Mud

THE POLISH ARMY IN THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN, 1943-1945 (NA 22258)
Catalogue number: NA 22258
5th Battalion, 2nd Brigade (3rd Carpathian Rifles Division, 2nd Polish Corps), armed with Thompson submachine guns and Bren machine guns, plodding their way through the thick mud at Faenza, 13 February 1945. They are probably coming back from a patrol in the hills south of River Senio which separated them from the enemy.



THE BRITISH ARMY IN ITALY 1943 (NA 8838)
Catalogue number NA 8838
A 17-pdr anti-tank gun being manhandled into position in thick mud, 20 November 1943



THE CAMPAIGN IN ITALY, SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 1943: THE ALLIED ADVANCE TO THE GUSTAV LINE (NA 8787)
Catalogue number: NA 8787
Monte Camino November - December 1943: Men of 99 Medium Battery, 74 Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery struggle to bring a 5.5 inch medium field gun into action through thick mud in the Camino area


THE CAMPAIGN IN ITALY, SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 1943: THE ALLIED ADVANCE TO THE GUSTAV LINE (NA 8925)
Catalogue number: NA 8925
Sangro River November 1943: An Indian soldier pushing his vehicle which is bogged down in deep mud in the Sangro area.



THE CAMPAIGN IN ITALY, SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 1943: THE ALLIED ADVANCE TO THE GUSTAV LINE (NA 7669)
Catalogue number: NA 7669
The Volturno River 12 - 16 October 1943: Guns and vehicles of 48 Field Battery, 146 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery sink in mud during the advance to the Volturno.



THE CAMPAIGN IN ITALY, SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 1943: THE ALLIED ADVANCE TO THE GUSTAV LINE (NA 7876)
Catalogue number: NA 7876
The Volturno River 12 - 16 October 1943: Infantry of the 8th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers advance through the mud in the Volturno area.



THE CAMPAIGN IN ITALY 1945 (NA 22176)
Catalogue number: NA 22176
A Grant ARV of the New Zealand Division lifts a Daimler scout car which had become bogged down in the mud near Faenza, 7 February 1945.

 

UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES (USAAF) IN BRITAIN, 1942-1945 (FRE 10113)
Catalogue number: FRE 10113
A Cletrac tows a crashed P-38 Lightning (7Y-P) of the 474th Fighter Group. Written on image: '(GPR-329-[illegible]) (1 Dec 44)(General Mud).'

 

THE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH-WEST EUROPE 1944-45 (B 11061)
Catalogue number: B 11061
A signals half-track of 11th Armoured Division stuck in the mud in Holland, 19 October 1944.



THE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH-WEST EUROPE 1944-45 (B 12044)
Catalogue number: B 12044
A Sherman tank crewman finds the mud heavy going in Germany, 24 November 1944.




THE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH-WEST EUROPE 1944-45 (B 14419)
Catalogue number: B 14419
A universal carrier of 51st Highland Division ploughing through thick mud during the Reichswald battle, 9 February 1945

 

THE GERMAN ARMY ON THE EASTERN FRONT DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR (COL 167)
Catalogue number: COL 167
German despatch riders dig out their Zundapp motorbike which is bogged down in mud on the Eastern Front probably during the Spring thaw.

 

ROYAL AIR FORCE: ITALY, THE BALKANS AND SOUTH-EAST EUROPE, 1942-1945. (CNA 2072)
Catalogue number: CNA 2072
Personnel of No. 92 Squadron RAF push one of their Supermarine Spitfire Mark VIIIs from the mud on the waterlogged landing ground at Canne, Italy, watched by one of the Squadron pets..



ROYAL AIR FORCE: ITALY, THE BALKANS AND SOUTH-EAST EUROPE, 1942-1945. (CNA 2271)
Catalogue number: CNA 2271
Attempts being made to free a Douglas Dakota of No. 267 Squadron RAF Detachment, bogged down in the mud at Catania, Sicily, following the heavy Autumn rain

 

ROYAL AIR FORCE IN NORTH AFRICA, 1944-1945. (CNA 2636)
Catalogue number: CNA 2636
Flight Lieutenant T H Palmer, an RAF public relations officer, makes his way through the mud on the waterlogged Hawker Hurricane dispersal at Maison Blanche, Algeria, following heavy rainfall over the Mediterranean area.

 

THE BRITISH ARMY IN BURMA 1945 (SE 1943)
Catalogue number: SE 1943
Men of the 36th Infantry Division struggle to push a Dodge weapons carrier through the monsoon mud on the road to Mandalay, February 1945


THE WAR IN THE FAR EAST: THE BURMA CAMPAIGN 1941-1945 (IND 4058)
Catalogue number: IND 4058
Transport of the 5th Indian Division struggling through mud on the Tiddim Front

 

ROYAL AIR FORCE: 2ND TACTICAL AIR FORCE, 1943-1945. (CL 850)
Catalogue number: CL 850
Men of No. 703 Mobile Signals Servicing Unit helping to clear mud away from the square mesh type tracking at B21/Ste-Honorine-de-Ducy, Normandy, after heavy rain.


ROYAL AIR FORCE: 2ND TACTICAL AIR FORCE, 1943-1945. (CL 1735)
Catalogue number: CL 1735
Airmen struggle to haul 1,000-lb bombs through the mud at No. 423 Aviation Fuel and Ammunition Park, situated in a forest near Genech,south-east of Lille, France.

 

Illustrated London News 04 December 1943

 

Helps explain why 5-10% never exploded when dropped.

 

During ww2 and it's aftermath, I was to spend a total of 4 winters in Italy, from 1943 to 1946

My abiding memory is that of mud followed,inevitably, by dust and our only consolation was that our enemy was suffering the identical torment !

My thanks to all who have posted these tremendously evocative pics.

Ron

 

HI

I think the man in the middle of this photo for the 423 AFAP is my Grandfather. Do you have any further info or photos of the 423 AFAP?

Thanks

Paul

 

Paul

Your best bet is to find another photo in the series (adjacent photo number or close number) or film taken at the same time: the IWM have posted only a proportion of their images and film online and, similarly, they have not provided a full database of photos and film (which would be a massive task when they have several millions of photos etc in their archive). Unfortunately this might need a visit to their archive annex near the main IWM building in London: that needs booking in advance and also a schedule of the documents you wish to consult if said documents/photos are not accessible via their onsite albums. No mean task but can be very rewarding as I found out when researching my fathers Regiment and LST( Landing Ship Tank).

 

Thanks for the advice. I have been to Kew recently and need to go back again so will have to arrange this visit for the same time.

 

I've visited the photo archive a couple of times in recent years: just a few things you need to appreciate:
1. They are not necessarily open every day so check before you go, in any case:
2. You need to phone them to make an appointment - assuming everything is as per my last visit about a year ago.
3. Their security is quite strict
4. They don't permit photography of any type - the complete opposite of Kew!
5. They have a photocopier for which you pay per copy
6. They have some exceptionally helpful staff.
7. The photos (I have no experience of researching their film archive) are indexed in things called 'Index Books' on shelves and on things called 'File Cards' in cabinets. Excuse the tongue in cheek comment but that means some careful trawling - can be time consuming and 'addictive' - the old fashioned way. No fancy stuff like computers.
8. The photos themselves, the Index Books and File Cards cabinets are all in the Research Room
9. The photos themselves are held in a huge number of albums so are easy to locate....if you know in which album to look ( refer to point 7 above).

Let us know how you get on.

 

Another couple of images from the CBI theatre:

 

Fantastic advice. Much appreciated. Might just take a week off work to cram in as much as possible.

 

Regards mud............... i don't suppose things are much better now, for ground troops, than they were in WW2.
3 feet of mud is a killer

 

I'll take mud over ice any day. Some of you have seen videos of Sherman tanks sliding down a cobblestone street "somewhere in Europe." Look flippin' cold to me.