Photos WW2 British & Commonwealth Forces

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13th November, 1941. The sinking of HMS Ark Royal after being torpedoed by U-81. Ark Royal sank the following day

View from HMS HERMIONE of HMS ARK ROYAL making smoke in the attempt to raise steam after being hit by a torpedo.

© IWM A 6324

View from HMS HERMIONE of HMS ARK ROYAL after she had been hit, listing heavily to starboard.

A small party of officers and men remained aboard HMS ARK ROYAL. Second from left is Captain L E H Maund, the Captain of the ship. Photograph taken from HMS HERMIONE.

© IWM A 6337

From on board HMS LEGION, the destroyer that took off the survivors, showing some of the last to leave ARK ROYAL.

© IWM A 6315

The last scenes from the flight deck before abandon ship.

© IWM A 6314

 

[BravoZulu]

HMS KING GEORGE V casts a shadow on her own wash as she steams through the Atlantic, March 1941

Battleship HMS KING GEORGE V, October 1941

HMS Victorious at sea for Norwegian operations, October 1941

 

[BravoZulu]

December 1943. At Scapa Flow the funnel and bridge of HMS ONSLOW, riddled with splinter holes as the result of hits received during her successful engagement of the North Cape.

 

[BravoZulu]

HMS Barham sinking after being torpedoed by U-331, just prior to exploding, November 25, 1941

HMS PRINCE OF WALES coming in to moor at Singapore. The ship was sunk by Japanese torpedoes six days later on 10 December 1941 with great loss of life .

Keppel Harbour, Singapore Feb 1942, port bow view of the cruisers HMS Glasgow (left) and HMS Enterprise.

 

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9th Division Cavalry Regiment Xmas dinner Menu for 1942.

Notable items on the menu, green peas (1/4" ball bearings and cigarettes for desert. And musical items by both talented and untalented artists...

 

[BravoZulu]

HMS Rodney

HMS Victorious and HMS Implacable seen above Avenger and Chance-Vought Corsair aircraft of HMS Formidable as the ships turned into position. At this time the three aircraft carriers were operating off the shore of Japan, July 10, 1945

 

[BravoZulu]

Indian troops with Axis prisoners in the Western Desert, December 1941

 

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Fusilier W. Nodder of the Royal Welch Fusiliers writes home from his slit trench before the attack on Evrecy, Normandy, France, 16 July 1944.

 

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Clean, uncluttered reference shots of an Infantry Tank Mk II (A12) "Matilda 2", easily the best tank of the early war years.

 

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The issue of the "rum ration" was always guaranteed to raise a smile!
These tankies of the 7th Armoured Division have just been issued theirs as an accompaniment to their tradtional Christmas pudding.
Nieuwstadt, Netherlands, December 25th, 1944.

 

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The Light Tank Mk. VII ( A17) "Tetrarch" was an innovative, but ultimately unsuccessful design.
It was manufactured in small numbers and saw limited service with the British Army in WW2.
Its small size made it suitable for transportation in the new generation of gliders such as the Horsa and Hamilcars, so a number were allocated to the Airborne Forces as reconnaissance vehicles ahead of D-Day.
Here we see Airborne troops securing a Tetrarch within the capacious interior of a Hamilcar glider.
(IWM)

 

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The British Ordnance QF 25 pounder (3.45-inch / 87.6 mm) was arguably the best all-round field gun of WW2.
It was produced in large numbers and saw service in all theatres where British / Commonwealth forces fought.
The Royal Artillery was both respected and feared in equal measure by the Axis because of their ability to lay down accurate and devastating 25 pounder barrages in support of Allied operations from the deserts of N. Africa to the jungles of the far east.
It went on to serve as the standard field-piece of British and Commonwealth armies for many years after the war.
Since its withdrawal from service by the British Army, a number of examples are maintained in immaculate condition and used as "saluting guns" on special occasions.
The following images document the manufacture of 25 pounders at a Royal Ordnance factory "somewhere in England", circa 1942 and were produced under the auspices of the Ministry of Information.
(IWM)

 

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Flight Sergeant Robert Mehew “Zip” Zobell, from Raymond, Alberta, and a member of 401 Squadron, RCAF, returned from Dieppe Raid with a wound on his forehead and his Spitfire damaged by enemy fire. According to the original caption, “his only complaint was that the medical officer would not allow him to fly during the rest of the day. ‘I missed a lot of fun,’ he said bitterly.”
https://amzn.to/3nv7tXe

 

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Lowering bodies into graves. Dieppe, 1942
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Christmas at the front, December 25th 1944.
These men of the 1st Battalion / 8th Hussars / 7th Armoured Division / British Liberation Army, have found themselves a space to eat and drink in a bombed-out cafe in Nieuwstadt in the Netherlands.
Their table is dressed with a small Christmas tree and their smiles are prompted by the arrival of their rum ration, being delivered by the trooper on the left.

 

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British soldier eating his Christmas meal in his slit trench with holiday cards from home propped up somewhere in the Netherlands - December 25, 1944
LIFE Magazine Archives - MANSELL Collection

 

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A Sicilian woman stands on her doorstep amidst the ruins of Regalbuto and watches Allied armour pass along her street during the advance on Messina, August 1943.
Emerging from a cloud of dust and exhaust smoke, the tank is a Sherman V ( M4A4) of the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade.
(IWM)

 

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This Panzer III was comprehensively destroyed in the street fighting for the town of Centuripe, Sicily, during the drive for Messina, July-August 1943.
Its turret has been flipped and the engine deck detached, revealing the tops of the two cooling fans housed therein.
(IWM)