Eastern Front photographs (1941-44)


Bofors antitank gun of cavalry troops. Taman bridgehead, May 1943.

10 October 1941. SMR Regele Carol I sinking.

Forcing the Prut River.

Romanian soldiers in offensive. Bessarabia, July 1941.

Romanian cavalry in Cernauti

Romanian R-35 tank from the 2nd Tank Regiment

Soviet prisoners

Romanian peasants welcome the troops

A 75 mm Vickers/Resita gun near Tohan in May 1943. The barrel is painted in camouflage colors, a rare procedure of the Romanian Army in WWII

Camouflaged 75mm Schneider-Putilov gun model 1902/36 on the front line

Romanian AA gun guarding a bridge over the river Dniester; note the gunners' Adrian model 1916 helmets

Romanian soldiers firing a 60 mm Stokes Brandt mortar on Soviet positions

Infantry in defensive positions near Odessa, firing the ZB-53 machine-gun

R-2 tanks from the 1st Armored Division near Odessa

Romanian motorized cavalry column

Machinegun position in Yaila Mountains during the winter of 1941/1942.

Waiting for a Soviet attack

Romanian troops firing a 81.4 mm Stokes Brandt mortar model 1931, in July 1942, near Sevastopol

Maxim Gorki II Fort

Sevastopol under bombs

Sevastopol

General Pantazi inspecting the 5th Mechanised Squadron of the 8th Cavalry Division in Crimea, 8 August 1942.

Two R-35 tanks tow a captured BT-2 in Bessarabia. July 1941.

R-35 with French painting scheme.

R-35 tanks of the 2nd Tank Regiment. Bucharest, 1940.

T-38 at maneuvers.

Karpovo (Odessa), 18 August 1941. R-2 hit by the Soviet antitank artillery.

TACAM T-60 at the parade. Bucharest, 10 May 1943.

"Vanatorul de care R-35 (transformat)" light tank

A 37 mm Rheinmetall gun model 1936 near Brasov

A searchlight near Brasov in October 1943

A 37 mm Rheinmetall battery in the Battle of Odessa

A 75 mm Skoda model 1928 from the 1st Guard Artillery Regiment in one of Bucharest's train stations on return from Odessa

A battery of 150 mm Skoda model 1934 howitzers near Odessa

A 105 mm Schneider model 1936 towed by a Skoda 6STP6L truck, from a motorized heavy artillery regiment

120 mm De Bange model 1878 howitzer, used in 1944.

SMR Regele Carol I

Romanian soldiers from a motorized cavalry recon unit lined up for lunch

Soldiers from the 2nd Rosiori Regiment in Hungary. One can observe the large variety of submachine-guns used by the Romanian cavalry at that date: MP 40, MP 41, PPSh-41, Orita, Beretta 38 A

Romanian cavalry in action, probably in a propaganda photo

Bridge over the river Dniester, built by Romanian engineers in 1941

Convoy leaving Sevastopol

Convoy under air bombardment

Military of 2nd Frontier-guards Regiment in the march at Kapalieva (east Odessa), on 18 August 1941.

Romanian pioneers equipped with Pignone model 1937 flame-throwers at the parade on 10 May 1942 (the national day then)

Romanian cavalrymen in the Kuban in 1942

Mountain troops lined up for an inspection April 1942, in Crimea. Note the white socks (a characteristic of the mountain troops' uniforms) only on the officer up front

A skier patrol from the 25th Mountain Battalion during the winter of 1941/42

Romanian soldiers near Kishinev, July 1941.

Romanian soldiers killed during the battle of Odessa. 15 October 1941.

Aerial view of Odessa, October 1941.

Odessa railroad station.

Odessa harbor.

Schneider antitank gun. Usatovo, 17 October 1941.

Soviet heavy artillery battery captured in the center of Chisinau by the 3rd Tank Company

King Mihai I and gen. Ion Antonescu during an inspection on the front, July 1941

Romanian infantry attacks under the protection of a smoke grenade

Romanian motorcyclist on a break by the side of the road. Note the white scarf around his arm, worn so that the German allies won't confuse him with a Soviet soldier

Romanian infantry crossing the river Donetsk. One of the soldiers is carrying a ZB 30 LMG

Infantryman in the 1941 campaign uniform

Romanian paratroopers near a Potez 56 transport airplane

Paratroopers at the burial of the fighter ace cpt. av. Alexandru Serbanescu on 19 August 1944. Note the German model 1938 helmets

The 102 mm Bofors gun on the NMS Delfinul submarine

The NMS Mihail Kogalniceanu monitor on the Danube

The NMS Dacia mine-laying ship in mission

Two Romanian torpedo-boats and a German submarine at Constanta

Romanian R-2 tank crew together with an instructor from the German Military Mission in June 1941

Romanian and German military advancing in Bessarabia during July 1941.

The first public appearance of the TACAM T-60 on 10 May 1943

A T-4 (here a Pz IV G) tank at the parade on 10 May 1943. It was the only survivor out of the 11 with which the 1st Armored Division went on the front in September 1942

A Potez 633B2 from the 74th Squadron at the Don Bend on 14 November 1942

IAR-80Bs from the 6th Fighter Group on the Popesti-Leordeni airfield in November 1943

A formation of BF-109Gs from the 53rd Squadron prepairing to take off; note the unit's mascot, Mickey Mouse on a horse with a lance

Effects of a USAAF bombardment of Ploesti

An IAR 39 from the 17th Observation Squadron

Group of mountain troop officers of one of the battalions

The inscription reads: 12 May 1943, 1st Squadron in Dnepropetrovsk, "the riders that come from far away". To our beloved brave commander of the 52nd Recon Group

47 mm Breda antitank gun on the shore of Azov Sea. June 1942.

Motorized artillery from a divisional battery; the towed piece is a 150 mm Skoda model 1933 howitzer

Romanian infantry advancing through marshlands. The soldier up front is carrying a ZB 30 LMG

Moving a 37 mm Bofors model 1936 AT gun to a new firing position

Mountain troops in the Caucasus

Soviet T-34/76 hit by AT guns and used as observation by Romanian soldiers during the fights in the Taman Peninsula

To keep warm during winter at Stalingrad one would do almost anything

Lt. gen. Constantin Pantazi, the minister of defence, visiting troops on the Stalingrad front

105mm Skoda model 1939 (D9) mountain howitzer in action.

Infantry in trenches at Don's Bend, October 1942. Note the particular caps the soldiers are wearing; these were standard for 1942.

Romanian R-2 tank from the 1st Armored Division at Stalingrad

60mm mortar in firing position at Don's Bend.

Meal at Don's Bend, October 1942.

47mm Bohler anti-tank gun in Kalmuk Steppe.

General Avramescu, the CO of the Mountain Corps, together with officers from his staff. Note the caps, which were used during the first two war winters

Romanian troops attending a commemoration of their dead comrades

Mountain troops observing the Soviet positions, before an assault

Mountain troops in Crimea, in 1941. Note their specific berrets

Generals Dragalina (left) and Avramescu (right) on a hunting trip

General Avramescu, the CO of the Mountain Corps, inspects the troops

General Avramescu and staff near a Horch 901 in Crimea in 1942

Romanian troops in Sevastopol

LMG nest on Hill 42. Sablokova, September 1941.

Crossing an antitank ditch. October 1941.

The battlefield northeast of Vygoda with the fallen command team of Major Filimon (R. 2 Inf). 10 October 1941.

Romanian mountain troops during the first battle of Sevastopol.

Romanian assault troops in action.

Firing a mountain gun.

Romanian troops using camels for crossing the Caucasian wastelands.

Artillery observers.

Romanian military cemetery at Dalnik.

Mountain troops during training.

Reconnaisance team.

NMS Delfinul

NMS Delfinul

NMS Marsuinul

NMS Rechinul (S1) and NMS Marsuinul (S2) in port

Officers of the 15th Battalion from the 2nd Mountain Division, in 1942.

T-4 (Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf H), at a repairing workshop behind front. This tank has the original camouflage scheme, being delivered by 23rd Panzer Division.

50 mm Pak 38 AT gun firing on the front in the Kuban during the summer of 1943

Romanian and German soldiers on a break

...

Romanian Pak 97/38 battery in Crimea in December 1943. Notice the special winter cammouflage

'Ford rusesc de captura' artillery tractors at the parade. Bucharest, 10 May 1943.

Komsomolets artillery tractor captured by Romanian troops in Crimea, 1942.

Mountain troops posing on a T-38 tank.

Gunners operating a 150mm Skoda M1934 heavy field howitzer. They are wearing Adrian M1916 helmets, specific of auxiliary troops. Bessarabia, July 1941.

ZB-53 machine-gun emplacement. Kuban, May 1943.

R-35 tanks of the 2nd Tank Regiment returning from Odessa on rain. October 1941.

Romanian soldiers firing a ZB 30 LMG during the fights in the Taman Peninsula in the summer of 1943

Romanian AAA crew in Bessarabia in 1941. Note the Adrian model 1916 helmets wore by the second line troops

Elements of the 1st Armored Division near Chisinau. Note the white band on the left arm of the officer in the command vehicle, which the Romanians wore in order to avoid being taken for Soviets by the German allies

Romanian cavalry marching to the front in Bessarabia. Note the swords

The commander and the driver of a R-2 tank in Bessarabia

Romanian paratroopers at the 10 May parade, passing in front of King Mihai I

155mm Schneider howitzer M1917 towed by Skoda tractor, in march to Krasnodar, August 1942.

Machine-guns captured from the Soviet troops.

Artillery pieces captured from Soviet troops

Soldiers of the 2nd Mountain Mounted Squadron (from the 2nd Mountain Division)

CB-class submarine.

Mountain troops posing around an abandoned Soviet BT-5 tank.

Machineguns mounted in antiaircraft role on a GAZ truck platform.

R-2 tank at the parade. Notice the aerial identification cross painted in Romanian airforce style on the hood of the engine.

Delfinul submarine arriving in Romania.

Navy Days at Constanta. In background: the depot ship NMS Constanta.

The deck of the mine-laying ship NMS Dacia during an operation on 5 November 1942

The deck of the mine-laying ship NMS Dacia during an operation on 5 November 1942

SMR Dacia

150mm Skoda field howitzer model 1934 in operation.

Horse-drawn 75mm Skoda M1928 field gun.

General Pantazi (Romanian minister of defence) inspecting artillery positions on the Eastern Front.

SRD Aurora in Constanta, 1940.

Romanian soldiers cross a river sqimming under the protection of a ZB 30 LMG

Romanian soldiers firing a 60 mm mortar

Soviet aircraft destroyed on the ground by Axis bombers on 22 June 1941

Lt. gen. Dragalina (left)and lt. gen. Avramescu (right) at a hunt.

Romanian soldiers in the Caucasus using a very unusual "vehicle"

The mule was the "truck" used by the Romanian mountain troops and was perfectly suited for operations in difficult terrain

Romanian infantry and a column of German StuG IIIEs

Lt. gen. Hugo Schwab in Crimea

Romanian mountain troops with a ZB-30 LMG in the Yaila Mountains

Romanian mountain troops with a ZB-53 machine-gun in the Yaila Mountains

General Ion Antonescu, together with Mihai Antonescu (left) and officers, during a religious service. He is wearing the "Mihai Viteazul" Order 3rd class.

Romanian infantry in Odessa

Romanian infantry during the battle for Odessa

Soviet prisoners escorted by Romanian soldiers. Note the white bands on the left arm, used to avoid misidentification by the Germans

Romanian soldiers inside Odessa

Romanian soldiers crossing a small river. Note that they still have the badges with King Carol II's cipher on the helmets.

Romanian soldiers on the seaside in Odessa

Brig. gen. Leonard Mociulschi together with unidentified staff officers and NCOs

Brig. gen. Leonard Mociulschi in 1942, wearing the Mihai Viteazul Order 3rd class and the Iron Cross 2nd and st classes

Platoon of the 12th Rosiori Regiment during 1940. One of the soldiers is carrying a ZB-30 LMG

Cavalry regiment preparing for inspection on the front.

General Corneliu Dragalina, 6th Corps' commander, during the autumn of 1941 at Odessa

Officers inspecting the front at Sevastopol in June 1942

Mountain troop officers near a telephone switching center in a command tent. Probably before the war

Mountain troops parading.

Infantry platoon, a week before departing for the front in 1941. One of the soldiers is carrying a ZB-30 LMG without the clip

Infantry squad equipped with mannlicher M1895 rifles

Romanian infantry on the front in the Ukraine

General Petre Dumitrescu (left) and general Corneliu Dragalina (right) in Russia during 1942

Romanian soldiers wearing the paratrooper badge

Group of Romanian paratroopers during the spring of 1944

Officers of the 3rd Border-guard Regiment KIA at Odessa

4th Border-guard Regiment lined up for the commanding colonel's inspection

4th Border-guard Regiment in campaign gear

Border-guards officer

Brig. gen. Grigore Nicolau, CO of the 2nd Guard Division, together with officers of the 4th Border-guards Regiment

General Petre Dumitrescu (right) and maj. general. Constantin Pantazi (center) during and inspection on the Eastern Front, probably in 1942. Both wear the "Mihai Viteazul" Order 3rd class

Men of the 9th Rosiori Regiment lined up for inspection somewhere in Russia.

Romanian cavalryman in desert "camouflage"

Officers of the 104th Artillery Regiment from the 24th Infantry Division in November 1943

Romanian infantry marching on a mud road

Pontoon bridge over the Dnestr at Ovidiopol

75mm Puteaux gun model 1897/36 during march onm the Eastern Front in 1941

A group of cavalry officers in front of a camouflaged 75mm Puteaux gun model 1897/36