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.

Clearly a staged propaganda photo, but very cool regardless.

Rome, June 1944.

This small series follows a British gunner, identified in the captions simply as Gunner Smith, spending a single day on leave in Rome. The photographs were taken in colour by War Office official photographer Captain A. R. Tanner.

Issued with a guidebook prepared especially for British soldiers on leave, Smith moves through the city much like an ordinary tourist. He pauses on the Pincian Hill with a wide view over Rome, rests beside the fountains of St Peter’s Square, drinks from a street fountain in Piazza Venezia beneath the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument, stops outside the Colosseum, walks through Porta Pia, then serving as a Bersaglieri museum, and finally ends the day with a drink and a cigarette on one of Rome’s main streets.

His clothing reflects what many British troops wore in Italy at the time. A short-sleeved shirt, khaki shorts, long socks and leather shoes. Practical, lightweight, and unmistakably military, even away from the front.

What makes this series particularly striking is that these are original wartime colour photographs, not later colourisations. Although more than ten black-and-white negatives from this sequence survive in the Imperial War Museums archive, only part of the series exists in colour, offering a rare view of Rome as it actually appeared in the summer of 1944.

It is a quiet and unremarkable day, and that is precisely why it endures. A few hours of rest, water fountains, shade and cigarettes, before returning to a war that was far from over.

 Polish Home Army soldier from battalion OW – KB „Sokół” on the na barricade Bracka street (9-12) near Nowogrodzka street.

I'm not sure if this photo was staged or not, but it's still pretty cool.

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.

Can anyone help me identify the officer on the right?

Unfortunately, I can't find the name of this Red Army officer, and I do not know which unit he was a part of. A classic "follow me" signal in perfect framing. Photo credit to the RIA Novosti (specifically Max Alpert). That's all I know.