well maybe his boots didn’t fit very good :) Both hatches are open. Maybe Tank Commanders got out on the ground ? That would seem unlikely Idk though
Edit
They don’t have any gear either like the GIs do. Wonder if they’re German prisoners ? Pointing out where to go ?
@The-Captain what do you think ?
I have this picture in one of my History books - I’ll have to check.
If I remember correctly, the guy without helmet on the right is a German POW - he is wearing German boots (Knochelbrecher - Bone Crusher) and a German Army belt.
I’ll be back, when I find the picture…
Captain
iger II “234” of the 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion during Operation Panzerfaust, Budapest, Hungary, October 15th or 16th, 1944
@captainwalker now that’s a Tank.
Nice pic; thanks .
Looks a bit more different from the Tiger 1 than I expected/imagined.
Nice.
Today is the 80th anniversary of the end of the Formosa Air Battle.
On October 12 the US Fast Carrier Task Force (now capable of launching over 1000 planes in the air at once, seriously impressive, the epitome of US power during the war, if I might add) launched a series of air raids on Japanese held Formosa (now what we call Taiwan).
The Japanese had a series of plans for a major air and naval counteroffensive in case the US invaded either the Phillipines or Formosa (there were serious debates in the US command over whether the next target would be the Phillipines or Formosa, with MacAuthur getting his way at the Phillipines, with the Formosa attacks merely as a prelude or diversion). Unsure of what US plans were, the Japanese decided to only launch the air component of the counterattack, assembling over 1000 aircraft from other bases in Kyushu and China in addition to the 300 aircraft already on the island.
Due to the inexperience and techinical inferiority of Japanese air formations, all Japanese attacks on the Fast Carrier Task Force were an utter failure, sinking no ships and losing over 500 aircraft while the US lost than 50.
The battle left the Japanese with no air power to combat the imminent US invasion of the Phillipines, leaving the navy to fight on by itself.
@SuperbattleshipYamato great write up and buy of history. Thanks .
You’re welcome!
Prepare for much more on the Battle of Leyte Gulf, my favorite World War 2 battle (80th anniversary comes in just a couple of days)!
Churchill Tanks of the 4th Grenadier Guards advance on Venray / Venraij Netherlands - October 17, 1944
IWM - Norris (Sgt) Photographer
IWM BU 1205
It’s the 80th anniversary of the US landings at Leyte. Almost to Leyte Gulf…
PT-194 refueling from the PT Boat Tender USS Wachapreague AGP-8 while enroute from Palau to Leyte Gulf - October 20, 1944
PT-194 was an 80’ Elco launched in February 1943, assigned to MTBRon 12 in the Pacific, she participated in the Guadalcanal Campaign, New Guinea, Leyte Gulf, and the Battle of Surigao Strait.
PT-194 was stripped and burned at Samar in October 1945….
80 Years Ago Today - US General Douglas MacArthur wades ashore during the initial landings at Leyte in the Philippines - October 20, 1944
In his prepared speech, MacArthur said;
People of the Philippines: I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God our forces stand again on Philippine soil—soil consecrated in the blood of our two peoples. We have come dedicated and committed to the task of destroying every vestige of enemy control over your daily lives, and of restoring upon a foundation of indestructible strength, the liberties of your people.
NARA - US Army Signal Corps
Gaetano Faillace Photographer
Cool!
And so begins my ongoing coverage as the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf approaches:
October 22, 2024 is the 80th anniversary of when most the Japanese fleet embarked for Opeeration Sho-go 1 set sail towards the Phillipines to counter American landings there.
The ships sailed in multiple seperate task forces from different places, with the Center Force, the most powerful of the fleets and containing battleship legends Yamato and Musashi, led by Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita, and the Southern Force, composed of Force C which included the battleships Fuso and Yamashiro and led by Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimura, departing from Brueni Bay in Borneo that day (likely where a good amount of Japan’s oil supplies were kept). Vice Admiral Kiyohide Shima’s Second Striking Force, consisting exclusively of cruisers and destroyers, left the Pescadores, Formosa the same day.
Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa’s carrier force sortied from the Japanese Home Islands two days earlier, in a fleet consisting of the carrier-battleships Ise and Hyuga and 4 mostly empty carriers, including Zuikaku, the only fleet carrier in the group and the last surviving carrier from the Attack on Pearl Harbor.
Stay tuned for more coverage tommorow as the battle officially starts.
Today is the 80th anniversary of what some call the “Fight of Palawan Passage”, a submarine action at that passage (some people don’t use the term “battle”).
While Kurita’s Center Force was transiting past Palwan Island off the very western parts of the Phillipines, the fleet was attacked by the American submarines Darter and Dace, sinking two Japanese heavy cruisers, the Maya and Kurita’s flagship Atago, and heavily damaging the heavy cruiser Takao enough to force it to retire to Singapore.
Kurita was forced to transfer to the Yamato and make it his command ship.
October 24, 2024. The 80th anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf continues.
After Kurita’s Center Force was spotted by American aircraft, William Halsey’s Fast Carrier Task Force readied an air strike. However, the fleet was caught out of position, with its most powerful carrier group, with 40% of its aircraft, under Vice Admiral John S. Mccain (yes, grandfather of that Mccain), heading back to Ulithi for a refit, while the carrier group closest to the Japanese fleet, under Rear Admrial Gerald F. Bogan, happened to be the weakest of the carrier groups, with only 1 Essex class fleet carrier and 2 Independence class light carriers.
Before American aircraft could strike, however, Japanese aircraft from land bases in the Phillipines attacked the American forces. Poorly trained and outnumbered, most of them were shot down without causing any damage. However, a single D4Y3 Judy torpedo bomber managed to pass through all the defenses, hitting the light carrier Princeton with a 250kg armor piercing bomb. The bomb managed to hit the area where multiple loaded torpedo bombers and many loose torpedos and bombs were stored, causing a catastrophic explosion. Princeton would be the only Independence class light carrier sunk during the Pacific War.
American air strikes on the Japanese fleet were more successful, heavily damaging the heavy cruiser Myoko, forcing it to retire, and landing at least 17 bombs and 19 torpedos on the Yamato class battleship Musashi, sinking it. In response, Kurita turned his fleet around to escape the air range of American aircraft.
Believing the Japanese Center Force to be in retreat, when Halsey’s scouts spotted Ozawa’s carrier-based Northern Force (actually a decoy), the entire Fast Carrier Task Force prepared to meet the Japanese fleet.
Unfortunately, Halsey sent a vague communication to other fleets, making it seem as if he had already formed Task Force 34 (centered around the Fast Carrier Task Force’s fast battleships, including 2 Iowa-class battleships) to guard the San Bernardino strait, the area which the Center Force tried to cross, when his was not the case (he actually meant that Task Force 34 will be formed in the future when ordered by him). This led the commander of the Seventh Fleet (in charge of the amphibhious landings), Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid, to station all of his Standard-class battleships (probably used for shore bombardment before the battle) to guard Surigao Strait, leaving only a small force of destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers to guard San Bernardino Strait while Halsey rushed northwards with all of his carriers and fast battleships.
In case you were wondering, Nishiruma’s Southern Force continued sailing to Surigao Strait, but didn’t engage in any combat (yet).
Composite Sherman Tanks of the 1st Cavalry Division prepare to move out while locals chat with US soldiers after being freed from Japanese occupation in Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines - October 24, 1944
Composite Shermans consisted of a cast front section attached to a welded rear section
LIFE Magazine Archives
apanese Battleship Musashi down by the bow after being attacked by US Navy carrier aircraft during the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea - October 24, 1944
Despite Japanese attempts to save her, Musashi capsized and sank, she had been hit by an estimated 19 torpedoes & 17 bombs.
Captain Inoguchi Toshihira chose to go down with his ship, 1,376 of Musashi’s 2,399 crew were rescued.
Lieutenant Tobei Shiraishi Photographer
US Naval History and Heritage Command
