Photographs

The bombing of Dresden (13-15 February 1945) has been a highly controversial topic of debate over the years. Trying to force Germany into submission, the British and the Americans bombed a civilian city with little strategic importance, killing around 25.000 civilians in the process. During and after the war propaganda …

Swedish boy runs ahead of his mother towards the parade in which his father is marching. June 19th, 1941, Stockholm. Sweden maintained neutrality throughout World War II, although it did make a few concessions, initially to Germany, and then to the Western Allies. Sweden sold large quantities of iron ore …

Actresses Marlene Dietrich and Rita Hayworth serving food to soldiers at the Hollywood Canteen in Hollywood, California. November 17th, 1942. The Hollywood Canteen was open between October 3rd 1942 and November 22nd 1945. It provided food, dancing and entertainment for soldiers and servicemen, who were usually on their way overseas. …

On August 23rd 1944, King Michael I of Romania (pictured here with Adolf Hitler at the New Reich Chancellery in Berlin, 1940) staged a coup to overthrow Romania’s head of state and Hitler supporter, Marshal Ion Antonescu. With the tides of the war turning and with the Soviets already inside …

Italian submarine Cobalto before sinking, showing massive gun-fire damage to its conning tower inflicted by the British destroyer HMS Ithuriel. August 12th, 1942. Operation Pedestal was an attempt by the British Royal Navy to carry supplies, particularly fuel, to Malta. It took place between 3-15 August 1942. The convoys were …

Hermann Goering, Reichsmarschall and Supreme Luftwaffe Commander, with flying ace Adolf Galland, Lieutenant General of the Luftwaffe, reviewing documents. Date and location of the picture are unclear, although the photo was likely taken in 1941. Galland was one of the legendary pilots of WW2. He survived being shot down four …

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (the “Desert Fox”) with British POW’s at the French port of St Valery-en-Caux during the Dunkirk evacuation (1940). Erwin Rommel was a distinguished officer in World War One and one of the central figures of World War Two. In WW2, Rommel earned a reputation as one …

The forward magazine of the Mahan-class destroyer USS Shaw exploding during the Pearl Harbor bombing on December 7th, 1941. The ship was repaired a few months after the attack, and served in the Pacific for the rest of the war. It was decommissioned in October 1945, and was sold for …

Sailors of the Kenya Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve inspecting anti aircraft weaponry on a Royal Navy minesweeper sometime in 1945. As a British colony, Kenya contributed with forces in significant numbers for the Allied cause and was an important economic hub as well. From June 1940 to February 1941 there …

South African soldiers in Moyale, after the Italians were forced to withdraw from the area by an Allied offensive. Moyale is a city located on the border between Ethiopia and Kenya. Book suggestion ⤵️ 📖 South Africans versus Rommel: The Untold Story of the Desert War in World War II …