Photos WW2 US Forces

[BravoZulu]

M10 Wolverines move up to the line in the Hürtgen Forest, 1944

These are vehicles of the 893rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, which was originally constituted as the 93rd Infantry Antitank Battalion in 1940 from personnel of the 2nd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, and redesignated the 893rd in 1941. The unit lost 18 M10s and suffered 79 casualties, including 9 men killed and 20 captured or missing, while supporting the 8th and 28th Infantry Division during the Hürtgen Forest fighting in November, but First Lieutenant Turney W. Leonard earned the Medal of Honor posthumously for heroic actions from 4-6 November:

He displayed extraordinary heroism while commanding a platoon of mobile weapons at Kommerscheidt, Germany, on 4, 5, and 6 November 1944. During the fierce 3-day engagement, he repeatedly braved overwhelming enemy fire in advance of his platoon to direct the fire of his tank destroyer from exposed, dismounted positions. He went on lone reconnaissance missions to discover what opposition his men faced, and on 1 occasion, when fired upon by a hostile machinegun, advanced alone and eliminated the enemy emplacement with a hand grenade. When a strong German attack threatened to overrun friendly positions, he moved through withering artillery, mortar, and small arms fire, reorganized confused infantry units whose leaders had become casualties, and exhorted them to hold firm. Although wounded early in battle, he continued to direct fire from his advanced position until he was disabled by a high-explosive shell which shattered his arm, forcing him to withdraw. He was last seen at a medical aid station which was subsequently captured by the enemy. By his superb courage, inspiring leadership, and indomitable fighting spirit, 1st Lt. Leonard enabled our forces to hold off the enemy attack and was personally responsible for the direction of fire which destroyed 6 German tanks.

 

[BravoZulu]

Sherman M4A1 flamethrower variant of the 754th US Tank Battalion - November 1944

 

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Two Marines, having made the Iwo Jima beach, pause to consider what lies ahead of them before moving on. February 1945

 

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Viewed through the window of a wrecked building, a Marine 37mm gun crew set up behind an abandoned enemy truck, fires at Japs hidden in the debris of the town of Garapan, administrative centre of Saipan. 1 January 1944

 

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U.S. GI’s take a morning walk accompanied by Dutch children in traditional Volendam dress -Hoensbroek Castle, Netherlands - 1944

 

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G.I.'s from (possibly) the 1st Btn, 314th Inf. Rgt. of the US 79th Inf. Div., during an attack on the Bolleville road, just north west of La Haye-du-Puits in Normandy. ca. July 8, 1944

 

[BravoZulu]

Men from the US 1st Marine Division fire at Japanese targets in the distance, Peleliu, September 1944

 

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The nose art of B-24 Liberator (serial number 44-40439) nicknamed "Shady Lady" of the 493rd Bomb Group, 1944. This aircraft later transferred to the 566th Bombing Squadron, 389th Bomb Group.

Lost March 31, 1945 during a raid on the Brunswick Marshaling Yards. The entire crew was killed in action. Shot down by jet aircraft (per the missing air crew report):

Witness 1:

A/C 44-40439 was flying off our right wing, straggling slightly. Three enemy aircraft (jet-propelled) attacked from my left and as the last fighter made its pass, number three and number four engines of aircraft caught fire. The plane then seemed to dip off to the right and the whole right wing was enveloped in flames. It passed from my line of observation, I saw now chutes come out.

Witness 2:

I was standing in the open bomb bay of a ship in the low left square when I saw a wing falling, followed by the body of a plane going down in a tight spin. The plane body then blew up completely and no chutes had been observed. I also noticed a fighter going down out of control, to the left of and behind the Liberator.

2LT George S. Crock, pilot, age 21

F/O Philip C Field, co-pilot, age 22

2Lt Elmer Warren Empie, navigator, age 21 (his birthday had been just 3 days before)

SSGT Francis Xavier Ryan, radio

SSGT Jimmie D Lucas, engineer

SSGT Earl Stotts Housley, nose turret, age 19

TSgt Benjamin F. Espinoza , right waist gunner

SSGT Edward L. Balin, left waist gunner. age 22

SSgt John J. Ward , tail gunner

 

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An M18 Hellcat of the 824th Tank Destroyer Battalion firing its 76mm gun in Wiesloch, Germany, in support of the 397th Infantry Regiment. 1 April, 1945

 

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B-17Gs of the 91st Bomb Group (Heavy), 324th Bomb Squadron release their bomb loads over Germany

• 43-38772 DF-P “*LADY FREDA”
• 43-37844 DF-K “YANKEE GAL”
• 43-38880 DF-R

 

[BravoZulu]

U.S. Marines firing an M1919 Browning machine gun during the fighting on the island of Peleliu. In the foreground is another Marine with a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle M1918). September 1944.

On September 15, 1944, US 1st Marine Division landed on Peleliu, one of the Palau Islands of the western Pacific. Over the next several weeks, ferocious Japanese resistance inflicted heavy casualties on U.S. troops before the Americans were finally able to secure the island.
Though the controversial attack on Peleliu resulted in a higher death toll than any other amphibious assault in U.S. military history, Allied commanders and troops learned important lessons that would benefit them during the invasion of the Philippines and the Japanese home islands.

 

[BravoZulu]

USS Augusta, USS Midway, USS Enterprise, USS Missouri, USS New York, USS Helena, and USS Macon in the Hudson River in New York, New York, United States for Navy Day celebrations, 27 October 1945.

 

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Battleship USS Alabama (BB-60) on shakedown off Maine in early February 1943.

 

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Marines take cover behind a DUKW as LVTs burn in the background. Peleliu, September 15, 1944.

 

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Curtiss P-40F named Destitute Prostitute of 18th Fighter Group, 44th FS arrives at Munda airstrip, New Georgia in the Solomon Islands. 14 August 1943

 

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A USMC Vought F4U-1 Corsair looses its load of HVAR rocket projectiles on a run against a Japanese stronghold on Okinawa. In the lower background is the smoke of battle as Marine units move inland. June, 1945.

 

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A U.S. Marine dog handler and his "Devil dog" pose for a photo in what used to be a Japanese fighting position on the island of Peleliu in September 1944

 

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Lockheed P-38J Lightning in flight over California, circa in 1944.

 

[uktabber]

Wow, both of these photos are great.....Thanks for postings!!!

 

[BravoZulu]

Nurses on board USS Comfort contemplate the remains of a Japanese kamikaze after the hospital ship was attacked off Okinawa on the night of April 28th 1945.

USS Comfort operated throughout World War II with a Navy crew and Army medical personnel. She sailed from San Pedro, on 21 June 1944 for Brisbane, Australia, and Hollandia, New Guinea. Operating from Hollandia, where a major Army hospital centre had been established to handle casualties from the Philippine operations, the hospital ship evacuated wounded from Leyte, Philippine Islands, on two voyages in October and November and then brought patients back to San Pedro, Calif., in December. Returning by way of Leyte, Comfort reached Hollandia on 6 February 1945. Following a voyage to Subic Bay and Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, for evacuees in March, the hospital ship stood by off Okinawa from 2 to 9 April, receiving wounded for evacuation to Guam.

Returning to Okinawa on 23 April, six days later she was struck by a Japanese suicide plane. The plane crashed through three decks exploding in surgery which was filled with medical personnel and patients. Casualties were 28 killed (including six nurses), and 48 wounded, with considerable damage to the ship.

Inside the operating room