Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM) girls on a fundraising drive.

This page continues my series on color photographs of World War II. The page concentrates on German forces and the Reich homefront.

Almost all color photographs of World War II are colorized recently from black-and-white originals, and these are few exceptions. Unfortunately, with all the colorization, it now is difficult to pick out the genuine color photographs - and there were a small number of them. There definitely were color photographs in the 1930s and 1940s, and more color shots than you might think, but major publications with only a few notable exceptions (such as Life magazine) had no need for color photos. I try to point out when I am certain which photos are colorized, but you can assume that all are.

Personally, I have no issues with colorization as long as it is done well and shows colors that we know from other sources to be accurate. If added color makes World War II photos a little more accessible for people, so much the better.

These types of general pages, which span the entire war, provide a chance to look at the war from a different perspective than usual. Rather than focus on individuals or events, we instead look at random images from the time period. A page like this would be a good place to start when studying the World War II era, but also a good place to review after you've delved deeply into the details of the war. Looking at random images that are pleasing to the eye is like flying in an airplane over an event, taking in the broadest view but without getting bogged down in who won what and what happened before and after the picture was taken.

There is an immediacy to color photographs that make you understand the reality of the times, the feelings that symbols and backgrounds gave to a central image. They also provide a chance to look at random aspects of the war that may get short shrift elsewhere. They also remove some of the distance of time, with little girls looking just like little girls today... only wearing Swastikas.

You may find more color photos of World War II on page 1 and page 2 and page 3 and page 4 and page 5 and page 6 and page 7 and page 8 and page 9 and page 10 and page 11 and page 12 and page 13 and page 14 and page 15 and page 16 of this series.

Hope you enjoy your stay.

Note the symmetry in this picture. The Germans understood that the human brain finds symmetry pleasing and beautiful.

A BDM girl cleaning some shoes.

Hitler and Mussolini.

Firing the Gustav gun (colorized).

German maidens were enthusiastic participants in sports.

16.Luft.Field Div. - 8,8cm FlaK - Normandy, France 1944.

A Waffen-SS Scharführer of at the military academy (Junkerschule) at Bad Tölz.

U-331, a Type VIIC U-boat (Oberleutnant zur See Freiherr Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen).

A BDM girl (colorized).

Gebirgsjägers (mountain troops) with an MG-42.

Fallschirmjäger.

A Kubelwagen in North Africa with the Afrika Korps (DAK).

A BDM girl (colorized).

A Wehrmacht soldier at Dunkirk, 1940.

Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler taking a walk on the Obersalzberg, ca. 1944.

Küstenverteidigung (coastal defense) using a MG-34.

A typical anti-tank ditch (Panzergräben) with a panzer in the background (colorized).

A BDM girl (colorized).

A U-boat commander in 1942 (Life).

German maidens celebrating spring.

Another Kubelwagen in North Africa.

A good shot of a Kriegsmarine 2.0 cm Flak 29 Oerlikon. These guns were highly prized, and the Royal Navy would take them off sinking Axis ships whenever they got the chance.

Germans celebrating the victories of 1940.

The Hamburg Central Station (west exit on the Glockengießerwall), Hungarian state visit, August 24, 1938 (Credit: Walter Hollnagel).

SS-Untersturmführer Gerhard Mahn. 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking" signaling for troops to advance, Ukraine 1944.

The German summer offensive in August 1942. These men are with the 17th Army in Army Group South, all under Field Marshal List. This is in the Caucasus during the advance on the oil fields of Baku and Maykop. You can see an Mg-34 and MP-40. Colorized.

A German girl, apparently a Helferinnen.

Rolling by a burning truck during the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa.

I believe this was taken in Italy.

On the run during the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa.

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Marilyn Monroe, unknown at the time and named Norma Jeane Dougherty, photographed by the U.S. Army in late 1944. She was working at the Radioplane Munitions Factory in Van Nuys, California making drones. These shots - never used by the army - began her entire later career (David Conover, US Army).

Reviewing color photographs of World War II, including those that have been faithfully colorized, gives new insight into the war. Color film was available during World War II, including motion picture film, but it was extremely expensive. Only the well-heeled could afford it, and many publications that could afford it used black and white film anyway because that is how their publications were printed.

Here, we have some of my favorite color shots from the war. They come from a variety of sources, including US and German magazines, screen grabs from color motion picture film, and colorized shots of black and white originals.

You may find more color photos of World War II on page 1 and page 2 and page 3 and page 4 and page 5 and page 6 and page 7 and page 8 and page 9 and page 10 and page 11 and page 12 and page 13 and page 14 and page 15 and page 16 of this series.
I try to give a broad selection of photos in these general categories. However, I do talk about some of these topics in much greater detail elsewhere so you might wish to explore further. Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoy your stay.

Inge Ley (wife of Labor Front boss Robert Ley) and Adolf Hitler aboard the KDF cruise ship Robert Ley on its maiden voyage. There were rumors that Hitler "liked" Inge and kept her husband around so she would be handy. Like many of the women Hitler "liked," she wound up committing suicide, in 1942. Inge was a moderating influence on Hitler, and it is interesting that he made increasingly bizarre decisions after her death. Incidentally, Inge was an imposing and attractive woman, that shot does not do her justice.

Soviet "Night witches" Major Rufina Sergeyevna Gasheva, a navigator of the 548th Night Bomber Regiment (848 night combat missions), and Major Natalya Fyodorovna Meklin, a pilot (and commander) of the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment (980 night combat missions). Both were named Heroes of the Soviet Union, a very big deal akin to the US Medal of Honor. Behind them are Polikarpov Po-2 light bombers, useful precisely because they were obsolete and thus plentiful (colorized by Olga Shirnina, also known as Klimbim).

Bf 109 E-3 of JG 3 In France. This is in "Luftwaffe in Colour: The Victory Years: 1939-1942" by Christophe Cony and Jean-Louis Roba.

Romanian troops in Russia.

RAF fighters, a screenshot from original color war footage.

SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Josef "Sepp" Dietrich (Commanding General of I. SS-Panzerkorps "Leibstandarte" and later commander of an SS army at the Battle of the Bulge). He is seen here chatting with photographer Heinrich Hoffmann at the Berghof in Berchtesgaden in spring 1944. This photo may have been taken by Eva Braun, who took a lot of photographs at the Berghof in casual settings.

Hitler Inspects a Jagdpanzer 38 (Sd.Kfz. 138/2) "Hetzer." This was based on the Romanian "Mareşal" tank destroyer and built using Czech plants. Some were converted into flamethrowers late in the war and saw service on the Western Front. Performance was pretty satisfactory because it had a low profile and could be relatively easily hidden for ambushes.

Firing the main guns. Screen capture from color footage.

A Wehrmacht mountain (Jaeger) trooper.

A German 88mm FLAK gun in action.

German panzers invading Poland. "Grenze" means "border" in German.

Gdynia (Gotenhafen to the Germans) after the invasion in 1939. Life magazine.

Panzergruppe Kleist Armed with Panzer III F and Gs during the opening stage of Operation Barbarossa in 1941 (colorized).

A Life Magazine shot of Adolf Hitler at the Berghof, Berchtesgaden.

German and Italian flags flying side-by-side during a state visit in 1938.

Bf 110 G-6s (Destroyers) over Russia.

German funeral (Signal magazine).

An MG-34 machine gun nest (Signal magazine).

German Panzer III with the upgraded (50mm long L/60) gun.

A Bf 109 of JG 2.

Working on a Bf 110 E-1.

"Fast Heinz" Wilhelm Guderian.

Mrs. Mary Betchner working at the plant, February 1943. She is inspecting a howitzer shell at the Milwaukee, Wisconsin plant of the Chain Belt Co. Mary's son was in the army, and her husband also was in war work.

Loading some geese on a Junkers Ju 52 (Life Magazine).

A convalescing German Jaeger soldier romancing a local girl.

A Canadian Women's Army Corps (WAC) during the war. This apparently was in color in the original.

A member of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during the Third Reich (Life magazine).

A pre-war rally in Germany (Life magazine).

Eva Braun and Hitler at the Berghof.

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