Photographs

Australian soldiers in Milne Bay, New Guinea, October 1942

australian soldiers milne bay

Australian troops in Milne Bay, New Guinea, three weeks after pushing back a Japanese invasion attempt. October 1st, 1942. The Battle of Milne Bay took place between August 25th and September 7th 1942 in the Pacific Campaign. It was a Japanese operation (codenamed Operation RE or the Battle of Rabi) …

US infantrymen in the snowy Ardennes, Battle of the Bulge

us soldiers battle of the bulge

American infantrymen of the 290th Regiment in the snowy Ardennes (near Amonines, Belgium) during the Battle of the Bulge. The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was the final major offensive campaign by German forces on the Western front in WW2. Germany’s surprise attack through …

German policemen smoking with a French prisoner, 1940

nazi black world war two

German policemen (Ordnungspolizei) sharing a smoke with a French colonial prisoner. Vichy, 1940. The Ordnungspolizei were the uniformed police force of Germany between 1936 and 1945. Book suggestion⤵️ 📖 The Volksdeutschen in the Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS, Ordnungspolizei in World War II (Rolf Michaelis, 2012)

Heinz Guderian, tank warfare pioneer and leading commander in WW2

heinz guderian world war two

Generaloberst Heinz Guderian, a World War I veteran, was one of the pioneers of tank warfare in Germany. Guderian studied this concept between 1922 and 1928, becoming a leading expert on tanks despite not setting foot into one before 1929 (due to the Versailles treaty restrictions). Because of the same …

London sky during the Battle of Britain, Big Ben watching, 1940

battle of britain big ben sky london

Sky in London during the battle of Britain (summer 1940), with Big Ben in the foreground. The Battle of Britain was a huge assault by the Luftwaffe in an attempt to subdue the British, so that Germany could force them into peace and focus on the Eastern front. It was …

Anti aircraft fire near St Isaac’s Cathedral, Leningrad, 1941

st isaac cathedral leningrad ww2

Anti aircraft fire near St. Isaac’s Cathedral against a German air raid during the Siege of Leningrad, 1941. The blockade and encirclement of Leningrad was one of the longest and most horrific sieges in history, lasting 872 days between September 8th 1941 and January 27th 1944, when the weakened Axis …

Romanian Goliath tracked mine, rare WW2 photograph

romanian goliath tracked mine

One of the very few surviving images (and the only one of decent quality) of the “Romanian Goliath”, a Romanian version of the German Goliath tracked mine. This version had no armor, but was much larger, six time heavier, and better equipped to handle trenches and difficult terrain. It was …

Sandbags protecting Notre Dame Cathedral facade, 1940

notre dame cathedral ww2

Sandbags are cleared off the facade of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, as Germany occupied the city unopposed on June 14th 1940. The sandbags were used by Parisians to protect Notre Dame against bombardments. Paris and its invaluable cultural and architectural heritage was saved twice from destruction during World War …

Panzer III tanks leaving factory grounds, October 1942

panzer iii tanks

Panzer III tanks leaving the production plant in October 1942, alongside stacked piles of tracks. Book suggestion ⤵️ 📖 Achtung-Panzer!: The Development of Armoured Forces, Their Tactics and Operational Potential (Heinz Guderian, 1937)