Old WW2 photos of Red Army (really must see)

Im sure like many of you, I have always been fascinated with WW2. I just happened to run across a excellent collection of photos taken of the Red Army. I myself have never seen these, so I thought I would share for any others that may have a interest in this sort of thing.

I am posting four of the photos to give you a idea of what is there, but in all actuality, there are over 109 photos to look over at the LINK.

I hope some of you enjoy seeing this history captured as much as I have. Many of the photos are really quite powerful in what they have captured.

Not all photos are of combat either.













LINK TO SEE ALL PHOTOS


I guess I should mention some photos are a bit graphic so warning there. Photos also include navy, and airforce shots as well.

Just thought I would mention to feel free to post up your favorites as well, so others that can't get to the link may be able to see some more. Then it should turn into quite the collection.

PPSH-41 for the win. I am not a real fan of any war but if there is a machine gun the Russians did well in my opinion it is this one.



Thruthseek3r

any one see what looked like a 20 year old girl firing a 12.7mm? propped up against a tree from the shoulder ?? and these are the people that crushed one of the greatest mechanized armies and from the looks of it they did alot of it on horseback too and with ingenuity and a healthy dose of fighting for their homes, didnt the red army become the first and possibly only army to stop a blitzkreig(kursk?)?

reply to post by onehuman


Nice post.
I am definitely a WWII buff, so I tought I would kindly point out that the 1st pic is of US B-17 bombers....
going to drop a load somewhere.

Thanks for the photo links.

reply to post by KilrathiLG


The first successful defence against a blitzkrieg was by British Commonwealth troops during the
battle of Tobruk in Libya 1941. Australian, English and Indian troops dug in around Tobruk which
is a port. They defended against two blitzkrieg assaults from Rommels Afrika Corp.

Tobruk

On 8th April 1941 the garrison of Tobruk consisting of the 9th Division, the 18th Brigade of the 7th Division with British and Indian Troops, came under siege which was to last for 242 days.

The German forces made two serious attempts to capture Tobruk using "blitzkrieg" tactics of a deep armoured thrust through defences followed up by infantry. Up until this point in the war these "blitzkrieg" tactics had never failed.

But that does'nt take away from the fact Russia kicked Nazi (and Japan's) arse though.
They also payed a heavy price with 20 million or so killed. The actual numbers
will never be known.
I think the Allies plan was for Russia to attack and keep the Germans and Romanians busy,
while America, British commonwealth and the Free armies prepared for D-Day.

I recall reading somewhere that Stalin was complaining that Russia was doing all the fighting and dying
and was urging the allies to enter europe, but the allies were still not perpared enough to do so.

You have to admire these people for their sacrifice, they fought the largest battles and took the heaviest
casualties.

These are quite old, I "stumbleupon" them quite a lot, on different blogs over the past. There is even a colourised version of them somewhere. Don't have the link handy sorry.

I stumble on them often because I subscribe to a lot of photography (my hobby) websites. Still, nice to see them reblogged. Again.

Neat find! The last picture shows an infantry anti-tank brigade. Those poor guys had to get close up for their rifles to penetrate the armor on the German tanks. Needless to say these formations didn't last long. But early in the war Russia was long on manpower but short on equipment and this is but one of their attempted solutions.
Several photos are obviously doctored and many are posed as well. Russia was big on producing "glam shots" of their troops for propaganda purposes (look for the clean uniforms).
Something you will never see is Russian photos of them using lend-lease equipment from England and the US despite over 10,000 tanks being sent them and 20,000 planes. Stalin was an ungrateful bastard!

thank you for sharing OP!!

loadz of PPSH

Nice pics.Yes Hitler's downfall began when he attacked the Russions and opened up the second front.I always commpare the German army frozen in the Russion winter to that of Napolean's armies demise.Lesson?If attacking Russia better you defeat them before winter comes.Almost an impossibility considering her vast size.

reply to post by AgentX09


also just to add to facts..

italy wasnt the best allied ever to Hitler...i blame the africa campaign loss due to Italy

why does the dead guy in that last image, uh.. have his pants down?

awkward

man, ww2 was faught with horses? cant wait for ww3

I don't want to threadjack but check out these pics (earth from space) that I found on the same site as the above. Absolutely stunning images taken by cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin.

Nice pics thanks for sharing, I have not seen these. Hopefully we will not become what is in pic 25.


U

Really neat pictures.

Picture 102 looks like it's from the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 and not WWII. Those tanks appear to be T-54's

All nice and whatnot. However these are the turds who tried to make us speak rusky. I have 0 compassion for them.

reply to post by thruthseek3r


Suomi KP/-31 ftw

reply to post by onehuman


thanks for posting. Am a hopeless admirer of the red army

Great pics. Cheers for posting. I thank my lucky stars that I have never had to experience the horror of war.
I find this pic quite moving,

reply to post by onehuman


hey thanks for the great pics. nice find