Africa - June 1942
David de Crespigny Smiley, LVO, OBE, MC & Bar (11 April 1916 - 9 January 2009) was a British special forces and intelligence officer.
During WW2 he saw service in Palestine, Iraq, Persia, Syria, North Africa, and with the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in Albania & Thailand.