ww II military of the world pics

  • british in burma
    awounded.jpg
 
Morroccan “goums”

cassino4.jpg



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".
 
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

 
0007fa9b.jpg

US Army soldiers unloading artillary from two LSTs on Leyte Island

germtank.gif

German tanks advancing in the USSR

britplan.gif

British Hurricane fighters on alert

tanks-TigreII.jpg

German Tiger II tank

nop3.jpg

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.

1447.jpg

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

german_sorrow__argentan1944.jpg

Not sure about this one but no words are needed.

48_1024.ts1105999917411.jpg

Again unknown but no words needed.

funny_german.jpg

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

wehrmacht447.jpg

Barbarossa, the storm breaks..

vs_frauen7.jpg

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

hj1_189.jpg

More hitlerjungend.
 
I have posted most of Indian Army WW2 pictures in another thread, so I don't want to repeat them here. Theaters that they operated were, Burma, North Africa, Italy, Europe and Middle-east. During of of the battles for Monte Cassino was where a soldier, Sepoy Kamal Ram, of 8 Punjab was awarded the Victoris Cross for valour.
 
Sepoy Kamal Ram, VC was one of the men in that interview I mentioned to you in your thread. Quite the warrior. His charging the machineguns was extremely well done.
 
Charge 7,
Many units were raised in 1940/41 and then disbanded after WW2, hence, those soldiers that did not complete their required service elegible for pension are not given thus.
In contrast Naik(cpl) Nand Singh of 1 Sikh, got his VC in Burma. He died during the Indo-Pak 1st Kashmir war in 1948. His family was given all benifits and was decorated with the 'Maha Vir Chakra' the second highest gallantry award for valor in Independent India.
 
Back
Top