“Hand Salute” #OnThisDayInHistory Veterans and military personnel all across the world honored the 78th Year Anniversary of D-Day. - It’s insane to think that as we get further and further away from June 6th, 1944 eventually we will no longer have any D-Day Veterans, or even WW2 Veterans among us. We must cherish them now, while we can and honor/never forget the sacrifices that these brave men and women endured. Truly, the greatest generation!

#TodayInHistory 78 years ago on the morning of June 5, 1944, U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe gave the go-ahead for Operation Overlord, the largest amphibious military operation in history. On his orders, 6,000 landing craft, ships and other vessels carrying 176,000 troops began to leave England for the trip to France. That night, 822 aircraft filled with parachutists headed for drop zones in Normandy. An additional 13,000 aircraft were mobilized to provide air cover and support for the invasion. - By dawn on June 6, 18,000 parachutists were already on the ground; the land invasions began at 6:30 a.m. The British and Canadians overcame light opposition to capture Gold, Juno and Sword beaches; so did the Americans at Utah. The task was much tougher at Omaha beach, however, where 2,000 troops were lost and it was only through the tenacity and quick-wittedness of troops on the ground that the objective was achieved. By day’s end, 155,000 Allied troops–Americans, British and Canadians–had successfully stormed Normandy’s beaches. - For their part, the Germans suffered from confusion in the ranks and the absence of celebrated commander Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who was away on leave. At first, Hitler, believing that the invasion was a feint designed to distract the Germans from a coming attack north of the Seine River, refused to release nearby divisions to join the counterattack and reinforcements had to be called from further afield, causing delays. He also hesitated in calling for armored divisions to help in the defense. In addition, the Germans were hampered by effective Allied air support, which took out many key bridges and forced the Germans to take long detours, as well as efficient Allied naval support, which helped protect advancing Allied troops. By the end of June, the Allies had 850,000 men and 150,000 vehicles in Normandy and were poised to continue their march across Europe. - The heroism and bravery displayed by troops from both Allied countries (and Axis) on D-Day shall never be forgotten! May we thank all of those who perished and served during this world-changing event, Gone but never forgotten!

Death From Above! Pictured above, B-24's of the 464th BG - 778th BS, in formation, at altitude dropping their bombs on the target!. This image is believed to have been taken by Sgt. Ted Warden who was one of the many photographers with the 331st Aerial Photo Lab Group assigned to the 464th BG out of Pantanella Air Field, Gioia, Italy. To my knowledge, mission records for this image have yet to be established.

Red Army tank commander, Lt. B.V. Smelov shows the hole in the turret of a destroyed German Tiger I heavy tank (Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf. E) to Lt. V.L. Lihnyakevich made with the conventional armor-piercing shell of a 76-mm tank gun fired from a Soviet T-34 medium tank during the Battle of Kursk. Lt. Lihnyakevich was killed in action and buried in Germany in February of 1945. - Kursk Oblast, Soviet Union, July 23, 1943. - This was a well-known photograph that was often used for propaganda purposes throughout the war. Side Note: If you like @sabatonofficial , or WW1 history in general, I highly recommend checking out their newest song “Christmas Truce”. If you don’t know what the Christmas Truce is, please let me know in the comments, and I’ll post about it! Lastly, Im Back! I’m so sorry for my absence guys, my love and interest for WW2 History hasn’t gone down at all, it’s just hard to be motivated on this app anymore. Especially seeing where it’s at now, compared to 7 years ago, when I first started off.

This picture shows a Finnish soldier practicing maneuvers in the winter snow at a military dog training school during the lead-up to the Finnish-Soviet Continuation War. The location is Hämeenlinna, Finland. The photo was taken in February of 1941, around 4 months before the Germans invaded the USSR and Finland could initiate the Continuation War. — Source: SA-Kuva — Colourized by: Jared Enos

This picture shows squadron Leader J.A.F. MacLachlan, the one-armed Commanding Officer of No 1 Squadron RAF, standing beside his all-black Hawker Hurricane Mark IIC night fighter, 'JX-Q', at Tangmere in West Sussex, England. — Source: Royal Air Force official photographer Woodbine G (Mr) © IWM CH 4015 — Colourized by: Paul Reynolds (Historic Military Photo Colourisations)

August 8, 1941 - On this day in World War 2 history, The Germans close the Uman Pocket, defeating the Soviet 6th and 12th armies in the Ukraine and taking 100,000 POW’s. — August 8, 1944 - Japanese take Hengyang in their drive south across China, taking the US Fourteenth Air Force air base at Hengyang. — August 8, 1940 - Luftwaffe intensifies bombing of British ports; 450 aircraft attack British convoy CW-9 off Sussex, the largest attack so far. — August 8, 1940 - Romania signs an economic treaty with Germany, ceding most of its oil and grain production to Germany. — August 8, 1945 - Soviet Union declares war on Japan. — August 8, 1945 - President Truman threatens further atomic destruction if Japan doesn’t surrender. — August 8, 1945 - A US Marine Corps F6F Hellcat downs a Japanese fighter near Okinawa, the last of 2439 victories by USMC pilots in WWII. — August 8, 1942 - US Marines take airfield on Guadalcanal, to be renamed Henderson Field. — August 8, 1942 - Lt. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower is chosen to command Operation Torch, the invasion of Algeria and French Morocco in November 1942. — August 8, 1942 - Six of the German saboteurs who landed by U-boat in the US in June are executed; the other two receive long sentences. — August 8, 1943 - Torpedo boats USS PT-157 and PT-171 rescue Lt. John F. Kennedy and crew of USS PT-109 from island in the Solomons. — August 8, 1943 - US Seventh Army lands at Sant’Agata on Sicily’s north coast to outflank Axis, takes San Fratello Ridge and Sant’Agata, but fails to cut off German retreat.

This picture shows a Wehrmacht soldier as he lies with his M-24 Stielhandgranate and main rifle. — The Eastern Front of WW2 was by the far the most deadly and also the most important of the war. — Hitler often called it the "True War" as he had deployed over 70% of his military forces there against the Soviets. Among these troops were a large portion of Hitler's most elite, including veteran Waffen SS units and Fallschirmjäger (who were switched to the role of elite ground forces after high losses in the airborne invasion of Crete) along with battle hardened Heer troops. — When the Germans had invaded on June 22nd of 1941, Hitler had been confident that victory would come by the end of summer. His predictions were largely based on knowledge of Stalin's military purges and the performance of the Red Army against the Finns in the Winter War of 1939-1940. - During the Winter War, the Finnish forces, immensely outnumbered in all aspects, were able to hold back the Soviets for months before finally having to sue for peace. The Red Army took immense casualties during this conflict, barely securing victory, and Hitler believed that up against the Wehrmacht, the Soviet forces would soon crumble. — These predictions were actually not that unbelievable. In hind sight we see that obviously invading the USSR was Hitler's biggest blunder, or at least so soon, but if you look at it from a 1941 perspective, it's not that hard to see Hitler and some of his generals’ point of view. — These predictions seemed to be on the right track as the Germans advanced rapidly in the summer of 1941 and also into the autumn during Operation Barbarossa, but as late fall and winter began, the Germans began to slow. This was due to the Russian muds and Winter, and furthermore, the Soviets were spilling seemingly endless amounts of reserves into the fight and to defend Moscow, which they successfully did in December of 1941. Now the Germans buckled up for a long war of attrition.

This wonderful colorized photo by @julius.colorization shows Soviet partisans of the Alexandrovsky Detachment in 1943. — In the USSR, the general populace was initially largely happy (or at least complacent) about a successful German imvasion, for they had been living horribly under the communist regime. Some were skeptical, and of course some desired communism over fascism, but in the end, the Germans ended up destroying any hope of civil obedience by executing tens of thousands of Soviet Jews, political opponents, and homo-sexuals along with burning down many towns. The civilian population rose up in a profuse anger, creating a massive force of resistance fighters that hindered the Germans from behind the lines. — They cut communications, attacked supply depots and small garrisons, wrecked supply lines, tore up train tracks, and carried out a constant guerrilla war agains the Germans that definitely had an impact on their enemy, especially in the later years of the war.

August 7th, 1944 - On this day in World War Two history, In Normandy, Canadian forces launch drive toward Falaise, and the Germans open counteroffensive in the US First Army area, retaking Mortain. — After Operation Cobra, the US army, under commanders such as Patton, rapidly advanced to the south and south east. The British and Canadians who had just taken Caen now seeped south as well, putting pressure on the Germans around Falaise. — Hitler had made it clear that a retreat would not be allowed by the German commander, Gunther von Kluge, and that a counter-attack would be carried out instead at Mortain. This would target the US First army, and because it involved many depleted Panzer units, it was a disaster and the Germans were driven deeper into the allied envelopment. — Soon the allied field commander, Bernard Montgomery, would order the allied armies to converge on the German forces in and around Falaise and attempt to encircle them, forcing them to surrender. — The Americans would assume the southern arm, the British the base, and the Canadians the northern arm. — After days of a struggled fight, the Germans under Kluge decided it was time they withdraw. This began on August 17th-19th, and even though the allies had linked up already, the Germans began punching holes, the biggest of which was a corridor forced past the 1st Polish Armoured Division on Hill 262, a commanding position at the mouth of the pocket. — By August 21st, the pocket was securely sealed with 50,000 Germans inside. There would be no more large scale escapes from the Germans and the rest would be taken prisoner. Around 200,000 Germans would escape, however much of their equipment and supplies were left behind. Around 10,000 Germans were killed, and those who escaped attempted to aid in the defense of Paris. After this was deemed futile, they retreated across the Seine and prepared their next line of defense. — — — — #ww2 #falaise #wwii #germanarmy #panzer #tank #army #history #history2 #history3 #history4 #onthisdayinhistory #onthisday #vintage #retro #historyfacts

This is a picture of a Tiger 1. This is probably the best known and most famous of German World War Two tanks. — When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union on June 22nd of 1941 in what was known as Operation Barbarossa, the Tiger 1 did not exist. Only it's main gun existed in the form of the FlaK 88 artillery (and AA) gun. — The Germans invaded with over 3,000 tanks, all of which were mostly Panzer 2's, 3's, and 4's. The German high command had predicted that the USSR would have a massive amount of tanks: maybe even around 20,000. 3,000 vs 20,000 may not have looked good for the Germans, but they had other knowledge as well. Most of the Soviet tanks were inferior (or not even in service) including models such as the T-26 and the BT's. — Hitler had hoped that his "superior" tanks and blitzkrieg tank strategy would have easily sliced through the Red Army tank columns and acquired a swift victory before the Soviets had time to produce tanks able to counter that of the Germans. — Hitler had overlooked two tanks: the KV-1 and T-34/76, which already existed in the Soviet tank arsenal. — During Operation Barbarossa these newest Soviet medium and heavy tanks struck the Germans hard wherever they were, and the German Heer found these models to be very difficult to knock out with their own armor. Because of the sheer effectiveness of blitzkrieg, along with superior German tank training and communication, the Germans were able to continue to advance, but the high command knew that new tanks were necessary to defeat the USSR should victory not be achieved during the initial operation. — The Tiger 1 and Panther were thus designed and instructed in late 1942-early 1943 and put on the Eastern Front and North Africa. The Tiger 1 came in greater numbers first and quickly became very well known for its very good armor and immense firepower. Along with the Panther, these two German tanks were far superior to the Soviet T-34 /76 and KV-1, but they did come with problems. — For one, mechanical issues often ensued and could make or break tank engagements. Secondly, there were too few of them, which in the end restricted them from making any real difference.

This picture shows a Finnish soldier along the Karelian Isthmus sometime during the Winter War between Finland and the USSR, probably in 1939. — One of the core reasons for the Soviet invasion of Finland was to acquire larger border territories to better protect the Soviet “second city” of Leningrad. This large and important city sat very close to the border with Finland and was a great concern to Stalin and the Soviet government. When the Finns rejected the Soviet demands to cede territory, the Red Army Invaded. — The Finns, better led, more organized, having higher morale, and knowing how to defend their lands, inflicted immense casualties on their enemy. They gave little ground in the beginning of the war to the Red Army, and although they eventually began to lose more lands in 1940 when the Red Army finally carried out a more well-planned and coordinated strike along the Isthmus, the Finns proved a much more formidable foe than Stalin anticipated. Finland was forced into a surrender that gave more land to the Soviets than was originally asked for, but they fought valiantly and earned a heightened international reputation. The Soviets saw their own international reputation plummet, and especially Hitler viewed the Red Army as a large massive rotting door that need only to be kicked in and it would crumble. — When Germany invaded the USSR in 1941, the Finns would work in cooperation with the Germans in order to gain back the land they had lost in the Winter War and push deeper into Soviet territory. The Germans had hoped the Finnish forces would aid in the capture of Leningrad, but this would not be the case as Finland did not desire to engage its smaller army in what would be a very costly endeavor. — Colorized by @julius.colorization — — — — #finland #finnish #finnisharmy #winterwar #history4 #history3 #history2 #history #historic #ww2 #1939 #1940 #germanarmy #helmet #wartime #warfare #historychannel #historymatters #historylesson #historygram #historytime #historystudent #historylovers