World War II Battles and Equipment

Dramatic scenes from WWII depicting tanks, explosions, and military operations, capturing the intensity of battle and destruction during key moments.

Photograph of US Aircraft being hit by two Kamikazes. Dated 1945

The battle of Nikolaev. A burning German tank. The enemy is losing a Tremendous amount of materiel in his emforced retreat from the Ukraine. July 10, 1944. (Photo by G. Zelma, SIB Photo Service).

Sheets of flame from fire bombs dropped by more than 250 "Mustangs," "Lightnings" and "Thunderbolts" of the 5th Air Force Fighter Command, cover Japanese entrenchments in the rugged terrain near Ipo Dam East of Manila. Three days of intensive fire

Photograph of US Aircraft being hit by two Kamikazes. Dated 1945

Historic photographs of the Norfolk Naval shipyard located in the Fifth Naval District. Operating under the Department of Defense and the Department of the Navy.

Flame throwers in use by the French army during world war one

Cleaning Up In Berlin -- A huge bomb - a relic of the war and found unexploded in the Tiergarten, Berlin, was excavated by a British bomb disposal squad and afterwards detonated on a nearby bombed site. September 10, 1950. (Photo by Sport & General Press Agency, Limited).

Dramatic Photographic Scenes Of The Horrors Of Pearl Harbour Just Received From U.S.A -- Hit by three bombs which exploded her forward magazine, the 1,500 tom destroyer Shaw lies a twisted mass of wreckage in the heavily bombed floating drydock yfd-2. Note the bow of the Shaw lying on its side in the foreground. Part of the drydock at right is under water while the other side is listening heavily. Both the Shaw and the Drydock are now back in use. January 26, 1943. (Photo by Fox Photos).

Fires Spread Through Oita, Japan, During A Night Incendiary Raid On July 16, 1945. Oita With A Population Of 77,000 Is The Largest City On The Inland Sea Coast Of Kyushu And Is The Distribution Center For Both Rail And Water-Borne Commerce And Contains A

FRANCE-Over target, plane flies thru smoke of previos bursts to escape flak. Guns (flashes at right keep shooting. Taken from a Douglas A-20 Havoc.

Smolensk Burns Operation Barbarossa - German Invasion of Russia, 1941 - 15th Infantary Division of the Thuringia-Kurhessen Division

Anefo photo collection. Reproductions Hiroshima (Royal Film). March 4, 1954. Hiroshima

Destroyed tanks near Smolensk Operation Barbarossa - German Invasion of Russia, 1941 - 15th Infantary Division of the Thuringia-Kurhessen Division

Navy Batters Japs In South China Sea.Billows of smoke and flame rocket skyward as these two vessels near the end of their cruise for the Rising Sun.For the first time a task force of Admiral William F. Halsevls Third Fleet entered. the South China Sea on January 11 (west longitude date) to send Japanese shipping reeling under the might of carrier based aircraft. In this smashing action, 41 ships were sunk, with 28 enemy vessels damaged. The haul included a light cruiser, destroyer escorts, oilers and cargo ships as Navy planes sent their bombs into four convoys along the coast of French Indo China. February 6, 1945. (Photo by Official U.S. Navy Photograph).

Okinawa Invasion: Rockets from an American LCI (landing craft, infantry) stream toward Okinawa, in the Japanese Ryukyus, just before U.S. 10th Army forces invaded the strategic island on March 31, 1945. By April 8, U.S. forces controlled a third of the island, and by the end of May the island was taken and superforts were using Okinawa airstrips to bomb Japan. August 20, 1945.

BERLIN INFERNO--Shops and warehouses of the VKF aircraft bearing plant belched fire and smoke skyward as Flying Fortresses and Liberators of the US Eighth Air Force paid their third visit to the Reich capital in five days on Wednesday. Located at

Photo collection Service for army contacts Indonesia. DLC Oil fires Palembang (reproductions). Palembang: Recording the fire on the oil fields of Pendopo (South Sumatra). In order to spread the fire about the rest of the site, the TNI Tentara Nasional Indonesia had oil run into the river bed and fired it. This set-up failed because only four wells on the edge of the site became a prey of flames. July 28, 1947. Indonesia, Dutch East Indies, Palembang, Sumatra

Airlines 899E - Halifax Bombers. February 26, 1945.

'Smoke and Steam Rising from Asama's Crater after the Explosion', 1910. Creator: Herbert Ponting.

Photographs depicting military activities in France, May - June 1940. Included photographs of Rommel, Guderian, Dreuz, Bottcher, Italian General Garaboldi, Lucie Rommel, shots of Rommel with Hitler. Photographs of equipment and troops arriving and in action, from the personal collection of Rommel.

Army fires 16 inch howitzer in practice off coast fort story, VA., -The Army's mighty 16-inch howitzer coast defense gun roared during target practice by Battery "A", 246th Coast Artillery, June 10. This is the first time the huge defense gun has been fired since 1933. He Army estimate per shot is $2.000. June 10, 1941. (Photo by Acme).

U.S. Bombers Blast German Positions On Brest Peninsula Bombs from planes of the Eights U.S. Army Air Force blanket with destruction German gun emplacements and a small quay on the Brest Peninsula in France. German forces, hopelessly isolated, were still holding out in Brest as American troops invaded Germany. October 6, 1944. (Photo by War Office of Information Picture).

World War II. German aircraft attack against the port of Crete. The German army, once conquered Greece, seized the island during an operation launched on 2 May 1941.

Battle of Stalingrad - Aerial view of fuel stores on fire. The Battle of Stalingrad between Germany and the Soviet Union lasted from 17 July 1942 until 2 February 1943. The mosty brutal and bloodiest of engagements of World War II,it claimed almost 2 million casualties. It is considered to be a turning point in the war, with the Soviet union victorious.

Photograph of the Capsized USS Oklahoma and the USS Maryland after the Japanese Attack on Pearl HarborThe capsized USS Oklahoma (BB37) and the USS Maryland (BB46) after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941. 1941-12-07T00:00:00.

Sweden, Blekinge, Blekinge, Karlskrona, Karlskrona, external marina (depicted, town).Sweden, Blekinge, Blekinge, Karlskrona, Karlskrona, External War Gogs (depicted, City)

Anefo photo collection. Japanese bombing Broome (Australia). March 3, 1942. Australia, Broome

Heavy Concentration Of Bomb Bursts At The Chouze Bridge In Northern France, 15 June 44, As 8Th Air Force B-24 Liberators Launched Their Attack.

Anefo photo collection. Fire brigade gave demonstration according to the Purple K Light system in Rotterdam Pernis. September 16, 1965. Pernis, Rotterdam

American Bombers Blast Formosa -- Bombs from U.S. carrier-based planes pound the warehouses and industrial sheds of Kagi, Formosa, during the Oct. 11 Attack. October 20, 1944. (Photo by Associated Press Photo).

The fire at Värtan July 24, 1921.

World War One French flame throwers attack a German position 1916

German advance ***** passing through a blazing polish village, in their drives on Warsaw. Air Mail picture received in Sydney today. September 26, 1939.

Images of a military exercise on the Kromme Rijn in Bunnik on the occasion of the 200-year anniversary of the Framework School of the Pioniers and the School for Reserve Officers of the Pioniers: an exploding smoke grenade in vegetable garden.

SEGUNDA GUERRA MUNDIAL (1939-1945). GUERRA DEL PACIFICO (1941-1945). "UNOS OBSERVADORES SIGUEN EL BOMBARDEO EFECTUADO POR LAS UNIDADES DE MARINA EN LAS DEFENSAS JAPONESAS DURANTE EL DESEMBARCO AMERICANO EN LA ISLA DE OKINAWA" (31 de marzo de 1945), en el marco del enfrentamiento entre las fuerzas americanas y niponas durante la fase del conflicto en Extremo Oriente.

Thick black smoke pouring from shelled fuel tanks in Madras (now Chennai), India, hit by the German light cruiser SMS Emden in World War One. Date: 22nd September 1914

The Allied Campaign in North-west Europe, 6 June 1944 - 7 May 1945 The Battle for Normandy: A rocket fired from a Typhoon of No 181 Squadron, Royal Air Force, on its way towards buildings at Carpiquet airfield. The Canadian 3rd Division took Carpiquet to the west of Caen on 4 July.

1000-Pound Shells From A B-29 Superfortresses Are Seen Dropping On The Empire Dock, Singapore, Malay Peninsula, While Fires From Previous Bursts Rage.

Camouflage (See Also France & Germany) - Military Misc. December 28, 1942.

Inferno: Troops of the Seventh Division, AIF, move across a bridge into the outskirts of burning Balikpapan, rich Borneo oil centre.Borneo was freed by the ***** the rich Dutch East Indies to be recovered, it gave ***** the homeland bases. The enemy's war industries *****. July 12, 1945.

Off The Indo-China Coast - Well-Armed Naval Escorts Are Toughtest Targets. This Relatively New Japanese Destroyer Escort Is Tentatively Classed As A Frigate, Has Two 4' Guns And Many Well Placed Triple And Single .25 Cal. Machine Guns. North American B-25 Mi

Death of the Flying Enterprise - In the Atlantic: New pictures showing the last moments of the ill-fated American freighter Flying Enterprise. In the top picture only the tip of the bows-may-be seen above the water ... in the lower picture thewaters close over the stricken vessel as it makes its death-plungs. Shortly before this picture was taken Mate Dancy of the Tug Turmoil and Captain Kurt Carlsen of the Enterprise had jumped off the sinking vessel and were picked up by the Turmoil. January 11, 1952. (Photo by British Movietone News).

Photo collection Service for army contacts Indonesia. DLC Fire at the workshop of the Army Technical Service in Solo. the fire. 1949. Indonesia, Java, Dutch East Indies, Solo

Smoke billows from several burning oil storage tanks at the Al Basrah Refinery following a coalition air strike during Operation DESERT STORM. The photograph was taken from a Fighter Squadron 84 (VF-84) F-14A Tomcat aircraft using the Tactical Air Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS). Country: Iraq(IRQ)

U.S. Flying Fortresses Bomb Lille Steel Works Billows of smoke follow explosions in the target area during a bombing attack by Flying Fortresses of the U.S. Army Air Forces on the Fives-Lille steel and locomotive works in Occupied France. February 24, 1943. (Photo by Interphoto News Pictures, Inc.).

Burning Oil Tanks At Dunkirk. The drifting smoke, photographed from an R.A.F. aircraft, shows where oil tanks are burning at Dunkirk. June 5, 1940. (Photo by British Official Photograph).

Photograph of USS Arizona on Fire after Attack on Pearl HarborJapanese attack on Pearl Harbor. USS Arizona (BB39) afire.

Artwork: "FW-200 Bomber Attacking Atlantic Shipping" Artist: Muller-Gera. Country: Unknown

Firebombs From 13Th Aaf North American B-25 Medium Bombers Started This Raging Blaze In A Communications Center At Miri Airdrome, On Borneo'S West Coast. The New, Jelly-Type Bombs Ignited Quickly, Soon Spread Flames Over A Wide Area.

Berlin's Flak Tower Withstands 50,000ls Of T.N.T. -- A view of the scene as 50,000 po8unds of high explosive here detonated in an attempt to demolish Berlin's flak tower. The largest post war explosion in Berlin failed to blast the walls of the giant steel and concrete structure and only the heavy iron shutters were blown from the window.The Monstrous flak tower in the Berlin Tiergarten, in which 30,000 persons used to take refuge from air raids and which the Nazis claimed would resist the most powerful bomb with stood the explosion of 50,000 lb of T.N.T., August 30 when British Army demolition experts attempted to demolish it. September 11, 1947.

Street Fighting in Shanghai -- Burning Chinese Town district in Shanghai Bureau. Seen from the head office building of the Japanese Marine Corps. February 09, 1932. (Photo by Shimbun Rengo Illustration Dept.).

Smoke Billows Up Over Nagasaki, Japan After Bombing By Atomic Bomb On 9 August 1945. Two Planes Of The 509Th Composite Group, Part Of The 313Th Wing Of The 20Th Air Force, Participated In This Mission; One To Carry The Bomb, The Other To Act As A Escort.

Illustration showing Royal Air Force 'Liberator' bombers flying over an Atlantic convoy, during a German U-boat (submarine) attack, 1943. The image shows two ships of the convoy on fire after being torpedoed and the bombers with their bomb-doors open, ready to attack the U-boat. Date: 1943

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, as seen from the view of the Japanese, December 7, 1941

Black and white photograph of the Norwegian Campaign of WWII, April to June 1940; British destroyers open fire on enemy positions.

Fido Method Of Dispelling Fog At Airfield In England.

Photo collection Service for army contacts Indonesia. Aerial recording. Dark clouds. Burning oil installations?. 1947. Indonesia, Dutch East Indies

Russians Push Through Burning VillageRed Army soldiers charge past a burning structure during an attack on a village somewhere along the warfront. This is one of a series of pictures made by the same corps of cameramen who produced March of Time's "One Day Of War". March 7, 1943. (Photo by Associated Press Photo).

Kamikaze ('divine wind') were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible. Kamikaze pilots would attempt to crash their aircraft into enemy ships in planes laden with explosives, bombs, torpedoes and full fuel tanks. The aircraft's normal functions (to deliver torpedoes or bombs or shoot down other aircraft) were put aside, and the planes were converted to what were essentially manned missiles in an attempt to reap the benefits of greatly increased accuracy and payload over that of normal bombs. The goal of crippling as many Allied ships as possible, particularly aircraft carriers, was considered critical enough to warrant the combined sacrifice of pilots and aircraft. These attacks, which began in October 1944, followed several critical military defeats for the Japanese. They had long lost aerial dominance due to outdated aircra

***** Of Smoke rises from Canton, after it had been fired by Chinese. The Japanese, when they occupied the city, used dynamite *****.First pictures of Fall of Canton - City fired by fleeing Chinese -- The Huge pall of smoke rising from burning canton as the Japanese occupied it on October 21.First pictures reached London this evening November 3 of the capture on October 21 of Canton by the Japanese. Before they abandoned the city the Chinese started fires at several strategic points, and as the water supply had been cut off the Japanese were forced to use dynamite in several instances to stop the progress of the fires. January 01, 1938. (Photo by Associated Press)

Japan/USA: Aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill ablaze after being hit by two kamikaze suicide planes. Photographed from USS Bataan on the morning of May 11, 1945, while supporting the Okinawa invasion. Battle of Okinawa, May 1945

United States, May 13, 1943US Coast Guardsmen parcticing invasion tactics while a land mine explosion adds realness to the maneuver.

05/31/1964. Survivors of the city of Niigata abandon their homes, with the belongings they were able to recover at the last minute.

Oil Installations At Politz, Germany, Are Bombed On 29 May 1944. Photo Taken At 29,000 Feet W/24' Focal.

World war one: destroying a bridge in Belgium to prevent advancing German army 1914

Photo collection Service for army contacts Indonesia. Air recording. Dark smoke clouds. Burning oil installations?. 1947. Indonesia, Dutch East Indies

USA, Rhode Island, Solcum, Barn on fire

Klas Owl with smoke Boleness from deck.The accident at hair bays ...

Barcelona, October 1915. Artillery practical schools. The Shipyard Battery, in La Barceloneta, during shooting exercises against a fixed target.

Remains Of Russian Cannon - German caption describes these cannon as part of the Maxim Gorki fortifications in the Soviet defense area of Sebastopol which were destroyed by heavy German shelling. Pictured U.S. Through Neutral Portugal. August 1, 1942. (Photo by AP Wirephoto).

Blast Damage to USS Independence During Operation Crossroads"Blast damage to USS Independence (CVL-22) during Operation Crossroads. Side view of stern (port).".

"Combined Operation": St. Nazaire: Ten months later, the dock is still out of action. H. M. S. "Campbelltown", her bows blown off, lies half-way down the Formed Ecluse, where she was carried by the rush of water after the destruction of the lock gates. The German engineers have sealed the outer entrance with sand to prevent the dock flooding. August 9, 1943. (Photo by British Official Photograph).

Snowflake at work.

Operation Linebacker was the title of a U. S. Seventh Air Force and U. S. Navy Task Force 77 aerial interdiction campaign conducted against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from 9 May to 23 October 1972, during the Vietnam War. Its purpose was to halt or slow the transportation of supplies and materials for the Nguyen Hue Offensive (known in the West as the Easter Offensive), an invasion of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), by forces of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), that had been launched on 30 March. Linebacker was the first continuous bombing effort conducted against North Vietnam since the bombing halt instituted by President Lyndon B. Johnson in November 1968.

Formosa Waterfront Burns After U.S. Air Attack Dense smoke rises from a Formosa waterfront following a devestating air attack on Oct. 11, 1944. by carrier based planes of the U.S. Third Fleet. B-29 Superfortress bombers based in China joined in knocking out Japanese installations of Formosa. The attacks were a prelude to the U.S. landings on Leyte in the Philippines. November 24, 1944. (Photo by U.S. Office Of War Information).

Invasion---practice. This image depicts Marines disembarking from a Coast Guard-manned landing craft during training on the East Coast of the United States.

Ie Island Bombed And Strafed: Buildings, defense installations and planes in flames as a result of bombings and strafing by carrier based planes of the Third Pacific Fleet under Admiral William F. Halsay, Jr., USN, which struck Ie Island on 9 October 1944. (WLT). Ie Island is just west of Okinawa Island in the Ryukyu Group some 850 miles from Tokyo. October 17, 1944. (Photo by Official U.S. Navy Photograph).

Dunkirk and the Retreat From France 1940 Aerial view of burning oil tanks at Dunkirk, June 1940.

Photograph of the 1938 New England Hurricane was one of the deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclones to impact New England. Dated 1938

American Coastal Defences - Military. November 05, 1944.

CCC Enrollees Fighting Prairie and Brush Fire Backfire. Central Plains Region (Kansas City, MO). Photographic Print. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Standing Rock Agency. 9/17/1947-. Photographs

World War Two: A German Dornier plane is destroyed on a flight into France 1940

Artwork: "Burning Wreckage of a Bomber" Artist: Karl Raible. Country: Unknown

Zerstörung des Marine - Luftschiffes L.II, 17. Oktober 1913

U.S. Navy carrier-based bombers smash Japanese ships in Formosa. Photo made during the attack, January 21. October 21, 1949. (Photo by The New York Times).

FRANCE. Compigne. First World War (1917). Fall of a Zeppelin on the wall of a garden in Compigne (17th March 1917).

Fire Fighters Of The 353Rd Fighter Group Make A Successful Attempt To Extinguish The Fire Of A Burning Republic P-47 (A/C 42-7985) Which Crashed At Their Base In England On 19 September 1943.

German Caption Writers Wrote On This Picture -------'...Der Deutschen Werfe In Flammen. Flames And Smoke Fill The Sky Around The Deutsche Werkes Where Submarines Were Under Construction. German On-Lookers Stand By, Watching The Spectacle Of Devastation

Dance Hall Debris Cleared Away -- Salvage crews clear away wreckage of a Dance Hall and Mild Bar in London after the building was hit by a bomb during a German raid Nov. 7. The Hall and the Bar were crowded and casualties were heavy. November 16, 1943. (Photo by Associated Press Photo).

Vietnam War: soldiers of the People's Army of the North Vietnam practicing 1968

Pacific Ocean, May 28, 1943A Japanese trawler refused to sink from shell fire from a US Navy sub's deck gun, and instead fired back, killing an officer, so then the submarine fired a torpedo.

Attack - Heavy anti-aircraft gunners at South Head go into action today as US and RAAF bombers, Canberra jets and Beau fighters "attack" Sydney. June 19, 1954.

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