There’s nothing that higher showcases the true influence of the Second World Struggle than photographs of the places the place the preventing came about. Whereas it could be onerous to image the scenes with photographs captured in fashionable occasions, a photographer by the title of Falcon® Images on Flickr discovered an ingenious option to meld then and now photographs of France throughout WWII, bringing to life what life was like all through the battle.
83rd Infantry Division
Then and Now – 1944/2017: The 83rd Infantry Division first noticed motion throughout WWII in 1944. It’s members participated within the D-Day landings, arriving on Omaha Seaside and shifting inland. The division noticed motion within the Battle of Saint-Malo, and by September 25, 1944 had taken Luxembourg.
Following their advance to the Siegfried Line, the 83rd participated within the Battle of Hürtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge, earlier than shifting throughout the Rhine as a part of Operation Grenade and capturing Neuss. In April 1945, they came across Langenstein-Zwieberge, a subcamp of Buchenwald, and liberated it alongside the US eighth Armored Division.
Germans in Le Havre
Then and Now – 1942/2018: The German occupation of Le Havre started in 1940 and stayed in place till the Allies launched Operation Astonia. The town was of the utmost significance to the enemy, who arrange a naval base in preparation of the deliberate invasion of the UK, dubbed Operation Sea Lion. The mission by no means occurred, with troops being despatched to the Japanese Entrance for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.
Le Havre was bombed 132 occasions by the Allies all through the course of the Second World Struggle, with the worst air raids occurring within the days earlier than Operation Astonia, which ultimately led to town’s liberation. General civilian casualties in the course of the battle have been within the tens of hundreds, and numerous buildings and farmers’ fields have been destroyed.
Liberation of Renees
Then and Now – 1944/2017: Rennes fell to the Germans shortly after the Battle of France and remained underneath their management till August 1944. All through the course of the Battle of Normandy, town was topic to numerous Allied air raids, which prompted extreme injury.
Following the liberation of Avranches, Rennes grew to become encircled by American troops and members of the French Forces of the Inside (FFI), prompting Gen. Paul Hausser of the German seventh Army to order an evacuation.
German prisoners at Juno Seaside
Then and Now – 1944/2017: The biggest amphibious touchdown to happen in WWII, the Allied efforts on D-Day resulted in numerous German casualties: 23,000 lifeless and 67,000 wounded at Normandy.
The Germans have been gradual to give up, which means the quantity taken as prisoners of conflict (POWs) following D-Day elevated because the Allied forces moved inland. It’s reported that on June 9, 1944, 4,000 POWs had been taken, a quantity that steadily elevated to 200,000 upon the conclusion of the Normandy Marketing campaign.
Sinking of the HMS Fury
Then and Now – 1944/2017: On June 21, 1944, the HMS Fury (H76), an F-class destroyer constructed for the Royal Navy, struck a mine off Juno Seaside. The choice was made to tow her to one in every of Britain’s short-term harbors at Arromanches-les-Bains. In the course of the journey, she struck numerous ships, together with a freighter and ammunition vessel, earlier than being pushed ashore.
After being refloated and returned to the UK, Fury was declared a constructive whole loss and scrapped.
82nd Airborne Division in France
Then and Now – 1944/2017: The 82nd Airborne Division took half in just about each main offensive within the European Theater throughout WWII. Redesignated simply two months after the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor, the paratroopers noticed motion throughout Operation Husky and on Utah Seaside in the course of the D-Day landings.
Because the conflict progressed, the 82nd merged with others to grow to be the First Allied Airborne Army, upon the order of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Beneath this designation, they have been dropped into the Netherlands as a part of Operation Market Backyard, after which they confronted the German in the course of the Battle of Elsenborn Ridge, the northernmost engagement of the Battle of the Bulge. They then entered Germany, the place they remained following the nation’s give up.
Carentan Nice Struggle Memorial
Then and Now – 1944/2017: The Carentan Nice Struggle Memorial was erected in remembrance of those that fought and misplaced their lives in the course of the First World Struggle. After the top of WWII, a plaque was added to honor the victims of the battle.
The Battle of Carentan was an engagement between the airborne divisions of the US and German armies, as a part of Operation Overlord. Fought between June 10-14, 1944, it noticed the one hundred and first Airborne Division pushback the German forces, who have been low on ammunition, after which the 2nd Armored Division efficiently fought again towards a counterattack.
The defensive capabilities of the Atlantic Wall
Then and Now – 1944/2017: The Azeville Battery was a part of the German Army’s intimidating Atlantic Wall throughout WWII. A coastal defensive fortification that spanned the coastal areas of German-occupied Europe and Scandinavia, it took two years to finish. The Azeville Battery, particularly, was manned by a garrison of 170 servicemen who have been commanded by Capt. Hugo Treiber.
On June 7, 1944, the US 4th Infantry Division discovered themselves blocked alongside the casemates that made up the Azeville Battery. Whereas assaults have been launched the subsequent day by the twenty second Infantry Regiment, they didn’t cease the Germans from opening hearth on the neighboring place of Crisbecq Battery, on the orders of Oberleutnant zur Zee Walter Ohmsen of the Kriegsmarine.
German occupation of Mont-Saint-Michel
Then and Now – 1944/2017: The German Army occupied Mont-Saint-Michel all through WWII, starting in June 1940. The placement served as each a lookout publish and a preferred vacationer attraction, with an estimated 325,000 vacationers visiting the commune between July 1940 and the top of the enemy occupation.
Following the D-Day landings, lots of upon lots of of German troopers retreated to places like Mont-Saint-Michel. On August 1, 1944, Allied forces entered the commune, a lot to the reduction of locals. In a uncommon prevalence, it was liberated and not using a single shot being fired.
Elevating the American flag
Then and Now – 1944/2018: Used as a bunker by German troopers throughout their occupation of France, La Cite d’Aleth in Saint-Malo and its Bofors 40 mm gun have been taken out by an explosive. Following this, US troopers planted the American flag on the location, solidifying this explicit victory towards the Axis Powers.
Going over the seawall
Then and Now – 1944/2017: After touchdown on Utah Seaside, the eighth Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division climbed over the seawall to maneuver additional inland. They have been in a position to make it up the seaside because of the de-mining efforts of the 237th and 299th Fight Engineer Battalions.
By means of using explosives and dozers, the 237th and 299th cleared away the hazardous seaside obstacles that lay between the water and the seawall, permitting for the transfer inland by the American forces.
Captured German Naval Alerts Command bunker
Then and Now – 1944/2017: Because the Allied forces pushed their approach into France following D-Day, they captured numerous German-held positions, together with bunkers manned by the Naval Alerts Command. Whereas its headquarters was positioned on Guernsey, within the English Channel, numerous outposts have been in strategic areas.
Operation Cobra pushes the Germans out of Saint-Lô
Then and Now – 1944/2017: The Battle of Normandy was among the many largest offensives of WWII, and a part of it was Operation Cobra. It was preceded by the Battle of Saint-Lô, which noticed 95 p.c of town misplaced to American air raids aimed toward pushing out the German occupiers. The extent of destruction and the quantity of casualties leant themselves to Saint-Lô being dubbed a “martyr metropolis” and “The Capital of Ruins.”
Operation Cobra started following the victory at Saint-Lô and is taken into account the mission that allowed the Allies to interrupt out of Normandy and safe France’s liberation. Launched by Lt. Gen. Omar Bradley‘s US First Army, it consisted of assaults on German positions. Among the many cities liberated throughout this time was Coutances, because of the efforts of the 4th Armored Division.
Memorial Régiment de la Chaudière of Canada
Then and Now – 1944/2017: The Régiment de la Chaudière of Canada was mobilized on September 1, 1939, the day of the German invasion of Poland. Its members participated within the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, arriving on Juno Seaside. The full Canadian casualties to happen on that day totaled 1,200, and there’s since been a memorial erected for many who perished.
Simple Firm in France
Then and Now – 1944/2017: One of the crucial prolific army models in all of WWII, Simple Firm, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, one hundred and first Airborne Division participated in numerous main offensives. Their actions have been depicted within the HBO miniseries, Band of Brothers (2001), which was executively produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.
Extra from us: 22 Pictures That Present the Many Faces of World Struggle II
Simple Firm landed on Utah Seaside on D-Day, after which they made their approach by means of Europe, taking part in Operation Market Backyard within the Netherlands and dealing with the Germans in the course of the bloody Battle of the Bulge. It was in the course of the latter that their defining second got here: the Siege of Bastogne.
Shortly after the conflict got here to an finish, Simple Firm and the entire of the 506th have been disbanded. Of those that served with the corporate, 49 have been killed in motion (KIA).
