The War in View #17

Halifax Harbour bustles with wartime naval activity in “The Springboard,” a painting by John M. Horton. Thanks to its proximity to the transatlantic route, the harbour was an important staging area for British-bound convoys.   John M. Horton/DND

 

Crew on the open bridge of HMCS Galt scan for German U-boats while escorting a convoy of merchant ships. Wartime supply lines to Britain started with the outbreak of war.   Donald MacKay/CWM/19710261-4211

 

The 1st Division of the Canadian Active Service Force departs Halifax for overseas in December 1939. Ten thousand Canadian Militia members had been mobilized in August.

 

Challenger and Cromwell tanks of the 2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry, 11th Armoured Division in the British Army passes through Flers, France in August 1944.

 

Abandoned Soviet KV-1 heavy tank.

 

French Char B1 Bis heavy tank nicknamed “Eure”, with her crew alongside her. Among her crew is her tank commander, Captain Pierre Armand Gaston Billotte, or simply Pierre Billotte (1906-1992).

 

Abandoned Soviet KV-2 heavy tank.

 

A Sd.Kfz. 251 half-track firing its mounted Wurfrahmen 40 during the Warsaw Uprising. A rocket launching system akin to the Soviet Union's Katyusha rocket artillery, the Wurfrahmen 40 was a German rocket artillery that was mounted onto vehicles. These rockets could be between 280 to 320 mm in diameter. Vehicles the German commonly placed the Wurfrahmen 40 on were the Sd.Kfz. 251 half-tracks and captured French Renault UE Chenillette and American M3 half-tracks.

 

A Nashorn and a Tiger I heavy tank in the Italian theater sometime in April 1944 idling among some M4 Sherman wrecks.

 

The ARL 40, also known as the ARL V 39, was a French assault gun built for the purposes of infantry support. A 1935 project, the design was from Atelier de Construction de Rueil (ARL) and used parts from the B1 tank. Using the 75 mm APX gun, the rounds were able to penetrate about 50 mm from 1,000 meters, even including a stereoscopic rangefinder. An interesting feature with the gun mount was that the gun barrel could be retracted into the hull to reduce overall vehicle length. The ARL 40 was intended to be part of the division cuirassée (DCR), or armored division, with 72 placed in production orders in 15 October 1939, with an allocation of eight battalions with two batteries of three vehicles. Among the 72 were also 24 command vehicles without armament. This order was increased to 108 on 9 May 1940, the eve of what would be the Battle of France. Only a single prototype was produced, which was evacuated to Morocco away from the German invasion force, where it was later abandoned and left to history.

 

29 May 1940: Five Swordfish from 825 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) flying from RAF Thorney Island were lost in a single bombing raid over France whilst supporting Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the BEF from the beaches of Dunkirk. The Squadron CO Lt Cdr James Brian “Jimmy’ Buckley DSC RN and Lt R. G. Wood were captured and sent to POW Camps.

Buckley was born in Pendleton, Manchester in 1905. He joined the RN on 15 May 1923 as a Midshipman; and in 1927 was seconded to the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force (pictured). He was promoted to Lt Cdr in December 1936 and to Sqn Ldr in Jan 1938.

Buckley arrived at the Dalag Luft transit camp with Sqn Ldr Roger Bushell RAF. Buckley escaped from Dalag Luft in June 1941, through a tunnel, but was recaptured three days later, and sent to Stalag Luft I at Barth. There he was immediately appointed as Head of the Escape Committee (aka ‘Big X’). When Barth became overcrowded, Buckley was moved to Stalag Luft III at Sagen. In October 1942 Buckley was moved again to Oflag XXI-B at (Szubin) Schubin, but before departure he handed over the ‘Big X’ role to Bushell (who later masterminded the infamous ‘Great Escape’ from the camp in March 1944).

On the evening of 5 March 1943 Buckley, along with 34 other prisoners, escaped from Szubin through a 150ft long tunnel. All the escapees were recaptured within a few days, except Buckley and his Danish traveling companion Jorgen ‘Billy’ Thalbitzer who went under the name FO Thompson RAF, to hide his real identity from his captors. The two escapees reached Copenhagen where Billy made contact with his family, and through them the famous Danish Resistance fighter Jørgen Røjel. 

He gave them a small stolen canoe and, on a cold night, gave them advice on the course they should take to paddle across the three-mile wide strait. The final stage of their escape should have been trouble-free, but they never made it to neutral Sweden. Billy’s body was washed up on the north shore of Sjælland, Buckley’s body was never found. A police investigation pointed to them having been run down, on 21 March 1943, in fog by a German patrol boat. It was also likely that they survived the collision and, whilst in the water, removed their overcoats, scarves and gloves, but died of exposure.

Lt Cdr Eugene Esmonde took Buckley's place as Commanding Officer 825 NAS on 31 May 1940.

 

B-17 Flying Fortress 42-31902  "Stormy Weather II" 447th BG with battle damage 16 July 1944.

 

B-17 Flying Fortress 42-102430 "Spam-O-Liner" 384th BG flew 79 missions. Delivered Cheyenne 2 March 1944; Grand Island 13 March 1944; Grenier 2 April 1944; Assigned: 545BS/384BG [JD-O] Grafton Underwood 15 April 1944; Transferred: 403 AD Langford Lodge training 4 March 1945; transferred with group to Istres for mapping duties; Salvaged. 9AF Germany. any 10 December 1945.

 

B-17 Flying Fortress 42-102430 "Spam-O-Liner" 384th BG.

 

Patch of the 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, USAAF.

 

Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress 41-24361 "Wabash Cannon Ball", Great Britain, 1942.
Assigned RAF [FA676] but transferred 301BG Westover 18 July 1942; Podington 6 August 1942; Tafaraoui, Algeria 24 November 1942; 96BS/2BG Massicault, Tunisia; 348BS/99BG Oudna, Tunisia 28 March 1944; 840BS/483BG Tortorella, Italy 31 March 1944. Returned to the USA 11 June 1944. Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA) Altus 20 August 1945.

 

Captured Junkers Ju 290 before its flight across the Atlantic to the US.

 

Captured Junkers Ju 290 "Alles Kaput" in the US postwar.

 

Captured Junkers Ju 290 "Alles Kaput" on display in the US postwar.

 

Junkers Ju 290. This aircraft was flown across the Atlantic following the surrender and its subsequent passing into American hands, decorated with this fantastic nose art and did the immediate post war air show circuit. These were immensely strong, robust aircraft, built to operate in challenging environments and absorb a lot of damage. It also packed serious defensive armament featuring 20mm cannon.

 

Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress 42-30793 "Tom Paine".

 

Nakajima G8N “Rita”. Naval long range bomber developed toward the end of the war. Only a few built. Did not enter service. The only survivor was captured by the US Army. It was tested and evaluated by the US Navy and scrapped.

 

Fiat G.50 Freccia, Rome, 1939.

 

Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress 42-3271 "Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk".

 

Loading depth charges filled with torpex explosive material. This looks like it was taken at RAF Benbecula, Scotland where No. 206 Squadron were based.

 

Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress 41-2656 "City of Seattle".

 

The Italian Giussano-class cruiser Alberto da Giussano.

 

The Italian battleship Giulio Cesare.

 

The Italian Duca degli Abruzzi-class light cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi.

 

The Italian light cruiser Raimondo Montecuccoli.

 

The Italian Zara-class heavy cruiser Zara.

 

The Italian Zara-class heavy cruiser Fiume.

 

The Italian Giussano-class light cruiser Giovanni dell Bande Nere, 1933.

 

The Italian battleship Roma was considered to be a beautiful ship in keeping with Italian naval design.

 

The Italian battleship Roma at anchor. The Roma was sunk on 9 September 1943 by a German Fritz-X guided bomb.

 

The Italian battleship Roma listing after being hit by German Fritz-X radio-controlled bombs launched by Do 217s, 9 September 1943.

 

The Italian battleship Roma in her death throes, 9 September 1943.

 

This photo, made from a British warplane during the assault of Tobruk shows the Italian Cruiser San Giorgio, burning amidships, in the harbor of Tobruk, on February 18, 1941. The ship was scuttled, its decks appear to be covered with wrecked and smashed gear.

 

Italian warships burning after the British attack on Taranto.

 

The Italian Conte di Cavour.

 

The Italian battleships Conte di Cavour and Littorio.

 

The Italian Littorio turning at speed.

 

The Italian Littorio.

 

The Italian battleships Littorio (foreground) and Vittorio Veneto at gunnery practice in 1940.

 

The Italian Vittorio Veneto.

 

The Italian Vittorio Veneto at anchor in 1940.

 

After the second Fritz X hit the Italian Roma, it started a serious fire within the ship which reached the ammunition in the forward magazine, resulting in the explosion shown in this photo. The Roma sank after breaking in two.

 

The Italian Giuseppe Garibaldi.

 

Italian Zara class cruisers on patrol in the Mediterranean.

 

The Italian Zara.

 

Italian destroyer Granatiere.

 

The Italian Lanciere, a Soldato class destroyer.

 

The Italian Scirocco, a Maestrale class destroyer.

 

Italian Generale class light destroyers or, as the Italian Navy called them, torpedo boats.

 

Italian Libra torpedo boat or light destroyer of the Alcione class.

 

Italian submarine Acciaio.

 

Italian submarine Alpino Bagnolini returning to Taranto after the sinking of HMS Calypso in June 1940.

 

Italian submarine Alpino Bagnolini in 1941.

 

Italian submarine Alpino Bagnolini at Bordeaux with the Cagni following a heavy bombardment of the facilities.

 

Italian submarine Ammiraglio Cagni returns from sea with a damaged after casing.

 

Italian submarine Archimede upon its arrival in Bordeaux.

 

Italian submarine Argonauta in Messina.

 

The conning tower of the Italian submarine Ascianghi with the slogan "visit Bougie,” a reflection on the harsh reality of war patrols in the Mediterranean.

 

Galilei, an Italian Archimede class submarine, about to be taken in tow by the British destroyer Kandahar after noxious gases filled the boat causing her to surrender.

  

The Gondar, a Italian 600 Class Adua Series submarine, surfaces in frantic haste off the Egyptian coast on 30 November 1940 after many depth charges, dropped by the British destroyer Diamond and the Australian destroyer Stuart, have made her stay below the water no longer possible.

 

As the Gondar reached the surface a bomb from the RAF aircraft which originally spotted her for the destroyers and had been circling the sky above her during the chase, narrowly missed the submarine’s hull. After reaching the surface, the submarine’s crew, which had already scuttled the submarine, hurled themselves into the destroyer’s boats.

 

Shelled from the warship and bombed from the air, the Gondar’s visit to the open air was a very brief one, as almost immediately she began again to sink beneath the waters. The Gondar was carrying ‘human’ torpedoes to attack the harbor of Alexandria.

 

Italian submarine Perla at Beirut after capture in 1942.

 

Italian submarine Cagni with a smaller German style conning tower.

 

“Human torpedo” — SLC (Siluro a Lenta Corsa = Slow Running Torpedo), nicknamed the “Maiale” (pig).

 

A much later version of a human torpedo (Italian).

 

An Italian troop ship passes through the Suez Canal en route to Ethiopia, surrounded by local boats.

 

Gotha Go 242 transport glider.

 

HMS Hood and HMS Repulse.

 

Abandoned Jagdtiger, Germany, 1945.

 

The Lahti L-39 is a Finnish 20 mm anti-tank rifle being used in an anti-aircraft role in 1942.

 

USS Enterprise (CV-6), 1942, pre-Battle of Midway. First several rows are SBD Dauntless dive bombers, last three rows are TBD Devastator torpedo bombers.

 

Gun director on the USS Texas.

 

P-51 Mustang graveyard.

 

Supermarine Spitfire.

 

Captured Macchi MC.202 in US evaluation markings.

 

Ambrosini SAI.207.

 

Ambrosini SAI.207.

 

Ambrosini SAI.207.

 

Ambrosini SAI.207.

 

Ambrosini SAI.403 Dardo (Dart), circa 1943.

 

Ambrosini SAI.107.

 

Ambrosini SAI.403 instrument panel.

 

Breda Ba.201.

 

Breda Ba.201.

 

Breda Ba.201.

 

Savoia Marchetti S.M. 85.

 

Savoia Marchetti S.M. 85.

 

Junkers Ju 87 Stukas in Italian air force service.

 

Junkers Ju 87 Stukas in Italian air force service.

 

A handful of Junkers Ju 87 survived the armistice of 1943 and flew with the markings of the “new” Regia Aeronautica, also known as ICAF (Italian Co-belligerent Air Force).

 

CANT Z.511 in 1939.

 

CANT Z.511.

 

Ambrosini SAI.403 Dardo.

 

Ambrosini SAI.403 Dardo.