Boy Soldier

A captured German boy soldier enjoys a cup of coffee aboard a U.S. Coast Guard LCI, Normandy coast 1944.  Colorization credit to Doug Banks.

Everything for the Front

A Soviet poster urging civilians to give to the war effort.  Translated, it reads:  "Everything for the front – everything for the victory! Collective farm workers, donate for aircraft and tank construction!"

Video: The 6th Marine Division at Okinawa

The 6th Marine Division on Okinawa is a 1945 Kodachrome color documentary film produced about the action of the 6th Division during the Battle of Okinawa. The film was released shortly after the event.

The film begins by outlining the strategic and psychological importance of Okinawa, including its use as a supply base for Japanese forces in Malaya, the Marianas and the Philippines, as well as a "choke hold" over China. It also informs the audience that Okinawa is an actual part of the Japanese homeland, only a few hundred miles south of Kyushu.

The movements of the units and their order of battle is carefully traced, from the landings on April 1st to the assault on Naha. Some interesting footage is also shown on life in northern Okinawa soon after liberation, with the locals setting up a democratic government under the US military and opening up schools while the battle raging in the south.

Some of the footage includes the use of flame-throwing tanks and close air support in an attempt to dislodge heavily dug-in Japanese defenders. The film ends with a eulogy for all those who died attempting to secure the island, as Marines visit a gigantic graveyard prior to departing for their next objective.

Third Reich Coins

A two pfennig piece in production during the reign of the Third Reich.

Wehrmacht in Training

Wehrmacht soldiers in training at an Infantry School.

Idiot's Delight

An American B-17 known as "Idiot's Delight".  Idiots' Delight belonged to the 94th Bomb Group, 332nd Bomb Squadron and was the first in that group to survive 50 missions. She flew her first mission on July 14, 1943 to Le Bourget and her fiftieth mission on March 22, 1944 to Berlin. Camouflage is standard Olive Drab over Neutral Gray with Neutral Gray (instead of white) stars in the national insignia.

Brits in Cassino

British troops in Sherman tanks rumble past the ruins of Monte Cassino, Italy on their way to the front.

Canadians in Normandy

Canadian troops cleaning an artillery gun shortly after D-Day.  Somewhere in Normandy.

Italian Heavy Cruiser

Italian heavy cruiser Zara opens up with her main guns in this undated photo. Zara, commissioned in 1930, was sunk during the Battle of Cape Matapan on March 29, 1941. On the same day, Fiume, Zara's sister ship, Pola, another Zara-class cruiser, and two destroyers, were also sunk by British battleships pinpointing the Italian ships with their newly acquired radar.

Shot Full of Holes

A Wehrmacht soldier eating a piece of toast inside a vehicle that has recently come under enemy fire, Russia, 1941.

Captain America

Captain America made his first appearance in March, 1941.  He was often featured fighting the Axis powers.

Ghosts of War

German soldiers being welcomed by the Dutch Nazis in 1940, blended with a street view of Amsterdam today.

Vapor Trails

Allied aircraft vapor trails in skies above US soldier unloading a jeep outside a farmhouse in the Ardennes Forest.

Video: Thunderbolt

A U.S. Air Force documentary.   This film captures footage of the air war over Italy during World War II, focusing on the life and death struggle of a P-47 Thunderbolt squadron.

Japanese Propaganda

Japanese leaflet used in China depicts President Roosevelt killing and bleeding the Chinese people while their women and starving children look on.

 

Italian Aircraft

On an unidentified Italian airfield, late 1942 or early 1943, two of the Italian classic transport aircraft (the other was the Fiat G.12) of World war II, both Savoia-Marchetti: on the left the SM.75 and, on the right, the SM.82, during an engine maintenance.

German Observation Post

The observance position of a German artillery regiment during the fighting in the Vienna Woods/Austria, April 1945.

The Germans Have Invaded

Romanian newspaper vendors in Bucharest hold up papers announcing the Nazi invasion of Greece and the Blitz in London , 1940.

The M38 Tanker's Helmet

The M38 "Helmet, Tank" was developed in 1938 meeting the following criteria: 1) fits inside an M-1 helmet when shrapnel protection is needed; 2) equipped with microphone and earphones, with connecting jacks; 3) protected the crewman's head from hits on the steel interior.  It first saw service in early 1942.

A Sherman Tank crew wearing M38 helmets at Ft. Knox, 1942

 

                      

Easter Eggs for Hitler

Two American Soldiers proudly show off their personalized "Easter eggs" (155mm artillery shells) before firing them.

Occupied Kharkov

Kharkov, Russia during the Nazi occupation, circa 1942.  A portrait of Adolf Hitler sits in the store window.

FP-45 Liberator

The FP-45 Liberator was a pistol manufactured by the United States military during World War II for use by resistance forces in occupied territories. It was to be air-dropped into occupied countries to be used by forces sympathetic to the allies.

An FP-45 with the original box and instructions

Flat Tire

A German driver operating a jack and changing a tire on a Kübelwagen in Sicily, Italy, 1943.

Italian Partisans

Partisans crowd Vittorio Emmanuel Square, Bologna, Italy, as they gave up their arms to MP's in a formal dedication disbanding their organizations that worked for the Allies behind the enemy lines. April, 1945.

A group of Italian partisans who helped South African troops entering Pistoia, Italy to ferret out German snipers and pockets of resistance, December 9, 1944.

Curtiss SC-1

One of the USS Alaska's Curtiss SC-1 floatplanes taxiing up to the landing mat streamed alongside, to be picked up by the aircraft crane, off Iwo Jima, March 6, 1945.

Poison the Rat

Arcade games such as this were common in America during World War II.  Often, these games could be found in local taverns.  This game was manufactured in 1942 by Groetchen as was called "Poison the Rat".  Hitler's head tilted left and right and the player tried to get a a steel ball into his mouth by moving Hitler's head.

Libya, 1941

Ain-el-Gazala, Libya, April 1941: A German aircraftman on the driver’s seat of a CMP Ford F15 likely of the British Army’s 2nd Armoured Division, captured intact after the defeat at el-Mechili. Notice the German flag over the bonnet to avoid a dangerous misunderstanding by the Axis air forces.  It is being used to tow a Henschel Hs 126B observation plane.

Polish Infantry Uniform and Equipment

Polish infantry private, 1939 

01 - wz.1939 "rogatywka" garrison cap
02 - wz.1937 "rogatywka" field cap
03 - wz.1937 steel helmet
04 - wz.1936 jacket
05 - dog tag
06 - WSR wz.1932 gas mask in a tarpaulin bag
07 - personal dressing
08 - leather ammo pouches
09 - wz.1933 breadbag
10 - leather main belt
11 - wz.1938 canteen
12 - wz.1928 bayonet cover
13 - folding shovel in a leather cover
14 - wz.1933 backpack with blanket
15 - standard army biscuit
16 - wz.1931 mess kit
17 - spoon + fork kit
18 - owijacze- belts of cloth used instead of socks
19 - boots
20 - GR-31 grenade- frag
21 - GR-31 greande- concussion
22 - 7,92 mm Mauser 1898a rifle
23 - 7,92 mm ammo clips
24 - wz.1924 bayonet
25 - wire cutting shears

Taking a Break

A German soldier takes a break on the steps in front of a house, near Stalingrad, Soviet Union, September, 1942.

Air Raid in China

Robert Capa, photographer, took the first kodachrome war pictures in history.  He captured events surrounding an air raid by Japanese aircraft at Hankou (China) on July 19, 1938.

Nazi Propaganda Broadcasts

A sampling of Nazi propaganda radio broadcasts directed at the people of England. 

Do Not Bomb This Building

A large German flag painted on the roof of the German embassy in Chongqing, China to alert against Japanese bombers, circa 1939.

Chongqing was the site of major Japanese bombing raids from 1938 - 1943.

Below is rare video of war time Chongqing.

  

Iwo Jima

The crew of a .30 caliber machine gun look on as American soldiers work on an Iwo Jima beach, soon after landing on February 19, 1945.  You can see the shelling going on in the background.

Whalemeat Casserole

In Britain during World War II, whale meat was often purchased as a substitute for other meats.  Here is can of whale meat casserole from the era.

Medical Attention

Medics of the 10th Mountain Division treat an unidentified American soldier, wounded in the mouth, during the 5th Army's push for Bologna, Italy.

Time for a Smoke

German soldier smoking a pipe, France, 1944.

Tools of the French Resistance

Tools of the French Resistance: Pencil fuses. These devices would detonate an explosive after a set time, giving the saboteur time to escape. Colored bands indicated the time delay before acid corroded a wire, releasing a striker that struck a percussion cap and a detonator.

Brits on Leave

Soldiers of the British Army on leave in Venice, Italy, June, 1945.  The war in Europe has been over for about a month.

The Germans are Coming

Russian girls glancing at the advancing German soldiers from behind the window of their hut. Photo taken by a German soldier, Autumn of 1941.  

Lt. Clayton Allen

Lt. Clayton F. “Lucky” Allen, a bombardier on a B-26 Marauder, his missions are painted on his flight jacket — bombs for individual missions, ducks for diversions, 1943.

La Division Azul

La División Azul - Spanish volunteers fighting for Nazi Germany.

Read more here

Wehrmacht Dog Tag

Erkennungsmarke: This was the standard issue German military identification tag, often called a "dog tag". The Erkennungsmarke was instituted & first issued in August of 1939, to all members of the Wehrmacht. It was worn around the neck. Wearing of the tag was required at all times by all soldiers in the field. Perferated in the middle & stamped with identical information above and below the perforation line so they could be broken and the lower half sent to HQ.

Your Blood Can Save Him

A Red Cross poster from America, during World War II.

Adolf Wagner

"On April 23rd 1941, Bavarian Education Minister Adolf Wagner ordered school prayer to be replaced by Nazi songs, and crucifixes and religious pictures to be removed from school walls. There were massive protests from mothers and the order was quietly rescinded. Other Nazis tried to enforce the regulation and this only led to more protests until the order was publicly withdrawn. Wagner was humiliated and Hitler so angry that he threatened to send Wagner to Dachau [...]."