Photographs

A sign left by German Soldiers as they were evacuating Finnish territory in October 1944. The sign reads “As thanks for not demonstrating brotherhood in arms”. You could speculate that they had left some ‘gifts’ for the Finns there. Finland and Germany had been fighting together against the Soviet Union …

Two British tank men and a puppy reading a newspaper, sometime during the North African Campaign. They all seem quite relaxed given the circumstances. There were Military Police dog training centres in North Africa, but it’s unlikely that this little fellow was ready for that. 😀 Book suggestion ⤵️ 📖 …

A British “Duck” driver receiving directions from an American soldier at the ration supply dump near Anzio, Italy, on March 29th 1944. The DUKW, also known as ‘Duck’, was a 2.5-ton six-wheel amphibious truck used in World War II by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. It served as a …

Damaged US Coast Guard landing craft approaching the beaches in Normandy on D-Day, June 6th, 1944. Smoke can be seen coming out of the boat, reportedly caused by a soldier’s hand grenade being set off by German machine gun fire! Despite the eventual success of the landings in Normandy, and …

Katyusha rockets firing on June 22nd 1941, the first day of Operation Barbarossa, Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union. Only 40 such mobile rocket launchers were built and ready to be used by the Soviet Army at the start of Operation Barbarossa. It was the first self-propelled artillery piece to …

Heavy cruiser Lützow (aka pocket battleship) with a snapped off stern in Kiel harbor sometime after April 13th, 1940. Commissioned by the Weimar government, Lützow was completed in 1933 as the leading ship of the heavy cruiser class “Deutschland”. It was renamed Lützow in January 1940. Damage was caused by …

This rare World War 2 image shows guests of Adolf Hitler on the Berghof terrace sometime in 1942. The Berghof was Hitler’s vacation residence in the Bavarian Alps at Obersalzberg, near Berchtesgaden. He would often entertain visitors there, whether it was for official business or simply leisure. The picture was …

View of Juno beach on D-Day from a German antitank casemate in Courseulles-sur Mer, France. On June 6th, 1944, the Allies landed in Normandy, on the day now known as D-Day. Although the Allied managed to weaken German resistance in Normandy with deception tactics, misleading the Germans about the date …

Adolf Hitler in uniform after World War I, likely in 1921, when he was 32 years old. This image was used on his government issued card which allowed him to carry weapons. Hitler was a decorated lance corporal in the First World War. He learned about Germany’s defeat while hospitalized …

A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber of the US Air Force is pictured in flight with the trail of a German V-2 missile in the background. The date and location of the image are unknown, but it must be sometime between late 1944 and early 1945, as that was …