Photographs

King Michael I of Romania with Adolf Hitler in Berlin, 1940

King Michael Romania Adolf Hitler

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 damaged during Operation Pedestal, 1942

italian submarine cobalto

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 and flying ace Adolf Galland reviewing documents

hermann goering

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 …

Erwin Rommel with British POWs during Dunkirk evacuation

erwin rommel

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 …

USS Shaw destroyer exploding during the Pearl Harbor attack

uss shaw pearl harbor

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 …

Kenyan sailors on a Royal Navy minesweeper, 1945

kenya world war 2

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 capture an Italian flag, 1941

south african soldiers italian flag ww2

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 …

Bulgarian soldiers guarding Yugoslav POWs, April 1941

yugoslav soldiers bulgaria ww2

Bulgarian soldiers guard Yugoslav prisoners of war near a German Sd.Kfz. 231 8-Rad armored vehicle. Balkans, April 1941. Book suggestion ⤵️ 📖 The Balkans: Nationalism, War and the Great Powers 1804 – 1999 (Misha Glenny, 1999)

Love during World War Two #1

kissing world war two

1) Sweethearts kissing over the railing, as British soldier returns home during leave. London, 1940. 2) American soldier with his English girlfriend hugging on the Hyde Park lawn in 1945. 3) British soldier welcomed home by his wife after the end of WW2 in Europe, 1945. 4) A young Canadian …

Uruguayan diplomat Montero De Bustamante in the UK, 1943

montero de bustamante uruguay ww2

Uruguayan Chargé d’Affaires in the United Kingdom, Senor Montero de Bustamante, speaks at a ceremony to name a Royal Air Force Spitfire fighter in 1943. The Aircraft had been funded by Uruguayan donations. Uruguay was neutral during World War II until signing the Declaration by United Nations in February 1945, …