Fascinating arial reconnaissance photographs, dating from various points thought out World War Two are now available in Google Earth. They mostly show bomb damage in some 35 major cities across Europe. To view the images, make sure you have the latest version of Google Earth installed. To activate the time line, click the clock icon in the status bar at the top, then use the slider to go back in time to 1943.
I hope they continue to add more historical reconnaissance photographs from the period. The Atlantic Wall and the areas around Normandy would be particularly fascinating. Many areas were extensively photographed during the war by both sides, and it is no doubt possible that it could be extended to include these. Adding additional photos to Google Earth would provide some very useful research and educational tools, and could lead to some interesting map ‘mash-ups’. For instance, using the timeline feature you could add a strategic map layer showing major campaigns / battles and the front line across Europe/Russia, North Africa and the far East. You could then track through the timeline day by day and follow individual battles and movements of Divisions. Just a thought really. I have thought that type of thing, would be a great history resources for a long while. Guess I need to get busy and attempt it myself., with one or two battles, and see if it can be done.
In announcing the feature, Ed Parsons, Google’s Geospatial Technologist, said, “Many of us have heard stories, read books and watched films which show the many impacts of WWII across the world. We hope that this World War II imagery will enable all of us to understand our shared history in a new way and to learn more about the impact of the war on the development of our cities.”
Reported by RIA NOVOSTI. The painful memories of the massacre of Polish prisoners of war by the Soviet Union may be finally be nearing a time when there is reconciliation between the one time Alllies of World War II . “Russia is ready to help Poland organize events to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre of Polish prisoners of war by the Soviet Union, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.
Lavrov said Polish colleagues have informed Moscow of their plans for this year’s commemoration of the 1940 execution of several thousand of Polish POWs, mainly officers and soldiers, in Katyn, western Russia, which has remained a sensitive issue in ties between Poland and Russia.”
Edumnd Meschke as a 12-year-old in postwar Berlin in “Germany Year Zero.” Rossellini had moral courage to find sorrow whre others had understandably found horror. By DAVE KEHR Published: January 22, 2010
Had to give this a quick mention Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy (Rome Open City/Paisan/Germany Year Zero) recently released by Criterion Collection as a box set – classic war films, and certainly some of the best war films in my opinion; all the more fascinating as they were made very shortly after the war finished. Worth seeing if you have never seen them before, and this release is remastered by the Criterion Collection is going to be of the highest quality.
Petro Kasinchuk, who was a member of the Ukrainian underground, receives a flower from a supporter during a rally in 2006 in Kiev calling for official recognition of the fighters as World War II veterans. (Efrem Lukatsky/associated Press)
The Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or UPA fought for independence for the Ukraine throughout World War II and beyond. During the German occupation it was aligned with Nazi Germany in its struggle for independence. Today the movement to pay tribute to those who fought for independence is marred with controversy over its involvement in ethnic cleaning and it alignment with Nazi Germany.
LINK - In Ukraine, movement to honor members of WWII underground sets off debate – The Washington Post January 6, 2010
WW2 German radio collection. All radios are operative. Kw.E.a, T9K39-main, E52b, Lo6K39a, Torn.Fu.b1, Torn.E.b, Fu.NP.E a/c, Fu.H.E.c, Fu.H.E.u1. d
One of may favorite sites, run by a group of Norwegian electronics enthusiasts. A fantastic collection of German World War Two radio & communication equipment can be found on LA6NCA’s WW2 Radio Page at http://www.laud.no/ww2/. This impressive collection includes all types of communication equipment from the German armed forces in WW2, including army, navy and air-force equipment. Some of the more interesting items include the Li Spr 8; which could tansfer an audio signal using a light beam across terrian too difficult to lay cables over. The website has some great period photos of communication equipment in use. Much of the restored equipment is fully working and there are some impressive videos demonstrating some of the devices in use.
In this April 5, 2009 photo, a couple walks along an armored turret at the Hackenberg fortress, in Eastern France. In the 1930s the Maginot Line was viewed as a military marvel, an impregnable network of underground fortifications stretching along France's border with Germany, from Belgium to Switzerland, designed to stop the Nazi onslaught and prevent a repeat of the bloody trench warfare of World War I. (AP Photo/Slobodan Lekic) (AP)
The fortifications of the Maginot Line stretching across the old French German border provide a wealth of opportunities to visit the many preserved and restored bunkers and fortifications. Often situated in unspoiled and breath taking county side. For any one interested in fortifications of the period they present many opportunities for visits that can take in the Maginot Line, its sister fortifications along the French Italian boarder and the German Siegfried Line.
“Unfortunately, the Maginot Line failed to prevent France’s crushing defeat in May 1940, when the invading Nazis simply bypassed it by breaking through Belgian defenses in the north and trapping the hapless French, British and Belgian armies. The Germans later turned on the line and captured it from the rear, taking more than 500,000 prisoners.”
An undated reproduction of a pre 1939 post card showing the town of Malbork. Remains of over 2,100 people including women and children believed to be German civilians buried at the end of World War II, were found in Malbork. (AP Photo) (AP)
MALBORK, Poland — Germans and Poles held a ceremony on Friday 7th August 2009 to rebury remains found in a mass grave in the town of Malbrok.
“uncertainties about who the dead were and who killed them may never be resolved. All that authorities can say with some assuredness is that they were probably German civilians who died in the ferocious final months of the war,”
With German shells screaming overhead, American infantrymen take shelter behind a tank. In the background can be seen the ruins of the town of Geich, Germany, which is still under heavy shelling.
A glimpse of US 9th Infantry Division in WWII. Photographs taken by Harold Roberts, and shown at a reunion recently show so fascinating moments from the division’s drive into Germany.
“As a combat photographer with the Army Signal Corps, Harold Roberts was an eyewitness to some of the most powerful scenes in the history of 20th century warfare. His photos capture scenes that words can’t describe, some so graphic that they can’t be published in a family newspaper.”
A state-backed German foundation set up to fund compensation payments to slave laborers under the regime of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler has no money to pay Italian soldiers forced into labor during World War II.
The “Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft” (Remembrance, Responsibility and Future) Foundation told the Sunday edition of Berlin’s Tagesspiegel newspaper that the money remaining at the foundation’s disposal had been earmarked for other purposes.
STRASBOURG, France, May 30 (Reuters) – Britain and the United States should reveal the location of chemical munitions seized from Nazi Germany at the end of World War Two and dumped in the Baltic Sea, the Council of Europe said on Friday.
The human rights watchdog said the exact location of the dumps, a military secret, should be made public to ensure that environmental risks connected with a planned underwater gas pipeline between Russia and Germany can be properly assessed.
WWII.co.uk web site is not dedicated to and does not support any Revisionist or Neo-Nazi beliefs and does not aim to glorify war. This web site is dedicated to the history of World War Two, the German armed forces and its allies. The photographs and words are intended to give an impartial view of a conflict that affected many millions of people in our recent history.
– a docu film featuring many of the men who actually fought in the battle.
– German made film.
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