Photographs

German Wehrmacht soldier sitting on top of a disabled Char B1 bis tank in Northern France, 1940. The Char B1 was a French medium tank which was used as a break-through vehicle and as a battle tank. The B1 entered service in 1936. In 1937, a newer version, the Char …

Two Soviet snipers, members of Sydir Kovpak’s partisan unit in the Ukrainian Communist resistance movement against Germany. Soviet women played an important role during WW2, with more than 800.000 serving in various branches of the USSR armed forces. More than 50% of the medical personnel was also female. Major-General Sydir …

A shattered Japanese Kawanishi H8K seaplane is watched by US soldiers after strafing (attacking ground targets with automatic weapons), likely on the Kwajalein Atoll of the Marshall Islands in early 1944. The Battle of Kwajalein, fought between January 31st and February 3rd 1944, saw the United States defeat a small …

View from the HMAS Sydney light cruiser with ocean liners RMS Queen Mary (right) and RMS Queen Elizabeth (left) in the background. Wilson’s Promontory, Victoria, Australia, September 4th 1941. HMAS Sydney was sunk in a half hour single ship battle with the German Auxiliary cruiser Kormoran on November 19th 1941. …

Barbed Wire entanglements set up in Northern France by the British Expeditionary Force in the Winter of 1939-1940. Book suggestion ⤵️ 📖 The British Expeditionary Force, 1939-40 (Edward Smalley, 2014)

Hungarian soldiers somewhere in the Carpathians, sometime during 1944. Further details are unknown. Book suggestion ⤵️ 📖 Hungary in World War II: Caught in the Cauldron (Deborah S. Cornelius, 2011)

Abbey of Monte Cassino, Italy, in ruins after Allied bombings in February 1944, vs 2007. Allied forces wiped the monastery from the face of the Earth believing it was a vantage point for German forces. They were not sure it was, but decided to bomb it anyway in case the …

Ruined Warsaw buildings in 1945, rebuilt and photographed in 2016. Warsaw was effectively flattened by German forces by late 1944, with more than 80% of buildings reported to have been destroyed, but the Polish Capital was rebuilt by the 1970s with the remarkable effort of its people. Book suggestion ⤵️ …

Köln Dome Plateau, 1945 vs 2011. In the historical photograph, taken on April 4th, 1945, we can see a US corporal standing besides an US Army announcement and a wrecked German Panther tank. The announcement reads “Sight seers keep out! Beyond this point you draw fire on our fighting men. …

Danish Jews on a boat to Sweden in September – October 1943. Picture taken by one of the refugees. Due to the commendable collective efforts of Danish citizens, over 99% of Denmark’s Jewish population survived the war. The Danish resistance movement managed to evacuate no less than 7220 out of …