The Dutch Historian

US Marines with surrendered Japanese (samurai) swords delivered in Honshu, Okinawa, Japan. September 1945.

Colorized by: FGF Colourised

A German tank crew member and officers examine the 88 mm main gun of a Tiger 1 tank, which received a destructive shot through the barrel.

German soldiers having mounted a 37 mm Pak 36 on an Infanterie Schlepper UE 630 (f) (originally the French Renault UE Chenillette). Note the wooden stick that functions as a brake to prevent the gun from falling off the tank. Location and date unknown.

•Warning! Sensitive content. Viewers discretion adviced•

The results of the Battle of Verdun.

The sad reality of war: photos of the remains of soldiers at the Verdun battlefield, of many unidentified soldiers at Douaumont Ossuary, and the Douaumont Cemetery itself.

The Douaumont Ossuary is a memorial containing the skeletal remains of soldiers who died on the battlefield during the Battle of Verdun in World War I. It is located in Douaumont-Vaux, France, within the Verdun battlefield, and immediately next to the Fleury-devant-Douaumont National Necropolis. It was built on the initiative of Charles Ginisty, Bishop of Verdun, and inaugurated on 7 August 1932, by French President Albert Lebrun.

The ossuary is for both French and German soldiers. The skeletal remains of at least 130,000 unidentified combatants of both nations can be seen filling up alcoves at the lower edge of the building.

During the 303 days of the Battle of Verdun (21 February 1916 - 19 December 1916) approximately 230,000 men died out of a total of 700,000 casualties (dead, wounded, and missing). The battle became known in German as "Die Hölle von Verdun" (English: The Hell of Verdun), or in French as "L'Enfer de Verdun," and was conducted on a battlefield covering less than 20 square kilometers.

This are some pictures of the first Panther to be produced by M.A.N. with infrared equipment. It was manufactured in early September 1944. The purpose of this innovation was to be able to obtain night vision.

The lamp was places on different location on the Panther. Photographs 2 and 3 show the details of the infrared lamp mounting plate fitted to the Panther's gun mantlet. The plate was held in place by 30 mm bolts, and had a weatherproof socket that would be powered via a lead from the turret. The mounting point for the I.R. lamp has the standard Bosch electrical connection with four pins as used for the Bosch headlamp. The lamp worked on 12 volt with a 200 watt transmitter.

The I.R. lamp 'illuminates' using infrared light. There was also a receiver/converter for the commander (pictures 6 and 7), so the commander could see where they were going and e.g. also aim the gun effectively in total darkness.

Photographs 2 and 3 also show the use of Zimmerit, an anti magnetic paste, in fantastic detail (which was applied on armoured vehicles so magnetic mines couldn't stick on the vehicles' armour).

The last picture show the use of I.R. lamps on other German military vehicles.

T-34/85 and Tiger 1 tank in an old style dueling contest.

Which one is your favourite tank?

The Polish 1st Armoured Division (1 Dywizja Pancerna) fought heavily during World War II, and is lesser known than other units. Created in February 1942 at Duns in Scotland, it was commanded by Major General Stanisław Maczek, and at its peak numbered approximately 16,000 - 18,000 soldiers.

At the end of July 1944, the 1st Armoured Division was transferred to Normandy. On 8 August 1944, the division was assigned to the 1st Canadian Army and was used for the first time in Operation Totalize. In the Falaise Pocket Battle, it withstood all attacks in costly battles with the 2nd XX Panzer Division and the 9th XX Panzer Division on Mont Ormel (Hill 262) on 19 and 20 August, 1944. They made sure that the Germans could be surrounded, contributing greatly to the Allied victory.

Between 10 and 17 September 1944, the division, together with Belgian resistance fighters, liberated the city of Ghent. On 27 September, the Polish soldiers were ordered to take the Dutch city of Breda, in which they succeeded after two days of hard fighting without civilian casualties. The soldiers were made honorary citizens of Breda. Later, the division took part in the Battle of the Scheldt as well.

In April 1945, the women's camp in Oberlangen in Emsland, where over 1,700 women from the Warsaw Uprising were imprisoned, was liberated. Next, Wilhelmshaven was to be conquered by the Polish Division. However, the German units surrendered without a fight on 6 May. The Polish occupation of the city began the next day.

The units of the 1st Polish Armored Division acted as occupying forces in north-west Germany for the next two years. Together with the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade, it formed the 1st Polish Corps.

In June 1947, the division was transferred to England and demobilized. The majority of the soldiers did not return to communist Poland, but remained in exile.

A United States Army Soldier shows a captured World War Two era M1 Garand, which he found during the search of an Insurgents home, Western Muqdadiyah, Iraq 2007.

The M1 is a semi-automatic rifle adopted by the US Army as their official service rifle in 1936. It served the US army throughout World War II, the Korean War, and even during Vietnam. But as you can see, it has been used by various other countries too.

On this day in World War Two history, July 30th, 1945, after having delivered the atomic bomb to Tinian, cruiser USS Indianapolis is sunk by Japanese submarine l-58 off Leyte and not missed for days. Only 316 of 1196 men would survive the shark-infested waters.

The United States Navy had become lazy in the last days of the war, because of the lack of action by Japanese submarines, thus limited security measures were taken. After the materials were delivered, the USS Indianapolis went back to Leyte without an es**rt. However, she was intercepted by I-58, which launched six torpedoes. Two hit and within 12 minutes the ship tipped over and sank to the bottom, killing 300 men. The vast majority ended up in the sea; many succumbed to dehydration and shark attacks before they could be rescued. The rescue started late because action was only taken after the missing persons were noticed after four days. In total, 879 people out of 1196 crew died. This was the largest loss to the United States Navy at sea.

Captain Charles McVay was court-martialed for neglecting security measures, including not having sailed a zigzag course in enemy waters. The commander of I-58 stated this would have made no difference because his torpedoes never miss. McVay was nevertheless found guilty and demoted. Later, McVay was rehabilitated by Admiral Nimitz and continued his naval career. When he retired, he had reached the rank of Rear Admiral. Despite his rehabilitation, McVay faced continuous threats by telephone and mail, and after his wife died of cancer, McVay committed su***de in 1968. In October 2000, Congress passed a resolution stating Captain McVay was not responsible for the loss of the Indianapolis. President Bill Clinton signed the resolution.

On August 19, 2017, the USS Indianapolis was recovered, 72 years after it sank. The wreck lies at the bottom of the Philippine Sea, at a depth of 5.5 kilometers. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen led the 13-person team looking for the warship.

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