Free online collections of digitized photos and other images, from wartime scenes.
27 Rare Color Photographs from World War II
Photos mainly of U.S. military personnel & equipment on fronts around the world. Clear & hi-res.
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American National Red Cross
LOC scanned nearly 19,000 American National Red Cross glass negatives. The majority of the collection focuses on the Red Cross’ work during and after WWI. The American National Red Cross not only cared for injured combatants, but they also helped refugees, took care of orphans, and sent aid to areas hit by famine. There is extensive coverage of their wartime actions in France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Balkans, Eastern Russia (including Siberia) & the Middle East. Also in the U.S.
Photographs of World War I
From NY Public Library. Photographs of World War I battlefields, captured German installations and allied installations. Photos are from several sources, mounted on mat boards with notes.
Poland in Photographs, 1939-1944
From NY Public Library. This collection of 58 photographs taken during the Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II includes depictions of children and of German atrocities.
American war posters from WWI
Posters, handbills, and broadsides created during the era of the First World War. UC Berkeley.
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American War Posters from WWII
Categories present include: bonds and war finance, civil defense, civilian participation (food supply, health and safety, labor, non-combatant service, rationing and conservation, war production, etc.), espionage, military operations, military recruiting, international relations. UC Berkeley.
Barnard & Gardner Civil War Photographs
Some of the most celebrated, recognizable, and graphic images of the American Civil War come from Alexander Gardner’s “Photographic Sketch Book of the Civil War” and George N. Barnard’s “Photographic Views of Sherman’s Campaign”, both published in 1866. Duke Univ. Libraries.
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Civil War Faces
More than 1,200 portraits taken during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Library of Congress flickr page.
Color Images of London during World War II
Small photo assortment using an early color photography process called Dufaycolor. Retronaut.
See our free books on the military history of World War I
D-Day: The Normandy Invasion June 6, 1944
Photos and images of some documents. Google Arts & Culture.
See our collected articles about World War I
German Internees in North Carolina 1917
World War I, the North Carolina resort town of Hot Springs hosted a camp for German POWs.
Japanese Internment Camp 1943
Selection of photos taken by the famous photographer Ansel Adams. The Washington Post.
See our collected articles about World War II
Life Aboard a U.S. Warship 1896
Assortment of photos taken on the then-new USS Brooklyn, a U.S. Navy armored cruiser. Retronaut.
The Boxer Rebellion 1899-1901
The Boxer Rebellion was a violent anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising that took place in China between 1899 and 1901. 162 images. Google Arts & Culture.
See our free books on the U.S. Civil War