Great look into history from a personal perspective - thank you for sharing them with us!
Great Grandfather's Amazing WW2 Pictures (some graphic)
- Thread starter MilsurpDan
- Start date
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dist1646
Ultimate Member
Awesome pictures. I especially like the King Tigers!
smoothebore
Active Member
Great pics, thank you for sharing. The greatest generation has always amazed me. Not only by what they did in WWII, but also across the board, they didn't talk about it. There are many of us history buffs who inherited memorabilia left by fathers, uncles, or grand fathers, to learn about their experiences only after they are gone.
My Uncle Bob died in 1984. All his stuff went to his oldest brother. When he died it went to my Dad. After Dad passed, My Mom told me about boxes of Uncle Bob's stuff in the garage. I should go through it and save anything I wanted. There's some Nazi money, pictures, letters, citations, and this 500 page book of real history. If I can figure out how to scan, I'll start a new thread to share.
My Uncle Bob died in 1984. All his stuff went to his oldest brother. When he died it went to my Dad. After Dad passed, My Mom told me about boxes of Uncle Bob's stuff in the garage. I should go through it and save anything I wanted. There's some Nazi money, pictures, letters, citations, and this 500 page book of real history. If I can figure out how to scan, I'll start a new thread to share.
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MilsurpDan
Ultimate Member
Thanks guys. I'm glad you appreciate it. Once I get home from work I'll scan or get pictures of the other stuff and post them. Unfortunately most of the pictures I posted already are just digital scans that I was given. I don't know if there's any way to restore those. Another relative has the actual photos and there's not really any chance of getting them now. However, I do have quite a few of them so that's a plus, in addition to a couple of the original film rolls.
rtmhunter
Ammo Hoarder
Awesome pictures!! Thank you so much for sharing.
Fantastic piece of history. Thank you for posting.
God Bless our Vets.
God Bless our Vets.
Indiana Jones
Wolverine
Cherish these. We have no pictures of my grandfather except from Parris Island. His exact response when I asked why there were no pictures of him..."we were too busy killing Japs". While I can definitely understand, it still makes me sad. I want some pictures! These are amazing OP. Protect these pictures!
MilsurpDan
Ultimate Member
Here's a letter (with the original envelope) that he wrote that I got with the other belongings. The letter itself isn't dated, but the envelope is stamped "Sept 26 1944" so it'd have to have been written a few weeks or so before. It must be some kind of printed copy after it went through military censorship. You can even see where its been "approved" after part of it was blacked out.
It reads
"Dear Dad,
I haven't written to you for quite a while for which I am very sorry. I try to write everyone when I can, but it isn't always possible. I write to Betty (his wife) often as I can and you can get any news from her
...Censored.... Which is all right as long as it doesn't rain too much and right now it is. We are getting a good rest here, but it won't last long, we are also getting fairly good meals. I went to a little town last night and drank a few beers, as whiskey is very scarce here and the beer is very different than that at home. I don't care much for it, but we have to do something to take our minds off the war and enjoy ourselves a little. I think we will be finished here in a few months and maybe I will have a chance to come home. If anyone gives you any bad news about me. Don't tell Betty as I don't want her to worry. Take good care of yourself and write soon.
Your Son"
It reads
"Dear Dad,
I haven't written to you for quite a while for which I am very sorry. I try to write everyone when I can, but it isn't always possible. I write to Betty (his wife) often as I can and you can get any news from her
...Censored.... Which is all right as long as it doesn't rain too much and right now it is. We are getting a good rest here, but it won't last long, we are also getting fairly good meals. I went to a little town last night and drank a few beers, as whiskey is very scarce here and the beer is very different than that at home. I don't care much for it, but we have to do something to take our minds off the war and enjoy ourselves a little. I think we will be finished here in a few months and maybe I will have a chance to come home. If anyone gives you any bad news about me. Don't tell Betty as I don't want her to worry. Take good care of yourself and write soon.
Your Son"
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marko12
Senior Member
Fantastic pictures, unfortunately not many of these personal pictures survive this long. You and your family must have gone to great lengths to ensure these survived to tell a story of valor and heroism.
Very cool letter!! Those were known as V-mail letters (V-mail, short for Victory Mail, was a hybrid mail process used during the Second World War in America as the primary and secure method to correspond with soldiers stationed abroad. To reduce the cost of transferring an original letter through the military postal system, a V-mail letter would be censored, copied to film, and printed back to paper upon arrival at its destination.)
j8064
Garrett Co Hooligan #1
The photographs are truly awesome, MilsurpDan.
Thank you for sharing them!
Thank you for sharing them!
3fingeredWU
Active Member
Thank you for posting these!
Really really cool!
Preserve them carefully. Truly priceless.
Preserve them carefully. Truly priceless.
MilsurpDan
Ultimate Member
Here's some close ups of the tank pictures and of some of the other interesting ones. Like I said, if you guys want to see anything else closer up let me know and I'll post them.
In the last picture, When I blew it up, I noticed that the German Helmet on the bottom looks like a German Paratrooper Helmet.
I wish he brought back that MG42 he's pictured with also...
In the last picture, When I blew it up, I noticed that the German Helmet on the bottom looks like a German Paratrooper Helmet.
I wish he brought back that MG42 he's pictured with also...
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Billman
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
I thoroughly enjoyed the photos, letter and story. Thank you for sharing and please be sure to preserve these for the next generation. Very cool!
photoracer
Competition Shooter
Great pictures. I wish my Dad had done more photography during the actual fighting but he did not come by the Leica he brought back from the war until he was in the occupation forces with Patton in Heidelberg.
One thing, the photos labeled 16" shell hits is likely mislabeled. Germans only had siege mortars above 15" and most if not all of their 42 cm siege guns fought on the Eastern Front mostly in the siege of Sevastapol. They did however have 15" railway guns in the Western Front and some permanent 15" gun shore batteries in the Calais. They all used guns originally designed for the Bismarck class battleships and the never completed upgrades to their 2 battlecruisers. One of those 15" (38 cm) railway guns was captured in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France where my father fought. He had been a US Army coastal artilleryman at a US 16" shore battery before joining the Signal Corps for the Italian and Southern France campaigns.
Those German tanks in the photos are both Panthers, often called Panzer Mark Vs in English although Hitler had them delete the "V" from the name before they were first deployed at the battle of Kursk in Russia.
One thing, the photos labeled 16" shell hits is likely mislabeled. Germans only had siege mortars above 15" and most if not all of their 42 cm siege guns fought on the Eastern Front mostly in the siege of Sevastapol. They did however have 15" railway guns in the Western Front and some permanent 15" gun shore batteries in the Calais. They all used guns originally designed for the Bismarck class battleships and the never completed upgrades to their 2 battlecruisers. One of those 15" (38 cm) railway guns was captured in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France where my father fought. He had been a US Army coastal artilleryman at a US 16" shore battery before joining the Signal Corps for the Italian and Southern France campaigns.
Those German tanks in the photos are both Panthers, often called Panzer Mark Vs in English although Hitler had them delete the "V" from the name before they were first deployed at the battle of Kursk in Russia.
Wow, I think you are correct! Good eye, sir. I assumed it was a Panther at first glance, like the one pictured near Paris.
Amazing pictures, OP. Thank you for sharing.
EDIT: In fact, I found other pictures of the exact same tank!
http://kagero.eu/index.php?option=c...id=318:koenigstiger&catid=99:armor&Itemid=687
Fantastic pictures, thanks for sharing. I have V Mail that my father sent my grandmother when he was in India. Before he was drafted he worked in Ireland for Lockheed as a contractor to the RAF in what was known as the Civilian Technical Corp. I have his "uniform" in my closet, it's basically an RAF dress uniform. After he was drafted he was sent to India in the 10th Air Force. I always enjoy seeing veterans pictures and reading about their experiences as opposed to history books.
atom33
Worker Drone - 7G
Great pics, especially with the caption info. A great personal perspective, thanks for sharing this!
S&W19
Ultimate Member
Wow! Thanks for sharing. These are great pics and an important part of your family's history.
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