Rare Pictures from Second World War: Part 3

Morose looking German soldiers in Russia. It must be the winter.

BARBAROSSA AND THE RUSSIAN WINTER 

The winter of 1941-42 was one of the worst in recorded history. Daily temperatures fell to 40 degrees below zero. German soldiers had not been issued with warm winter clothing as Hitler believed that the invasion would be over by the winter. Soldiers froze to death in their sleep, diesel froze in fuel tanks and food was in very short supply. Russian soldiers had been issued with winter clothing and did not suffer as badly as their German enemies.

Historylearningsite

Sumo lessons onboard a Japanese warship. Pride in their traditions.

Russian soldiers looking triumphant, as their tank trundles on the streets of Berlin. 1945.

VIDEO: SOVIET ARMY IN BERLIN 1945 

A Japanese kamikaze plane burns after it was hit by American ack-ack. It goes on to crash on the ship

MIND OF A KAMIKAZE PILOT

In contrast to the commonly held image of kamikaze pilots volunteering for suicide missions based on fanatical loyalty to the emperor, Nagatsuka never thought of the emperor as the reason for his sacrifice. He fought in whatever way he could, including joining a kamikaze special attack corps, in order to protect his family and friends from the enemy. American B-29s dropped incendiary bombs on Tokyo, his hometown of Nagoya, and other major cities, killing tens of thousands of civilians and destroying hundreds of thousands of homes. He willingly set out on a suicide mission for his family and for his country's people, but certainly not for the emperor.

Source

Italian soldiers in Russia. They hardly look as if they are whole-heartedly fighting the war. Noblesse Oblige on part of Mussolini. Stand by the friend and stuff like that.

VIDEO: ITALIANS FIGHT IN RUSSIA

THE FATE OF ITALIAN SOLDIERS IN RUSSIA

Since the beginning of the Italian campaign in Russia, about 30,000 Italians had been killed and another 54,000 would die in captivity. By the end of February 1943, the rout of the ARMIR was complete. Mussolini then withdrew what remained of his 8th Army from Russian soil. The Italian forces in Russia had been reduced to less than 150,000 men, and 34,000 of these were wounded. The disaster in Russia was a fierce blow to the power and popularity of the dictator. Both sank as the gloomy news soon reached the public in Italy. Survivors blamed the Fascist political elite and the army generals. The survivors said they both had acted irresponsibly by sending a poorly prepared, ill-equipped, and inadequately armed military force to the Russian Front. According to veterans, weapons in Italian service were awful: hand grenades rarely went off and rifles and machine guns had to be kept for a long time on a fire to work properly in extreme climatic conditions, thus often not capable of firing in the midst of battle. The German commanders were accused of sacrificing the Italian divisions, whose withdrawal was supposedly delayed after the Soviet breakthrough, in order to rescue their own troops.

Wikipedia

An Italian soldiers watches the remains of his colleagues killed by Yugoslav partisans

AN ACCOUNT OF A YUGOSLAV

The area was taken by the Germans who, although they impressed my mother with blond good looks and discipline, soon handed over control to Italian troops, whom my mother described as little more than a rabble.

Source

Aftermath of an air raid on Helsinki. 1941

HELSINKI WAS BOMBED 8 TIMES

The capital of Finland, Helsinki was bombed several times during World War II. Between 1939–1945 Finland fought three wars, two against the Soviet Union and one against Germany. The largest raids were three raids in February 1944, which have been called the Great raids against Helsinki.

Wikipedia

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Rare Pictures From WW2: Part 1

Rare Pictures From WW2: Part 2