Fallschirmjäger Officers at Heraklion

 

Image size: 1146 x 1600 pixel. 430 KB
Date: Saturday, 31 May 1941
Place: Heraklion, Crete Island, Greece
Photographer: Unknown

31 May 1941: Officers of Fallschirmjäger (German paratroopers) from the 7. Flieger-Division are seen resting in Heraklion, Crete, shortly after they seized that part of the Greek island from the defending British and Australian forces. Fierce fighting took place from 20 May 1941, and German troops only managed to capture Heraklion nine days later. There was a tinge of exhaustion on the faces of those officers who had not shaved for days. Wearing the Ritterkreuz on his neck is Oberst Bruno Bräuer (Kommandeur Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1 and Kampfgruppe Ost), who won the prestigious medal on 24 May 1940 during the German invasion of the Lower Countries. All of the officers who appear in this photo are all Ritterkreuzträger (Ritterkreuz recipients). From left to right: Major Erich Walther (Kommandeur III.Bataillon / Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1; Ritterkreuz on 24 May 1940, Eichenlaub on 2 March 1944 and Schwerter on 1 February 1945), Hauptmann Gerhart Schirmer (Kommandeur III.Bataillon / Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 2. Ritterkreuz on 14 June 1941), Oberst Bräuer, and Hauptmann Wolf-Werner von der Schulenburg (Kommandeur I. Bataillon / Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1; Ritterkreuz on 20 June 1943).

Source :
https://www.alamy.com/search.html?qt=heraklion%201941&imgt=0
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=2317700#p2317700
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-nazi-propaganda-picture-from-may-1941-shows-german-news-photo/1058620538
http://wehrmachtss.blogspot.com/2021/01/para-perwira-fallschirmjager-di.html

German Paratroopers Rests at Crete

Image size: 1600 x 1068 pixel. 538 KB
Date: Tuesday, 20 May 1941
Place: Crete Island, Greece
Photographer: Unknown

German Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) rests after the Battle in Crete, 20 May 1941. Certainly a propaganda photo for the homeland, concealing the huge losses of the 'Green Devils'. They are wearing a light olive green jump smock of the early version, with the trousers that were darker than the smock. The Germans used colour-coded parachutes to distinguish the canisters carrying rifles, ammunition, crew-served weapons and other supplies. Heavy equipment like the Leichtgeschütz 40 was dropped with a special triple-parachute harness designed to bear the extra weight. The troopers also carried special strips of cloth which could be unfurled in pre-arranged patterns to signal low-flying fighters to coordinate air support and supply drops. In contrast with most nations' forces, who jumped with personal weapons strapped to their bodies, German procedure was for individual weapons to be dropped in canisters. This was a major flaw that left the paratroopers armed only with their fighting knives, pistols and grenades in the critical few minutes after landing. The poor design of German parachutes compounded the problem: the standard German harness had only a single riser to the canopy, and thus could not be steered. Even the 25% of paratroops armed with submachine guns were at a distinct disadvantage, given the weapon's limited range. Many Fallschirmjäger were shot attempting to reach their weapons canisters. The picture was taken from a very heavily illustrated book, "Fliegende Front" (Flying Front), as written by Hauptmann Walter Eberhard Freiherr von Medem and published by Verlag Die Wehrmacht in Berlin, Germany in 1942.

Source :
http://ww2colorfarbe.blogspot.com/2019/02/fallschirmjager-rests-at-crete.html

New Zealand Soldiers Drinks Tea in Cassino

Image size: 1600 x 1065 pixel. 397 KB
Date: Wednesday, 5 April 1944
Place: Cassino, Frosinone, Italy
Photographer: George Frederick Kaye

New Zealand soldiers belonging to the 22nd Battalion / 2 New Zealand Expeditionary Force, take a break during a lull in the fighting and drink tea during the bloody battle for Cassino, Italy, 5 April 1944. In 1943 the Allies took Sicily and began to land into Italy. They met little and patchy opposition throughout most of their advance northward but small pockets of fierce German and Italian resisters still remained here and there. Just a few miles outside of Rome now, the Allies were preparing for the final push into the heart of Italy. In early 1944 they began to advance and then some hit shocking happen. The radios lit up with a chaotic rabble basically all about the same issue: We have hit heavy resistance and are taking heavy casualties. What the Allies had just hit in Italy was what would soon become deadliest sector on that front, the Gustav Line. The Gustav Line was a line of fortifications in the mountains that stretched from west to east Italy. It was the last large obstacle blocking Rome from the Allies and it had to be broken through. For months and months Allied soldiers fought through the mountains, taking thousands of casualties every week, and seemingly making no gains. As casualties mounted the Allies knew they had to try something new, land a small American force at Anzio as a distraction to the Germans. As soon as the Americans landed they would charge towards Rome since they landed in Anzio which is behind the Gustav Line and in theory this would distract the Germans. The American commander at Anzio instead landed and waited a full 9 days to prepare which was more than enough time for the Germans to regroup and hold off the Americans. Now you have the invasion forces bleeding out and not even crawling towards Rome, in other words; the situation was not looking good. Finally, after months of hard fighting, the Germans began to ran out of supplies and pulled back to the Italian Alps in the northern area of Italy. The Americans at Anzio broke through the German defenses and pushed on, and the Allies at Cassino finally, after months of ferocious fighting, advanced towards Rome.

Source :
Courtesy Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand
http://historyinphotos.blogspot.co.id/2015/04/george-frederick-kaye.html

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg3Rl7YnoL4/

Günther Rall and His Men with Unit Mascot

Image size: 1600 x 1184 pixel. 408 KB
Date: Saturday, 6 March 1943
Place: Kerch Strait, Crimea, Soviet Union
Photographer: Reissmüller

"Wie spricht Rata?" (how does Rata?) Eichenlaubträger Oberleutnant Günther Rall (Staffelkapitän 8.Staffel/Jagdgeschwader 52) and the men of his Staffel (Fighter Wing) during a short break between two feindflüge (combat missions). The standing squadron dog is named "Rata". Front, from left to right: Unteroffizier Manfred Lotzmann (15 Abschüsse), Unteroffizier Werner Höhenberg (33 Abschüsse), and Leutnant Hans Funcke (19 Abschüsse). Rear : Oberleutnant Günther Rall (275 Abschüsse), Leutnant Hans Martin Markoff (15 Abschüsse), Feldwebel Karl-Friedrich Schumacher (56 Abschüsse), and Oberleutnant Gerhard Luety (38 Abschüsse). The picture was taken by Kriegsberichter Reissmüller in March 1943. Günther Rall (10 March 1918 – 4 October 2009) was the third most successful fighter ace in history. He achieved a total of 275 victories during World War II: 272 on the Eastern Front, of which 241 were against Soviet fighters. He flew a total of 621 combat missions, was shot down 8 times and was wounded 3 times. He fought in the invasion of France, the Battle of Britain, in the Balkan Campaign and over Crete. He began the conflict as a young Leutnant (Second Lieutenant), and was a Major and Kommodore of JG 300 at the surrender. He claimed all of his victories in the Messerschmitt Bf 109.

Source:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-J14142,_Jagdflieger_G%C3%BCnther_Rall_mit_Kameraden.jpg

http://www.jg52.net/2010/05

11. Panzer-Division Rests During Yugoslavian Campaign

Image size: 1600 x 988 pixel. 590 KB
Date: Sunday, 13 April 1941
Place: Yugoslavia
Photographer: Dr. Feitel (PK OKW)

German tank crews in the middle of the tank PzKpfw IV Ausf. E (produced 223 tanks) during the Balkan campaign (Yugoslavia) in 1941. Armament: gun 7.5cm KwK L/24. These guns were all armed PzKpfw IV until modifications Ausf.F2, after which it was replaced by a long-barreled gun 7.5cm KwK L/43 (length of 43 calibres). The ausf E was manufactured by Krupp-Gruson from September 1940 to April 1941. The panzer is attached to the 11. Panzer-Division, XIV. Panzerkorps (commanded by General der Infanterie Gustav von Wietersheim), 1. Panzergruppe under Generaloberst (Colonel General) Ewald von Kleist. It was the first version that featured Gepack Kasten (turret-mounted storage bins), which increased the amount of gear available to the tank crew. Spare parts, food, water, blankets, bridging supplies, and more were packed into these containers for sustained combat. 11th Panzer crossed into Yugoslavia at Pirot on April 8, 1941, leading the German attack. They took Nis on April 9 and entered Belgrade on April 13, hoisting the Swastika that night. The unit emblem of the 11th Panzer was a ghost (this must not be confused with the famed Gespenster Division, which was the 7th Panzer Division), which we can clearly see in the side of the Panzer IV.

Source:

http://albumwar2.com/photo-19391945/35-gallery/6802-german-medium-tank-pzkpfw-iv-during-the-balkan-campaign

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii128

Panzerkampfwagen III Crews at Rest and Playing Cards

Image size: 966 x 1600 pixel. 494 KB
Date: Wednesday, 9 April 1941
Place: Greece
Photographer: Unknown

The crews of a group of german panzers benefit from a pause during the advance to resume the never-ending card game, interrupted so many times. They were came from the 12. Armee commanded by Generalfeldmarschall Siegmund Wilhelm List during Operation Marita. Threatened by the possibility of the British entering Romania and cutting off his oil supply, and honoring the pleas for help by Benito Mussolini who had made little progress against the Greeks on the Albanian Front, Germany invaded Greece through Yugoslavia in April 1941. The invasion of Greece was the first operation in which panzer divisions and motorized infantry units were employed in distinctly alpine terrain. Despite the difficulties that were encountered the commitment of armor to spearhead an attack through mountains proved to be sound tactics. The two major successes during the first phase of the campaign—the early seizure of Skoplje by the 9. Panzer-Division (April 7, 1941) and the quick capture of Salonika (April 9) by the 2. Panzer-Division could not have been accomplished without armored divisions. The Greek command was paralyzed by the initial upsets, which were caused in some measure by "tank fright" of the rank and file soldier, as had been the case during the French campaign. The speedy capitulation of the Greek Second Army was the direct result of the sudden appearance of German tanks in the vicinity of Salonika. Unlike a few months later, when Russian prisoners of war died in captivity, the Germans disarmed the Greek soldiers and released the majority. 

Source:
Signal Magazine, June 1941 

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii124

http://ww2colorphotos.webs.com/balkans.htm

Skoda 35 Tank Kompanie of Panzer-Regiment 11 Wait in A Wood for the Opening of Blitzkrieg

Image size: 1600 x 830 pixel. 499 KB
Date: April 1940
Place: Mayen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

A Skoda 35 tank Kompanie of Panzer-Regiment 11/6.Panzer-Division wait in a wood near Mayen for the opening of Blitzkrieg on France, April 1940. Around 30 January 1940, the newly-built 6. Panzer-Division left its quarters in the region of Wuppertal and on 2 February 1940 it was assembled in the area of Euskirchen with the divisional CP (Command Post) in Münstereifel. In the West the German and the Allies stayed face to face without nobody dared to take the first step although with the conclusion of the Campaign in Poland and the deployment of the armor divisions and the active infantry divisions of the German Army on its western borders all possibility of a fast Allied victory had disappeared. On 1 March 1940, the 6. Panzer-Division was displaced towards the Westerwald and subordinated under the XXXI. Armeekorps (Motorisiert) which was commanded by General der Panzertruppe Hans-Georg Reinhardt. To this Army Corps also belonged the 8. Panzer-Division and the 29. Infanterie-Division (Motorisiert). In turn the XXXI. Armeekorps (Mot.) was fitted as well in the Panzergruppe of General der Kavallerie Ewald von Kleist together with the XIX. Armeekorps (Mot.) of General der Panzertruppe Guderian and the XIV. Armeekorps (Mot.) of General der Infanterie Gustav Anton von Wietersheim. Towards the end of April of 1940, all the tracked vehicles were across the Rhine and were concentrated again in the area of Mayen, while the bulk of the division remaining in the Westerwald.

Source:

Helmut Ritgen photo collection
Book "The 6th Panzer Division: 1937-45" by Oberst a.D. Helmut Ritgen