Picture of the day

Buckmastr said:
"Soldier, would you mind standing up? I'd like to take your picture" Robert Capa said to me.
"It was the last good picture of my right leg"
(James Conboy Jr.)

This is James Conboy Jr of Philadelphia PA, 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division, just before heading towards Germany during Operation Varsity, wearing a 'Cheyenne Warlock' haircut as they had a Cheyenne native Indian trooper in their unit, saturday March 24, 1945.

On this day Jim Conboy participated in Operation Varsity. He was only 19 years old when he made the jump near the Rhine River, northeast of Wessel, Germany. After the jump, however, a 20mm shell hit him in the right leg, shattering it. His leg was amputated, for which he received a Purple Heart.

War photographer Robert Capa's shot of Mr. Conboy, taken just before boarding the plane that took him to Germany, was featured in a 1945 Life magazine photo essay and picked up by media around the world. Mr. Conboy appeared in a 2003 PBS documentary, Robert Capa: In Love and War.

Conboy was awarded a Purple Heart and also a Bronze Star for his courage in combat.
He passed on January 29, 2004. He was 78 years old.

Colour and restoration by Colourised PIECE of JAKE
Photo: Robert Capa

hikWjaX.jpg
Click to expand...

The reserve on the ground - would that be his? He seems to be wearing a musette bag where it should go.
 
Suriname, Paramaribo, 1941
During an inspection members of the 'Surinaamse Schutterij' (Surinamese Militia) stand in line with their American M1941 Johnson "Betsy" rifles.

The militia was assigned to help defend Suriname against possible invasions from French Guiana, which fell under the collaborationist French Vichy regime, or Brazil, where many Germans lived.

While the Netherlands is occupied by Nazi Germany and the Dutch East Indies is occupied by the Japanese, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles remain the only free Dutch territories. Yet these colonies in "the West" are also confronted with the war.
The 'Surinaamse Schutterij', founded in 1939, was intended to supplement the Dutch regular troops stationed in Suriname, but was not allowed to be deployed outside its own territory. Initially, the Schutterij consisted of volunteers from the local population.

When the Dutch colony was mobilized in May 1940, the unit numbered only 180 men. Later this number rose to 5,000. In 1942 the Militia was reinforced by 2000 American troops with 73 tanks.

Few people know what role Suriname and Surinamese played in World War II. The American war industry depended for more than 65% on Surinamese bauxite for the production of military aircraft.

Suriname also functioned as a safe haven for Jewish refugees from the Netherlands, among others. In the Netherlands, Surinamese resistance fighters gave their lives for their homeland. Perhaps the least known is that hundreds of young Surinamese men and women served as volunteers and conscripts in various parts of the Dutch armed forces. Among them: the Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL), the Princess Irene Brigade, the Royal Dutch Navy (the Marine Corps, the fleet and submarines), the merchant navy as (gunners) and as fighter pilots.

A small part fulfilled their task in Suriname, a larger part was sent to the Netherlands Antilles, the Dutch East Indies and Europe. In 1944 hundreds of Surinamese volunteers volunteered for the fight against Japan. They were assigned to the KNIL, trained in Australia and deployed in the former Dutch East Indies.

Colourised PIECE of JAKE
Source: BeeldbankWO2

XvJ2bgR.jpg
 
This 'Jedburgh', Lt. John K. Singlaub, has a .30 cal. M1-A1 folding-stock carbine slung across his chest, a compact weapon favored for parachute operations. 11 August 1944.

Singlaub served in WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, where (among many other awards) he received two Distinguished Service Medals, a Sliver Star, and a Purple Heart. He also was a founding member of the CIA, and he also served in the OSS (Office of Strategic Services).

Operation 'Jedburgh' was a clandestine operation in which personnel of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the Free French Central Bureau of Intelligence and Operations and the Dutch and Belgian armies in exile were dropped by parachute into occupied France, the Netherlands and Belgium to conduct sabotage and guerrilla warfare, and to lead the local resistance forces in actions against the Germans.

JEDBURGH OPERATIONS IN FRANCE
The first team in, codenamed "Hugh", parachuted into central France near Châteauroux the night before the Allied landings in Normandy, codenamed Operation Overlord. In total, 93 Jedburgh teams operated in 54 French metropolitan départements between June and December 1944.
The Jedburgh teams normally parachuted in by night to meet a reception committee from a local Resistance or Maquis group. Their main function was to provide a link between the guerrillas and the Allied command. They could provide liaison, advice, expertise and leadership, but their most powerful asset was their ability to arrange airdrops of arms and ammunition.
Like all Allied forces who operated behind Nazi lines, the Jedburghs were subject to torture and execution in the event of capture, under Hitler's notorious Commando Order. Because the teams normally operated in uniform, to apply this order to them was a war crime. However, of the Jedburgh teams dropped into France, only British Captain Victor A. Gough met that fate, being shot while a prisoner on 25 November 1944.

JEDBURGH OPERATIONS IN THE NETHERLANDS
From September 1944 to April 1945, eight Jedburgh teams were active in the Netherlands. The first team, code named "Dudley" was parachuted into the east of the Netherlands one week before Operation Market Garden. The next four teams were attached to the Airborne forces that carried out Market Garden. After the failure of Market Garden, one Jedburgh team trained (former) resistance men in the liberated South of the Netherlands.

In April 1945 the last two Dutch Jedburgh teams became operational. One team code named "Gambling", was a combined Jedburgh/Special Air Service (SAS) group that was dropped into the centre of the Netherlands to assist the Allied advance. The last team was parachuted into the Northern Netherlands as part of SAS operation "Amherst". Despite the fact that operating clandestinely in the flat and densely populated Netherlands was very difficult for the Jedburghs, the teams were quite successful.

Colour by Jake

CDOeFGf.jpg
 
A member of the First Special Service Force a.k.a. the 'Black Devil’s' with a BAR outside of Rome - June 4, 1944.

He's carrying an M1918 BAR instead of the M1918A2. Commando type units preferred the older version as they were lighter and not as maintenance intense.

The 1st Special Service Force was an elite American–Canadian commando unit in World War II. Many of the Canadians were First Nation Indians.

It was at Anzio that the Germans dubbed the 1st Special Service Force the "Black Devils’ because the brigade's members smeared their faces with black boot polish for their covert operations in the dark of the night.

During Anzio, the 1st SSF fought for 99 days without relief. It was also at Anzio that the 1st SSF used their trademark stickers; during night patrols soldiers would carry stickers depicting the unit patch and a slogan written in German: "Das dicke Ende kommt noch," said to translate colloquially to "The worst is yet to come".

It's literal translation is actually "The thick end is coming soon", implying that a larger force was on its way imminently, placing these stickers on German corpses and fortifications. Canadian and American members of the Special Force who lost their lives are buried near the beach in the Commonwealth Anzio War Cemetery and the American Cemetery in Nettuno, just east of Anzio.

When the U.S. Fifth Army's breakout offensive began on 25 May 1944, the 1st SSF was sent against Monte Arrestino, and attacked Rocca Massima on 27 May.
The 1st SSF was given the assignment of capturing seven bridges in the city to prevent their demolition by the withdrawing Wehrmacht. During the night of 4 June, members of the 1st SSF entered Rome, one of the first Allied units to do so. After they secured the bridges, they quickly moved north in pursuit of the retreating Germans.

Colour by Jake
LIFE Magazine Archives - Carl Mydans Photographer

oqSDhLy.jpg
 
Enter Hiroshi H. Miyamura, a New Mexico native and second generation Japanese who enlisted in the US Army in 1945 (despite having his wife in an interment camp).

On the night of April 24, 1951 Company H, 3rd ID were manning a defensive position when the enemy launched a massive attack. Then Cpl. Miyamura jumped from his shelter, rushed the oncoming enemy and killed 10 enemies with his bayonet. He then returned to his position, administered first aid to the wounded and directed their evacuation.

As another savage assault hit the line, he manned his machinegun and delivered withering fire until his ammunition was expended. He then bayoneted his way again through infiltrated enemy soldiers to a second gun emplacement and assisted in its operation. When the intensity of the attack necessitated the withdrawal of the company Cpl. Miyamura ordered his men to fall back while he remained to cover their movement. He killed more than 50 of the enemy before his ammunition was depleted and he was severely wounded. He maintained his stand despite his painful wounds, continuing to repel the attack until his position was overrun. When last seen, he was fighting ferociously against an overwhelming number of enemy soldiers.

Cpl. Miyamura survived the onslaught and was immediately captured by enemy, spending 28 months as a POW; surviving horrible conditions and enduring a 300 mile forced march.

On Aug 20, 1953, Miyamura was released and awarded the MOH. He was the first recipient to be classified Top Secret.

"If the Reds knew what I had done to a good number of their soldiers just before I was taken prisoner, they might have taken revenge on me and may not have come back." #korea

www.zerofoxtrot.com

UqAgfOz.jpg
 
By 1967, 2nd Lt. Allen 'Ace' Cozzalio had already made a name for himself within the 5th Cav. He was a renegade and respected helicopter pilot who earned almost every award for valor short of the MOH.

Always on the front lines, he was shot down 6 times in a span of 18 months. It wasn't unusual for him to come to base with his Loach completely damaged by enemy fire to the point that it was no longer flyable. On one mission, he flew back and landed after being shot in the neck.

When not on mission, he usually wore his full 1860s cavalry blues around base since he was extremely proud of the unit's history.

Among his legendary exploits, Cozzalio was flying in support of the 9th ID when he saw a 90-man unit in an open field pinned down by NVA machine gun fire from a reinforced bunker. Due to the small distance between the bunker and friendlies, the type of weapons and lack of maneuverability of the AH-1G, Cozzalio was unable to attack the bunker.

He landed his Cobra, returned in a Loach and landed on top of the bunker, allowing his gunner to get out and throw a grenade inside, the two just lifting off before the explosion.

He then switched back to the Cobra to continue ground support operations against the enemy.

For his actions, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. #vietnam

www.zerofoxtrot.com
C2LAT2a.jpg
 
Sergeant Joe Hooper waded across a river to attack entrenched NVA positions while they fired at him with machine guns and rockets. He survived the crossing and destroyed multiple enemy positions. He was seriously wounded while pulling another injured soldier to safety, but single-handedly continued to raid 3 more bunkers, killing everyone inside, and killing 2 other soldiers who were attacking the Chaplain.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
After clearing 3 more houses, Hooper ran out of ammo. When an enemy officer approached, Hooper chased him down and killed him with his bayonet. A grenade exploded nearby, further wounding Hooper, but he remained at the front despite rapidly loosing blood. He obtained more ammo, and continued down a trench line knocking out 8 more bunkers and killing enemy soldiers with his rifle, grenades, and incendiary grenades.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
He ran out of ammo once more and borrowed a pistol to go rescue another wounded soldier trapped in the trench line. He crossed an open field to reach the man, shot another NVA soldier in the trench, then returned the man to friendly lines. Hooper remained at the front all night, refusing medical evacuation until the following morning. By the time it was over, Hooper had personally accounted for 22 enemy killed.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
For his incredibly inspiring heroism, Hooper was awarded the Medal of Honor. He was commissioned as an officer, even though he had not received a high school diploma, and left the Army as a Captain in 1978. He served multiple tours in Vietnam, becoming one of the most decorated soldiers of the war. For his service, in addition to his Medal of Honor, Hooper earned 2 Silver Stars, 6 Bronze Stars with "V", and 8 Purple Hearts. The Army officially credited him with 115 kills in combat, 22 of which occurred on February 21, 1968. Hooper passed away the year after he left the Army of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 40 years old.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#battlesightzero

gT2VVx3.jpg
 
Buckmastr said:
This 'Jedburgh', Lt. John K. Singlaub, has a .30 cal. M1-A1 folding-stock carbine slung across his chest, a compact weapon favored for parachute operations. 11 August 1944.

Singlaub served in WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, where (among many other awards) he received two Distinguished Service Medals, a Sliver Star, and a Purple Heart. He also was a founding member of the CIA, and he also served in the OSS (Office of Strategic Services).

Operation 'Jedburgh' was a clandestine operation in which personnel of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the Free French Central Bureau of Intelligence and Operations and the Dutch and Belgian armies in exile were dropped by parachute into occupied France, the Netherlands and Belgium to conduct sabotage and guerrilla warfare, and to lead the local resistance forces in actions against the Germans.

JEDBURGH OPERATIONS IN FRANCE
The first team in, codenamed "Hugh", parachuted into central France near Châteauroux the night before the Allied landings in Normandy, codenamed Operation Overlord. In total, 93 Jedburgh teams operated in 54 French metropolitan départements between June and December 1944.
The Jedburgh teams normally parachuted in by night to meet a reception committee from a local Resistance or Maquis group. Their main function was to provide a link between the guerrillas and the Allied command. They could provide liaison, advice, expertise and leadership, but their most powerful asset was their ability to arrange airdrops of arms and ammunition.
Like all Allied forces who operated behind Nazi lines, the Jedburghs were subject to torture and execution in the event of capture, under Hitler's notorious Commando Order. Because the teams normally operated in uniform, to apply this order to them was a war crime. However, of the Jedburgh teams dropped into France, only British Captain Victor A. Gough met that fate, being shot while a prisoner on 25 November 1944.

JEDBURGH OPERATIONS IN THE NETHERLANDS
From September 1944 to April 1945, eight Jedburgh teams were active in the Netherlands. The first team, code named "Dudley" was parachuted into the east of the Netherlands one week before Operation Market Garden. The next four teams were attached to the Airborne forces that carried out Market Garden. After the failure of Market Garden, one Jedburgh team trained (former) resistance men in the liberated South of the Netherlands.

In April 1945 the last two Dutch Jedburgh teams became operational. One team code named "Gambling", was a combined Jedburgh/Special Air Service (SAS) group that was dropped into the centre of the Netherlands to assist the Allied advance. The last team was parachuted into the Northern Netherlands as part of SAS operation "Amherst". Despite the fact that operating clandestinely in the flat and densely populated Netherlands was very difficult for the Jedburghs, the teams were quite successful.

Colour by Jake

CDOeFGf.jpg
Click to expand...

Interesting that a US and A of America soldier is wearing British Pattern 1937 web gear and holster.
 
XRCD011 said:
Indeed a Denison and a number of other British items.

Read this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Jedburgh
Click to expand...

According to my Google search , John Singlaub achieved the rank of Major General in the US Army , served 34 years , parachuted behind German lines in August 1944 ,, He later jumped into Japanese occupied China ,he is still alive , he will be 100 years old on July 10, born July 10, 1921
 
green;[URL="tel:17931135" said:
17931135[/URL]]Interesting that a US and A of America soldier is wearing British Pattern 1937 web gear and holster.
Click to expand...
I would have expected brass keepers on the web belt and by late war ... I would be surprised not to see the ‘web’ binocular case in use... much sturdier and more protective than the leather case shown ... all a little odd
 
AP said:
I would have expected brass keepers on the web belt and by late war ... I would be surprised not to see the ‘web’ binocular case in use... much sturdier and more protective than the leather case shown ... all a little odd
Click to expand...

The Webbing slides were the economy version vs brass.
 
x westie said:
According to my Google search , John Singlaub achieved the rank of Major General in the US Army , served 34 years , parachuted behind German lines in August 1944 ,, He later jumped into Japanese occupied China ,he is still alive , he will be 100 years old on July 10, born July 10, 1921
Click to expand...

Ballsy guy, props.
 
I saw the post of the soldier having his boot cut away from a bouncing Bettie mine and thought I would post these photos. During a tank/infantry combat sweep South of Phu Bai in May of 1968 I was serving a combat photographer with Task Force X-Ray of the 1st Marine Division. I (Cpl. Dennis Fisher) was attached to Delta Co. 1/5 Second Platoon under the command of 2nd Lt. Maurice Green for this op. The lieutenant's radioman, LCpl. Gary Crum just happen to look down as his foot caught the trip wire from a Z-10 mine. He froze and called for help. Right Guide, Cpl Hector Mata and the lieutenant immediately came to his aid. We didn't have any EOD guys with us and no one was sure if this was a pressure release or a pull type trip wire so they cleared the leaves and debris that had been hiding it and carefully piled flak jackets on top of the mine and around his boot. Everyone moved back and Gary carefully extricated has boot from the trip wire. The mine was blown in place once we all moved away. You can see the mine off the tips of Cpl Mata's fingers in the close-up photo.
Click to expand...

qOzFyCM.jpg


fCyoThM.jpg
 
New Zealand soldiers pose with a captured German Tankgewehr M1918 – The World's First Tank Killer Rifle

What the Germans needed as much as tanks was something to stop the British and French tanks and this was the Mauser 13.2mm Tank Abwehr Gewehr Model 18 or "Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr." Known simply as the Tankgewehr, it was an upscaled bolt-action rifle that was based on the Mauser action. Unlike the Gewehr 98 – the standard service rifle used from 1898 to 1935, which featured an internal five round magazine – the T-Gewehr was a single-shot weapon that had to be manually loaded each tip. It also differed from other rifles of the era in that it had a pistol grip and bipod.

What the Tankgewehr lacked was anything to reduce the recoil, including a muzzle brake or even padded buttpad. Shooting multiple rounds could take a toll on the man charged with firing it. The rifle was developed after the British had launched the first full-scale tank offensive at Cambrai in the fall of November 1917, and pushed the Germans back some 20 kilometers.

The massive rifle was chambered to fire a powerful 13.2 TuF (Tank und Flieger-Tank and Aircraft), a .525-cablier jacketed, armor-piercing, steel-core cartridge. Effective range was about 500 meters, but gunners had to fire over iron sights.

Two to three T-Gewehrs were issued per regiment, and each was operated by a two-man gun crew. One man would be the primary gunner and would carry the rifle along with twenty of the specially designed TuF rounds, while the second man in the team would carry two shoulder bags with twenty rounds in each, as well as an ammunition box that contained an additional seventy-two cartridges.

The rifle did a reasonably good job of stopping enemy tanks, which typically had just 12mm of armor protection at that point, but it was really too late to turn or even stop the tide. By the end of 1918, Germany surrendered and the T-Gewehr has largely been forgotten.

However, it was the only anti-tank rifle to see service in World War I, and there were later attempts – notably as the British Boys Anti-tank Rifle – to upsize a rifle to take out a tank, but none were remotely as successful as the T-Gewehr.

Colour by Jake Colourised PIECE of JAKE

Caption: Peter Suciu: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/tankgewehr-m1918-–-worlds-first-tank-killer-rifle-139477

1kzaEKr.jpg
 
Rifleman R.M. Douglas of The Royal Winnipeg Rifles, celebrates the liberation of the city of Deventer with a group of Dutch nurses, Netherlands, 10 April 1945.

Note the Eyemo camera with a spider lens turret he is holding.
The regiment landed in England in September 1940. As part of the 7th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Division, the Rifles were in the first wave of landings on D Day, 6 June 1944.

The Royal Winnipeg Rifles fought throughout the Normandy campaign, fighting in famous battles such as Caen and the Falaise Gap. After helping liberate several of the Channel Ports, the regiment fought to clear the Scheldt Estuary to allow the re-opening of the Antwerp harbour (Operation Infatuate).

After helping to liberate the Netherlands, the regiment ended the war preparing to assault on the northern German town of Aurich.

Colour by Jake
Photo credit: Library and Archives Canada: Lieut. Donald I. Grant/Deptarment of National Defence fonds/PA-140683

75 jaar vrijheid Royal Winnipeg Rifles Royal Winnipeg Rifles Museum & Archives Deventer, Overijssel

TeCUUti.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom