r/wwiipics • • 2h ago

Old unknown ceremony

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1 Upvotes

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"


r/wwiipics • • 12h ago

Some unique photos of Finnish soldiers and military personnel in heavy winter clothing during the Soviet-Finnish Winter War (1939-1940)

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63 Upvotes

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.) 


r/wwiipics • • 1d ago

Is this Nanking?

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59 Upvotes

r/wwiipics • • 1d ago

"His Battle Station" ( archived as File No. Coast Guard 2330), showing a U.S. Coast Guardsman who lost his life at his battle station. The photograph was taken aboard the USS Menges (DE-320) after the destroyer escort was torpedoed by a German submarine in the Mediterranean Sea on May 3, 1944 NSFW NSFW

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552 Upvotes

r/wwiipics • • 1d ago

My grandfather. 1st Infantry Division. The Bug Red One. 1st wave on Omaha Beach. Last photo is of him in England recovering from being hit by German 88 in Belgium, early October 1944.

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102 Upvotes

The Big Red One.


r/wwiipics • • 1d ago

B-17G "Miss Irish " of the 350th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group was hit by a 88mm shell over France on March 19,1944. Radio operator T/Sgt Ed Walker was KIA in the blast.

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90 Upvotes

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.


r/wwiipics • • 1d ago

B-17 Flying Fortress “Hell's Angels” from the 303d Bombardment Group, the first B-17 to complete 25 missions.

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81 Upvotes

r/wwiipics • • 1d ago

The crew of this Panzer I added what appears to be a French 25 mm anti-tank gun, turning it into an ad hoc tank hunter.

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44 Upvotes

r/wwiipics • • 2d ago

M4A1 (76) Sherman medium tank (serial number USA 3070707) from the 32nd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division, burning after being hit near Bergerhausen, Germany, around March 1, 1945.

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115 Upvotes

r/wwiipics • • 3d ago

Naval boot camp, 1944

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47 Upvotes

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.


r/wwiipics • • 3d ago

P-38 Lightning fighter escort photographed from a 42nd Bomb Group B-25 - Philippines ca. 1944 (2 Photos)

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120 Upvotes

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.


r/wwiipics • • 3d ago

M4 Sherman tank of the U.S. 3rd Armored Division was hit by fire from a German Panther tank during the Battle of Cologne on March 6, 1945. A wounded crewman from the smoking tank is seen on the engine deck missing a leg. NSFW NSFW

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450 Upvotes

r/wwiipics • • 3d ago

American merchant ammunition ship SS Mary Luckenbach exploding after being hit by a German torpedo or bomb during the attack on Arctic Convoy PQ 18 on September 13 or 14, 1942, viewed from the flight deck of the British escort carrier HMS Avenger

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35 Upvotes

r/wwiipics • • 3d ago

A B-24 Liberator called Sandman during a bomb run over the Ploiești Astra Română refinery during Operation Tidal Wave, 1 August 1943

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62 Upvotes

r/wwiipics • • 3d ago

US Army PFC Felix A. Uva and Cpl Donald A. Purdy examine a memorial plaque on the deck of the USS Boise on their way home from Europe as part of Operation Magic Carpet in November 1945.

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55 Upvotes

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.


r/wwiipics • • 3d ago

Olivier Thierry d’Argenlieu (1887 - 1940) during the Phoney War (1939)

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37 Upvotes

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


r/wwiipics • • 4d ago

A soldier from the 36th Inf Div prepares a meal of C rations at the Chiunzi Pass, Italy, 1944.

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65 Upvotes

r/wwiipics • • 4d ago

Two Marines carry a wounded buddy to a first aid station a short distance behind the front lines during the Battle of Saipan, 1944.

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55 Upvotes

r/wwiipics • • 4d ago

WW2 Era Censored Letter Written by German Prisoner of War Being Held in Arkansas. Details in comments. #2

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20 Upvotes

r/wwiipics • • 4d ago

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters under construction in Buffalo, NY. A total of 13,738 Curtiss P-40 Warhawks were built between 1939 and 1944, making it one of the most produced American fighter aircraft of World War II.

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62 Upvotes

r/wwiipics • • 4d ago

The grave of a British airborne soldier killed during the battle of Arnhem in September 1944, photographed by liberating forces on April 15, 1945. On the cross is written in German "unknown English soldier“.

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139 Upvotes

r/wwiipics • • 4d ago

An M4 Sherman of Company C, 741st Tank Battalion burns in the streets of Leipzig after being hit by a Panzerfaust. April 18, 1945

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280 Upvotes

r/wwiipics • • 5d ago

Count Folke Bernadotte, VP of the Swedish Red Cross, with Australian POWs from Germany at a prisoner exchange in Gothenburg, Sweden, that he directed, October 1943. He was assassinated in Jerusalem less than five years later while serving as the United Nations mediator in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

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73 Upvotes

Photo: Red Cross


r/wwiipics • • 5d ago

WW2 Era Letters Written By Canadian Bomber Pilot Who Would Be Killed In Action Over Germany. Details in comments.

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23 Upvotes

r/wwiipics • • 5d ago

Photo of Serbian civilians murdered by Croatian and Bosniak ustashe in Bosansko Novo that happened during the august 2 and 3 1941. They murdered hundreds of Serb civilians (women, children and elderly) NSFW

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45 Upvotes

Photo of Serbian civilians murdered by

Croatian and Bosniak ustashe in Bosansko Novo that happened during the august 2 and 3 1941. They murdered hundreds of Serb civilians (women, children and elderly. 200-500 Serbs were killed. Commanders that organised this massacre were Jure Knežević, Ahmet Cerić-Kalendarac, Husein Muradbegović (who had the highest political/military function in that place) and Božidar Cerovski