I Discovered Where He Was!!! Never Before Seen WWII Battlefield Photos

Welcome back Steemians!

Each time I open the folder titled “Grandpas WWII Photos” on my computer, I am always shocked at what I find. Today, I am featuring some more war-torn urban centers which appear to be mostly destroyed by bombing raids, but when you look closely you can see clear evidence of small arms combat as well. Here we have some identifiable landmarks in his photographs that led me on an exhaustive internet search. From what I can gather, these next few photographs were taken in Nuremberg, Germany. I know for 100% certainty that at least one of them is and he took a number of pictures on this film roll.

Now we are beginning to piece together his story. The battle of Nuremberg was one of the fiercest urban battles of WWII. The battle took place from the 16th through the 20th of April of 1945, which correlates perfectly with my grandfather's arrival in Germany. Based on his Army papers, and these photographs, I would put him there right after the battle took place. On his separation document, there was no note of a Combat Infantry Badge. Therefore, it would seem that he never participated directly in the battle itself. Regardless of that, we have some amazing portraits of the battlefield. It is possible that he was there at the time of the battle, perhaps he was in the rear or in reserve? Judging by these photographs, it at the very least had recently taken place.

Before the battle, the city of Nuremberg, Germany was the center of the Nazi regime and the battle was a huge victory for the Americans which helped to turn the tide of the war. Please check out more about the battle on Wikipedia.

These photographs are truly a valuable piece of WWII history. They are never before seen photos taken by an American Infantrymen of the Battle of Nuremberg, I am happy to share them here on Steemit. If you are new to my blog please check out my original post here for an more in-depth story behind these photographs.

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The first image of today’s series is a little out of focus, but nonetheless it is extremely interesting. Here we have the first clue of where my grandfather was when this picture was taken. This photograph is what sparked my search to find out where he was, this tower is just the landmark I needed to figure it out. However, I have searched and searched all over and cannot seem to find what that tower is. I believe that if that tower was in Nuremberg, it may have been destroyed shortly after this was taken because I cannot find it anywhere (if you have any ideas, please let me know).

During my search however, I did stumble upon this picture from a travel tips blog about a trip to a Christmas market.

Wait a minute! That looks awfully familiar, so I go back and start checking.

There it is, only a few photographs after the picture from the start of my search. The same tower, captured by my grandfather some 70 years ago in the middle of hell. What an amazing discovery. Now I am beginning to uncover the story that he left behind almost 30 years after his death.

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Here you can see in the original photograph that he took of the medieval tower from old Nuremberg. The arches under the roof are a dead giveaway. It is amazing to think of all the things that tower has witnessed and has survived. This is now on the top of my list of things to see in Germany.

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The photo pictured above, was immediately following the first picture of this post on his film roll. It appears that he simply turned around and snapped a picture of the street facing the other way. The trolly car tracks are there, so one can only assume.

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Lastly, for today, we have some evidence of ground combat in this picture. The building is completely blown open, by what? It is hard to say for certain. At first glance, I assumed that it was a bomb from a plane, but when you look closer you see evidence of small arms impacts on the building on the right side. You will also notice that the roof has collapsed making me think that it was a tank round (or two, or three) is what destroyed the front corner of this this building. It is hard to say for sure. On the left side of the building in the back corner, we can see yet another window that has been blown out. This gives more evidence for me to assume that this building was occupied and heavily defended during the battle.

Now if you look at the second floor and zoom it, it looks like there may be a body, or two, hanging out on the ledge. To me, it looks like legs and a blanket roll around the waist. Was that the focus of this shot? Or is is just debris from the roof collapsing? Let me know what you think!

This has been quite an intense post for me, I hope you all enjoyed it. There are still so many photographs to go through, its as if we get to relive part of the war with this collection. Looking forward we have captured tanks, more battlefields, planes, soldiers, and even a concentration camp that could re-write some history!

There are many more photographs, so please come on back next Monday and join me on this amazing journey through Germany during World War II!

Thanks, everyone for stopping by and please upvote and Re-steam this post! I am really enjoying all the comments and feedback from all you folks, thank you very much! If you have any information on any of these photographs, please, please share it in the comments.

I own all of these photographs so please respect my family history and ask permission prior to use.