British POW with Luftwaffe Soldiers

Image size: 1600 x 1067 pixel. 848 KB
Date: Monday, 18 December 1939
Place: Wilhelmshaven, Niedersachsen, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

On 18 December 1939 German fighters met a formation of 22 Wellington bombers and almost annihilated them. They destroyed 14 bombers; four were very badly damaged, and the remaining four were less badly damaged. One of the destroyed bombers was a Wellington Mk I, N2936, LF-J of 37 RAF Squadron which was shot down into the sea close to the German coast, most probably by Oberstleutnant Carl Schumacher (Geschwaderkommodore Jagdgeschwader 1) at 14:35. The whole crew led by bomber pilot Sergeant Herbert Ruse was rescued by the Germans and taken prisoner. Here we see Ruse escorted by Luftwaffe soldiers. In the background parked a Junkers Ju 52 “Tante” transport aircraft.

Source :
Book "Luftwaffe at War: Luftwaffe Aces of the Western Front" by Robert Michulec

American Prisoners of War Celebrate the Fourth of July at Camp Casisang

Image size: 1600 x 1067 pixel. 576 KB
Date: Saturday, 4 July 1942
Place: Camp Casisang, Malaybalay, Philippines
Photographer: Unknown

American prisoners of war celebrate the 4th of July in the Japanese prison camp of Casisange in Malaybalay, on Mindanao, P.I. It was against Japanese regulations and discover would have meant death, but the men celebrated the occasion anyway. The Visayan-Mindanao Force under US Army Brigadier General William F. Sharp was composed of the 61st, 81st, and 101st Infantry Divisions of the Philippine Army. Major General Jonathan M. Wainwright, in nominal command of all the Allied Forces in the Philippines, ordered Sharp to surrender on May 9. Sharp complied and most of his men entered captivity at Camp Casisang, Malaybalay, on May 10. Camp Casisang had been a training ground for the Philippine Constabulary. The barracks were of crude construction, some with corrugated steel roofs but most were made of either thatched wood or nipa palm fronds. Water was a scarce commodity and the prisoners were limited to one canteen of water per day for all purposes. One pump was the sole source of water for about 1,000 Americans and 11,000 Filipinos. On August 15, 1942, All Generals, Full Colonels and their orderlies left Camp Casisang. There had been a large number of full Colonels plus five Generals at the camp. One of them was Philippine General Manuel Roxas, who after the war became the President of the Philippines in 1946. The Japanese gathered 268 men and marched them to Bugo where they boarded the Tamahoko Maru on October 3, 1942 for a 3-day voyage to Manila. At Manila they were marched to Bilibid Prison to wait for transportation to Japan. Many did not survive the war. On October 15, 1942 Camp Casisang was closed. All remaining prisoners were moved on the Japanese frieghter Maru 760 to Davao. 

Source:

NARA (National Archives)  #: 111-SC-333290
WAR & CONFLICT BOOK #: 1301

http://www.defenseimagery.mil/imageRetrieve.action?guid=7d7f71b7d98e8bc85447a111385d630a9e72363d&t=2

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii1150

Frostbite Experiments of Unit 1855

Image size: 1600 x 1133 pixel. 300 KB
Date: Friday, 31 January 1941
Place: Hailar, Inner Mongolia, China
Photographer: Unknown

Three Japanese Kempeitai of Unit 1855 guard eight Chinese prisoners during their forced exposure to frostbite. Unit 1855 was a secret Imperial Japanese Army facility that focused on the development of biological weapons during World War II. It was operated by the Kempeitai, the Japanese military police, with the the headquarters in Beijing. Unit 1855 also operated an experimental branch unit based at Chinan, Hopei. The North China Army established Unit 1855 on February 9 1938. The 2,000 soldiers were housed near Bejing's Temple of Heaven. Headed by Imperial Japanese Army Colonel Yeni Nishimura, he reported directly to Major General Dr. Shiro Ishii of the infamous Unit 731. Unit 1855 killed 1,000 people between 1938 and 1945. Eight male Chinese, aging from 15 to 49, were victims of the experiments carried out from January 31 - February 11, 1941 in Inner Mongolia. The men were exposed outdoors to temperatures of about 27 degrees Celsius below zero with some being deliberately wounded or forced to wear wet shoes and clothing. Unit 1855 recorded the victim's reactions. One teenager became "furious" four minutes after the experiment began, wailed 30 minutes later and could no longer feel his feet after one and half hours. Unit 1855's records claimed the experiments were done to learn how to deal with frostbite afflicting Japanese soldiers during the war. The photo was part of unclassified records titled "Results of Japanese Imperial Army Winter Hygienic Research" discovered in Tokyo in 1995. 

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii1148

British Former Prisoners of War Rest on USS Block Island

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Date: Tuesday, 11 September 1945
Place: Manila, Luzon Island, Philippines
Photographer: Unknown

 Two British survivors rest on USS Block Island (CVE-106). Before Japanese units on Formosa had formally surrendered, a multinational task force consisting of the USS Block Island (CVE-106), USS Brister (DE-327), USS Finch (DE-328), USS Kretchmer (DE-329), USS Santee (CVE-29), and USS Thomas J. Gary (DE-326) from the United States; from Great Britain were the HMS Argonaut, HMS Barle, HMS Belfast, HMS Bermuda, HMS Colossus, HMS Helford, HMS Tumult, HMS Tuscan, HMS Tyrian and the Tanker San Amado; from Australia was the HMAS Quiberon; and from New Zealand was the HMNZHS Maunganui docked offshore of the port of Kiirun on September 5, 1945. the task group launched all available aircraft in case of trouble. The smaller ships docked and began to take on passengers to take out to the larger ships. Some 1500 American, British, Australian and New Zealand prisoners of war, held in various camps all over Taiwan, made their way by train to embark for Manila and medical care before going home. It took four days to embark everyone, and the hangar decks of the two carriers were turned into makeshift hospitals. Many of the former prisoners had to be carried on. The task force crews were stunned at the emaciated condition of most of the survivors. Maurice Cunningham, held since October 1942, said "Those sailors were marvellous, they helped every way they could, transferring us to boats by harness, then taken to aircraft carrier where as we crawled up gangway steps they manned every step of the way to help us up. I remember as I neared the deck hearing a band playing welcoming us aboard, each one of us individually, I almost burst into tears. I had never felt like this before. I was determined not to cry, I don't know how I managed. All I knew the Americans were to us like mothers to babies, they were on guard all night manning steps to latrines to make sure we were OK. It was there I saw myself in a mirror and scared myself." US Navy Pharmacist's Mate First Class Bennie G. Owens said, "I have never worked so hard in my life as we did to prepare these men for transport to the DE’s and then to the Carriers and then to hospitals in Manila. We had less than 24 hours to prepare them for transport. The condition of the POW’s remains in mind to this day almost 60 years later. If anyone has any doubt as to the treatment that POW’s at the hands of the Japanese, I can tell you that it was horrible." It took four days for the Allied navies to load all the men, leaving the worst cases to be stabilized and flown out. Many of these men were carried on board in their weakened state. USS Block Island's orchestra welcomed the prisoners with renditions of "God Save the King" and "Rum and Coke-Cola." Despite the best efforts of medical staff on board, some of them still died in transit as a result of their internment. A muffled cheer went up as the ships cleared Kiirun. Arriving in Manila on September 11, many of the men needed mental as well as medical treatment, but to avoid stigmatizing the victims, mental services were not made available. Many of the survivors suffered from post-traumatic stress for many years. 

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii1072

Allied Prisoners of War Sort Confiscated Equipment on Bataan

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Date: Saturday, 11 April 1942
Place: Mariveles, Philippines
Photographer: Manuel Alcantara

Japanese guards supervise American and Filipino prisoners of war sorting through captured equipment confiscated by the Japanese at Mariveles Airfield. Although Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma's 14th Army had expected 25,000 prisoners of war, they were greeted by more than 75,000 (66,000 Filipinos and 11,796 Americans) starving and malaria-stricken captives at Bataan. During the battle, only 27,000 of these men were listed as "combat effective" despite rampant malaria. The Japanese army met great difficulties in transporting these prisoners from the beginning. Most Allied prisoners were forced together either on the airfield or at the Little Baguio motor pool, and were frisked for their valuables. Some lost food and canteens; others retained them. Some lost hats and helmets, which would have Any japanese money or manufactured goods resulted in death or violence. Beatings for no apparent reason were commonplace, and all witnessed varying degrees of wanton cruelty. Counted off in ranks of four and marching companies of one hundred, their ordeal began on April 10, 1942. The road from Mariveles on the tip of Bataan to Orani was unimproved, deep in dust and excrement. Pitifully few of the wounded survived, falling by the wayside, bayoneted or beheaded, or ground into pulp beneath enemy tanks and trucks. Distributing food was also almost impossible as many were fed nothing, and the Allied prisoners were already hungry from lack of food during the battle. 4,000 sick or wounded captives had to stay behind to be treated by the Japanese at Bataan.

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii1069

A Column of Armour from Panzer-Brigade "Koll" at Vyazma

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Date: Thursday, 2 October 1941
Place: Vyazma, Smolensk Oblast, Soviet Union
Photographer: Helmut Ritgen

A column of armour from Panzer-Brigade "Koll" advance through woods past a burning Soviet ammunition truck. On the right, unguarded Soviet prisoners make their way to the rear. The leading Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) bears on the driver's visor the yellow "Y" sign of 7. Panzer-Division, identifying Panzer-Regiment 25. After German forces encircled Leningrad in the north, Adolf Hitler turned his attention to the center part of the Soviet front. His Führer Directive 36 on 6 September focused German preparations on a drive against Moscow in Operation TAIFUN (TYPHOON), entrusted to Field Marshal Fedor von Bock’s Army Group Center. Bock commanded 5 field armies consisting of 14 panzer divisions, 9 panzergrenadier divisions, and 44 infantry divisions. He planned to use his armor to seize two key towns, Vyazma (some 150 miles west of Moscow) and Bryansk (220 miles southwest of Moscow) in order to open the road to the Soviet capital for his infantry. The leading German units involved were Colonel General Heinz Guderian’s 2nd Panzer Group, Colonel General Hermann Hoth’s 3rd Panzer Group, Colonel General Erich Hoepner’s 4th Panzer Group, and Colonel General Maximillian von Weich’s Second Army. To defend Moscow, the Soviets had assembled 6 armies under Colonel General Ivan Konev’s Western Front. They were backed by 4 second-echelon armies. To Konev’s immediate south were 2 additional armies of Marshal Semyon Budenny’s Reserve Front. Three more reserve armies were eventually brought forward. All the armies were badly understrength: totaling 80 divisions, they were, in fact, the equivalent of only 25 full-strength divisions. The Germans had more than twice the number of tanks (an estimated 1,000 to 479), and the Soviets had only about 360 aircraft to at least twice as many German planes. The Soviets also suffered from a shortage of trained officers, as many had been pulled out of their units in August and September to organize new formations in the rear. In addition, the Soviets had shortages in modern antitank and antiaircraft weapons. Lieutenant General Andrei Yeremenko commanded Soviet forces in the Bryansk area where the Germans planned to attack. On 2 September, Stavka (the Soviet High Command) ordered Yeremenko’s Bryansk Front to move in two different directions, toward Roslav and southwest on Starodub in an effort to halt the German advance. The Soviet effort ended in failure, necessitating a return to defensive operations by 13 September. German forces also moved into a gap of some 36 miles between the Bryansk and Southwestern Fronts. On 30 September, Guderian’s 2nd Panzer Group began an advance that carried it 50 miles the first day and 100 miles over the next three days. Guderian took the key rail junction of Orel, 150 miles in the Soviet rear, on 8 October. Two days earlier, 2nd Panzer Group had surrounded Bryansk. At the same time, von Weich’s forces moved from the west, trapping the Soviet Third, Thirteenth, and Fiftieth Armies, although some of Yeremenko’s forces escaped to the east on 25 October. To the north, meanwhile, Hoth’s 3rd Panzer Group drove into the gap between the Soviet Nineteenth and Thirtieth Armies northwest of Vyazma, while 4th Panzer Group penetrated a vulnerable area between the Reserve and Bryansk Fronts. Konev countered by sending his deputy, Lieutenant General I. V. Boldin, and his operational group of three divisions and two tank brigades to strike the flank of 3rd Panzer Group on 3–4 October, but these efforts came too late. Boldin’s force was caught in the German encirclement, along with the greater part of Konev’s Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-Fourth, and Third-Second Armies west of Vyazma. General Konstantin Rokossovsky had been sent to Vyazma with his staff to gather five reinforced divisions there for a counterattack on 6 October, only to find no Soviet divisions and German tanks already on the scene. He fled the town and soon discovered that he was between the inner and outer rings of the encirclement; he decided to break out to the northeast, picking up units along the way, including the 18th Infantry (the Home Guard Division) and an NKVD unit. These units broke out and joined Konev in Mozhaisk, 40 miles west of Moscow, where surviving elements of the Western and Reserve Fronts were forming a new 135-mile-long line to Kaluga. Lieutenant General M. F. Lukin, Nineteenth Army’s commander, also broke out of the encirclement to the east with two-plus divisions on the night of 12–13 October. The Germans were hampered by the onset of the rainy season, which turned the roads into quagmires. But Stalin’s penchant for linear defense with fronts deployed in single operational echelon had been pierced by German armor supported by artillery and Stukas, resulting in the encirclement and capture of as many as 660,000 Soviet troops, 1,242 tanks, and 5,412 artillery pieces. Vyazma surrendered on 14 October and Bryansk on 20 October. This engagement was, however, the last of the great German encirclements. When word reached Moscow of the defeat, a great many citizens took flight, necessitating the proclamation of martial law in the capital on 19 October. Konev received the blame for the defeat; he was replaced by General of the Army Georgii Zhukov, who was charged with the final defense of Moscow.

Source:

Helmut Ritgen photo collection
Book "The 6th Panzer Division: 1937-45" by Oberst a.D. Helmut Ritgen
http://junebarbarossa.devhub.com/blog/421149-battle-for-vyazma-bryansk-220-october-1941/

PzBefw.III of Oberst Richard Koll at the Battle of Vyazma

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Date: Thursday, 2 October 1941
Place: Vyazma, Smolensk Oblast, Soviet Union
Photographer: Helmut Ritgen

Photographed by Helmut Ritgen on 2 October 1941, during the breakthrough by Panzer-Brigade Koll north of Vyazma : the brigade commander's Panzerbefehlswagen III, with the white turret code 'RO6', on a typical Russian dirt road or 'rollbahn'. In front of it, a column of Phänomen Granit 25H ambulances; to the right, Soviet prisoners; and in the background, smoke rising from an oil dump bombed by German stukas. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945, Vyazma became a battlefield between the Red Army and the Wehrmacht during the Battle of Moscow. It became the centre of a Red Army pocket after it was encircled by the 3rd and 4th Panzer armies. Vyazma was occupied by the German army between October 7, 1941 and March 12, 1943.

Source:

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vyazma

Execution of Brave Russian Prisoners

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Date: Monday, 30 June 1941
Place: Lapland, Murmansk Oblast, Soviet Union
Photographer: Unknown

This picture above was taken on June 30, 1941 and shows German mountain troops from the Tyrolean Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 136 / 2.Gebirgs-Division / Gebirgskorps Norwegen extrajudicially killing Soviet POWs. Barely a week into the war, these two Soviet Prisoners, who bear their heads high and affront death, are executed on sight. They were shot a few minutes later. The remains of Soviet soldiers were lying on the tundra of the Arctic Circle more than 70 years. They were found and buried in the summer of 2013. We can known now the name of one of the Soviet soldiers after many years. He is private Sergey Korolkov, 1912 year of birth, the birthplace Kirov region, Velikoluksky area, Serezhinsky farmland, village Hmelishche, in the Soviet Army on June, 22nd, 1941.Other soldier is still unknown. There is an assumption that he is the Soviet junior officer.

Source:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=566981546670638&set=gm.179815068873006&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?228877-Eismeerfront-1941-2013

Memorial Service in Prisoner of War Heito Camp #3, Formosa

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Date: Saturday, 1 January 1944
Place: Heito Camp #3, Pingtung, Formosa (Taiwan)
Photographer: Unknown

American, British, Australian, Dutch and other Commonwealth prisoners of war honor their dead comrades. This was probably a propaganda photo staged for the Japanese press. Date is estimated; 1943-1944. Heito Camp #3 in Pingtung, Formosa (Taiwan) was a transit camp for Allied prisoners of war on their way to other camps, and a source of slave labor to clear rocky land for sugar cane production nearby. if the men did not fill their quota of railroad cars with rocks by hand, they were beaten. The Formosan conscript guards could be worse than the Japanese. Over 1000 men were incarcerated here between August 1942 and February 1945. Wainwright and the other American brass from the Philippines were brought here on their way to their permanent detention. An air attack on February 7 wrecked the camp and the prisoners were relocated to Taihoku Camp #6 in Taipei. The Japanese Commandant, Lieutenant Tamaki, boasted to the prisoners that he would fill the cemetery, and he did - a second one had to be constructed! Many prisoners were worked to death or contracted malaria from the nearby swamp.

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii1060

American POWs Reenact Surrender of Corregidor to Imperial Japanese Army

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Date: Sunday, 31 May 1942
Place: Corregidor, Luzon, Philippines
Photographer: Unknown

American Prisoners of War, retained after most of Corregidor's 11,000 defenders were moved off the island, are forced to reenact the surrender of Malinta Tunnel. This is the East Entrance of Malinta. Much propaganda was made about the surrender of the Philippines. The Japanese kept two work parties on the island, one held at the lower level of the hospital to replace a 12" gun tube at Battery Hearn and to use parts from Battery Chicago on Morrison Hill to fix the damaged Battery Ramsey's 6" guns. Battery Ramsey was completely destroyed by the American liberation in 1945. The second work detail, probably shown here, collected scrap metal for shipment back to Japan. The Prisoner of War camp began with 240 men that the Japanese retained on the island after shipping the other defenders off island by May 23, 1942. The men were in various quarters on the island but no single camp for the entire war. An additional 76 officers and enlisted men arrived from Cabanatuan on June 7, 1942. Senior officer was Lieutenant Colonel Lewis S. Kirkpatrick. The hospital was moved to Bilibid Prison in July 1942, and 66 men were removed to Manila in October. The men were paid for the first time in October 1942 and received Canadian Red Cross packages for Christmas. Because of the availability of hidden food stores and supplies coming into Corregidor for shipment to Japan, the men were relatively well fed during their time there. The Japanese did not favor the leftover American stores of corned beef and stewed tomatoes, which supplemented the prisoners' diet. That changed for the Americans when they arrived at the Bilibid Prison Camp and when they were shipped to other camps in Manchuria and Japan. Kirkpatrick died of pneumonia on April 27, 1943. All American prisoners on Corregidor were moved to Bilibid on June 8, 1943. 

Source:

NARA (National Archives) Record Group 208: Records of the Office of War Information, 1926 - 1951 (ARC identifier: 535). Series: Photographs of the Allies and Axis, compiled 1942 - 1945 (ARC identifier: 535523). NAIL Control Number: NWDNS-208-AA-80B-1. Select List Identifier: WWII #129 

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Surrender_of_American_troops_at_Corregidor,_Philippine_Islands,_05-1942_-_NARA_-_535553.jpg

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii1046

Two of Eighteen Allied POWs Rescued by USS Queenfish (SS-393)

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Date: Sunday, 17 September 1944
Place: Off Hainan, South China Sea, China
Photographer: Unknown

Two of eighteen Allied POWs rescued by USS Queenfish (SS-393). On September 12, USS Sealion II (SS- 315) sank the Rakuyo Maru, a 477-foot Japanese-built passenger-cargo vessel carrying a load of raw rubber and, unknown to the crews of the submarine wolf pack pursuing her convoy, over 1300 Allied prisoners of war. Two of Sealion's torpedoes hit the POW ship, one amidships and one in the bow. It took 12 hours for Rakuyo Maru to sink, which allowed the surviving POWs some time to make rafts and search the doomed ship for food and water. The Japanese guards had left the ship immediately after the attack using most of the lifeboats. Four days later, USS Pampanito (SS-383) found two men on a makeshift raft. Pampanito's log recorded: 1634 Hours - "The men were covered with oil and filth and we could not make them out.... They were shouting but we couldn't understand what they were saying, except made out words 'Pick us up please.' Called rescue party on deck and took them off the raft. There were about fifteen (15) British and Australian Prisoner of War survivors on this raft from a ship sunk the night of September 11-12 1944. We learned they were enroute from Singapore to Formosa and that there were over thirteen hundred on the sunken ship." Pampanito rescued as many as she could and radioed for help. Queenfish and USS Barb (SS-220) arrived at 0530 Hours on September 17th to begin their search for rafts among the floating debris. Just after 1300 they located several rafts and began to pick up the few men still alive. They only had a few hours to search before a typhoon moved in, sealing the fate of those survivors not picked up in time. Before the storm hit, Queenfish found 18 men, and Barb found 14. The boats headed on to Saipan after a final search following the storm revealed no further survivors. Of the 1,318 POWs on the Rakuyo Maru sunk by Sealion, 159 had been rescued by the four submarines: 73 on Pampanito, 54 on Sealion, and the 32 found by Queenfish and Barb. It was later learned that the Japanese had rescued 136 for a total of 295 survivors. 

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii1040

Internees Greet Americans At Urawa Internment Camp

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Date: Thursday, 30 August 1945
Place: Urawa Internment Camp (Kamikizaki 5-6-3), Saitama, Japan
Photographer: Wayne Miller (United States Navy Lieutenant, Naval Aviation Photography Unit )

Prisoners at the Urawa Internment Camp, 5-6-3, Saitama Prefecture, cheer United States Navy and Marine medical personnel on August 30, 1945. Several Japanese Civil Police are also present. Father Edwin C. Ronan (November 5, 1884 - March 1, 1965) is coming out of the door to greet the Americans. Father Ronan was the Chaplain of the United States Army and the Philippine Army until his capture on Mindanao in June 1942. Urawa was opened on October 5, 1942 for civilian men, mostly missionaries and clergy, in a Franciscan convent. On January 28, 1944, Urawa Camp held fifty-six men - 30 Canadians, eleven British, seven Greeks, three Americans, three Belgians, and two Dutch - were transferred from Sumire, Sendai, and Miyoshi camps, which were closed. Urawa could hold up to 78 men. With 35,500 square feet (3,300 square meters) of land and only 10,500 square feet of buildings (990 square meters) this modern building, constructed just before the Pacific War started, had room for the internees to grow their own food. All of the internees were fluent in Japanese, so orders were given in Japanese only! The camp lacked heat, causing the United States State Department to issue a formal complaint to the Japanese through Switzerland in December 1943. The internees could see the firebombing of Tokyo on March 9-10, 1945, and subsequent air attacks. In the September 4, 1945 issue of the Los Angeles Times, Urawa internee Father Marie Gabriel Groleau (July 28, 1913 - December 25, 2000) claimed the Japanese Civil Police beat the internees. The Los Angeles Times reported that the Civil Police also ate the rations intended for the camp; Father Ronan lost sixty-five pounds. The internees, many of whom had lived in Japan for years, separated the actions of the camp guards from the Japanese population. Just before the camp was liberated, supplies were dropped from Boeing B-29 Superfortresses on August 26, 1945, but the internees gave their parcels to the public. 

Source:

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) NWDNS-80-G-473730 

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii2241

American Soldiers of the 99th Infantry Division March Into Captivity

Image size: 1301 x 1600 pixel. 462 KB
Date: Monday, 18 December 1944
Place: Lanzerath, Liege, Belgium
Photographer: Unidentified German SS-Kriegsberichter (War Correspondent)

American soldiers of the 99th Infantry Division are accompanied to the rear by paratroopers of 3. Fallschirmjäger-Division. While this column was marched into captivity, they could see and hear the battle between German and American artillery not far away. The 99th Division had just begun combat operations on the Roer River on December 13, 1944 when three days later the Ardennes Offensive broke with a heavy concentration of artillery fire. Despite being an inexperienced unit and their lines pierced by many German armored columns, the small unit actions fought by the 99th would prevent the timely completion of the German timetable. At Lanzerath, a German speaking municipality in Belgium, The Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon of the 384th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division, under the command of First Lieutenant Lyle J. Bouck, Jr., comprised eighteen men but inflicted 400-500 casualties on the Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 9, which failed to continue the assault. Bouck and his men were captured, but only one American was killed. This column of prisoners are lucky to have kept their winter coats and boots; some Americans were stripped of clothing. Many lost watches and jewelry when they were taken. The thousands of American prisoners from the 106th, 4th, 28th and 99th Divisions were marched through Northern Germany, where food and survival were constant concerns. Most men lost an average of fifty pounds during their five month captivity. Some men, like author Kurt Vonnegut of the 106th, were caught up in the firebombing of Dresden in February 1945. 

Source:

National Archives and Records Adminstration (NARA) NWDNS-111-SC-198240

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii2005

German self-propelled gun Sturmpanzer IV "Brummbär"

Image size: 1600 x 817 pixel. 451 KB
Date: Wednesday, 1 March 1944
Place: Nettuno, Lazio, Italy
Photographer: Unknown

Sturmpanzer IV Series 2 of Sturmpanzerabteilung (Asault Tank Battalion) 216 pauses in an Italian road to let Free French colonial prisoners of war taken by the Germans pass by. The Sturmpanzer IV was also known as Sturmpanzer 43, Sonderkraftfahrzeug Sdkfz 166 (Special Purpose Ordinance Vehicle 166) and nicknamed "Brummbar" (Grizzly Bear) or "stupa" in the field. Mounting a 150mm (5.9-inch) Sturmhaubitze (StuH) 43 L/12 infantry assault gun on a Panzer IV ausf G chassis, the Brummbar was developed in response to the inability of 75mm (3-inch) guns to reduce Soviet bunker positions during the Battle of Stalingrad. The first fifty Brummbar equipped Sturmpanzerabteilung 216 at the Battle of Kursk; seventeen were lost in combat. While it was an effective infantry support weapon, the shift from offensive to defensive operations in 1944 limited its original purpose. Still, it was a powerful weapon that could provide effective defense, especially in urban areas. The first version suffered from being overweight for the Panzer IV chassis and had transmission problems. Later versions corrected these problems and added a bow-mounted MG34 machine gun for anti-infantry defense. In December 1943, Sturmpanzerabteilung 216 was pulled out of the Eastern Front and set to Italy to confront the allied landings in the Anzio-Nettuno area. They were part of the failed offensive in February 1944 to push the Allies into the sea. Sturmpanzerabteilung 216 remained in combat in Italy until April 1945, when the unit destroyed its remaining vehicles to prevent their capture. 

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0050

Crew of B-17G "Flatbush Floogie" is Captured Near Schillig, Germany

Image size: 1600 x 1067 pixel. 331 KB
Date: Tuesday, 11 April 1944
Place: Schillig, Niedersachsen, Germany
Photographer: Kriegsberichter Vorlander from PK-Atlantik

The crew of Boeing B-17G-40-BO Flying Fortress 42-97083 "Flatbush Floogie" of the 8th Air Force, 45th Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy), 3rd Bombardment Division, 452nd Bomb Group, 728th Bomb Squadron, are arrested by Luftwaffe personnel from the Jever airdrome near Schillig, Germany on April 11, 1944. On a mission to Rostock, "Flatbush Floogie" lost her left elevator to flak en route to the target. After the bomb run, she was hit again, causing a fire in her Number 1 engine and Number 2 to smoke. The Engineer, Technical Sergeant Lee A. Varner (March 24, 1914 - March 8, 1992), was on the flight deck attempting to help the command crew feather the props when a flak burst caught his face and shrapnel entered his eye. The pilot, First Lieutenant Thomas Leonard Gardner (January 16, 1917 - July 15, 2002) made it over the North Sea before realizing that they couldn't make it home. He turned back. "Flatbush Floogie" impacted on the mud flats near Schillig, 27 kilometers north-northwest of Bermerhaven. While the wreck was in no danger of sinking, tidal forces quickly saturated the aircraft with sand, and the Germans broke up the wreck in situ. All ten crew members survived, as you can see them in this view. Initially they were held at Jever Air Base before being interrogated. Gardner can be seen talking to the Germans on the far left; from Stockton, California, he enlisted on January 5, 1942 at Stockton Field, California. Gardner was interned in Stag Luft I outside of Barth, Germany. His Co-Pliot, Second Lieutenant Carl Lewis West, Jr. (February 27, 1919 - May 19, 2007) was from Bridgeton, New Jersey. West Enlisted On June 20, 1942 In Fort Dix, New Jersey and was also interned in Stalag Luft I. Bombardier Second Lieutenant Jack Ralston Bonham (March 4, 1921 - August 20, 1973) was from Bluefield, West Virginia and enlisted On April 1, 1943, in Charleston, Virginia. Bonham trained In Midland, Texas in class 43-05 and was also interned in Stalag Luft I. Bonham was possibly the tall man in the center of this view as Army induction records his height at six foot four inches (1.93 meters). "Flatbush Floogie's" Navigator, Second Lieutenant Jacob R. Brown (August 5, 1920 - October 9, 2005) was from Houston, Texas. Brown enlisted On August 14, 1942 at Harlingen Army Air Force Base in Harlingen, Texas. All the officers were interned together in the North 1 Compound at Stalag Luft I. Engineer Varner was taken away from Jever for medical care but another bombing mission the next day prevented the Germans from bringing him to a doctor. He lost his sight permanently in one eye. Varner was from Hamilton, Montana and enlisted on January 20, 1942 In Missoula, Montana. Varner and the rest of the crew were interned separately from the officers in Stalag XVIIB. "Flatbush Floogie's" Radioman/Dorsal Gunner, Technical Sergeant Lucious C. Birbeck (May 2, 1918 - July 22, 2001) was from Grand Island, Nebraska. Birbeck enlisted on November 20, 1942 In Portland, Oregon. Sergeant Henderson H. Head, Jr., (March 20, 1922 - August 8, 1996) the Left Waist Gunner, was from Appalachia, Virginia; he enlisted On November 13, 1942 at Baer Field in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Right Waist Gunner Sergeant Alex E. Shewchuck, Jr. (January 3, 1924 - May 13, 2001) was from Bridgeport, Pennsylvania; he enlisted On March 15, 1943 In Allentown, Pennsylvania. Tail Gunner Sergeant Raymond C. Cutchall (October 31, 1917 - April 26, 2003) was from Los Angeles, California. Cutchall enlisted On January 9, 1942 at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. Ball Turret Gunner Sergeant Raymond Chester "Tuck" Stewart (February 26, 1913 - December 27, 1998) from Hastings, Nebraska; he enlisted On October 17, 1942 in Denver, Colorado. This view was taken by Propagandakompanie Vorländer, a Kriegsberichter (war correspondent) who had photographed the Low Countries for the Wehrmacht since the invasion of France in 1940. Vorländer's photo was printed in the Netherlands newspapers Utrechts Nieuwsblad on June 1, 1944 and Dagblad Van Het Zuiden on June 2. The Germans ran these papers as propaganda organs. The approved caption read, "A four-engine landing in a mudflat. Immediately after landing the 10-man crew jumped from the supposedly sinking craft. Appalled and indifferent Americans are now on German soil for the first time - to captivity they go." The Officers in Stalag Luft I were repatriated by May 15, 1945. The Enlisted Crewmen had longer to wait - they weren't allowed to leave until after May 29, 1945. The Soviets had forcibly stripped the noncommissioned officers of most of their possessions. Gardner moved to Nevada and is buried in the military cemetery there. Lieutenant West returned to active duty, eventually earning the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He retired after a long career after transitioning to fighters in 1958. Brown became a businessman after the war. Bonham was recalled to Air Force duty at the end of the Korean War and served until 1964. Varner passed on a deep interest in the story of "Flatbush Floogie" to his son James, whose research helped this posting. Birbeck received a Presidential Unit Citation for his first tour with the 301st Bombardment Group on April 6, 1943. Stewart moved to Oregon after World War II. Head was discharged November 16, 1945, and remained in his native Virginia. Shewchuk was separated on October 30, 1945. Cutchall was buried in Indiana. His son also in interested in the story of "Flatbush Floogie".

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0042