WWII Photos and Documents

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Ubiquitus sign for CCB posted everywhere as the 11th Armored advance to help keep support units together. The tanks advanced so quickly at times that everything was left behind including fuel.

Whe new headquarters were established these signs would lead the way. The division was divided into three combat command. Combat Command A, (CCA), Combat Command B (CCB) and Combat Command Reserve (CCR). Each would be assigned a task. For instance on April 4, 1945, CCA was assigend the captured of Suhl, the large arms mfg center. CCB, was assigned the capture of Oberhoff,a resort center, skiing, hiking, etc. a few miles away. (This was where Fritz Walther sent his family to wait for the American attack, thinking the Zella-Mehlis garrison where the Walther factory was located, would put up a fight, they did not.) And CCR was assigned the task of capturing Zella-Mehlis).

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This signpost in Linz, Austria, the adopted hometown of Hitler shows the distances to Vienna, Passau and Salzburg. Also shows directional signs to CCB headquarters for followup units and a white flag of surrender.

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Tank destroyer crossing the Moselle.

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This photo is important because it gives a very good idea of what the countryside in Thuringia and Bavaria was like. The rolling countryside was interspersed with heavily wooded areas. Good places to hide large numbers of retreating and in some cases still ready to fight SS units.
I recently traveled through this area and it remains the same today.

Title on back of photo: Ambulances waiting for casualties. Heavy firefight going on nearby. Oberhof.

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Dead horses and Jerrys following a firefight.

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Engineers constructing a bridge while artillery was falling nearby.

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Two more at 200 yards. Hot firefight. Ammo in trucks exploded shortly after this photo.

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German halftrack and anti-tank 88

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Flight of American P38s coming in over a streetcar barn in Linz, Austria 7AM

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Inscription on back: "War is hell. People standing around outside church after putting out fire caused by our artillery. Note pews, furniture and fire hoses in front of church".

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"On the road from Oberhof to Zella Mehlis. The mailman in his Peep following our maintenance truck. April 5, 1945"

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Civilians removing a roadblock near Zella-Mehlis

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"Locomotive strafed by our planes. Prum Mar 2 1945"

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Our Weasel heading to CCB HQ, sign points the way. 250km to Prague. April10, 1945.

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Medium tanks in firing position firing on town which refused to surrender and fired on our troops.

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Inscription: "Lieutenant Graf in Towhead and Kenny and Virg waiting for artillery support"
Notice the well pump made totally out of wood..

[Big ugly]

I love this thread, After hearing stories and seeing some of my Grandfather and his brother's photos and hearing their stories and now going over this thread......... Words escape me. Makes me think of Gramps and Uncle Karl and Uncle Tom goin over their experiences. Grandpa was in the Pacific while his brothers were fighting in Europe.

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Thank you...That is exactly the kind of emotions that I was hoping to elicit with the photos. Memories of Gramps and the stories he used to tell. I have included a lot of names, hoping that someone will recognize their grandfather or uncle.

When growing up, my grandmother lived two doors away and every Sunday was a family get together. They are all gone now. But when I was 7 or 8, I would be sent down the street to bed while the adults stayed up and enjoyed the family time together long into the night.

I had no objection to being sent off, because within half an hour John would also sneak down to our home. He would sit on the edge of my bed and tell me stories of the war, of "Ol Blood & Guts" and his adventures across Europe with the 11th Armored Division. The rougher stories were not told in those days and even at my young age, I suspected that some were made up or embellished for my benefit. It would be many years before I would see the three war albums and discover to my astonishment that those tall tales were true.

He had a picture on the wall of his study of Tex his white stallion. In the photo he was wearing battle fatigues, of course, his steel pot and had a yellow bandana around his neck. There are photos of him with the bandana in the album and I suspect that was where his nickname came from "Sundown". He said he had rescued him from hungry civilians who wanted to make a meal of him. He claimed that he rode Tex across a good bit of Europe or trailed him behind his Packard. It all sounded a little far fetched to me then, but you have all seen a photo of the Packard. Unfortunately the photo of him astride Tex is gone but I did find one photo of Tex. When the war ended and he realized that he would not be able to take Tex home to the US, he found a new owner. I'm jumping ahead in my story a little bit, but here is Tex and his new owner and another photo of the packard.

Title on the back of the Packard photo. "Brand new Packard I liberated in Germany"

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And a photo of Sundown with the yellow bandana.

Titled: Sundown & F.X. Daven

Notice another piece of rolling stock. Looks like a heavy duty flatbed trailer, a few Jerry Cans and a vice bolted on at the corner.

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Ol" Bood & Guts

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Kenny Moore, Lt. Graf and Nat Levin

Lieutenant Percival Graf deserves extra mention and much respect. When the maintenance convoy had added a Packard trailing a white stallion, I can see him rolling his eyes and saying to himself "What next".

John's team must have been very good at what they did and would go to any length to get the job done. They went behind enemy lines, and under fire to save the lives of others. In return, he clearly gave them great leeway when off duty.

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Chow. Loft Germany I suspect everyone who has been in the military will recognize the gas fired heaters in the trash cans. If I recall, one held soapy water and the other clean near boiling water, to clean and sterilize your mess kit.

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Inscription: Lt. Graf and I captured a small airbase in early AM. Got sniped at from behind middle plane. Worms Mar 20, 1945

Inscription on second photo: This one was ready to go until I shot out the nose.

Third photo: Won't fly anymore. This one was in great condition until I threw in a thermite grenade.

[flyingtiger85]

Wow,Your pictures are amazing.This is the real stuff.Looking at the pictures closely,you can get a sence of what it might have been like standing there yourself.Thanks for your time in posting them.The Flying Tiger!

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Flying tiger.

If you like the planes, stay tuned. On April 23rd, CCB captured Cham airbase between Regen and Schwartzenfeld, a large and active base. 50 aircraft were captured. Not only that, but three fighters which had been out strafing allied forces were captured when they returned to their base not realizing that it had taken! Field Marshall Kesselring's private train was there, as well as a large collection of captured allied aircraft.

And John (Forrest Gump) was there.

Here is one teaser. The inscription on this picture simply said "Duds", thinking they were unexploded bombs. But we know what they were.