M13/40 of Italian XX Armored Corps in North Africa

Image size: 1600 x 1103 pixel. 397 KB
Date: Thursday, 1 January 1942
Place: Somewhere in North Africa
Photographer: Kriegsberichter Leutnant Erwin Seeger from XI. Fliegerkorps

A Fiat-Ansaldo M13/40 of XX Armored Corps. XX Corps, consisting of the Ariete and Littorio Armored Divisions and the Trieste Motorized Division, (formerly the Corpo d'Armata di Manovra) was the Italian counterpart to Rommel's Afrika Korps. While the main body of the Italian Army was plagued by corrupt officers, anti-fascist elements, and low morale, the XX Corps was well regarded by Rommel, and despite being armed with increasingly outdated equipment, performed well during Rommel's offensive in early 1942, moving with the panzers through Libya into Egypt. At the First Battle of El Alamein, XX Corps lead the attack on the Ruwisat Ridge on July 3, 1942, because Afrika Korps had only twenty-six panzers left after three days of battle. XX Corps was utterly destroyed by the 2nd New Zealand Division supported by British tanks. Ariete Division was most severly mauled, losing almost all its guns. By July 8, 1942, the whole of the Italian Army had on hand fifty-four tanks and forty anti-tank guns, out of an authorized strength of 430 tanks and 120 anti-tank guns. Because Axis supply favored Italian units, XX Corps could mount combat operations during the second battle of El Alamein; it was mostly destroyed on November 4, 1942, when the Ariete Division's 120 obsolete tanks were ordered to stem the tide of the British advance. The M13/40s and even older designs lacked armor and firepower to stand up to the new American-built, British-crewed M3 Grant and M4 Sherman tanks and concentrated artillery. In an after-action report, the commander of the Ariete Division reported, "the Ariete tanks had to receive very hard blows without any chance to inflict any damage to the enemy." The remnants of XX Corps retreated with Rommel all the way to Tunisia, surrendering in May 1943. Rommel wrote in his diary, "In the Ariete we lost our oldest Italian comrades, from whom we had probably always demanded more than they, with their poor armament, had been capable of performing." The photographer, Erwin Seeger, was assigned to the Kriegsberichter (War Correspondent) Abteilung (unit) of the Fallschirmjäger (Paratrooper) Armeeoberkommando (Army High Command) at XI Fliegerkorps. German Army combat photographers also carried arms, and he fought in Arnhem during Operation Market-Garden in September 1944. A book of his North African photos, "Bilder eines Wustenkriegs: Der Afrikafeldzug Erwin Rommels aus der Sicht des Ebinger Kriegsberichterstatters Erwin Seeger" (Pictures of a Desert War: Erwin Rommel's Campaign in Africa from the Perspective of the War Reporter Erwin Seeger) was published in Germany in 2005. 

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0076

German Armour Entering the French harbour of Toulon

Image size: 1600 x 1142 pixel. 419 KB
Date: Friday, 27 November 1942
Place: Toulon, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur, France
Photographer: Kriegsberichter Wolfgang Vennemann from PK (Propaganda-Kompanie) 649

Panzerkampfwagen IV (L/43) Ausf.G (Sd.Kfz.161/1) turmnummer 812 from Panzer-Regiment 25/7.Panzer-Division/1.Armee/Heeresgruppe D entering the French harbour of Toulon during Operation Lila. The battleship in the background is "Strasbourg" (the second and last battleship of the Dunkerque-class battleship built for the French Navy before World War II), while the PzKfw.IV in the foreground have jerry cans in the turret roof. On November 27, the Germans commenced "Unternehmen Lila" with the goal of occupying Toulon and seizing the fleet. Comprised of elements from the 7. Panzer-Division and SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Das Reich", four combat teams entered the city around 4:00 AM. Quickly taking Fort Lamalgue, they captured Marquis but failed to prevent his chief of staff from sending a warning. Stunned by the German treachery, de Laborde issued orders to prepare for scuttling and to defend the ships until they had sunk. Advancing through Toulon, the Germans occupied heights overlooking the channel and air-dropped mines to prevent a French escape. Reaching the gates of the naval base, the Germans were delayed by the sentries who demanded paperwork allowing admission. By 5:25 AM, German tanks entered the base and de Laborde issued the scuttle order from his flagship Strasbourg. Fighting soon broke out along the waterfront, with the Germans coming under fire from the ships. Out-gunned, the Germans attempted to negotiate, but were unable to board most vessels in time to prevent their sinking. German troops successfully boarded the cruiser Dupleix and closed its sea valves, but were driven off by explosions and fires in its turrets. Soon the Germans were surrounded by sinking and burning ships. By the end of the day, they had only succeeded in taking three disarmed destroyers, four damaged submarines, and three civilian vessels. In the fighting of November 27, the French lost 12 killed and 26 wounded, while the Germans suffered one wounded. In scuttling the fleet, the French destroyed 77 vessels, including 3 battleships, 7 cruisers, 15 destroyers, and 13 torpedo boats. Five submarines managed to get underway, with three reaching North Africa, one Spain, and the last forced to scuttle at the mouth of the harbor. The surface ship Leonor Fresnel also escaped. While Charles de Gaulle and the Free French severely criticized the action, stating that the fleet should have tried to escape, the scuttling prevented the ships from falling into Axis hands. While salvage efforts began, none of the larger ships saw service again during the war. After the liberation of France, de Laborde was tried and convicted of treason for not trying to save the fleet. Found guilty, he was sentenced to death. This was soon commuted to life imprisonment before he was granted clemency in 1947.

Source:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=513341805356961&set=o.303273499761263&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf

Ground Crew of 301st Fighter Squadron Affix Fuel Tank to P-51C Mustang

Image size: 1600 x 1174 pixel. 459 KB
Date: Friday, 1 September 1944
Place: Ramitelli, Campobosso, Italy
Photographer: Toni Frisell

Technical Sergeant Charles Kemper Haynes of Saint Louis, Missouri (June 14, 1910-April 3, 1995), Staff Sergeant James A. Sheppard of New York, New York (September 20, 1924- ) and Master Sergeant Frank Bradley of Los Angeles, California (1915-????) affix a 75-gallon drop tank "babies" (auxiliary fuel supply) to the bomb shackle on the wing of a North American P-51C Mustang "Yvonne" of the 301st Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, 306th Fighter Wing, 15th Air Force. Contrary to some other captions for this photo, the tanks were mounted empty and then filled. A pint of fuel would be removed before flight, which usually collected the water and contaminants from the tank. Note wear on leading edge of the wing! Sheppard graduated from Haaren High School in New York City as a qualified aviation mechanic in June 1942 and can remember Navy recruiters refusing to meet with the black students after Pearl Harbor. He was immediately sent to Tuskegee when he entered service on October 14, promised pilot training. However, upon arrival he was assigned as a mechanic because he was already certified. Haynes and Bradley completed ground school at either Lincoln, Nebraska or Chicago, Illinois. Soon Sheppard joined the 100th squadron and was sent to Italy, where he remained for the duration of the war. He received a three-week course in the Packard-built Merlin V-16-50 engine, which was used in the P-51. Sheppard remembers that the day of the photo, a United States Army Signal Corps photo unit was shooting film and the other two men came over to help with the fuel tank on camera, which normally was affixed by only one man! If there was no damage to the aircraft, a plane could be readied for its next mission in six hours; oil or ethylene glycol leaks took eight to twelve hours to fix, while a coolant leak took two days, as the entire engine had to be stripped and checked. Often the ground crews would work by floodlight to ready the aircraft for the next day's mission. Contrary to popular myth, beer was not stowed in the fuel tanks for chiling at high altitude; the chance of blocking the fuel line was too great. Sheppard and other crew chiefs complained about the red tail order from General Nathan F. Twining, who wanted his fighters to be easily identifiable in the air, so all groups were assigned tail colors in early 1944. This P-51's red tail can be seen in the upper left of the photo. The ground crews protested this added work, which required constant touch-ups. When Twining sent the order, some of the 332nd fighter group's men wondered if the red color was picked to make the African-American pilots easier targets for the Axis! After the war, Sheppard became a pilot and safety inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as remaining in the Air Force Reserves as a flight engineer, retiring as a Master Sergeant in 1961. 

Source:

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) 208-AA-49E-1-3 

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0020