WWII in photos

[Krynn72]

#5 fuuuuuu

They're so cute when they're sleeping.

 

[Dan]

I guess most of them thought that they were supporting a friend, they felt they could sit back and watch England do all the fighting without lifting a finger. I'm sure there were other that still felt that they were a little bit English (since Australia had only been a country for 30 something years back then) and others who wanted the pay or the adventure etc.. I'm sure it's no different to the people who go to Afghanistan today, the soldiers are generally the ones most against pulling out because they believe they are doing something good for the people who live there.

Also Australia was about one island naval base away from being invaded by Japan. Considering that most of their army got chewed up at the start of the war, they weren't in a good situation to fight a home front war. Luckily for them, their country is giant and barren. Unlucky for them is that all of their cities are right on the coast. If The U.S. wasn't involved in the Pacific, Australia would have been ****ed in a very real and immediate way.

 

[StarBob]

38 is pretty impressive, I don't think I've ever seen a shot like that of Iwo Jima. Also that last one is crazy how much AA fire there is. It's hard to comprehend.

 

[unozero]

Jesus Christ Krynn, now I''l be depressed and the week just started.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Aww, was hoping there might be some pics of the NZ air forces in there, granddad flew a corsair in the Pacific. My dad actually has some great photos of him lying around somewhere, I should scan them some time.

 

[Escaep]

Bump. Forgot about last week!

Week 16: The Allied Invasion of Europe: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/10/world-war-ii-the-allied-invasion-of-europe/100160/
Week 17: The Fall of Nazi Germany: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/10/world-war-ii-the-fall-of-nazi-germany/100166/

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

These are so incredible

 

[Evo]

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/world-war-ii-the-last-heroes/4od

Not sure where it is available, but Channel 4 documentary talking to WW2 vets.

 

[15357]

The fall of Nazi Germany, I love those photos; I'm fascinated with the collapse of regimes and stuff like that, and Nazi Germany di go out with a bang.

 

[Escaep]

If you don't like seeing lots of dead bodies, don't view this week. Again, pretty gruesome and probably the most horrific set of images I've ever seen on the internet.

Week 18: The Holocaust: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/10/world-war-ii-the-holocaust/100170/

 

[15357]

The pictures of the survivors get to me more than the pictures of the dead. Truly horrible.

 

[Krynn72]

It still amazes me that this kind of cruelty could exist on such a large scale. The power of propaganda and brainwashing is so... incredible. One can only hope that as we get smarter, as a whole, we become more resistant to it. Otherwise we're still in for a lot more cruelty for centuries to come.

 

[Raziaar]

And people still deny this shit...

 

[morgs]

I couldn't get through all of those images, it's just too saddening.

 

[Escaep]

Week 19: The Fall of Imperial Japan: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/10/world-war-ii-the-fall-of-imperial-japan/100175/

The U.S. B-29 Superfortress bomber "Enola Gay" took off from Tinian Island very early on the morning of August 6th, carrying "Little Boy", a 4,000 kg (8,900 lb) uranium bomb. At 8:15 am, Little Boy was dropped from 9,400 m (31,000 ft) above the city, freefalling for 57 seconds while a complicated series of fuse triggers looked for a target height of 600 m (2,000 ft) above the ground. At the moment of detonation, a small explosive initiated a super-critical mass in 64 kg (141 lbs) of uranium. Of that 64 kg, only .7 kg (1.5 lbs) underwent fission, and of that mass, only 600 milligrams was converted into energy - an explosive energy that seared everything within a few miles, flattened the city below with a massive shockwave, set off a raging firestorm and bathed every living thing in deadly radiation. At the time this photo was made, smoke billowed in a column 20,000 feet above Hiroshima while smoke from the burst had spread over 10,000 feet at the base of the rising column.

 

[mechanicallizard]

wow. incredible images. i cant imagine what it must have been like to be there at the time

 

[Escaep]

Final week: After the War: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/10/world-war-ii-after-the-war/100180/