Three High Ranking German Officers Captured at Ruhr Pocket

Image size: 1600 x 1313 pixel. 491 KB
Date: Sunday, 15 April 1945
Place: Ruhr, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

Lieutenant Byron Hansford, a Military Police from the 99th "Battle Babes" Division, interrogated three high-ranking German officers arrested in the Ruhr Pocket, 15 April 1945. Four months earlier, the same U.S. infantry division had been fighting desperately to resist the last major German offensive in the West, which happened in the Ardennes region. How the situation has changed now! The three VIP prisoners are, from left to right: Generalarbeitsführer Paul Hoppenrath (Gauarbeitsführer Alpenland), Generalmajor Maximilian Jais (Kommandeur Abschnittskommando / Kampfgruppe Jais in Westwall), and Generalmajor Robert Eimler (XXI Festungs-Pionier-Kommandeur). The Ruhr Pocket was a battle of encirclement that took place in April 1945, on the Western Front near the end of World War II, in the Ruhr Area of Germany. Some 317,000 German troops, consisting mostly of unarmed Volksturm militia and Hitlerjugend units were taken prisoner along with 24 generals. The Americans suffered 10,000 casualties including 2,000 killed or missing.

Source :
"Images of War: Victory in Europe" by Andy Rawson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhr_Pocket
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14230&start=10350

German POWs Trudge Past a Sherman Tank

Image size: 1600 x 1079 pixel. 120 KB
Date: Friday, 19 January 1945
Place: Höngen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

German prisoners trudge past a Sherman tank of the British 8th Armoured Brigade in a German frontier village of Höngen, 19 January 1945, during Operation Blackcock. Operation Blackcock was the code name for the clearing of the Roer Triangle formed by the towns of Roermond, Sittard and Heinsberg. It was conducted by the British Second Army between 14 and 26 January 1945. The objective was to drive the German 15th Army back across the Rivers Rur and Wurm and move the frontline further into Germany. The operation was carried out under command of Lieutenant General Neil Ritchie's XII Corps, by three divisions, the 7th Armoured Division, the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division and the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division. The operation, named after the Scottish black male grouse, is relatively unknown despite the sometimes fierce battles that were fought for each and every village and hamlet within the "Roer Triangle". 

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8th_Armoured_Brigade_(United_Kingdom)
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205203000
http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/the-sherwood-rangers-in-january-1945.57430/

U.S. M8 Greyhound Near the German Border

Image size: 1600 x 1320 pixel. 682 KB
Date: Friday, 26 January 1945
Place: Near the Luxembourg-German border
Photographer: Unknown

Near the German border. January 26, 1945. An M8 Greyhound of U.S. 80th Infantry Division. Three crew members wear the helmet Mk 1 for British motorcyclists (Dispatch rider). The soldier who climbs the vehicle carries a set of USA winter suit. The German sign at left prohibits stopping and parking. In the Battle of the Bulge, The 80th was moved northward to Luxembourg and was hurled against the German salient, fighting at Luxembourg and Bastogne. By Christmas Day, men of the 80th were side-by-side with the tanks of the 4th Armored Division, battering forward through murderous opposition to help the 101st Airborne Division, besieged in Bastogne. Over frozen, snow-covered terrain, the attack gained nine bitter miles despite constant machine gun and mortar fire. The next day, the gap between the rescuers and the besieged was narrowed to 4000 yards. On 28 December, the 80th broke through, bringing relief to the 101st before driving the enemy across the Sure to Dahl and Goesdorf, 7 January 1945, and across the Clerf and Wiltz Rivers by 23 January. On 7 February 1945, the division stormed across the Our and Sauer Rivers at Wallendorf (Eifel), broke through the Siegfried Line, pursued the fleeing enemy to Kaiserslautern, 20 March, and crossed the Rhine, 27–28 March, near Mainz.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80th_Division_(United_States)
http://www.panzernet.com/foro4/showthread.php?11073-Uniformes-mezclados/page3

Jagdtiger Abandoned in Neustadt

Image size: 1600 x 1035 pixel. 563 KB
Date: Friday, 23 March 1945
Place: Landauer Strasse, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Photographer: Unknown
 

Panzerjäger Tiger Ausf.B mit 12,8cm PaK 44 L/55 "Jagdtiger"(Sd.Kfz.186) Nr. 331 of schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653 after she was abandoned in Landauer Strasse in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. The vehicles are shown here being examined by American soldiers from the 10th Armored Division, on 23 March 1945. Leutnant Kasper Geoggler commanded the Jagdtiger No.331, also the third Kampfgruppe from 3.Kompanie / sPzJg.Abt.653. Geoggler had nerves of steel, and was very keen to prove himself. He was awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (German Cross in Gold) on 10 May 1943 whilst fighting on the Eastern Front. He had already had several kills to his credit with his Jagdtiger. In 22 March 1945, Geoggler had three Jagdtigers including his own placed into a good position north of Neustadt with a commmanding view of the approach roads to the town. From camouflage postions, the three Jagdtigers engaged in U.S. tank column; the first and last vehicles were shot up followed by the rest. The Shermans and M10 tank destroyer returned fire. Two Jagdtigers - Geoggler's and another, No.323 - were hit ten times between them. They withdrew into Neustadt. After the battle, 25 US tanks were claimed destroyed, while none of the Jagdtiger crew suffered any serious injuries! The thick sloping-armor had done its job.

Source:

http://ww2colorfarbe.blogspot.com/2015/01/jagdtiger-no331-of-leutnant-kasper.html

Messerschmitt Bf 109 is “Blaue 15” of Leutnant Lehmann

 Image size: 1600 x 777 pixel. 471 KB
Date: Wednesday, 27 December 1944
Place: Niedermendig/Eifel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

The camouflage pattern already indicates it: this picture was taken in Germany during the final months of 1944. This Messerschmitt Bf 109 is “blaue 15” of Leutnant Lehmann of the 2.Staffel/NAG 1 (formed out of 4.(F)/123 on November 1st 1944). Picture taken at Niedermendig/Eifel airfield on December 27th 1944. A picture which may encourage modellers to build a diorama! Please note how close the aircraft is parked to the building.

Source:

Luftwaffe im Focus - Edition No.1 2002

A Knocked-Out Jagdpanther Being Examined by an American Soldier

Image size: 1600 x 1215 pixel. 869 KB
Date: Sunday, 1 April 1945
Place: Remagen, Rheinland Pfalz, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

A knocked-out Panzerjäger (tank destroyer) V Jagdpanther Sd.Kfz.173 is examined by an American soldier, probably of the 9th Army. While the date and place of this photo is disputed, the red primer on the vehicle, the soldier's uniform, and the absence of leaves on the trees probably indicate that it was taken during the Americans' advance into Germany in March-April 1945. Since civilians and sodliers would strip knocked-out tanks of anything useful, it's likely this photo was taken within a week of the tank being destroyed. It's possible this was a Jagdpanther from Kampfgruppe Paffrath/schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 654. The impact of anti-tank rounds can be seen along the road wheels. This vehicle has an early version of the 88mm (3.46 inch) Pak 43/3 L/71 gun that was a single tube; later versions of the Jagdpanther had two joined tubes that comprised the gun barrel. The gun mounting is a later version, indicating the barrel was replaced at some point with an earlier version, or this vehicle was built just as the factory was transitioning to the late model Jagdpanther. Widely considered to be the best tank destroyer of the war, the Jagdpanther was available in small numbers to units, as only 400 were made between December 1943 and the end of the war. 

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0068