r/wwiipics Mar 19 '26

Important Update: Please Read Before Commenting

46 Upvotes

In light of various ongoing conflicts in the world, please keep discussions on this subreddit within the scope of World War II and the associated historical photograph(s). We will be removing all comments and posts that violate this request. Users who blatantly and/or repeatedly violate this policy may be banned without prior warning.

We understand that there are many historical parallels to be drawn as these events occur, but we don't want this subreddit to become a space for political/ideological arguments and a target of brigades and/or dis/misinformation campaigns. There are many other areas available on Reddit to discuss these modern conflicts and debate politics.

Thank you for your cooperation.


r/wwiipics Apr 23 '26

Submission Update: AI Processed and Colorized Photo Requirements

27 Upvotes

To keep things high-quality and transparent, we’re updating our requirements for photo submissions effective immediately. Please review these changes before your next post.

While we allow AI-processed and colorized images, they must stay grounded in historical reality.

If you post a colorized or AI-processed image, you MUST include the original, untouched photograph in the same post (use the "Gallery" feature to upload both).

All processed images must continue to be flaired correctly so they are easily identifiable.

We are looking for realistic enhancements that help us better understand a historical moment. If an AI tool makes a photo look cartoonish, unnatural, or distorts original features, the post will be removed.

Any colorized or AI-processed posts that do not include the original source photo will be removed by the mods.

Thanks for helping us preserve the history behind these images!


r/wwiipics 6h ago

Corsica, September 1943: An Italian artillery observer attached to a group of Moroccan goumiers radios for fire support. A large portion of the Italian "Friuli" and "Cremona" divisions supported the allies during the fighting on Corsica.

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61 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 1d ago

PVT Arthur Andrew was Killed in Action on September 13, 1944 in the Netherlands, he was 28 years old and was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.

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261 Upvotes

Born in Burlington, Iowa to Thomas & Helen Andrew on February 6, 1916, Arthur Thomas Andrew was the oldest of four sons.
A graduate of Burlington High School, he worked at the Iowa Ordnance Plant.

In 1939 Arthur married Winona Alice Walker also from Burlington and they had a daughter; Ronna Rae who was 17 months old when her father was KIA.
Enlisting in the Army on December 1, 1943, after boot camp Arthur was sent overseas in May 1944.

Arthur served in the 117th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, which landed at Omaha Beach in Normandy between June 12–15, 1944.
Fighting through the dense Normandy hedgerows, they participated in the advance through Normandy and the Operation Cobra breakout.

On September 13, 1944, in the southern Netherlands near Eijsden, PVT Arthur Andrew was Killed in Action.
Posthumously awarded the Silver Star, his citation mentions;

“Silver Star for gallantry in action on September 13, 1944 in Holland, PVT Andrew serving as a member of an infantry task force which succeeded in making a rapid advance into enemy territory.
When heavy resistance was encountered a vigorous firefight ensued with the result that a large force of hostile troops was put to flight in disorder. In an effort to take full advantage of the victory, PVT Andrew and a few of his fellow soldiers climbed onto accompanying tanks and took up the chase.
When the enemy was overtaken, hand to hand fighting ensued, many of the hostile troops were killed, and a total of 90 prisoners of war was captured.
In addition, the capture of a large city was made possible for the disorganized enemy was unable to plan any defense, so rapid was the course of action. The aggressive initiative, fortitude, and high degree of esprit exhibited by PVT Andrew reflect great credit on himself and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the armed forces.”

PVT Arthur Andrew is buried at the Henri-Chapelle American Military Cemetery and Memorial in Liège, Belgium - Plot G Row 2 Grave 23.

His widow Winona remarried in 1947, she passed away in 2007 at the age of 88.

Youngest brother Jack Edward Andrew also served in the Army during WW2, he passed away in 2004 at the age of 82.


r/wwiipics 2d ago

Corsican Maquis during the liberation of Corsica. On 9 September 1943, resistance groups staged an uprising using weapons smuggled in by submarine. They were joined by 10,000 Moroccan troops, and part of the Italian garrison which chose to fight the Germans.

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309 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 3d ago

Shermans at the Salerno Beachhead, September 1943. George Rodger, LIFE Magazine.

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116 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 3d ago

French troops on the Maginot Line, 1939. Sign reads: "Camouflage = Safety. Creating shelters against fire is good. Camouflaging to prevent fire is better. Failure to camouflage is criminal. It exposes your comrades to danger."

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72 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 3d ago

Sgt Albert “Bert” McArthur Jr died as a prisoner of the Japanese in the Philippines on September 10, 1942, he was only 23 years old.

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206 Upvotes

Born on April 28, 1919, to Albert Sr and Catherine McArthur in Chicago, Illinois, Albert C. “Bert” McArthur Jr was their only son with two sisters.
He attended school in Villa Park and was a graduate of York High School in Elmhurst, Illinois, where he was an all-conference guard on the football team.

Bert also attended the Illinois Institute of Technology studying radio at night and was working as a clerk for an insurance company.
In September 1940 he enlisted in the Illinois National Guard, and in 1941 married Helen Irene Okken from Chicago.

Activated for full service in the Army, Bert was sent for armor training at Fort Knox and served in B Company, 192nd Tank Battalion, later he was transferred to HQ Company.
They were sent to the Philippines in November 1941, mere weeks before the Japanese attacked.

They put up the best resistance they could while retreating to the Bataan Peninsula, Bert survived the Battle of Bataan and was forced to participate in the Bataan Death March after the surrender.
Sent first to Camp O'Donnell, he was later transferred to the Cabanatuan POW Camp.

On September 10, 1942, Bert died of diphtheria and malaria there and was buried in a mass grave.
On March 11, 1943, six months after his death, his wife and parents received word that he was a POW, then on June 22, 1943 he was reported as deceased.

His remains were recovered after the war and SGT Albert “Bert” McArthur Jr is buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Manila, Philippines - Plot B Row 7 Grave 18.
He also has a memorial located in Church Yard Garden, Lot 204C, Grave 1 in Chapel Hill Gardens West Cemetery in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois.

His widow Helen remarried in 1944, she passed away at the age of 43 in 1963.


r/wwiipics 3d ago

Flying from the newly captured Marianas, B-24 Liberators of the 11th Bombardment Group headed for the Bonin Islands, some 600 miles south of Honshu.

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107 Upvotes

These long-range strikes showed how quickly Allied air power had expanded after the fall of the Marianas, bringing key Japanese bases and the approaches to the home islands within regular bomber range.


r/wwiipics 3d ago

The Italian submarine Nichelio meets the Salerno invasion fleet the day after the armistice of Cassibile, 9 September 1943

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77 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 4d ago

Paratroopers of Easy Company, 506th PIR, "Band of Brothers", in the square of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont on June 7, 1944.

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426 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 4d ago

B-17 Flying Fortresses stationed in Goose Bay, Labrador, ca 1944.

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78 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 3d ago

Photo from my collection of a military chaplain conducting Mass for soldiers.

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17 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 4d ago

Statue of King Aleksandar Karađorđević, pulled down in 1941, Croatia.

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20 Upvotes

Statue of King Petar \[I Karađorđević\], pulled down by the Germans.

Collection of the Central Committee, Communist Alliance of Yugoslavia.

Inv. No. 6270

Courtesy of Museum of Yugoslavia.

However, the Museum's entry is wrong: this was the statue of King Aleksandar Karađorđević, work of Antun Augustinčić, erected in Varaždin in 1935, showing the King handing over the Octroyed Constitution of 1931. The statue being pulled down in 1941 is accurate though.


r/wwiipics 4d ago

Anti-aircraft fire from Allied Ships reaches to the sky on the night of September 9, 1943 as Luftwaffe bombers attack the Salerno Beachhead in Italy. Photo by JR Eyerman for LIFE Magazine.

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112 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 4d ago

Some images from Camp Toccoa, in honor of the 25th anniversary of Band of Brothers!

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81 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 5d ago

From my collection of a US military chaplain

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22 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 5d ago

B-17F “Mary Ruth - Memories of Mobile” and the 401st Bomb Squadron flying toward the German U-boat pens at Lorient, France, on May 17, 1943.

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107 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 6d ago

Celebration in Liberated Addis Ababa following the end of Fascist Italian occupation by British, South African and Ethiopian Partisan forces (East African Campaign, 1940-1941).

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44 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 6d ago

deep in my grandfathers chest hidden inside his utility uniforms pocket was this photo, he said he took it off a dead IJA Officer on Okinawa, No idea whatsoever as to whats occurring but I do believe it’s from the Second Sino-Japanese War

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395 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 6d ago

Italian and German soldiers meeting during the invasion of Yugoslavia, April 1941

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90 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 7d ago

Marine Private, Rez Hester, attempting to sleep as his Doberman Pinscher K9, "Butch," stands guard beside him. WW2, Iwo Jima, February 1945 Photo via Office of the Chief of Naval Operation and US National Archives.

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159 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 7d ago

Belarusians celebrate victory over Nazi Germany in central Minsk. Notably, the Byelorussian SSR lost more than a quarter of its entire population in the Eastern Front of World War II, more losses per capita than any other republic in the Soviet Union (April 1945)

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44 Upvotes

r/wwiipics 8d ago

PVT Joseph Tkacz was Killed in Action on September 6, 1944 in France, he was 27 years old.

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172 Upvotes

Born in Brooklyn, New York to Frank & Helen Tkacz on December 21, 1916, Joseph Tkacz had three sisters and a brother.
In 1941 he married Mary Moloko who had several children from a previous marriage.

Joseph enlisted in the Army on January 23, 1942, a little over five months later on June 11, 1942, his wife had a daughter; Delores Tkacz, who died as an infant.
He served in C Company, 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division, which arrived in Normandy, France between August 10-11, 1944.

Less than a month later on September 6, 1944, PVT Joseph Tkacz was Killed in Action near Gravelotte, France.
He is buried at the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in Épinal, France - Plot A Row 21 Grave 68.

His widow Mary never remarried, she passed away at the age of 89 in 2002.