Photos of the Germans of the Second World War. Rare photographs of the Great Patriotic War and World War II (37 photos)
A fresh selection of photographs with descriptions.
1. A British soldier grins at German prisoners captured at El Alamein.
The famous gesture shown by the fighter has a double meaning: in the UK, if the hand is turned with the back of the hand, it also means the female genital organ.
2. The flight deck of the aircraft carrier Ryuho, damaged by hits from American 227-kg aerial bombs as a result of the raid on March 19, 1945.
3. The first ever jet bomber Arado Ar-234 "Blitz" ("Lightning")
4. A group of German Ju-52 transport aircraft perishes under American machine gun fire in the Strait of Sicily
The Junkers, flying at low altitude, were unlucky to run into a group of B-25s and the P-38s escorting them. The Junkers, not covered by anyone, suffered heavy losses: the Americans shot down 25 out of 35 aircraft. In general, this was one of the main reasons for the defeat of the Germans in Africa - the inability to provide reliable supplies, partly due to huge losses in transport aviation (which inevitably had a detrimental effect on almost all subsequent Wehrmacht operations), partly due to the threat to shipping.
5. III./Jg54 pilot, non-commissioned officer Gerhard Reimann with his damaged Bf-109F-4
6. Red Army soldiers disembark from boats
7. Captured garrison of Koenigsberg. 3rd Belorussian Front
8. Japanese transport ships under attack by American bombers in Simpson Harbor
The photo, taken from a B-25D Mitchell from the 3rd Bomb Group, showed a direct hit.
9. The Germans are testing an unusual defensive weapon - an aircraft flamethrower
In practice, the weapon turned out to be quite stupid, and its use was abandoned.
10. Quite a rare photograph depicting the results of the use of Soviet anti-tank cumulative aerial bombs PTAB 2.5 kg caliber
And the rarity lies in this: despite the obvious effectiveness of this type of ammunition and its active introduction into attack air units, its widespread use on the battlefield and rave reviews from pilots, very few photographs of damage from the PTAB-2.5 were taken, specifically, close-up - almost none. Moreover, for some reason, even the accounting of equipment destroyed specifically by PTABs was not carried out - all of it was counted as destroyed by aerial bombs without taking into account the type of ammunition. Therefore, now the effectiveness of this interesting aerial bomb can only be assessed indirectly - from the memoirs of pilots and secondary documents.
11. Damage to the tail of the German He-111N night bomber from an anti-aircraft shell.
12. German 88-mm FlaK 36/37 gun captured by the Americans on the streets of Cologne
13. Famous German aircraft designers, Ernst Heinkel and Claude Dornier, at Hitler's residence "Berghof"
14. A German paratrooper prepares to jump from a Ju-52
Probably a staged photo. France, 1944. The pose is a pleasure, although it undoubtedly has good reasons: due to the design of the German parachute, you had to jump head down, with your legs spread apart.
15. 51st Army on the approaches to Rostov. February 1943
The author of the photo is Leonid Isaakovich Yablonsky.
16. A series of photographs taken by the Americans during the assault on Cologne
The famous "Panther" near the station building behind the Cologne Cathedral, destroyed by the American M26 Pershing tank on March 6, 1945.
17. The pilot of the damaged “superfortress” lost control while making an emergency landing at a base on Iwo Jima and rammed a fighter parking lot, damaging 9 Mustangs. April 24, 1945
18. Polish bombers PZL P-37 Los captured by the Germans
19. German Fw-190A-4 fighter emerges from an attack over the Via Balbia road, Libya
20. US Marines on the way to Omaha Beach. Operation Overlord
21. American Marines overcome Japanese defenses in the Battle of Okinawa. A bunker blew up
22. A little acceleration for captured Germans. Leipzig, 1945
23. Search for those who are still alive. Operation Overlord
24. A Frenchman from the 2nd Commando Shock Battalion captures a German soldier hiding in a ditch under a wrecked car.
25. "Okinawa minibus." American Marines on the Sherman armor. Battle of Okinawa
26. Soldiers of the Australian mounted troops move on the Bren Carrier armored personnel carrier. Africa, January 7, 1941
27. German two-seat training fighter Fw-190A-8/U1 moves around the airfield using horse-drawn transport
28. Red Army soldiers fight in Stalingrad
29. German armored personnel carrier Sd.Kfz.251 from the 14MK drives past a column of Pz.Kpfw II tanks in the Serbian city of Nis, Yugoslavia
30. Ju-86K bombers with Hungarian markings in flight
31. German soldiers wash their armored personnel carrier from winter camouflage
32. T-34-85 of the 3rd Belorussian Front in Königsberg
33. Remembering the Volyn massacre, Poles tend to forget about the actions of their nationalists
On June 6, 1944, the village of Verkhovyna was attacked by militants of the NSZ (“People’s Forces of Zbrojny”), a far-right underground organization that competed with the AK. 194 Ukrainians were killed. In the photo, the village of Verkhovyna, Soviet officers (Eastern Poland at that moment was already occupied by the Red Army) are investigating the massacres of Ukrainians in the village.
34. Everyday life of British Fairey Swordfish pilots and deck crew
35. Columns of British troops march across the Acropolis in liberated Athens
36. A minute of German humor
Well, I have to admit, there are still plenty of people who want to be photographed with weapons in their hands and looking stupid.
37. British airfield technicians service the Hurricane fighter
38. Panther turret, cracked after three hits by 75-mm high-explosive fragmentation shells
39. Lieutenant Edwin Wright demonstrates damage to the propeller blade of his P-47 caused by an anti-aircraft shell.
40. Assembly shop of plant No. 18 named after. Voroshilov. Il-2 is being assembled
Workers in the foreground prepare to hang test bombs.
41. Japanese heavy cruiser "Atago" (Takao class)
42. Hawker Typhoon fires unguided rockets at a railway station. 1944
43. Damaged F4F Wildcat on Midway Island, June 1942.
44. When the topic of France in 1940 comes up, very often there is a photograph of a crying French man.
This photograph always goes around with the caption in various variations: “French citizens as the Nazis enter Paris.”
Even the American NARA archive signed it as: A Frenchman weeps as German soldiers march into the French capital, Paris, on June 14, 1940, after the Allied armies had been driven back across France." 208-PP-10A-3
Although not everything is so clear:
1. If you open Life magazine dated March 3, 1941 (https://books.google.ru/books?id=IUoEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=ru&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false), then on pages 28 and 29 you can find the "Photo of the Week" column with a story about the evacuation of the colors and standards of French units to North Africa from Marseille on February 19, 1941. And under it is this photograph with the caption: “The Frenchman, out of patriotic feelings, mourns the banners of the lost regiments of his country leaving for Africa.”
2. In the French newspaper dated March 30, 1941, there is also an article about this event with a similar caption.
3. Very often this photo is cropped on the left. The fuller one shows the woman on the left applauding. Quite a strange gesture when your capital is occupied by an enemy. (although you can always say that she sympathizes with the Germans)
4. This is not a photo, this is a frame from a chronicle. For example, it appears in the third part of Frank Capra's film "Why We Fight" called Divide and Conquer at 54:45. A woman can be seen applauding, and her lips read Vive la France - Long live France. In the same chronicle you can see other people applauding and saying this line.
5. In the book Lucien Gaillard - Marseille sous l "occupation, the name of this Frenchman is even given: Jerome Barzetti (this point is the most unfounded)
Of course, no one denies the possibility of finding sobbing Frenchmen on the streets during the occupation of Paris, but this particular photograph most likely does not correspond to the caption with which it is being distributed on the Internet.
45. "Royal Tiger" captured by the Americans
46. Several photographs on the subject of experiments by German designers in the field of aviation weapons
"Rohrbatterie" block of 32 single-shot 30-mm Mk 108 cannons, intended for installation on the Ba-349 "Natter" jet. Also, within the framework of the same project, the option of installing 7 blocks of 7 barrels each (Sonderger?t SG 119) was considered. However, the tests showed unsatisfactory results (the spring-loaded platform did not provide sufficient recoil mitigation from a simultaneous salvo of 49 large-caliber projectiles), and the project was closed.
As one of the means being developed to combat Soviet tanks, the SG 113 system was developed, which consisted of two 75 mm recoilless rifles mounted vertically in the wings of the fighter. The ammunition was to be used with sub-caliber shells with a 50 mm steel core. It was assumed that the shot should have been fired automatically, without the participation of the pilot, at the moment when the plane passed over the target. The idea was good, but a lot of problems arose during the implementation of the program. Firstly, a very low flight altitude was required - from 3 to 8 meters, to ensure reliable operation of the magnetic release device and accuracy of hitting the target. This alone imposed restrictions on the level of the pilot. Secondly, the reliability of the magnetic release device itself left much to be desired: distinguishing the tank from any other metal structure was problematic. Thirdly, there was complete confusion among the many contracting companies participating in the program, which led to long delays when it was necessary to correct one or another flaw in the system. This whole stream of problems led to the fact that the SG 113 was approved for production only on March 14, 1945, but even then it was planned to refine the system in parallel with production.
And this is the SG 116 system of three modified 30-mm Mk 103 guns, installed in the fuselage of the fighter. The system was tested in two versions: for firing upwards, at aircraft, and downwards, at tanks. Despite the fact that, in principle, the tests were successful, they also did not have time to implement the system - the war was heading towards its logical conclusion.
A block of 7 recoilless versions of the 30 mm Mk 108 cannons, which were supposed to be installed behind the fighter cockpit at an angle of 85 degrees back upward (SG 117 / SG 118). After the first shot, which was initiated by an electric fuse, the entire block began to move downward under the influence of the recoil of each subsequent shot, thus compensating for the load on the aircraft structure, until each barrel was fired. The system was supposed to be activated automatically from a special photocell. 6 Fw-190s were converted for testing, only 4 of them managed to reach the troops. In addition, there were plans to install the system on the He-162.
47. Technicians fire 75-mm underwing anti-tank guns mounted on a Ju-87G-1 tank destroyer
48. Direct hit by bombs dropped from Il-2 attack aircraft of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet Air Force on the German auxiliary vessel Franken
And this is what remains of the Franken after the attack by Soviet attack aircraft.
49. Commander of the T-34-76 tank from the 51st Army
50. A German submarine is attacked by an American B-24 Liberator patrol aircraft in the Atlantic.
51. Remains of a German tank Pz.IV ausf. J, destroyed by an American P-47 fighter-bomber
52. French partisan posing with a Bren machine gun in Eray-et-Lure
53. Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front reach the Dniester
54. Soviet patrol boat of project MO-4 No. 1012 “Sea Soul”
The boat was built during the war years with funds from the marine painter L. A. Sobolev, received from the Stalin Prize for the book “The Soul of the Sea.”
55. Dead Japanese tank crewman
56. Non-162 "Salamadra" being tested in the USSR
57. Heavy German tank "Tiger" with several direct hits on the frontal armor without a single penetration
58. American soldiers near an M4 Sherman tank that sank in the mud near the Italian town of Lattoria
59. "Owl" in the forest. Downed German reconnaissance aircraft Fw-189
60. “Tiger” stuck in the mud
67. British aircraft carrier HMS "Victorious" after being hit by a kamikaze. May 9, 1945
68. Ruins of the royal castle in Königsberg
69. The moment of death of private 331st Infantry Regiment of the 83rd Infantry Division of the US Army Jack Rose
Jack Rose was shot in the head by a German sniper in the Belgian village of Bien as he ran across a heavily targeted intersection. In the photo, Private Rose is already dead.
70. A Finnish junior sergeant fires from a captured Soviet anti-tank rifle PTRD-41
71. The remains of the French tank Char B1-bis No. 309 Rhone, blown up by its own crew on the street of the city of Beaumont. May 16, 1940
A vehicle from the 1st platoon of the 1st company of the 37th tank battalion of the 1st tank division. While driving through the city streets, it stopped due to lack of fuel, and the crew had no other choice but to destroy the tank.
72. The crew of the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious extracts a wounded observer from the deck torpedo bomber Fairey Albacore. March 9, 1942
A group of British torpedo bombers attacked the German battleship Tirpitz off the Norwegian coast. The attack did not have positive results - the target did not receive a single hit, while the British lost two aircraft.
If you look closely at this military beauty, you can imagine its teeth, and the gaps filled with human meat. Yes, that’s how it was: any military beauty is human death.
(Total 45 photos)
1. Defensive line "Siegfried" on the western border of Germany. A very powerful and beautiful line. The Americans stormed the line for more than six months. We dealt with the lines much faster - it’s a well-known fact: we weren’t behind the price.
2. A German soldier with children in an occupied Soviet village. The two smallest boys are tarring cigarettes. The German, as a distinctly kind person, was embarrassed by his kindness
3. Irma Hedwig Silke, employee of the Abwehr cipher department. Beautiful perky girl. A man of any nationality would be happy. And it looks like!!! ...If I had kissed you, I would have closed my eyes.
4. German mountain rangers in the Narvik area in Norway. 1940 Brave soldiers, they really saw death. Without combat experience, we “never dreamed of” their knowledge, no matter how much we read. However, they have not changed. Maybe not for long, the new experience did not have time to settle into the changes recorded in the wrinkles, but here they are, they have survived and are looking at us from there, from their own. The easiest way to dismiss it is “fascists.” But they are fascists - secondly, or even fourthly (like the commander of "Count von Spee", who bought the lives of his people at the cost of his life) - firstly, they are people who just survived and won. And others lay down forever. And we can only borrow from this experience. And it’s good that we only borrow and not receive. Because... - it’s clear.
5. The crew of the twin-engine Messer - 110E Zerstörer after returning from a combat mission. We are happy, not because we are alive, but because we are very young.
6. Eric Hartmann himself. Eric drifted on the first flight, lost the leader, was attacked by a Soviet fighter, barely got away and finally landed the car in a field, on its belly - it ran out of fuel. He was attentive and careful, this pilot. and learned quickly. That's all. Why didn't we have these? Because we were flying on crap, and we weren’t allowed to study, only to die.
7. ...How easy it is to distinguish the best fighter even among military professionals. Find here Dietrich Hrabak, the Hauptmann who shot down 109 planes on the Eastern Front and another 16 on the Western Front, as if he had enough to remember for the rest of his life. In this photo, taken in 1941, on the tail of his car (Me 109) there are only 24 coffins - signs of victory.
8. The radio operator of the German submarine U-124 writes something in the telegram log. U-124 is a German Type IXB submarine. Such a small, very strong and deadly vessel. During 11 campaigns, she sank 46 transports with a total tonnage. 219,178 tons, and 2 warships with a total displacement of 5775 tons. The people in it were very lucky and those with whom she met were unlucky: death at sea is a cruel death. But the future for the submariners would not have been any more pleasant - their fate would have just been a little different. It’s strange that we, looking at this photo, can still say anything about them. One can only remain silent about those who survived there, behind the “100” mark, hiding from depth charges. They lived, and, oddly enough, they were saved. Others died, and their victims - well, that was the war.
9. Arrival of the German submarine U-604 at the base of the 9th submarine flotilla in Brest. The pennants on the deckhouse show the number of ships sunk - there were three. In the foreground on the right is the commander of the 9th flotilla, captain-lieutenant Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, a well-fed, cheerful man who knows his job well. Very accurate and very difficult. And - deadly.
10. Germans in a Soviet village. It's warm, but the soldiers in the cars are not relaxing. After all, they can be killed, and almost all of them were killed. Tea is not the Western Front.
12. German and dead horses. A soldier's smile is a habit of death. But how could it be otherwise when such a terrible war was going on?
15. German soldiers in the Balkans play snowballs. Beginning of 1944. In the background is a Soviet T-34-76 tank covered with snow. -Which of them needs it now? And does anyone remember now, while kicking the ball, that each of them killed?
16. Soldiers of the “Greater Germany” division sincerely support their football team. 1943-1944. Just people. This is the leaven from peaceful life
18. German units, which include captured Soviet T-34-76 tanks, are preparing for an attack during the Battle of Kursk. I posted this photo because it shows better than many that only madmen are on the thrones, and the badges on the armor indicated the polar poles. A stencil phrase, but here, stencil Soviet tanks, under other icons drawn on a stencil, are ready to go to war with their brothers with other icons from other stencils. Everything is done for a sweet soul. It is not managed by people in iron boxes, but by others, and hardly by people at all.
19. Soldiers of the SS regiment “Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler” rest during a rest near the road towards Pabianice (Poland). The Scharführer on the right is armed with an MP-28 assault rifle, although it makes no difference what the soldier is armed with. The main thing is that he is a soldier and agreed to kill.
20. German paratrooper with a Flammenwerfer 41 backpack flamethrower with horizontal tanks. Summer 1944. Cruel people, terrible things they do. Is there a difference with a machine gunner or a marksman? Don't know. Perhaps the matter would have been decided by the tendency to finish off burning and rushing enemies from service weapons? So as not to suffer. After all, you must admit, it is not the duty of the flamethrower to use a tarpaulin to knock down the flames and save them. But finishing the shot is more merciful. Seems.
21. Look, what a thick-footed guy. ...A good man, a hard worker, - my wife couldn’t be happier. A tank driver means a mechanic, the family’s hope. If he survived, and most likely he did, the photo was taken in the Balkans, then after the war the modern giant of Germany rose.
22. Gunner-motorcyclist of the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf". 1941 Totenkopf - Death's Head. The SS soldiers actually fought better than regular units. And officers of any level were not told “Mr.” Just a position: “Scharführer...”, or “Gruppenführer...” The German Social Democratic Party emphasized that it was a party of equals.
23. And they fell equally on the ice. (soldiers of the police battalion)
24. Homemade and tireless pommel of an officer’s dirk, made during a military campaign. They had time under water. They fired and - time. ...Or there are screws on top and - right away there is nothing.
25. My favorite, one of the humane generals of World War II, one of the best generals then who preserved humanity in the war, is Erwin Rommel. Whatever one may say, namely that he is a seasoned human being.
26. And also Rommel. With a knight's cross, somewhere in France. The tank stalled, and the general was right there. Rommel was famous for his unexpected trips through the troops, where even the staff rats lost him, but Erwin Rommel did not get lost and again and again overthrew the enemy defenses, being next to his soldiers.
27. Adored by them. ...Subsequently, Field Marshal General Erwin Rommel was forced to die, since he participated in the assassination attempt on Hitler and the poison he took was the price of the Gestapo abandoning his family.
28. ...At work. It was their job, just like our soldiers - the same. The teeth that were knocked out or, under fixation, also showed. War is hard work with an increased mortality rate for those involved.
29. Brave. Before the start of the Western Campaign, SS Gruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the Security Police and SD, completed flight training and participated in air combat in France as a fighter pilot in his Messerschmitt Bf109. And after the fall of France, Heydrich made reconnaissance flights over England and Scotland on a Messerschmitt Bf110. During his service in the Air Force, Heydrich shot down three enemy aircraft (already on the Eastern Front), received the rank of major in the Luftwaffe reserve and earned the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st classes, the Pilot Observer Badge and the Fighter Badge in silver.
30. German cavalrymen in training before World War II. Showing off, 99 percent showing off, however, characterizes “their Kuban people.” This must be something common among horsemen of any tribe, to be proud and to prance. We... They... Is there a difference? Isn't the difference limited to just one direction of the gun's muzzle?
31. English soldiers captured in Dunkirk, in the city square. Later, these soldiers received assistance through the International Red Cross. The USSR abandoned the Geneva Convention, declaring its prisoners of war traitors. After the war, Soviet soldiers who survived German concentration camps ended up in our camps. Where they didn't get out. "Okay, rush about..."
32. The wedding of the SS Unterscharführer from the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler takes place in the open air (possibly an airfield), because SS men did not get married in church. Behind him are friends from his native Luftwaffe
33. A German in a captured Belgian wedge. Very, very happy to ride. Like any of us.
34. "Tiger" fell into an icy drainage ditch near Leningrad, February 19, 1943. The man doesn't seem to come to his senses. Of course, it’s just that there was no one stronger than him; there was no one within the aimed shot radius of the 88-mm cannon. And suddenly... Poor guy.
43. but, in a word, because of a few. Instead of shooting at each other, they would learn to distinguish between their people, high-ranking scoundrels. But the unfortunate poor things don't know how
44. - everyone, everyone can’t do it, equally. Just know, they are dragging each other because of the Ural or Krupp armor:
A selection of rarely seen photos, some of them are associated with interesting stories.
In March 1974, 29 years after the end of World War II, Japanese intelligence officer and officer Hiro Onoda surrendered on Lubang Island, Philippines. After being relieved of his duties by his commander, he surrendered a samurai sword, a rifle with 500 rounds of ammunition, and several hand grenades. Onoda was sent to Lubang in 1944 with the task of joining the reconnaissance group operating on the island and waging guerrilla warfare against the Americans. The Allies captured the island, three of Onoda's comrades died in the battle, and the four surviving members of the group went into the jungle and carried out raids from there. Several times they received leaflets and letters from relatives, but they did not believe the “propaganda.” In 1950, one of Onoda's comrades surrendered. By 1972, two more soldiers were killed in clashes with Philippine patrols, leaving Onoda alone. In 1974, Onoda came across the Japanese naturalist Norio Suzuki, from whom he learned about the end of the war and through whom Onoda was found by his commander and ordered to surrender. Over the years, the guerrilla group killed 30 Filipinos and wounded about a hundred, but President Marcos pardoned Onoda, and he returned to Japan. Hiro Onoda died on January 17, 2013 at the age of 91.
A shell hit a boat with Australians.
The result of a 152-mm ISU-152 projectile hitting the Pz.IV turret.
German Ju-87D dive bomber on an assembly line.
British Beaufighter attack aircraft attack German destroyers with missiles at the mouth of the Gironde River.
A homemade mirror mounted on the canopy of a German Bf-109E fighter is a British solution that allows pilots of German fighters to control the rear hemisphere. So, by the way, for some reason it did not go into production until the end of the war.
The falling torpedo bomber B5N2 "Kate" is captured by the gunner of a naval bomber PB4Y "Liberator" over the sea near Truk. In the rear cockpit you can see the gunner of the torpedo bomber, who, according to the Liberator pilot, Lieutenant Commander William Janeshek, first tried to get out of the burning car, then suddenly returned, sat down in his seat and died along with the plane.
Gunner of the tail point of a heavy German bomber He-177.
The tail cone of the German Fw-189 reconnaissance aircraft.
German technicians are servicing the heavy twin-engine fighter Me-410. A remote-controlled barbette with its casing removed and a heavy 13-mm MG 131 machine gun installed is clearly visible.
The cockpit of the largest transport aircraft of that time - the German Me-323.
A Japanese bomb explodes on the deck of the aircraft carrier Enterprise during the battle off the Eastern Solomon Islands. The author of the photo, Robert Reed, died the second he pressed the shutter button.
Lieutenant A.I. Gridinsky (far left) and his comrades in the 144th Guards Attack Aviation Regiment near the Il-2 attack aircraft.
Deputy commander of the guard squadron, Lieutenant Alexander Ivanovich Gridinsky (09/14/1921 - 06/07/1944) on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War since June 1942. In less than 2 years at the front, Gridinsky made 156 combat missions, saved the life of his commander, personally destroyed 20 enemy aircraft, 35 tanks, 3 anti-aircraft batteries, 90 vehicles, 4 gas tanks with fuel, and crossed the Dnieper.
On 06/07/1944, Gridinsky’s lone plane was attacked over its airfield by four German fighters. As a result of the battle, having shot down one of the attackers, Gridinsky himself was shot down and his attack aircraft fell on the edge of the airfield. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated May 6, 1965, for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown, Alexander Ivanovich Gridinsky was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Flagship (of the regiment commander's aircraft) air gunner of the Soviet Il-2 attack aircraft, Sergeant Major P. Shulyakov. In the foreground is a 12.7 mm UBT (universal Berezina turret) machine gun.
Inside the hull of the Geschutzwagen (GW) VI Tiger self-propelled gun (World of Tanks players pee with boiling water).
Hull of Geschutzwagen (GW) VI Tiger.
Technicians are firing the wing cannons on the tropical version of the Emil.
Pearl Harbor, 1945
Actor Damian Lewis ("Band of Brothers") and Major Richard Winters.
Inside a B-17.
An aerial view of bomb explosions during a bombing raid over Poland in September 1939.
One of the few photos of a really shot down B-29. The plane was attacked by a Japanese Ki-45, lost two engines, on the way to the base over the ocean the wing tank caught fire, and the crew bailed out and were rescued in full.
Preparing the Comet for departure.
B-24J-150-CO Liberator, 854th BS, 491st BG, 8th AF, September 18, 1944. He was dropping food and ammunition to the paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions and was hit by anti-aircraft guns. The pilot tried to land the plane on its belly, but at the last moment both right engines failed and the plane hit the ground. The pilot managed to level it, but the plane hit the trees at the end of the field and exploded. One person survived, all the others died.
A battery of Soviet guards mortars fires at enemy positions in Budapest. 1945
The cruiser "Mikuma" after an American air raid.
The sinking of the aircraft carrier Zuikaku.
A bomb hits the battleship Yamato.
"Haruna" under bombs.
Direct hit by a B-25 bomb on a Japanese patrol ship.
Western Ukraine.
Damaged and dismantled for spare parts "Royal Tiger".
A leaflet issued in the USA with possible changes in Hitler's appearance.
38 cm RW61 auf Sturmmörser Tiger.
Hungarian soldiers captured by units of the 144th Rifle Regiment of the 49th Guards Rifle Division. Veteran of this division V.V. Wojciechovich in his interview mentions an exceptional case that occurred at the beginning of 1945 in Hungary. According to him, units of the 144th Infantry Regiment captured a group of about sixty Hungarian soldiers and officers who turned to the regiment command with an unusual request. In exchange for being immediately released, these Hungarians offered ... to recapture from the Germans either a village or a town that was located in front of the positions of the 144th regiment.
The proposal was so unusual that even the division commander Vasily Filippovich Margelov, known for his independence in decision-making (later the legendary commander of the USSR Airborne Forces), did not dare to approve it, and turned to the command. The request went up the chain, and only the commander of the 46th Army, Petrushevsky, personally gave permission for this. And these Hungarians really captured this settlement, destroying many Germans in the process... They had to keep their word, and these Hungarians were immediately sent home.
The photograph shows these same Hungarians before that battle.
P-47D-10 (No. 42-23038) from 73 Squadron 318 Group 7 Air Force (pilot Lt Eubanks Barnhill) takes off from the deck of the Manila Bay aircraft to intercept 4 Japanese dive bombers attacking a group of ships. January 23, 1944. Thanks exclusively to a fortunate combination of circumstances (headwind, half-empty deck, practically empty tanks and only a few dozen rounds of ammunition in the outermost machine guns of the vehicle), the Thunderbolt managed to take off and even shoot down one D3A and damage the second. Under normal circumstances this would be impossible.
Trophy "Ferdinand".
On February 14, 1945, 62 B-17 bombers of the American Eighth Air Force "accidentally" dropped 152 tons of bombs on Prague.
Consequences of ammunition detonation.
Jet Jumo-004, installed on the Me-262.
Main battery salvo from the battleship Missouri. The fired shells are visible.
Dornier Do 217 with Henschel Hs-293 glide bomb.
The Soviet self-propelled artillery unit ISU-152, completely destroyed after the explosion of its ammunition. The self-propelled gun was destroyed during the battle of Tali-Ikhantala (June 25 - July 9, 1944) on the Karelian Isthmus.
A torpedo hit the British escort destroyer Berkeley.
Soviet soldier with a Czech child in his arms. The kid examines the Order of Glory on the soldier’s chest. Prague, May 1945
"Royal Tiger" with a 75-mm gun from the "Panther" installed, in the absence of an 88-mm cannon.
The ceremonial formation of the personnel of the 144SP 49SD, May 1945. The photograph is notable for the fact that many of the soldiers are wearing German helmets, because their own were lost in battle.
Replacing the rollers of the Panther chassis. Most accurately, this operation can be described as violent and prolonged sex, accompanied by loud and, characteristically, completely sincere wishes addressed to the designer.
“Nevertheless, the Tigers were an extremely dangerous enemy, but, fortunately, they still had one weak point. This place was their chassis... There are countless epithets with which the brutal German mechanics awarded the engineer Kniepkamp, changing the rollers on the monstrous colossus. Since it took up to a day to replace one roller from the inner row, many could not stand it, foamed at the mouth and rushed at the Tiger with a crowbar, beating the innocent vehicle with anything. It is known that the tankers who fought on the Tiger did not fight until their death. could not only eat from the plates, but also see them. The sight of a stack of plates could give a heart attack to a seasoned warrior who had gone through the Russian campaign and prisoner of war camps. A fight, monstrous in size and cruelty, between Luftwaffe and Panzerwaffe officers, which occurred in May 1944 in a bar "Drei Ferkels und Sieben Gnomen Bar" in Berlin, a fight that put two Geschwaders and one Schwerepanzerabtelung out of action for three months, occurred because of a seemingly completely innocent joke. The SS Standartenführer, who was drinking with the pilots, sent on their behalf a pile of plates stacked in a checkerboard pattern to the tankers' table... The investigation did not establish the identity of the Standartenführer. The Luftwaffe officers in the hospital recalled that his name was Otto, Otto von... they could not remember further. However, everyone agreed that he reminded them of someone. As a result, the tankers and pilots were separated with the help of fire hoses, and the fighters did not even notice the raid of thousands of American bombers.
A little more "German porn".
American 914 mm (36-inch) recoilless mortar "Little David". Created to fight Japanese fortifications. Firing was carried out with 1678 kg shells at a range of up to 8.7 km. It passed the tests successfully, but was not used in real combat.
Transport Junkers under attack by an allied bomber.
The Allies used German prisoners to clear minefields, which was contrary to the Geneva Convention. We did not treat prisoners in this way, although, it should be noted, not at all because of considerations of humanity.
A Japanese prisoner of war listens to a broadcast of Emperor Hirohito's speech announcing Japan's surrender.
And again some real German porn.
Nibelwerfer salvo in Warsaw.
V-1 reached the target.
The Japanese "pecked" an American tank.
"Tirpitz" on its side. The picture was taken from a British reconnaissance aircraft.
"Betties" come in for a torpedo attack.
Firing the wing armament of a Ju-87 "Stuka" dive bomber.
Captured Red Army soldiers. 1941.
A captured Red Army soldier from an assault detachment.
Non-111 at the exit from a torpedo attack.
A captured Pe-2 in the Finnish Air Force, purchased from Germany.
The death of the British landing fire support ship LCG (M) 101. 1944.
American mast ships sink a Japanese Kaibokan S-class patrol ship.
Cruiser "Red Caucasus", December 29, 1941
A 150-mm shell pierced the frontal armor of the 2nd main battery turret and exploded inside. Despite the death of the crew and the resulting fire, the cruiser remained in battle. The tower returned to service after an hour and a half.
A burnt out and dismantled German Pz.Kpfw.III tank on Tigris Street in Budapest.
A 600 mm Karl Gerät 040 "Ziu" mortar shell hit the Prudential building, Warsaw, 08/28/1944. The shell exploded outside, otherwise the skyscraper would have collapsed. After the war, the building was rebuilt and since 1954 it has been known as the Warsaw Hotel.
The Sherman crew desperately wants to live by welding pieces of Panther armor onto their tank. The car became monstrously heavy.
In fact, one would be enough. But the Germans, apparently, were just training.
In the photograph, a Lithuanian self-defense fighter finishes off wounded Jews with a crowbar. A young man, approximately 16 years old, with his sleeves rolled up, was armed with an iron crowbar. They brought a person from a nearby group of people to him, and he killed him with one or several blows to the back of the head. Thus, in less than an hour, he killed all 45–50 people... After everyone was killed, the young man put the crowbar aside, went for the accordion and climbed onto the bodies of the dead lying nearby. Standing on the mountain, he played the Lithuanian national anthem. The behavior of the civilians standing around, including women and children, was incredible - after each blow with a crowbar they applauded, and when the killer played the Lithuanian anthem, the crowd took him up.
A prisoner from the assault squads. The protective breastplate shows traces of bullets fired from a submachine gun. Protected me from bullets, but didn’t save me from captivity...
The photo shows General Patton angry about his conversation with the tank commander. Patton was against disfiguring the appearance of tanks with foreign objects, saying that everything should be uniform in the army. And the tank commander answered him that, with all due respect, sir, it’s up to me to fight on it. Patton had nothing to say and this infuriated him.
Friends and readers of the site about the most interesting facts in the world is approaching 70th anniversary of the victory V . In 2011, it was published on our portal A series of rare photographs dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. This year we decided to supplement this series with several dozen, and maybe hundreds of interesting photographs taken during the war. In this article we publish 37 rare photographs.
Lieutenant Sergei Vasilievich Achkasov (1919 - 03/14/1943), which carried out two air rams on the Voronezh front, against a MiG-3 fighter.
Lieutenants Pyotr Andreevich Adkin (far right) and Alexander Andreevich Guivik (second from left) with colleagues.
Leonid Utesov on the wing of a La-5F fighter, built with funds from his ensemble “Jolly Fellows”. The moment the vehicle was handed over to the troops.
Flying boat PBY-5A "Catalina" (PBY-5A Catalina) US Coast Guard for repairs in a frozen bay on Kodiak Island, Alaska.
Pilot Boris Eremin on a Yak-1B fighter with a dedicatory inscription “To the pilot of the Stalingrad Front of the Guard, Major Eremin, from the collective farmer of the Stakhanovets collective farm, comrade. Holovaty."
Pilot Semyon Sibirin congratulates his French colleague Albert Littolf on another victory.
Pilots of the separate aviation squadron "Normandy" and the 18th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment near the Yak-1B aircraft.
Aces pilots of the 9th Guards Aviation Division from the Bell P-39 Airacobra fighter G.A. Rechkalova.
Battleship Arizona (USS Arizona), sunk by Japanese aircraft on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
A London boy on the ruins of his house, where his parents died after being hit by a German V-2 rocket.
A boy of about seven years old at the site of the last battle, near the exploded Soviet T-34-85 tank. Two more of the same tanks are visible behind.
Maria Dementyevna Kucheryavaya, born in 1918, medical lieutenant. At the front from June 22, 1941. In September 1941, during the fighting on the Crimean Peninsula, she received a shell shock.
Maria Dolina, Hero of the Soviet Union, Guard captain, deputy squadron commander of the 125th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment of the 4th Guards Bomber Aviation Division.
Maria Timofeevna Shalneva (Nenakhova), a corporal of the 87th separate road maintenance battalion, regulates the movement of military equipment near the Reichstag in Berlin.
March of captured Germans across Moscow - ahead of thousands of columns of soldiers and officers are a group of 19 German generals.
Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov and General D. Eisenhower in Leningrad. D. Eisenhower's visit to Moscow and Leningrad took place in mid-August 1945 after the personal invitation of G. K. Zhukov.
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov photographed outdoors.
Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Stepanovich Konev(1897-1973) and American General Omar Bradley (1893-1981) at a meeting in April 1945.
Marshal of the Soviet Union, commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky, getting out of the car on the street of Budapest, receives a report from a subordinate.
A medic from the 48th Medical Battalion, 2nd Armored Division, bandages a wounded German soldier.
Less than six months later, during the Soviet offensive at Stalingrad, this army would be surrounded and defeated. On February 2, 1943, the 6th Army surrendered.
Mikhail Egorov and Meliton Kantaria come with a banner to the roof of the Reichstag. Although this was not the first red banner installed on the Reichstag, it was the one that became the Victory Banner.
Japanese Intelligence Junior Lieutenant Hiro Onoda surrenders to Philippine authorities.
Junior Sergeant Konstantin Aleksandrovich Shuty(06/18/1926-12/27/2004) (left), brother of Mikhail Shutoy, with a fellow soldier, also a junior sergeant.
Junior sergeant, mortarman - Nikolai Polikarpov at a firing position near Kyiv. 1st Ukrainian Front.
The grave of an American pilot made from 12.7 mm caliber cartridges from the machine guns of his P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft. The grave was made on August 8, 1944 by a French refugee couple.
The grave of Soviet soldiers (judging by the three Soviet helmets) and the Maxim machine gun. In the background you can see more than a dozen graves - already German (the helmets on the posts are German).
A US 5th Division Marine killed by a Japanese sniper, shot in the head (a bullet hole is visible on his helmet).
Incredible facts
1. This demonstration was organized in connection with the Thanksgiving Day celebration (Reichserntedankfest), which took place in the city of Buckeberg in 1934.
The number of participants was estimated at 700,000 people.
According to the stories of Germans who did not support the Nazis, even they were shocked by the scale of the event.
Until this moment, no one had seen anything like it.
Witnesses and participants of this event spoke of a feeling of national unity, emotional uplift, incredible delight and a mood for change for the better.
When the Germans headed to their tents after the demonstration, they still observed huge lightning in the sky.
2. Nazi stormtroopers in Berlin sing near the entrance to the Woolworth Co. branch. March 1, 1933. On this day, an action was organized to promote the boycott of the presence of Jews in Germany.
As soon as the Nazis came to power, they began calling on all German citizens to boycott Jewish organizations and businesses. A long propaganda campaign began.
On April 1, Minister Joseph Goebbels gave a speech in which he explained the need for a boycott in retaliation for the "conspiracy against Germany by the Jews of the world" in the foreign media.
The store pictured here was owned by Woolworth, whose management later fired all of its Jewish employees.
In this regard, the company received a special distinctive sign “Adefa Zeichen”, which meant belonging to a “purely Aryan business”.
3. SS soldiers rest near the Olympic Stadium in Berlin in August 1936. These SS men served in a guard battalion designed to provide personal protection for Hitler and his escort during public events.
Some time later, the battalion was named the elite first division "Leibstandarte SS "Adolf Hitler" (Leibstandarte SS "Adolf Hitler"). The unit was very large and accompanied Hitler wherever he went.
During wartime, the division took part in hostilities, proving itself to be one of the best units during the entire war.
4. Parade of fascists in 1937 in the “Temple of Light”. This structure consisted of 130 powerful spotlights, standing 12 meters apart from each other and looking vertically upward.
This was done in order to create light columns. The effect was incredible, both inside and outside the columns. The author of this creation was the architect Albert Speer, it was his favorite masterpiece.
Experts still believe that this work is the best that Speer created, whom Hitler ordered to decorate the square in Nuremberg for parades.
5. Photo taken in 1938 in Berlin. On it, soldiers of the Fuhrer's personal guard undergo drill training. This unit was located in the Lichterfelde barracks.
The soldiers are armed with Mauser Kar98k carbines, and lightning bolt emblems on their collars are the hallmark of the SS unit.
6. "Hall of Bavarian commanders" in Munich, 1982. The annual oath taken by the SS troops. The text of the oath was as follows: “I swear an oath to you, Adolf Hitler, to always be a brave and faithful warrior. I swear an oath to you and the commanders who will be appointed for me to be loyal until death. May God help me.”
7. The SS slogan read: “Our honor is our loyalty.”
8. Greetings from the Fuhrer after the announcement of the successful annexation of Austria. The action takes place in 1938 in the Reichstag. The most important tenet of the Nazi ideology was the unification of all Germans who were born or live outside the borders of Germany to create an “all-German Reich.”
From the moment Hitler came to power, the Fuhrer announced that he would achieve the unification of Germany with Austria by any means.
9. Another photo from a similar event.
10. The frozen body of a Soviet soldier, which was put on display by the Finns in 1939 in order to intimidate the Soviet troops going on the attack. The Finns often used this method of psychological influence.
11. Soviet infantrymen frozen to death in a “fox hole” in Finland in 1940. Troops were forced to transfer to the Finnish front from remote regions. Many soldiers were not at all prepared for the extremely harsh winter, having arrived in Finland from the southern regions.
Moreover, Finnish saboteurs regularly monitored the destruction of rear services. Soviet troops experienced enormous difficulties due to lack of food, winter uniforms and proper training.
Therefore, the soldiers covered their trenches with branches and sprinkled them with snow on top. Such a shelter was called a “fox hole”.
World War II: photos
12. Photo of Joseph Stalin from the police archive, taken during his arrest by the secret police in 1911. This was his second arrest.
The Okhrana first became interested in him in 1908 because of his revolutionary activities. Then Stalin spent seven months in prison, and after that he was sent to the city of Solvychegodsk for two years, into exile.
However, the leader did not spend the entire term there, as after some time he escaped, disguised as a woman and went to St. Petersburg.
13. This unofficial photo was taken by Vlasik, Stalin's personal bodyguard. In 1960, when this and some other works of Vlasik were first published, they all became a sensation. Then one Soviet journalist took them out of the Land of the Soviets and sold them to foreign media.
14. Photo taken in 1940. It shows Stalin (right) and his double Felix Dadaev. For a very long time, there were unconfirmed rumors in the USSR that the leader had a double who replaced him under certain circumstances.
After several decades, Felix finally decided to lower the veil of secrecy. Dadaev, a former dancer and juggler, was invited to the Kremlin, where he was offered the job of Stalin's understudy.
For more than 50 years, Felix remained silent because he feared death for violating the treaty. But when he turned 88 years old, in 2008, naturally with the permission of the authorities, Dadaev published a book in which he described in great detail how he had the opportunity to “play” the leader at various demonstrations, military parades and filming.
15. Even Stalin’s closest associates and comrades could not distinguish them.
16. Felix Dadaev in the dress uniform of a lieutenant general.
17. Yakov Dzhugashvili, Stalin’s eldest son, was captured by the Germans back in 1941. According to some historians, Jacob himself surrendered. There are still many conflicting rumors and legends about the life of the leader’s son.
18. After receiving a package from Germany, Stalin learns about his son’s capture. Then Vasily, the leader’s youngest son, heard from his father: “What a fool, he couldn’t even shoot himself!” They also said that Stalin reproached Yakov for surrendering to the enemy like a coward.
Photos of the Second World War
19. Yakov wrote to his father: “Dear father! I am in captivity. I feel good. Very soon I will end up in a camp in Germany for prisoners of war officers. They treat me well. Be healthy. Thank you for everything. Yasha.”
Some time later, the Germans received an offer to exchange Jacob for Field Marshal Friedrich von Paulus, who was captured at Stalingrad.
It was rumored that Stalin refused such an offer, saying that he would not exchange an entire field marshal for an ordinary soldier.
20. Not long ago, some documents were declassified, according to which Yakov was shot by camp guards after he refused to obey the established procedures.
During the walk, Yakov received an order from the guards to return to the barracks, but he refused, and the guard killed him with a shot in the head. When Stalin found out about this, he noticeably softened towards his son, considering such a death worthy.
21. A German soldier shares food with a Russian woman and child, 1941. His gesture is in vain, because his role is to condemn millions of such mothers to starvation. The photo was taken by photographer of the 29th Wehrmacht division Georg Gundlach.
This photograph, along with others, was included in the album collection “The Battle of Volkhov. Documentary horror of 1941-1942.”
22. The captured Russian spy laughs, looking into the eyes of his death. The photo was taken in November 1942 in Eastern Karelia. Before us are the last seconds of a person's life. He knows that he is about to die and laughs.
23. 1942. Neighborhoods of Ivanograd. German punitive units execute Kyiv Jews. In this photo, a German soldier shoots a woman with a child.
The rifles of other punitive forces are visible on the left side of the photo. This photograph was sent from the Eastern Front by mail to Germany, but was intercepted in Poland by a member of the Warsaw resistance, which was collecting evidence of Nazi war crimes around the world.
Today this photo is kept in Warsaw, in the Historical Archives.
24. Rock of Gibraltar, 1942. Beams of searchlights that helped anti-aircraft gunners shoot at fascist bombers.
25. 1942, suburb of Stalingrad. Marching 6th Army. The soldiers do not even imagine that they are heading to a real hell. Most likely, they will not see next spring.
One of the soldiers is wearing his own sunglasses. This is an expensive item that was issued exclusively to motorcyclists and soldiers of the Afrika Korps.
26. Going to hell.
Photos from the Second World War
27. Stalingrad, 1942. Preparations for the assault on the warehouse. German soldiers were forced to fight to recapture every building and every street. It was then that they discovered that whatever tactical advantage they had in open spaces was lost due to the cramped conditions of the city.
Tanks could not prove themselves in street battles. Oddly enough, in such conditions snipers played a much more important role compared to tanks and artillery.
Severe weather conditions, lack of adequate supplies and uniforms, as well as the stubborn resistance of our soldiers led to the complete defeat of the Nazi army at Stalingrad.
28. 1942, Stalingrad. German soldier with Silver Infantry Assault Badge. This insignia was awarded to soldiers of infantry units who took part in at least three assault operations.
For soldiers, such an award was no less honorable than the Iron Cross, which was established specifically for the Eastern Front.
29. A German soldier lights a cigarette from a flamethrower.
30. 1943. Warsaw. The bodies of murdered Jews and Ukrainian policemen. The photo was taken in the Warsaw ghetto during the suppression of the uprising. The original German caption for the photo reads: “Police also took part in the operation.”
31. 1943. The end of the Battle of Stalingrad. A Soviet soldier with a PPSh-41 assault rifle escorts a captured German. Hitler's troops at Stalingrad, having been surrounded, were completely defeated.
This battle is considered one of the most brutal and bloody in the history of all wars. It claimed the lives of more than two million people.
32. Summer 1944. Belarusian strategic offensive operation "Bagration". As a result of this operation, the German Army Group Center was completely defeated.
The front line of 1,100 kilometers was moved 600 kilometers to the west during two months of fighting. German troops in this battle lost five times more people than Soviet troops.
Photo of World War 2
33. July 17, 1944. Streets of Moscow. March of tens of thousands of captured Germans. Operation Bagration is considered the most successful during the entire period of the war.
The offensive on the Eastern Front began immediately after the landing of allied troops in Normandy. Few people know about this operation, especially in the West. Only a few historians are familiar with its details.
34. 1944. Nonant le Pin camp, German prisoners of war. In France, during the Falaise operation of the allied forces, more than thirty thousand German soldiers were captured.
The camp guards regularly drove along the barbed wire and shot in the air to pretend to stop another escape attempt. But there were no attempts to escape, because even if they managed to escape from the guards, they would still not be able to avoid execution.
35. 1944. France. 18-year-old resistance movement member Simone Segouin. Her nickname is Nicole Mine.
The photo was taken during the battle with German troops. The appearance of the girl in the center is certainly surprising, but this particular photograph has become a symbol of the participation of French women in the Resistance.
36. Simone in a color photograph, rare at that time.
37. Simone with her favorite weapon - a German machine gun.
38. March 9, 1945. The young Hitler Jugend fighter received the Iron Cross award for his services during the defense of the city of Lauban in Silesia, Goebbels congratulates him.
Today Laubana is the Polish city of Luban.
39. 1945. Balcony of the Reich Chancellery. Soldiers of the Allied armies ridicule Hitler. Soldiers of the American, Soviet and British armies celebrate their joint victory.
The photo was taken on July 6, 1945, two months after the surrender. There was a month left before the bombing of Hiroshima.
40. Hitler speaking on the same balcony.
41. April 17, 1945. Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, liberation. British soldiers forced the SS guards to dig up the graves of the prisoners and load them into cars.
42. 1942. German soldiers watch a film about concentration camps. The photo shows the reaction of prisoners of war to documentary materials from the death camps. This photo is in the United States Holocaust Museum.
43. Last rows of the cinema hall, the same scene.
