War Damage and Destruction

Historical images of destruction from bombings and explosions, featuring wrecked buildings and rescue efforts during wartime.

Singapore residents assess the damage done by a Japanese air raid the previous night. Date: January 1942

Bombs In The London Area - A.R.P. men and others clearing away the wreckage to try and find any buried people.A few enemy planes were over this country last night. Some bombs were dropped in the London area, causing damage. October 18, 1943. (Photo by Fox Photos).

Anefo photo collection. Gas explosion in Vlaardingen; Damage due to the explosion. March 4, 1976

French Maternity Hospital Bombed -- Remains of the Hotel Dieu, a maternity hospital in an open French village, said the French censor, after bombardment by German planes. None of the other wreckage was identified. June 07, 1940. (Photo by ACME).

Misc - Explosions - Overseas. December 16, 1955. (Photo by Associated Press Photo).

Bombing of Historic Sergent's Inn. -- Bowler-Hatted solicitors helped workmen to salvage papers from their ***** offices, when Sergent's Inn suffered heavily in a recent raid. May 28, 1941. (Photo by Keystone Photo).

Desborough Mort Pty. Ltd. Fire - September-1935. September 30, 1935.

London Air Raid Damage: A tug-of-war with a piece of wreckage when clearing debris from a wrecked building. August 5, 1941. (Photo by United Kingdom Information Office).

Anefo photo collection. Drukkerij Henkes Holland in Haarlem completely burned out. July 17, 1972. Haarlem

Singapore residents assess the damage done by a Japanese air raid the previous night. Date: January 1942

Anefo photo collection. Explosion to the Johan Huizingalaan in Amsterdam-West. September 9, 1962. Amsterdam, Noord-Holland

01/31/1937. Destruction on Lordera Street.

12/31/1936. Bombing in the Towns of Nazareth.

Damage caused to the Grand Restaurant during the raid on Scarborough, which took place on December 16th, 1914. The raid was an attack by the German navy on the British seaport resulting in 137 fatalities and 592 casualties, many of which were civilians. 1914

Sniper Hunt In Cologne -- Soldiers of the 104th infantry division, U.S. first army, pass a wrecked bridge in Cologne, Germany, on the prowl for enemy snipers March 6. May 14, 1945. (Photo by AP Wirephoto).

***** Takes Cover Real Gas In "Air Raid" -- ***** whole of Berlin yesterday joined in an mimic air raid, ***** fierce hooting at sirens caused the people to dive into ***** end houses. Following deafening explosions, smoked ***** on the roof tops. A flaming gas main was "Blown up ***** and fireman and men in asbestos suits worked at the ***** damaged roads. Real gas was used in one quarter. Ambulance men going to the rescue of people "overcome" by gas during the raid in Berlin yesterday. April 8, 1935. (Photo by Keystone).

P-Plane Incidents - A stretcher base being carried by wardens and A.R.P. Workers after a "flying bomb" crashed in Southern England. September 18, 1944. (Photo by L.N.A.)

This is not a German town after it has been raided by the RAF, but a scene in Lahore, India, after sections of the town had been wrecked by riots last month. This photograph was taken of the debris at Shahalmi Gate. July 06, 1947. (Photo by The Associated Press Ltd.).

Stripping aside Tarps covering Cockpit of Fighter Plane, Men of 4046th QM Truck Co. search for Instrument and Dashboard Name Plates, both lightweight Souvenir for mailing Home, Oschersleben, Germany, photograph by Sgt. J. Pazen, U.S. Army Signal Corps, May 1945

Photo collection Service for army contacts Indonesia. DLC Demolitions in Pekalongan. Pekalongan. The Toko of the Chinese dealer in Batikverven Khoe Tjong Moy has been destroyed. August 1947. Indonesia, Java, Dutch East Indies, Pekalongan

School mission to clear the Old Town of Dresden, which lay in ruins after the bombings in February 1945. Here, the Dresden Altmarkt in front of the burnt-out Kreuzkirche church with a view of Pirnaischer Platz... ExACT dATE OF dEsEvEloPMEnT

Soviet Bombing Horror In Finland's Capital - A garden square in Helsinki, the Finnish capital, after the soviet bombers had flown overhead. Threes are seen blown to pieces, with stumps only left in some instances, while office buildings surrounding the square have been wrecked by bombs and the one in the centre background set on fire. December 07, 1939. (Photo by Associated Press Photo).

Photo collection Service for army contacts Indonesia. DLC Photo reportage Palembang. Leg truck stands in front of a wall of a destroyed building. January 1947. Indonesia, Dutch East Indies, Palembang, Sumatra

The overturned truck in which boxing champion Dave Sands was fatally injured near Dungog on Monday night. Picture shows (in centre) a pair at Sand's boxing gloves and a punching bag which were thrown from the truck. August 13, 1952.

SECOND WORLD WAR. Battle of Stalingrad fought between Russian and German troops. 1942. USSR.

Anefo photo collection. Barricaden around squat in Vondelstraat Amsterdam; Krakers around the cracked building. March 1, 1980. Amsterdam, Noord-Holland

Photographs depicting military activities in France, May - June 1940. Included photographs of Rommel, Guderian, Dreuz, Bottcher, Italian General Garaboldi, Lucie Rommel, shots of Rommel with Hitler. Photographs of equipment and troops arriving and in action, from the personal collection of Rommel.

American soldiers of the Third U S Army examine ""Wintergarden"" by French Impressionist Edouard Manet, one of the artworks stolen by the Nazis and stored in a salt mine until the end of World War II, Germany, 1945.

04/30/1937. Bombing in Portbou (Gerona).

Hose Blown Up In Liverpool Air Raid Protection Demonstration: The actual explosion of the house at Liverpool today May 04. For the purpose of demonstrating the effectiveness of the government's plan for creating safe air raid protection by reinforcing basements of houses with steel struts, a house with a basement so treated was blown up with dynamite in central Liverpool this afternoon, May 4. The house crumbled into a mass of smoking debris at once. When the smoke had cleared home office experts entered the delicate instruments which recorded the force of the falling masonry. October 09, 1939. (Photo by Associated Press Photo).

Damage caused by German incendiary bombs, London, World War II, c1940-c1944. Artist: Unknown

Historic photographs of the Norfolk Naval shipyard located in the Fifth Naval District. Operating under the Department of Defense and the Department of the Navy.

March 1937. Effects of a bombing in Portbou (Gerona).

Damage caused to Aerodrome during first Japanese raid on Salaumau. June 10, 1942.

05/31/1914. From the Mexican Yankee conflict. Condition of one of the rooms of the Veracruz Naval school after the bombing by North American Warships. Photo: Almagro.

Anefo photo collection. Large fire at Hotel Poland in Amsterdam; extinguishing work. May 9, 1977. Amsterdam, Noord-Holland

Anefo photo collection. Police estimates buildings in Nieuwmarkt neighborhood; Police when raised barricades. April 8, 1975

Smoke Shrouds Charon Kanoa on Saipan -- Coast Guardsmen look over the wreckage on ***** pier at Charon Kanoa, on Saipan Island, as ***** sugar refinery in the background sends up a pall of smoke, following severe blasting by U.S. fleet. Occupation of all Saipan, chief Japanese holding in the Marianas group in the Pacific, was announced on July 9. July 10, 1944. (Photo by Associated Press Photo).

Photo collection Service for army contacts Indonesia. DLC Action Soekaboemi. Smoldering remains of a destroyed building. July 21, 1947. Indonesia, Java, Dutch East Indies, Sukabumi

Bombs Hit London Stores- Air Raid Damage in London, England, 1940 Shop mannequins from the John Lewis department store, and the pedestals on which they once stood, lie in the gutter amongst broken glass and debris following an air raid on London's Oxford Street.

Starke (depicted - name).Starke (depicted - name)

Anefo photo collection. Fence at C. and A. on Nieuwendijk by wind against the ground. September 26, 1963

Destruction caused after the massive fire at Victoria Dock that engulfed the Chinese ship Fort on 14 April 1944 at the Bombay Port Trust Bombay Mumbai Maharashtra India . Copyright: xAkellaxSrinivas/DinodiaxPhotox

Anefo photo collection. Probolinggo is lit. Marines extinguish. July 31, 1947. Indonesia, Indonesia, Java, Probolinggo

German Linemen Under Fire -- German army linemen rush through a burning Soviet town under heavy enemy fire to establish telephone communication, according to the German approved caption accompanying this Radiophoto flashed from Berlin to New York today. August 29, 1941. (Photo by Official German Photo).

Canton ... Kweilin Bombed by Japanese... Kweiling, Kwangsi province, one of the most important strategic points of the Chiang Kai-shek's army, was bombed by a bird-unit of the Japanese recently. January 20, 1940. (Photo by The Domei News Photos Service).

Anefo photo collection. Barricaden around squat in Vondelstraat Amsterdam; Overviews of carroted streets, various lines on walls. March 1, 1980. Amsterdam, Noord-Holland

India, Hindoo i.e., Hindu burning ghat ca. between 1909 and 1919.

two men walking among the rubble destroyed by bombs after U.S. Air Force air raids, Tokyo, Japan, Stanley Troutman, ACME, New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, 1945

Clearing away the ruins on route to Catane, Messina, Italy after earthquake, 1908

Anefo photo collection. Major damage due to cloud break in South Limburg (Valkenburg). August 10, 1982. Limburg, Valkenburg

Alcazar Siege Of Toledo, The Spanish Civil War, 1936.

World War 1. A street in Amiens during the German Spring Offensive of 1918, Operation Michael. By April 4, the fighting moved into the outskirts of Amiens, but the town, and important railroad center, remained in French control. (BSLOC_2013_1_172)

The King and Queen Pay A Visit to Some of London's Bombed Areas - The King and Queen waking among their people who had been bombed from their homes in London, getting first-hand information of their experiences and seeing conditions for themselves. February 25, 1944.

Photo collection Service for army contacts Indonesia. DLC Fire at the workshop of the Eyder Technical Service in Solo. An uniformed man tries to save something out of the fire. November 1949. Indonesia, Java, Dutch East Indies, Solo

After an Air Raid on Madrid - The damage caused in Madrid after an air raid by insurgent bombers. March 29, 1937. (Photo by Central Press Photos Ltd.).

Heros (depicted - name).Heros (depicted - name)

Spanish Civil War: Fight For Madrid - Madrid suffered 33 aerial bombardments in 10 weeks, a unique and unenviable record for a great city. Out picture shows the destruction of the Palais de Liria in the Rue de Blasco Ibanez. March 08, 1937.

The Korean War (25 June 1950 - armistice signed 27 July 1953) was a military conflict between the Republic of Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China (PRC), with military material aid from the Soviet Union. The war was a result of the physical division of Korea by an agreement of the victorious Allies at the conclusion of the Pacific War at the end of World War II. The Korean peninsula was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the end of World War II. Following the surrender of Japan in 1945, American administrators divided the peninsula along the 38th Parallel, with United States troops occupying the southern part and Soviet troops occupying the northern part. The failure to hold free elections throughout the Korean Peninsula in 1948 deepened the division between the two sides, and the North established a Communist government. The situation escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950. It

Anefo photo collection. Recovery: Arnhem. Recurring evacuées with a handcart for a total destroyed building. August 1945. Arnhem, Gelderland

Anefo photo collection. Destruction: Roermond. Destruction in the center of Roermond. March 1945. Limburg, Roermond

Riots in Madrid as aprecursor to the Spanish Civil War 1936

01/31/1915. In the archiepiscopal palace of Mechelen. State of the throne room in Cardinal Mercier's residence after the bombing.

First act of retaliation for the assassination of Malcolm X. Firemen continue to douse the fire that destroyed Nation of Islam Mosque No. 7 after an explosion early on Feb.23, 1965.

Anefo photo collection. Hie Holland England / Anefo London series. Dutch Civil Defense Exercices / Dutch protection population practice. 1944. Britain

Anefo photo collection. Car spray burnery. January 7, 1969

Anefo photo collection. Fire in Johan Verhulststraat 112 in Amsterdam. March 4, 1948. Amsterdam

Anefo photo collection. Major damage due to cloud break in South Limburg (Valkenburg); Damage in the streets of Valkenburg. August 10, 1982. Limburg, Valkenburg

Personnel at the State Railways, SJ CO8 2577 after train accident.

Anefo photo collection. Two crashed f-16 jet hunters of the Dutch Air Force at Hoogeveen. Military in the place of the impact with a damaged farm in the background. April 27, 1983. Drenthe, Hoogeveen

Madrid, 05/26/1979. Attack by the terrorist group Grapo in the California 47 cafeteria.

Anefo photo collection. Destruction: Amsterdam. Wrecked houses in Amsterdam. May 1945. Amsterdam, Noord-Holland

RVD / Royal House photo collection. Queen Wilhelmina in the destruction of the port of Vlissingen, Thursday, March 15, 1945. March 15, 1945. Vlissingen, Zeeland

Date: 1910-1915 - 5th Ave. and Broadway.

Anti-English Irish uprising, Dublin, May 1916: English troops inside the ruins of the Post Office after its destruction by the rebels. Half-tone. Black-and-white

11/11/1911. Fire in Alicante. Piles of Furniture Thrown Into the Public Road Due to the Fire on Labradores Street that occurred the previous Sunday afternoon.

General Clark on the Italian BattlefieldPhoto Shows:- General Mark Clark, Fifth Army commander, walks through a rubble-filled street which was the scene of heavy fighting during the battle for a village between Formuia and Itri, on Highway 7, Italy. May 31, 1944.

Black and white photograph of World War II (1939-1945) showing image of the end of the war in Europe; Russian tanks enter Berlin.

Taiwan: A crowd gathered outside the Taipei Branch of the Bureau of Monopoly on 28th February, 1947, after a Taiwanese widow, suspected of selling contraband cigarettes, had been struck by an agent of the State Monopoly Bureau. The February 28 incident was an anti-government uprising in Taiwan that was violently suppressed by Governor Chen Yi of the Kuomintang-led Republic of China government, which killed thousands of civilians beginning on February 28, 1947. The number of Taiwanese deaths from the incident and massacre was estimated to be between 18,000 and 28,000.

Black and white photograph of France during World War II (1939-1945) before the Armistice signed with Germany; a street in Gien showing burnt out cars and destruction to buildings.

Sniper Hunt in French Town -- Yanks stand with rifles ready as a comrade as a comrade starts to open a door during a sniper Hunt in the French town of Niederbrown on the U.S. Seventh Army Front. December 20, 1944. (Photo by AP Wirephoto).

Staff at work after derailment at station.

Fire at Bureau of Engraving and Printing ca. February 1916.

Store Burns As Danes Riot In Copenhagen -- Caption accompanying this photo, distributed by Pressens Bild, Swedish picture Agency, describes it as showing "Department store burning in central Copenhagen as demonstrators block streets to prevent a fire brigade from reaching the scene". This photo was received in New York by Radio July 3 from Stockholm. March 7, 1944. (Photo by Associated Press Radiophoto).

Photo collection Service for army contacts Indonesia. DLC Distribution Clothing in Tengaran at SOEMOWONO. A Lieutenant colonel from the KNIL shares clothing. November 24, 1947. Indonesia, Java, Dutch East Indies, SumoWono

Passersby aid a man injured by the fall of a V-1 in London. 1940.

Sweden (depicted - name).Sweden (depicted - name)

Sweden (depicted - name).Sweden (depicted - name)

Sweden, Blekinge, Blekinge, Karlskrona, Karlskrona, external marina (depicted, town).Sweden, Blekinge, Blekinge, Karlskrona, Karlskrona, External War Gogs (depicted, City)

The Ill-Fated Comet -- The belly of the B.O.A.C. Comet airliner after it had ***** about 25 miles from here last Saturday, killing ***** people. The airliner was on its way from Singapore to London and crashed shortly after ***** off from Dum Dum, Calcutta. May 07, 1953. (Photo by United Press Photo).

Anefo photo collection. Film recording "A Bridge Too Far" in Deventer, Fighting O de Brug, 24: Anthony Perkins (third from the right) as General Fust. 18 May 1976. Deventer

U.S. Tank Crew Receives Welcome -- An elderly Frenchman greets a U.S. tank crew from the upper window of his home in Cherbourg, after the Americans had forced the Nazis to surrender the larger. August 14, 1944. (Photo by U.S. Office of War Information Picture).

DN-SN-86-06903. Base: Little Creek State: Virginia (VA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Firefighters pouring water on building

Astra Romana Refinery-Through gaps in clouds of black smoke, Consolidated B-24 Liberators are seen coming over the Astra Romana refinery, which has already suffered direct hits.

Bombing of Pearl Harbor Hawaii, USA December 7, 1941

Anefo photo collection. Underground gas blast in Rotterdam. April 16, 1962. Rotterdam, South Holland

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