WW II Historical Thread, Discussion, Pics, Videos

[Miragedriver]

A specially trained unit (Naval Shore Fire Control Party (NSFCP) directs the control of Naval Gunfire with an SCR-284 from a shell hole in Normandy. The Utah Beach NSFCP formed a part of the 286th JASCO (Joint Assault Signal Company) of the 1st Engineer Special Brigade.

The unit consists of a spotting team to adjust fire and a Naval gunfire liaison team to perform functions for the battalion commander.

The soldier on the right is one of approx. 17 Comanche Code Talkers of the 4th Signal Company, U.S. 4th Infantry Division. He is likely taking tactical calls-for-fires on his SCR-536 (AKA BC-611), relaying from a nearby infantry unit in-contact. Note that he and the soldier in the foreground are armed with the M1 Carbine, the latter looking like a folding-stock paratrooper weapon. The GN-45 hand cranked generator “cranker” probably has a Carbine slung across his back as well. Also note the M1903 bolt action Springfield rifle in the background; an unusual weapon for a team like this.

Here, the radio is placed on the ground without the legs – not needed here. There appears to be a spare BA-38 battery for the Handy Talkie laying on the radio’s operating table (dark, long rectangular object). The cluttered table may indicate the CW key is not in use – Voice mode possibly? Those comms. out to the ships on the “gun line” would have been numerically coded with the target coordinates and ammunition type requested for that target. No M-209 encryption machine is visible – they probably had one. It appears the operator is writing in a message book, probably an M-210. He appears to be wearing headphones under his helmet – likely an HS-30; no speaker evident. Note the (five?) unused antenna sections in the carrying bag behind the operator. Either “spares” or they wanted to keep a low profile without a long whip antenna advertising “AIM HERE”.


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[Miragedriver]

Grinning troops of the 29th US Marine Regiment, 6th US Marine Division, hitch a ride on board an M4A3 Sherman 105mm of Company A, 6th Tank Battalion, heading for Chuda in the drive towards Motobu Peninsula, Okinawa. April 5th 1945.

(Nb. the partially dismantled deep wading gear to allow the M4A3 to move through deep water during the landings a few days before.)

The 29th US Marines reached Chuda at 1200 hours on 6 April and threw a line across the isthmus on the road there. In its sector the enemy's destruction of bridges had been inept; frequently only a span of the bridge had been dropped or cracked. The engineers cut hasty bypasses for the vehicles, repairing the broken spans later.

Behind reconnaissance units and tanks the 29th Marines advanced on 7 April into Nago, a medium-sized town nestling in the deep bend where Motobu juts out westward from the island. A spearhead drove north to Taira, cutting Motobu off from the rest of Okinawa; other troops started west from Nago along the coast road to Awa. Here for the first time there was evidence that he troops were meeting not stragglers but outposts of an organized defense, for the marines became involved in a few small fire fights and met some organized rifle fire. They had reached Motobu Peninsula, which for some time was to be the focus of the III Amphibious Corps' effort.

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[Miragedriver]

This thread is dedicated to the German Army which fought bravely (despite dubious moral and political reasons). This thread is not intended to glorify any actions taken by the German Army during that horrific war, but to honor common foot soldier that fought and sometimes died for his nation like all soldiers are asked to do.

 

[Miragedriver]

Wehrmacht officer on the second day of Operation Barbarossa, the body of one of his companions, realizing that victims are real.

Wehrmacht sniper with karabiner 98 k (kar98k)

Panzer VI "Tiger" I from Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 501 (501st Heavy tank battalion) and it's crew in North Africa 1943

Panzer V "Panther" from Panzer-Grenadier-Division Großdeutschland in Soviet Union 1943

Wehrmacht soldiers in Hungary


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[Miragedriver]

Getting Lunch

German soldier armed with Sturmgewehr 44 (STG-44) ,in 1945

Camouflaged Jagdpanzer V "Jagdpanther" in Normandy,July of 1944

Transporting Panzer V "Panthers"

Panzer VI "Tiger" I of the 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf and it's crew


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[Miragedriver]

Panzer VI "Tiger" I in France 1944

M4A1 "Sherman" catapured by the Wehrmacht.

sFH-18 150mm Artillery crew in action.

Mechanized and Panzer IV H units of the 1st SS Panzer Division "LSSAH" advance towards the Danube south of Budapest during Operation "Spring Awakening" (Frühlingserwachen).

MG34 team of the Afrika Korps dug in North Africa. 1941/42.


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[Miragedriver]

Troops of the 11th Panzer Division "Gespensterdivision" advance towards Moscow.

High Quality photo of the Wehrmacht victory march on Paris. Paris, France. June, 1940.

Volunteers of the Spanish "Blau Division"
Approved by Franco, these soldiers fought against the Soviets on the Eastern Front, in order to repay favor to German assistance in the Spanish Civil War.
Circa 1941-42.

German soldier with a concentrated charge (Geballteladung) made by wiring six Stg.24 stick grenade heads around a complete grenade

Panzer IV Ausf.G with Winterketten at Starobelsk, January 1943


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[Miragedriver]

An SAS jeep (Sr/Nº4822478) in the Gabes-Tozeur area of Tunisia. The vehicle is heavily loaded with jerry cans of fuel and water, and personal kit. The 'gunner' is manning the .50 cal Browning machine gun, while the driver has a single Vickers 'K' gun in front, and a twin mounting vickers behind. 1943.
(Source - IWM - Sgt. Currey, No 2 Army Film & Photographic Unit)


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[Miragedriver]

A 105 mm Self Propelled Gun M-7 'Priest' of the 14th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Armored Division passes through Rue Holgate, Carentan, Normandy on the 18th June 1944.

At dawn on 13 June, the 101st Airborne was about to attack the German line when it was attacked by tanks and assault guns. Two battalions of the 37th Panzergrenadier Regiment, supported by the 17th Panzer Battalion and III./FJR6, struck hard at the 501st PIR on the American left, which fell back under heavy pressure. The left flank companies (Dog and Fox Companies) of the 506th then gave way, and by noon the spearheads of the German attack were within 500 yards of Carentan. However, Company E (Easy) of the 506th, commanded by 1st Lt. Richard D. Winters, anchored its right flank against a railroad embankment and held its position. Reinforced by the 2nd/502nd PIR taking position on its right, Easy Company slowed the German attack until American tanks could be brought up.

Reacting to an Ultra warning of the size and threat of the counterattack, Lieutenant General Bradley diverted CCA U.S. 2nd Armored Division (commanded by Brig. Gen. Maurice Rose and near Isigny sur mer) to Carentan at 10:30. At 14:00 CCA attacked, supported by the self-propelled howitzers of the 14th Armored Field Artillery Battalion. One task force of tanks and mechanized infantry surged down the road to Baupte in the 2nd/506th's area and shattered the main German thrust. A second task force drove back German forces along the Périers highway, inflicting heavy losses in men and equipment. CCA, followed by the 502nd PIR, then pushed west a mile beyond the original lines.

The counterattack became known anecdotally among the surviving paratroopers as the "Battle of Bloody Gulch".

Rue Holgate, Carentan, Normandy


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[Miragedriver]

Colorized pictures of World War II

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