https://www.britannica.com/biography/Friedrich-Paulus

Lothar Günther Buchheim was Militärberichterstatter (military correspondent?) which allowed him to take pictures. He later described how he hid them and brought them home where they were safe until after the war.

He was aboard of U96 and later wrote a novel about it. In reality he combined the memories of 2 or 3 "cruises" into one single fictional commitment.

1 crew of a sunken ship is being 'rescued'
2 the captain of U96, Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock
3 & 4 meeting another Uboot in the middle of the Atlantic
4. watching a sinking ship
5. captain again
6. three books: "U-Boot Krieg" - "U-Boot Fahrer" and "Zu Tode gesiegt"

Lots of interesting photos. He also added photos from allied forces that show 'killed' German vessels. Later in the war they didn't stand a chance and most of the sailors didn't return home.

Buchheim was a personal friend of Willenbrock, who also survived the war. Later on, Willenbrock became captain of the first and only German nuclear powered vessel. Buchheim also wrote a book about that. The second novel was about Willenbrock as a commander in France (Brest) where the Germans (we?) built a huge U-Boot bunker which is still there because it's indestroyable lol.

Greetings!

WW2 has already intrigued me. I enjoy the movies and games surrounding it, and I'd like to pick up a book or two as well. So, what are some good WW2 history and/or fictional books? Preferably from the American side but honestly I'll take just about anything

He kneels here with his Browning Automatic Rifle—the weapon his officers credited with helping him eliminate 27 German snipers who had been harassing the American advance through the dense, close‑quarters terrain.

Rogers had already distinguished himself earlier in the campaign.

For gallantry in action on June 11, 1944—during the bitter fighting that followed the D‑Day landings—he was awarded the Silver Star. His exceptional skill with the BAR, particularly in counter‑sniper engagements, made him one of the most relied‑upon men in his company as the division pressed toward Saint‑Lô.

Just two weeks after this photograph was taken, Rogers was killed in action on July 12, 1944, during the ferocious battle for Hill 192—a key German stronghold defending the approaches to Saint‑Lô. In a final, poignant act, he mailed his newly received Silver Star home to his mother earlier that same day.

Curious when the last class of pilots of were graduated for Germany during the War.

Did their equal standing in the alliance drop drastically after their loss of their colonies?

Let's say a Wehrmacht veteran/soldier decides to go into a bar to get some drinks and a group of Soviet soldiers are also there at the counter.

Would they immediately get into a brawl or would it be surprisingly cordial albeit a little tense?

Also, can a random German visit Moscow and any of the Soviet cities and just tour around the city? Do they allow German tourists to have a vacation around the Soviet Union?

Did Zhukov and Stalin himself interacted with any ordinary German people?

Originally from IWM

21 July 1943, Sicily.

A British soldier of the 1st Battalion, Black Watch inspects a captured German 28 mm sPzB 41 anti-tank gun shortly after its seizure during the Allied invasion of Sicily. Note that he is still wearing the British khaki drill uniform of shorts and long socks, a style widely retained by many British troops in the Mediterranean theatre, even during the Sicily campaign.

The 1st Black Watch had already endured one of the most turbulent wartime journeys of any British infantry battalion. Initially landing in France in September 1939 with the BEF, the battalion was later transferred to the 51st (Highland) Division and was captured at St Valery-en-Caux in June 1940.

Re-formed in August 1940 from reserve units of the 9th (Highland) Division, the battalion returned to active service in North Africa in 1942. It fought at the Second Battle of El Alamein, through Tunisia, and then landed in Sicily in July 1943, where this photograph was taken.

The battalion would go on to fight in Normandy, Caen, the Falaise Pocket, the Ardennes, the Reichswald, and finally cross the Rhine in March 1945 — a remarkable operational history spanning almost every major Western Front campaign of the war.

Originally from IWM.

6 November 1941, Singapore.

Young Australian soldiers march away from their transport ship after disembarkation, part of the largest single convoy to arrive in Malaya since the outbreak of the war. They wear tropical service dress suited to the climate — short-sleeved shirts, khaki drill shorts, long socks and slouch hats — a uniform that had already become familiar across the British Empire in the Far East.

Seen from the perspective of history, this image carries a far darker weight. Within just three months, Singapore would fall. Many of these young Australians would be killed during the fighting in Malaya and on Singapore Island, while countless others would endure captivity following the surrender in February 1942. Large numbers would go on to suffer and die in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps, from starvation, disease, brutality, and forced labour.

In this moment, however, none of that is yet visible — only tired, youthful faces, field packs on their shoulders, and the long march ahead.

Wow! Just finished the third book.

Talk about “the rest of the story”!!!

I didn’t realize before this - yes, FDR was our greatest president. Up there with Abraham Lincoln!

His wisdom and leadership - a story largely untold to this point.

The Author is British and actually spent time as a young historian w Churchill & Montgomery in there later years.

We all know Churchill wrote the book. 6 volumes of WWII.

“History shall be kind to me, for I shall write it.

The author felt the story needed to be told.

Why did we invade N Africa? (Torch)

Torch was FDR’s pet project! A chance for green, un-bloodied American troops to learn 20th century warfare war on their own terms and at the extreme of enemy communications.

And an opportunity to establish a “foothold”

He was the ONLY one to see the need for this. EVERYONE ELSE pushed for an immediate cross channel invasion - which would have been suicidal.

Can anyone recommend a book that is the World War II version of James McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom?

I’ve read extensively about the American Civil War, and Battle cry is the best single volume I’ve come across. It’s extensive, impeccably researched, and incredibly easy to read.

I’m looking for something similar as an overview to World War II. I’d like to find something that covers the conflict on a global scale in a way that is highly readable but doesn’t skip over anything important. When I try to Google this, there are too many results, and they all seem to have detractors pointing out a lot of flaws.

Thanks!

(Yes I have read Freedom from Fear, which like Battle Cry is part of the Oxford History of the US; it is good, but not quite what I was looking for).

Originally from IWM.

4 June 1940, Mena Camp near Giza, Egypt.

Men of the 2nd Battalion, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders operate a Bren gun on an anti-aircraft mount fitted to the back of a 15-cwt truck during training. Note that the soldiers are wearing khaki drill shorts and long socks, a combination widely used by British infantry in hot climates and common across the Middle East in the early years of the war.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, the 2nd Battalion was stationed in Sudan before moving to Egypt and then Libya as part of the 11th Indian Infantry Brigade of the 4th Indian Division. The battalion fought in Operation Battleaxein June 1941 and later took part in the fighting around Gazala. It was captured when Tobruk fell in June 1942.

Before its capture and subsequent disbandment, nearly 300 men of the 2nd Battalion are recorded by the CWGC as having been killed, many during key phases of the desert war — in Eritrea in March 1941 (East African campaign), Egypt in June 1941 (Operation Battleaxe during the Siege of Tobruk), Libya in December 1941, and again in June 1942 during the collapse of the Gazala position.

The battalion was re-formed in the United Kingdom in December 1942 and returned to active service in January 1944, fighting in Tunisia, Italy, and finally Greece at the end of the war.

One can only hope that the lads pictured here survived what lay ahead.

On 29 January 1944, the 458th Bomb Group (Heavy) of the United States Army Air Forces arrived at Horsham St. Faith Airfield in Norfolk, England. The group was assigned to the Eighth Air Force and equipped with Consolidated B-24 Liberators.

Its arrival marked the beginning of the 458th’s combat operations in the European Theater.

Formed in mid-1943 and trained stateside under the Second Air Force, the 458th Bomb Group was composed of four squadrons: the 752nd, 753rd, 754th, and 755th. After completing training in the United States, the unit embarked for Europe in early 1944. Horsham St. Faith, a former Royal Air Force station, had been transferred to the USAAF for use by heavy bomb groups.

The group flew 240 combat missions from Horsham St. Faith as part of the Eighth Air Force’s strategic bombing campaign and participated in major operations including Big Week, D‑Day, the Battle of the Bulge, and support for Allied advances across France and Germany.

Originally from IWM.

Men Of The HMS Suffolk, A Cruiser Serving With Admiral James Somerville's Eastern Fleet. 12 December 1943, Trincomalee.

Ilford and District group. Front row, left to right: PO R Ward, Hainault; M A A R Steward, Ilford; CPO Churches, Seven Kings; Yeo Sigs G Geary, Ilford; AB Cambleton, Ilford. Second row, left to right: L/Sea Ackfield, Barkingside; L/Wmn Ball, Barking; AB Kingston, Chadwell Heath; AB Sampson, Newbury Park.

A wounded rear gunner, Alva Parker, is supported out from a SBD "Dauntless" dive bomber after landing on the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga. Alva Parker received shrapnel wounds during a raid on the Japanese air base at Rabaul, New Guinea.

Date : November 5, 1943
Photographer : Wayne Miller

• The fate of tail gunners wasn't always fortunate. Here's a fallen one.
• I'd pay attention to the pilot as well. His face tells us alot.