During the Battle of Midway, Japanese dominance of the Pacific was finally called into question. From June 3 to June 7, 1942—only six months after the Japanese had devastated the US fleet at Pearl Harbor—the US dealt Japan a decisive and crippling blow in the Pacific, leaving four carriers, one heavy cruiser, and 248 Japanese aircraft destroyed in the aftermath. Roughly 3,057 Japanese were killed during the campaign, as opposed to only 307 Americans.
11Collision
Although many troops during the war sought the prestige of air combat over the grueling realities of fighting on the ground, pilots were also forced to endure an almost endless array of terrors in the sky. Technical difficulties leading to engine failures were not uncommon, and those lucky enough to avoid being shot down in a firefight were also vulnerable to midair collisions, as was the case for this unfortunate airman.
10Bombing For Revenge
For a large part of the war, the Germans reigned supreme when it came to aviation. Their illustrious and feared Luftwaffe, led by Hermann Goering, was by far the largest and most powerful air force during World War II. They devastated London in the Battle of Britain. Here, however, the British take at least a small amount of revenge, as they bomb the German-occupied Abbeville Aerodrome in France.
9Battle Of Kursk
Terror presented itself in all forms during World War II, and sometimes, it was terrifying even to be in the company of your own brethren. Here, a Russian soldier hopes that the dirt around his trench does not give way to the massive Russian T-34 tank that is trying to gain a better position during the Battle of Kursk, which took place between German and Soviet forces in July and August 1943.
8Compassion
War is Hell. It can turn men who would otherwise be kind and loving into barbarous monsters capable of untold destruction, torture, and inhumanity. Sometimes, however, humanity prevails, as was the case for this German soldier, who chose to relinquish some of his food rations to a starving Russian POW and her daughter.
7Things Are Not What They Seem
Although it looks as though Georges Blind, the man facing a line of German rifles in this photo, is about to be executed, it was all a lie. The Germans were only attempting to extract information from Blind, a member of the French Resistance movement. When Blind refused to divulge what the Germans were after, the guns were lowered, and he was instead sent to a concentration camp, where he died almost immediately.
6Strange Beauty
During bombing raids of any kind, it was not uncommon for cities to undergo “blackouts,” wherein all houses were ordered to eliminate all light, which would theoretically make it harder for enemy aircraft to find targets. Occasionally, however, such light was unavoidable, especially when antiaircraft fire such as that pictured here above Algiers lit up the sky in its entirety.
5Resolute
In this iconic photo, British POW Horace Greasley stares down one of the top figures of the Nazi Establishment: Heinrich Himmler. Seen here touring one of the many German POW camps in operation, Himmler was the leader of the dreaded Nazi SS and was the primary overseer of the concentration camps that systematically slaughtered millions of people.
4Defeat
As part of the Allies’ quest to rid the Pacific of Japanese control, a strategy of “island hopping” was implemented, which led the Allies to systematically gain control of several prominent Japanese-held islands. One such island was Okinawa. Although the Allies were ultimately victorious, the victory was hard-won, and the Japanese insistence on fighting to the end during this engagement was one of the reasons the atomic bomb was ultimately deemed necessary.
3Endgame
Although World War II brought untold devastation in a variety of forms, the devastation of the atomic bomb (nicknamed “Little Boy”) that was dropped over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, was the most severe. US officials deliberated whether or not to use the bomb. They finally justified its use on the grounds of it being a “necessary evil” as well as the fact that if they didn’t drop such a devastating device, the Japanese would continue to fight until the last man—ultimately leading to more death and destruction.
2Devastation
After the bomb was dropped, roughly 12.2 square kilometers (4.7 mi2) of the city of Hiroshima had been destroyed, with buildings reduced to irreparable rubble. The intensity of the blast also immediately began a series of powerful fires, which quickly burned down any homes that had been lucky enough to remain standing.
1Second Strike
Only three days after Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima, another atomic bomb (this time nicknamed “Fat Man”) was dropped over the city of Nagasaki. Although Fat Man was a more powerful bomb, Nagasaki’s numerous hillsides and narrow valleys helped to reduce some of the fallout and damage. While most historians agree that dropping the first atomic bomb was justified, many question whether or not President Truman should have dropped the second bomb—as opposed to waiting for a potential Japanese surrender.
Although the physical terrain of Nagasaki helped to reduce the devastation to some extent, this was of course relative to the unprecedented impact of the first type of bomb in history to harness the power of the atom and produce energy comparable to roughly 20,000 tons of dynamite. One can take a small degree of solace, however, in the fact that this bomb officially ended the most devastating war in human history.
+Shell-Shocked
Although World War I was technically the first major war to take place during the industrialized age, World War II brought a wide array of far more powerful weaponry. These modern guns, tanks, and explosives were deafening to both the user and recipient, and many soldiers suffered permanent hearing loss as a result.
