Robert Capa's best second world war photography

Capa, one of the world's most distinguished war photographers, famously said: 'If your photographs aren't good enough, you're not close enough.' And close he certainly was, accompanying US forces to Europe from 1943-1945.

'Lovers' Parting near Nicosia, Sicily', July 28, 1943.

'Conquered Town, Cefalu, Sicily', July 26, 1943.

Italy. Sicily. Monreale, just outside Palermo, July 1943. Civilians greeting the American troops.

Sicily. Palermo. July 1943. In July 1943 the Allies landed in Sicily, starting the liberation of Italy from Fascism. Between 1943 and 1945 they fought against German troops and Italian fascist troops from the Repubblica di Salo', slowly moving toward the north of Italy.

Palermo, July 23rd, 1943. A member of the American Medical Corps, just after the liberation of the city.

Italy. Sicily, near Nicosia. July, 1943. German soldier captured by American forces.

Monreale, just outside of Palermo. July, 1943. Civilians greet the American troops.

July, 1943. A member of the American Medical Corps treats a German prisoner of war.

Italy. Sicily. W.W.II.The Battle of Troina. August 1943. An American soldierand an Italian policeman.

Troina. August 1943. The first American soldiers enter the town.

Italy. Near Troina. August 4-5, 1943. Sicilian peasant telling an American officer which way the Germans had gone.

Joyous Marchers, Italian POWs on the Route to Messina', c. August 19, 1943.

Italy. Sicily. W.W.II.The Battle of Troina, August 6th, 1943.

Italy. Sicily. W.W.II.The Battle of Troina. Near Troina. August 4th-5th, 1943. American soldiers on a reconnaissance mission to capture Troina, a strategically located hilltown on the road to Messina (Sicily's main port to the mainland). The town was being fiercely defended by the Germans, in an attempt to evacuate all German troops.

Italy. Sicily. "On the Route to Messina.Troina. August 4th-5th, 1943. American soldiers on a reconnaissance mission to capture Troina, a strategically located hilltown on the road to Messina (Sicily's main port to the mainland). The town was being fiercely defended by the Germans, in an attempt to evacuate all German troops.

Maiori (near Salerno). September 19th, 1943. A British surgical unit works in an operating room set up in a church.

Maiori (near Sorrento). September 19th, 1943. A British surgical unit works in an operating room set up in a church.

Italy. Maiori. September 19, 1943. Two soldiers in a hospital set up in a church.

Chiunzi Pass, above Maiori (near Salerno), Sept 1943. Fort Schuster, a farmhouse overlooking the road leading to Naples, which was used by American troops to control the whole area. A soldier informs a British officer located in the nearby villages about the situation.

Italy. Salerno. US troops arrive. September 1943.

Italy. Near Mount Pantano, northeast of Cassino. December, 1943. On the left: US Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., who was the Liaison Officer of the 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division, composed mostly of Berber soldiers and French officers.

Italy. Radicosa, near Cassino. January 4th, 1944. An Italian civilian guides members of the US/Canadian First Special Service Force (an elite unit trained in mountain fighting) through a recently liberated town.

England. Dorset. Weymouth. June 5, 1944. American troops in landing craft at Weymouth on their way to liberate France.

Weymouth harbour in England on the eve of the D Day. 1-5th of June 1944. Allied troops in landing craft boarding ships on their way to the beachlandings of Normandy for the liberation of France.

France. Off the coast of Normandy. June 6th, 1944. American troops transfer from troop ships to landing craft before assaulting Omaha Beach.

Just off Omaha Beach. American doctors on a US craft during Operation Overlord. June 6th, 1944

France. Normandy. June 6th, 1944. Landing of the American troops on Omaha Beach.

France. Normandy.Operation Overlord. Normandy. June 6th, 1944. Landing of the American troops on Omaha Beach.

France. Normandy. June 6th, 1944. Landing of the American troops on Omaha Beach.

Omaha Beach. June 6th, 1944. The first victims of the landing, on board of the US boat "Henrico".

June 1944. A general view of the beachhead near St Laurent sur Mer in Normandy, showing the massive allied armada used to liberate France.

The Omaha Beach (codename) for the coastal area near Colleville sur Mer in Normandy, where the allied forces landed on 6th June 1944.

France. Normandy. Omaha Beach. June, 1944. French fishermen looking at corpses on the beach after the D-Day landing.

June 1944. German soldiers captured after the landing.

Omaha Beach. June 1944. A German soldier captured by American forces.

Calvados. St Laurent-sur-Mer. June, 1944. German soldiers captured by American forces.

France .The Battle of Normandy. US Forces. Cherbourg. June 27th, 1944. German soldiers captured by American troops.

France .16 june 1944. American soldiers during the liberation of Saint Sauveur le Vicomte, Normandy

France. Normandy. Manche. Saint-Sauveur-Le-Vicomte. June 16th, 1944. Soldiers of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division.

Manche. Saint-Sauveur-Le-Vicomte. June 16th, 1944. American soldier.

France. Cherbourg. June 26th, 1944. German soldiers surrender to American troops.

France. June 27, 1944. American troops approaching Cherbourg.

France. Chartres. June-July, 1944. A French resistance fighter in the recently liberated town.

France. Paris. 8th arrondissement. Champs-Elysées. August 26th, 1944. Members of the French Resistance and soldiers of the French Army celebrating the liberation of the city.

France. St. Malô. August 9, 1944. A French prostitute follows her former clients, German soldiers, out of town in order to avoid the wrath of the civilians.

France. St. Malô. August 9th, 1944. German soldiers captured by American troops.

France. Chartres. August 16-18, 1944. Members of the French Resistance shortly after liberation.

France. Chartres. August 18th, 1944. French woman, who had had a baby by a Germany soldier, being marched home after being punished by having her head shaved

France. The Advance of the Allied Forces.Chartres. August 18th, 1944. A mother (dark dress) and her daughter (white dress), accused of collaboration, have their hair shaved, as a sign of humiliation. The daughter is holding a baby conceived with a German soldier.

France. Chartres. August 18th, 1944. Just after the liberation of the town, a French woman who had had a baby with a German soldier, has her head shaved as a sign of humiliation.

France. Eure-et-Loir. Chartres. August 18th, 1944. Shortly after the liberation of the city, a French woman who had collaborated with the Germans has her hair shaved at police headquarters as a sign of humiliation.

France. The Advance of the Allied Forces.Chartres. August 18, 1944. American soldiers and French resistance fighters escort a group of German prisoners.

France. Paris. August, 1944. After the entry of the French 2nd Armored Division, numerous pockets of German snipers had to be rooted out. Many French civilians and members of the French Resistance joined the French troops in the fighting.

Paris. August 25th, 1944. After the entry of the French 2nd Armored Division, numerous pockets of German snipers had to be rooted out in street fighting. Many French civilians and members of the Resistance helped the French troops in this fighting. This photograph shows a French civilian who was unable to contain his wrath against a German soldier who had surrendered.

Paris. August 25th, 1944. After the entry of the French 2nd Armored Division, numerous pockets of German snipers had to be rooted out in street fighting. Many French civilians and members of the Resistance helped the French troops in this fighting.

Paris. August 25th, 1944. Members of the French Resistance and soldiers of the French army.

France. Paris. August 25th, 1944. Members of the resistance crouching behind a truck during the Liberation.

France. Paris. August 25th, 1944. Members of the French resistance standingin a doorway during the Liberation of the city.

France. Paris.. Place de l'Hôtel de Ville. August 26th, 1944. German troops started shooting against the parade celebrating the liberation of the city.

France. Liberation of France by the Allied Troops.Paris. Place de l'Hôtel de Ville. August 26, 1944. When snipers in buildings overlooking the Place de l'Hotel de Ville opened fire on the triumphal parade, the panicked crowd fell to the pavement.

France. Paris. August 26th, 1944. Crowd on the pavement after snipers in buildings overlooking the Place de l'Hotel de Ville opened fire on the celebrations after the liberation.

France. Paris. Celebrating the liberation of the city on the Champs Elysees. August 26th, 1944.

France. Paris. August 26th, 1944. Members of the French Resistance marching through the liberated city.

France. Paris. August 26th, 1944. General Charles de Gaulle leading the parade down the Avenue des Champs-Elysées to celebrate the liberation of the city.

France. Near St. Lô. July 26th-30th, 1944. American soldiers with a group of recently captured German soldiers.

France. Saint Lô. July 26th-30th, 1944. American troops arriving in the abandoned town.

France. Normandy. Between Granville and Avranche. July 31, 1944. French civilians offering cider to American soldiers.

France. Vercors. October 1944.

Belgium. W.W.II. Ardennes. Battle of the Bulge.Near Bastogne. December 23rd, 1944. A German soldier captured by the American troops.

Belgium. Ardennes. Battle of the Bulge. Near Bastogne. December 23rd, 1944. An American tank burns while transport planes fly overhead. .

Belgium. Ardennes. Battle of the Bulge. South of Bastogne. December 23rd-26th, 1944. German soldiers captured by the American troops.

Belgium. Bastogne region. December 23-26, 1944. German soldiers captured by American forces.

Germany .Allied Troops Move towards the Rhine. Near Wesel. March 24th, 1945. Medics evacuate an injured American paratrooper. In the foreground: the wreckage of an allied glider.

Germany. Wesel. March 24th, 1945. Injured American paratroopers get treatment by members of the Army's medical corps.

Germany Allied Troops Move towards the Rhine. Wesel. March 24th, 1945. German soldiers captured by American paratroopers.

Germany Allied Troops Move towards the Rhine. Wesel. March 24th, 1945. A soldier receives medical treatment next to a crashed glider.

Germany. Leipzig. April, 1945. American soldiers during their advance.

Germany. April 18th, 1945. American soldiers engaged in house-to-house fighting to root out pockets of German snipers.

Germany. April 18th. 1945. German soldiers surrender to the American troops.

Germany. April 18th, 1945. Immediately after an American soldier had been killed, his comrades went down to the street to capture the snipers who had shot him.

Germany. Leipzig. April 18, 1945. American soldierkilled by a German sniper.

Germany April 18th, 1945. American soldiers engaged in a house to house fight against German troops.

Nüremberg.20th April 1945.The city after the Allied bombing.

Germany. Nuremberg. April 20, 1945. Hubert STRICKLAND, Capa's driver, in the stadium where Hitler held his Nazi rallies.

Germany Alexanderplatz. August, 1945. On the right: two Soviet soldiers. The road signs in the back indicate the way to the Reichstag and to Potsdam.

Germany. Berlin. August, 1945. Group of children with bundles on cart in front of rubble.

Germany. Berlin. August, 1945. People on street lined with ruined buildings.

Germany Berlin. August, 1945. The Lustgarten in front of the Berlin Cathedral. Nazi demonstrations used to be held in this area.

end

cast Robert Capa's best second world war photography

images credit   www.          

Music Yanni One Man's Dream             created   o.e.

thanks for watching