General der Panzertruppe Erwin Rommel visiting Italian gun emplacements in the area of Tobruk during September 1941. There is a story that Erwin Rommel met with a group of Italian officers in the early stages of the war and during the social part of the visit, one of the Italian Officers, apparently unaware of Rommel's career, asked where he had earned his 'Pour le Mérite' (Blue Max), to which (according to the story) Rommel responded in a matter of fact sort of way, "Caporetto." (referring to the Battle of Caporetto on the Italian Front of 1917) (Colourised by Doug) @colour_history

Lucian Truscott might be the most underrated American general of WW2. Patton and Bradley got the headlines. Truscott quietly became one of the best combat commanders the US Army had. He grew up poor in Oklahoma and was teaching in a one-room schoolhouse before he joined the Army in 1917. As a kid he'd swallowed carbolic acid, which left him with a permanently rough, gravelly voice. In 1942 he was sent to Britain to study the British Commandos. He came back with the idea for an American version. They became the US Army Rangers. A handful of them went along on the Dieppe Raid that August, among the first American soldiers to fight the Germans on the ground in Europe. Then he took command of the 3rd Infantry Division. He trained his men to march five miles in the first hour and four miles an hour after that, mile after mile. It became known as the "Truscott Trot." In Sicily his division covered ground so fast it reached Palermo ahead of schedule. In early 1944 the landing at Anzio had stalled, and Allied troops were pinned on the beachhead. Truscott was put in command of VI Corps. He held off fierce German counterattacks, rebuilt morale, and in May led the breakout. He wanted to cut off the retreating German army. Instead he was ordered to turn toward Rome so it could be taken first. Many of the Germans he could have trapped escaped to fight again. That August he led the invasion of southern France. His troops tore up the Rhône Valley, covering hundreds of miles in weeks. He finished the war commanding the entire Fifth Army in Italy. On Memorial Day 1945, he spoke at the American cemetery near Anzio. Witnesses said he turned his back on the crowd and spoke to the graves instead. He told the dead he hoped they'd forgive him for the orders that put them there. He never cared much about fame. He just kept winning.

12 October 1939 A French farmer driving a horse-drawn water cart waves his cap at the crew of a Light Tank Mk VI of 13/18th Royal Hussars, 1st Infantry Division's recce regiment, near Arras in northern France. Image: IWM (O 679) Keating, Geoffrey John War Office official photographer Colourised by Doug @colour_history