The Winter War was one of the coldest battles in the entire military history, and the conditions were comparable to Moscow and Stalingrad on the Eastern Front. The winter of 1940 was one of the harshest ones of the entire 20th century in Finland, with temperatures dropping as low as -43 degrees Celsius (-45 Fahrenheit) in Eastern Finland where the battles were fought. Still, thanks to heavy pre-war cuts to defense spending, the Finnish army was able to issue only the basic field uniforms to most of its soldiers. This forced the men at the front lines to bring all sorts of civilian coats and winter clothing from home to help survive the freezing cold, leading to a very irregular look, sarcastically nicknamed ”the model Cajander” by the troops. (After the pre-war Finnish defense minister.) 

Hey

I was going through a photoalbum with old old pictures. This is apperently a picture of my grandmas dad (on the far right)

Im trying to find out what kinda ceremony this might be and what it meant. AI gives alot of different answers so i figured i might ask here and see if anyone could give my any clues?

The back of the photo has a text

"Ferd. Urbahns

Hofphotograph

Kiel"

The Big Red One.

What turned out to be her final mission was supposed to be a “milk run” – a routine, uneventful sortie completed without incident. However, the B-17 was hit by an 88 mm flack shell, which blew a 7-foot by 12-foot hole in the floor, roof and side of the aircraft. Despite the damage, the aircrew ensured Miss Irish went on to complete the mission, and the pilot, Capt. John P. Gibbons, managed to emergency land the plane at RAF Raydon, Suffolk.

Scans from my collection. The photos come from the album of a serviceman in the 42nd Bomb Group.

The P-38 closest to the camera is nicknamed "Ruptured Widow". I haven't been able to identify which unit they belonged to.

This photograph was taken on 9 Apr 1944 at the US Naval Training Center in San Diego. It shows boot camp company "44-151", presumably the 151st training company formed for 1944. The roster of the company is also included (although not matched to the photo).

My grandfather, Roy W. Dalby, is the tall man at the center of the top row. He wrote letters home every day which my grandmother saved. He also saved the pea coat he was given by the Navy, which my nephew now owns. The company number is written on the label.

I realize it is highly unlikely, but if any of you know someone who went through Naval boot camp in early 1944, it might be worth checking the roster for your sailor's name.

The plaque was presented by the citizens of Boise, Idaho, in memory of the 107 crewmen who were killed in the Battle of Cape Esperance, 11-12 October 1942.

Picture 1: Two French officers in North-Eastern France during the Phoney War

Picture 2: interpretation of this scene by u/harishcs

Here is a photograph of two French officers from the 151e Régiment d'Infanterie (42e Division d'Infanterie) in october 1939. At this date, they were making some (training?) maneuvers in the region of Koenigsmacker (close to the border with Luxembourg). Following heavy rainfall, this area was largely flooded at this date.

Looking at the stripes of the officer on the right, we see he is a colonel. That would be Olivier Thierry d’Argenlieu. The other man must certainly be a subordinate, but the gun holster and boots suggest he is an officer as well (most regular soldiers would have puttees).

As you can see on his Wikipédia page (Olivier Thierry d'Argenlieu — Wikipédia), colonel d'Argenlieu would become chief of staff or the 9e Armée (under général Giraud) on march the 25th 1940. The newly appointed général de brigade would then die for his country on may the 18th, thus becoming part of the only 13 general staff officers who died during the Battle of France (Liste des officiers généraux français morts au cours des opérations de mai-juin 1940 — Wikipédia).

© Auteur inconnu/ECPAD/Défense

Photo: Red Cross