World War 2 Photographs

[astraltrader]

Having just come across this section of the forum I had previously not noticed - I thought that I would get the ball rolling with some unidentified WW2 photographs that were given to me years ago by a Major Halstead-Hamby. I would have thought they were taken around the Normandy Invasion period.

[herakles]

They certainly seem to be late WW2 judging by the tanks and uniforms. Somewhere in France?

I defy anyone to make sense of the 4th picture!

[astraltrader]

As I said Herk - Normandy -1944. I would have thought the fourth one might be part of the 1000 bomber raid on cologne...

[herakles]

Oh! You could be right there. Now you mention it.

[peter.robb]

Photo1=Build up to the assault on the city of Caen ?.
Photo2=Lct converted to flak boat in the Med ?.
Photo3=Sherman firefly in Normandy?.
Photo4Bomber raid on Caen before the assault?.
Hope Iam in the right area.
peter.

[herakles]

Welcome Peter!

I think your thoughts on the photos are good ones. The battle for Caen was certainly a significant one.

[astraltrader]

Yes welcome! You could well be right about the first 3 photographs being related to Caen - as I got them years ago from a Major who was at the D-day landings. He was in the Engineer Corps or something similar. The fourth photo however I am sure relates to an air-raid over Germany.

I have found another one which came from the same source - this could be D-Day related or possibly the Arnhem "Market Garden" operation. I recognize the Horsa gliders...

[tonclass]

Great photo's of the War Terry. Have you seen the pix posted on the 'FLICKR' photo website by PHOTOSNORMANDIE ? They are posted from Canada, of all the actions immediately after D-Day. They are incredible!! There are hundreds of them in HUGE format, and you could spend days going through them.
Rgds
Rik
PS. Look forward to seeing some more of your RN pix when you have the time.

[Maritime Michael Ian]

Hello Fellas...

Anne and I are back from the Land of the Pharoes.... their attitude hasn't changed any in the 40 years since I was last in that country... but we had a good and relaxing break in Luxor.

Now about the 4th Photo,I don't think there is any argument that they are Allied bombers... in fact having a close up look I reckon the 4 engined aircraft are Lancasters... they have the characteristic twin tail fins, and the smaller ones look like Spits, Hurricanes and tiffies...(Typhoons). It definitely looks like a daylight raid otherwise there would be no fighter escort.

Ian

[astraltrader]

Rik - Thank you for the link - I will get around to pulling out more navy photos and then will post them. PM sent.
Welcome back Ian! Glad you both had a fine holiday. Your views of that photo do coincide with mine...

[tonclass]

The FLICKR link for thousands of WW2 photo's is

http://www.flickr.com/photos/photosnormandie/sets/

[Togo]

Hope this isn't too late but photo 2 looks more like an escort carrier, note the tailfins of what I would think are US built aircraft on a wooden deck on the right.

[mrbassbone]

I would have thought that pics 1 & 3 were from Market Garden. Number 2 I am not sure about. #4 shows large 4 engined twin tailed bombers...could be Lancs as they look too "lanky" to be Mitchells. #5 shows <again> 4 engined planes towing either WACO or HORSA gliders. COULD be Market Garden again but NOT US Troops. Ours were towed by 2 engined Douglases.

[TACKLINE]

It could be the 1000 bomber raid on Caen. We watched fascinated a day or so after D day,as they came over in droves,and could see the resulting smoke and dust arising.A truly dramatic occasion.

[astraltrader]

I agree entirely Tackline - as I mentioned in post#3.

[alanbenn]

Terry, Thought I would take some time out of my usual stuff and get some photo's onto this thread for you....

In batches depending on topic...

To kick off with...the sinking of Hms Kelly...survivors rowing to safety.

Crew members of Hms Prince of Wales scrambling off as she sinks.

And last of this batch..survivors of Hms Dorsetshire being rescued from the water.


More to follow..

Alan

[alanbenn]

The next couple of photo's .......

Hms Nelson and Hms Repulse showing off their fire power.



Alan

[alanbenn]

The next couple of photo's capture the mood of war.

Firstly soldiers wading into the water during the evacuation of Dunkirk..

The second a rather unusual photo of the gun towers built to protect the Thames Estuary..




Alan

[alanbenn]

Next batch of photo's have a German input.

Launch of the Scharnhorst.

The U-boat was apparently renamed Westward Ho due to it's success against British shipping.

The last few show Graf Spee scuttling in the River Plate.

Regards
Alan

[alanbenn]

Last selection of photo's for now is a variety of shots taken at Pearl harbour after the attack by Japanese aircraft.



Regards
Alan

[astraltrader]

Thanks alan for those.

I especially liked the one of the Thames gun emplacements. Excellent detail.

[alanbenn]

This trio of photo's show the calm before the storm so to speak....

The italian ships in harbour...they later went on to be captured.

Uss Lexington...taken pre-war she was lost in the battle of the coral sea.


The Lancaster bomber...this photo showing what a devastating cargo it could carry..

Regards
Alan

[ChalkyWhite]

Hello Alan,

Great shots you have submitted and full of interest. In the last set of three the Lancaster is I am almost positive S Sugar which can be seen preserved at the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon. Fantastic to see and beneath the bomb tallies seen in your photo, at Hendon, are the words which Goering erroneously said," No Enemy Plane will fly over the Reich" or words to that effect.

Thanks for sharing your photos.

Chalky White

[alanbenn]

Chalky, thanks for the comments, I remember visiting Hendon when I lived just up the road in Edgware and seeing the Lancaster there, although I didn't realize it was this one in the photo.

The book the photo's are from is a commemorative edition full of fascinating photo's covering the entire ww2 events.

Will post more of them when time permits.

Regards
Alan

[red devil]

Having just come across this section of the forum I had previously not noticed - I thought that I would get the ball rolling with some unidentified WW2 photographs that were given to me years ago by a Major Halstead-Hamby. I would have thought they were taken around the Normandy Invasion period.

The fourth is very unlikely to be the 1000 bomber raid on Germany, there are mixed aircraft in the image (fighters escort?). More than likely it is 'just another raid' with escorts?

[BECA@CLEAR.NET.NZ]

Terrific site, the interesting pictures must be endless here. I have posted a few from the Normandy site for interests sake.

[BECA@CLEAR.NET.NZ]

Terrific site, the interesting pictures must be endless here. I have posted a few from the Normandy site for interests sake.
Picture Number 2 showing one of the results of a shore bombardment is particularly graphic.
The picture of the dead German looks just as though he has dozed off and is pretty sad.

[nigelweysom]

some great pictures, i wish i could find pictures like this ,where do you get them from ?
Nigel

[BECA@CLEAR.NET.NZ]

I dredge the net all the time looking for interesting pictures and it is great fun when you find something interesting and even better fun to post them to this site!
Here are a few more, some are already posted elsewhere on this site but now I think that they would be better here. Have you seen Tery's Japanese war pictures on this site?
The No. 1 gruesome picture here is about the time of D-Day, as is the tank.
I will have a look around for some more to post here, it is pretty bare at the moment.

[Guz rating]

wonderful pictures thank you all for posting them, Great picture of the sailors on the heavy machine guns, and the two stokers in their ovies getting struck in a picture I would love to download if I may Terry.The photo of the bomber raid looks like Market Garden if you look closely you can see the fixed wheels of the gliders. I don't know of any other raids where they used so many gliders.

Alan your photo of all the poor blokes in the sea most likely covered in oil, and some of them wounded, my heart went out to them sixty five years on. Thanks for posting it, if you don't mind I would like to keep that as well.

Regards

Guz

[steve roberts]

Alan.Your never going to believe this,but your post22. Lancaster S-Sugar. My Father actually flew this Aircraft on its first Two raids,thereby completing his first "Tour".As is rightly stated it is now at the RAF Museum Hendon.Unfortunately the aircrafts Form 700,did not survive the Aircrafts retirement.How ever it gives me goose-bumbs seeing this,knowing my late father flew it. Regards Steve.

[alanbenn]

Steve, fascinating to find the photo means something to you personally.

I know what you mean about the goose-bumps, same feeling for me when I visited Arnhem and stood outside the house my later father-in-law used as cover during the battle...it still has the bullet marks on the walls outside.

Regards
Alan

[david06]

hi picture 3 looks like NW Europe 44-45 51st div perhaps?

[John O'Callaghan]

Hi All! Re post no1. The sailors manning oerlikin guns on the sponsons of what appears to be a small carrier. The picture is more reminiscent of the Med judging by the style of buildngs in the background, the lack of cold weather clothing (overalls and shorts) and one of the sailors is wearing a white covered seamans cap.During the war years the RN only wore blue covers in UK waters.White caps were usually only worn in warmer areas such as the Med and Pacific.
Cheers John O'C.

[astraltrader]

Agreed John.

[MaggieRedhead]

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x177/MaireadRua/Family/DadSB2.jpg
This is my father-in-law sitting on the wing of a US Navy dive-bomber but I don't know what kind,
and I don't know when it was taken.

He was on the USS Salamaua in the Pacific, Battle of Leyte Gulf.
The ship took a direct hit from a Kamikaze.... 15 men killed, 80 injured.
Dad was a quiet, modest man, with a great sense of humour. He was supposed to attend the Ship's Reunion in 1996,
but passed away 5 months before so we went in his honour. At the Reunion we were told he had saved many lives
in the fires on board, some of those men came up and hugged us.
Later, he was on the USS Mississippi, on which the Japanese surrendered.

[glojo]

Just been looking at some of these very nice pictures but that did not include seeing those that featured the dead..

It must be strange looking at an actual aircraft flown by our parents during the Second World War... what would the odds be for that? :)

[WGVSr]

Maggie:
Re: post 38. The plane is actually a Curtiss Seagull on its somewhat odd land gear. They were observation planes often seen on cruisers and battleships. Normally you see them as seaplanes with a central pontoon. They were generally withdrawn from active service by 1944. Small world, as my late uncle was also on Salamaua when she was hit by the kamikaze. He passed away about 3 years ago.
Bill

[smartd]

Pic # 4 certainly shows Lancasters.
Pic # 5 shows Horsa Glider being towed by a Halifax.

[smartd]

Hope this isn't too late but photo 2 looks more like an escort carrier, note the tailfins of what I would think are US built aircraft on a wooden deck on the right.



They look like Wildcats, sorry, FAA Martlets. Note what would be the blue of the red/white/blue fin flash.

[eskimosailor]

The Lancaster bomber...this photo showing what a devastating cargo it could carry..

Regards
Alan

Is it true that there has never been another bomber built which has a bomb bay large enough to carry a "Tallboy" bomb?
Steve