lets see how many different countries and theatres we can get from WWII

• british in burma

NZ troops at cassino

Morroccan “goums”




Pictured in Italy - probably in their assault of Monte Cassino.


General Mark Clark on the French-led Moroccans:

"Meantime, the French forces had crossed the Garigliano (River) and moved forward into the mountainous terrain lying south of the Liri River.* It was not easy.* As always, the German veterans reacted strongly and there was bitter fighting. The French surprised the enemy and quickly seized key terrain including Mounts Faito Cerasola and high ground near Castelforte.* The 1st Motorized Division helped the 2nd Moroccan division take key Mount Girofano and then advanced rapidly north to S. Apollinare and S. Ambrogio.* In spite of the stiffening enemy resistance, the 2nd Moroccan Division penetrated the Gustave Line in less than two day’s fighting.
**** "The next 48 hours on the French front were decisive.* The knife-wielding Goumiers swarmed over the hills, particularly at night, and General Juin’s entire force showed an aggressiveness hour after hour that the Germans could not withstand.* Cerasola, San Giogrio, Mt. D’Oro, Ausonia and Esperia were seized in one of the most brilliant and daring advances of the war in Italy, and by May 16 the French Expeditionary Corps had thrust forward some ten miles on their left flank to Mount Revole, with the remainder of their front slanting back somewhat to keep contact with the British 8th Army.
*** "For this performance, which was to be a key to the success of the entire drive on Rome, I shall always be a grateful admirer of General Juin and his magnificent FEC."
(and a little further)
*** "The 8th Army’s delay made Juin’s task more difficult, because he was moving forward so rapidly that his right flank---adjacent to the British---constantly was exposed to counter-attacks".

British S.S.

I'm going to focus on just one battle in the Pacific, and it's often overlooked and forgotten, but the Battle of Munda in the New Georgias was a key element in the drive across the Pacific. It holds special meaning to me as not only was my father there with the US Marines, but so was my National Guard unit, the 86th Field Artillery though it was then titled the 169th Field Artillery. There is a building at the Ethan Allen Firing Range which is the military reservation here in Vermont named "Munda Hall". My dad got a huge kick out of visiting it during a family day excursion there several years ago.

The beach at Munda



Munda Airfield



Marine radar tower at Munda Airfield (my dad was wounded here by a Japanese air raid)



Marine AA at Munda Airfield



More Marine AA at Munda Airfield



169th Field Artillery Army National Guard firing 155mm "Long Toms" at Munda



169th Field Artillery Army National Guard fire direction center (FDC) at Munda



Joint Army and Marine officers mess at Munda

US Army soldiers unloading artillary from two LSTs on Leyte Island


German tanks advancing in the USSR


British Hurricane fighters on alert


German Tiger II tank


General Dwight D. Eisenhower giving his famous D-Day pre-invasion pep talk to soldiers of the US 101st Airborne Division

Here's a few images I like, that sum up what it must be like to live through war. All these photos were obtained from the Axis History website.


This is a soldier from 2nd SS Panzer Div 'Das Reich', somewhere in Normandy in Summer '44 I would guess.


Not sure about this one but no words are needed.


Again unknown but no words needed.


You can see how desperate Germany's manpower problem was by 1944..


Barbarossa, the storm breaks..


A German woman prepares to help defend the Fatherland against the oncoming Red Army.


More hitlerjungend.

US Army M3A2 Halftrack

Korean resistance fighters agianst the Japanese in World War II. These I think from this site http://www.kimsoft.com/korea/eyewit07.htm are about those who became North Koreans. I have no idea how neutral or reliable kimsoft.com is but the pictures are from that source.



This one is beheaded Korean resistance fighters so... if you have a strong stomach.
http://www.kimsoft.com/korea/execute1.jpg