This is Volume 2 showing the next 250 photographs from a collection of photos taken by many servicemen on the Eastern Front, also known as the Russian Front. Starting in 1941 with the German invasion of Russia with the sunshine and the dust, then going on through the hard winter months that the German forces were unprepared for. The Russians forces were well used to the cold climate and so were better placed for winter warfare. Then the advance turned into a long retreat with bitter fighting and heavy casualties leading to the Fall of Berlin in May 1945.
The collection features uniforms and vehicles from both sides of the conflict and many of the photos illustrate the harsh conditions and the reality of warfare, which must have been a horrific experience whichever side your were on. Again, we have to say that Miliblog is NOT a political website at all. There are many enthusiasts across the world interested in the equipment and uniforms of the Second World War. Many are serious model makers and may even find an idea for a model diorama or even for painting of model figures. The aim of Miliblog here is to bring together photographs for these students of history.
Hi there and welcome to this week’s newsletter of what’s new on Miliblog.
Well to start with, as promised last week, we have scanned and sorted 60 photographs of German WW2 servicemen from all areas of the forces. I’ve included 4 samples below to illustrate them. To find them simply look at Gallery of Photo Collection/Original WW2 Photos/German WW2/Studio Photos.
As we said in the header, we hesitated at first in putting these photos on the website, but fealt justified in that there are many enthusiasts all over the world who have an interest in uniforms. Whether it be in making accurate model figures, collecting uniforms or even battle re-enactors. As we continue to say, we are NOT a political website and so these photos are shown purely for the historical interest.
We also visited the Classic Car Show at the NEC Exhibition Centre near Birmingham this weekend and armed with my old digital camera we set off early to beat the crowds. Got there to find the **** camera chose not to work again. So an easy answer to the question ‘what do I want for Christmas !’ However despite asking our daughter to take some photos of nice green machines rather than the shiny American Mustangs, the light in the NEC was pretty bad and so hardly any of the photos came out good enough to share with you. So I am very sorry to the team on the Ex-Military Land Rover Association stand, who I promised one lady especially her photo would be on our website, we let you down. I can say however that their display of Landies of all sorts was fantastic. The fully kitted Land Rover 101Vampire was especially impressive with the interior all kitted out. The guy there told us it was used in the Cold War days and sat by the border listening into the East German and Russian radio traffic. Also a big thank you to Andrew Baker of the Alvis Fighting Vehicle Society who was exhibiting one of his superb Alvis Scorpion CVRT Tanks on the Alvis stand. He told me he has over 40 similar tanks at home and has a unique collection of evry model produced by Alvis in the CVRT range, including some pretty rare ones. My daughter said it took me at least an hour until I closed my mouth again after hearing that !
Next is a big thankyou to Martin, I’m sorry I don’t know your surname, who emailed us asking if we had any military coaches on Miliblog. Not yet was the answer, but a quick look in the ‘to scan’ box came up with a few that I couldn’t yet identify. I quick email back to Martin came back with a whole load of detail on the coaches and their history. So we have now been able to add another area of military vehicles to the website. If you read this Martin a big thank you for all your help ! A lovely photo of a Bedford SB3 Coach is shown below and if you look closely, you will see it’s from RAF Wildenrath in Germany. Another photo, also a Bedford SB3 but with a later Strachans body with a certain 1970′s faded photo look on a nice sunny day. Finally a Leyland Leopard Coach carrying the Queen’s Colours Squadron of the Royal Air Force. In fact he us a lovely photo of one such coach at the end of it’s service life, up for sale at the auction.
So as we mentioned last week, we will soon be showing a huge collection of original photos from the Russian or East Front of WW2. These were mainly taken by the troops themselves rather than any official government photographer and show the horror on warfare. Some may be a little graphic in detail, and if you are offended by this I apologise, but that was what went on at the time. We have called it the Eastern Front Collection and can be found under Original WW2 Photos.
So back to the scanner which much work to do !
Have a great week !
Cheerio !
Simon
German Tank Crew Member
Kreigsmarine Sailor
Luftwaffe Staff Sergeant
Prussian Officer
Bedford SB3 Strachans Body Coach (36 AC 64)
Bedford SB3 Strachans Body Coach (43 AC 42)
Leyland Leopard PSU5D/5R Wadham Stringer Vanguard Coach (50 AC 00)
Dodge Commando G13 Wadham Stringer Vanguard Body Coach (93 KF 92) on Demob
This is Volume I showing the first 250 photographs from a collection of photos taken by many servicemen on the Eastern Front, also known as the Russian Front. Starting in 1941 with the German invasion of Russia with the sunshine and the dust, then going on through the hard winter months that the German forces were unprepared for. The Russians forces were well used to the cold climate and so were better placed for winter warfare. Then the advance turned into a long retreat with bitter fighting and heavy casualties leading to the Fall of Berlin in May 1945.
The collection features uniforms and vehicles from both sides of the conflict and many of the photos illustrate the harsh conditions and the reality of warfare, which must have been a horrific experience whichever side your were on. Again, we have to say that Miliblog is NOT a political website at all. There are many enthusiasts across the world interested in the equipment and uniforms of the Second World War. Many are serious model makers and may even find an idea for a model diorama or even for painting of model figures. The aim of Miliblog here is to bring together photographs for these students of history.
This is quite an unusual section and features many photos taken in the photographic studio by professional photographers of German WW2 servicemen in their uniforms. You can see we have Army, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine featured here and for a range of ranks.
I think these photos will appeal to those who make model figures, uniform collectors and historians in general who may like just to see the faces of the various servicemen. Once again, we have to say that Miliblog is NOT a political website in any way. We merely are a website interested in the history of military vehicles, uniforms and the equipment used by all nations
Here we show many original wartime photographs taken by servicemen themselves of each other or their vehicles often with quite poor cameras.
Some purists may point out we have a couple of Luftwaffe vehicles under the Army section, but we just wanted to keep all the ground force vehicles all in one place for now.
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2009
Hi and welcome to another newsletter on what’s new on Miliblog this week.
Well Miliblog had a great day out at the IPMS, that’s the International Plastic Modellers Society, show at the International Centre in Telford, Shropshire. Set over two days, it was the who’s who of the scale model scene. The major kit manufacturers were there such as Airfix, Revell, Tamiya, Fujimi and Hasagawa while most of the British specialist manufacturers such as Cronwell, Sovereign 2000, MMS Models, BW Models, Accurate Armour, Milicast and Matador Models were also there in force. Most if not all area clubs that make up the IPMS were there displaying their finest models of aircraft, tanks, ships, cars etc as well as many specialist interests such as the USAF or Landing Craft sections.
The Airfix Tribute Forum had a superb stand dedicated to the history of Airfix models over the years. Lets face it, how many of us as children didn’t get our first taste of military vehicles by making some of the magnificent models over the years. Chatted to a really nice chap who told us they had one of the earliest Airfix models on the stand in the form of a Ferguson TE20 tractor, or the ‘Little Grey Fergie’ as it was known. A rare model that had been stripped down to it’s parts and then rebuilt in a better way especially for the show.
However the best model at the show, and indeed probably the best model I have ever seen in my life was a 1/35 scale model of an LST, Landing Ship Tank. Nearly 8 feet long it was an absolute masterpiece complete in detail to the anti-aircraft guns and Royal Navy crew in lifejackets. Have a look at the photos below to see how excited we all got !
We’ve also added a few more to our ‘Tanks Collection’ feature with some more colour photos from WW2 which are pretty unusual. I’ve shown a couple of samples below to tempt you to visit this area of the website, under ‘Gallery of Photo Collection’.
We’ll soon be bringing another new exciting area to Miliblog. This is a huge collection of photos from the Miliblog files of German forces on the Eastern Front or Ost Front in the campaigns of 1941 and 1942, as the German forces invaded Russia. Another area will feature studio photos of German servicemen, which will appeal not only to those who collect uniforms, but those interested in the homefront as well.
I think it is important once more to remind our readers, Miliblog is NOT a political website at all. It is interested in the armed forces and their equipment, vehicles and aircraft. How technology was, and still is, advanced through the development of military equipment. This has improved our home lives as well as the technology has been rolled out to products for ‘civilian consumption’. It is also intrested in the human side and how people lived under wartime conditions, whether it be on the battleground or indeed at the home front, which could be more stressful. Hopefully, without being political, we all learn in life through our mistakes. Maybe Mankind can look at history and certain images and experiences, and say let’s find a better way to a solution. I think with today, November 8, being Rememberance Sunday here in the UK, this makes us all think of relatives and friends lost in conflicts old and current.
So, after my little lecture, I’ll get back to my scanner for next week’s new items for you.
Have a great week !
Cheerio !
Simon
LST (Landing Ship Tank) Hand Built Model in 1/35 Scale
LST (Landing Ship Tank) Model Close up of Vehicles
LST (Landing Ship Tank) Model Close Up of Bridge
LST (Landing Ship Tank) Model Close Up of Rear Deck & Guns
Marder I SPG in Russian Mud, from Miliblog
M4 Sherman Advancing with Infantry
From a number of sources we’ve collected e-photos of Italian WW2 Tanks, either in original wartime situations or indeed in preserved condition. Some are taken at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland USA. Sorry to say that some are not upto the usual high standard we normally bring you here at Miliblog, but nevertheless I still think they’re worth including on the website. See what you think yourself. Remember many were taken with older generations of cameras and not the modern digital cameras we enjoy today.
