MOST DISTURBING IMAGES OF WAR

Hi Panzerknacker
Deeply frustrating, this. I'm sitting looking at this pic and as I'm not 'geared up' for imaging or scanning I don't know what to do ! The original must be in the IWM collection but there is no reference number shown.

To add to the difficulty, this book hasn't been available for years. A pity because, despite being pocket-sized (A5) it contains some very good Normandy campaign photo research. Heimdal also published ( in '94 ) a slim book called 'Falaise-Argentan : Le Couloir de la Mort' which is one of my favourite books about Falaise - again, 'that' photo is reproduced.

[ 03 July 2002, 07:29 AM: Message edited by: Martin Bull ]

 

Another disturbing image that comes to mind, are images od Dresden after the first major fire-bombings. You see all kinds of people dead in horrible twisted forms laying everywhere. Men, Women, Children and the Elderly.

 

I can think of two, they are not from WW2, but they are disturbing none the less. The first is one i guess most of us saw. Those two Israei soldiers captured by the Palistinians and taken to a police sation. The film footage showed them beng beaten up then the bodies thrown out the window.

The second is a photo i doiubt any of yo would of seen. Its of the boby of one of the wo Royal Signalers who drove into a Replican funrael in West Belfast. What made that worse was that one of the guys responsable lived in the cty were i was basewd at he time. And all he was charged with as GBH.

As for the images of bodies in and around AFVs, thats not a nice way to go, but its also something i'd rather not think about.

 

Bish, I defenatley remember BOTH instances.

I remember seeing the Northern Ireland one and really getting a sick feeling in my stomach. First, I think a police (maybe news network) ground camera and later that police-helicopter view. That was distgusting to watch when you knew what was going to happen. That was outright murder in front of the TV camera's...

Same in Israel of course...

 

Stevin's right, Bish.
Of all the ghastly images from Northern Ireland, that one really stays with me. The whole incident was caught on TV and I remember the photo of a priest kneeling next to the body.
It was a horribly savage thing to witness.

 

Ye, that was one nasty inident. I was not implying you had not seen the TV images. But i was in a position at the time to see photos taken by those that had to re-cover the bodies, and for the sake of decency, and no-doubt to save the families from anguish, these were not made public. One of the guys was stabed 46 times with a screwdriver, and hats one awful sight.

 

Bish, I was actually kind of 'ashamed' I hadn't thought about that incident before you mentioned it. Although I remember it making me really sick to the stomach. It was kind of 'How could I have "forgotten" that'... I don't even want to start to think about the pics you have seen. Man, what those guys must have been through, in the middle of that frantic crowd...

 

Bish, when you say "Drove in to" do you mean literally drove into, or they just kind of wound up in the wrong place at the wrong time?

 

Most of the ones I know of are not images from TV or pictures but actual events I attended like the guy we found who had been semi decapitated with a hand saw, or the guy who was squashed under a 40 foot container ended up looking just like Wiley Coyote after that big rock falls on him. But the worst by far are people who have been burnt to death, I think because they smell a little like BBQ'd meat, that is very disconcerting, kind of makes you queasy.

 

You have one tough job there mate. Not only do you have to risk your life, probably on a daily bases, but you hsave to live with all these first hand images. You have my respect.

 

They drove into the middle of the funeral possesion. Their car was then blocked in by black taxis. The guys were in civies, i hink returnoing from leave, and they got lost. It was the last of several incients that started with the shootings in Gibaralter.

 

I don't want to be a smart alec here, but I heard that the one soldier had his tour almost finished and was showing the other one around, who had just come'in country'...

Smoke, My respects as well. It is one thing seeing things on film and in pics, but seeing things live is quite a different matter. My appreciation for the work you are doing!

 

Now you mention that Stevin, i'm sure you are right.

 

Another one that not too many of you wouldv'e seen i imagine is on a video called EXECUTIONS. One day i thought it might be a good idea to watch it!!! Anyway, a Hezbollah terrorist was captured and put to death, apparently he was a carbomber. He is blindfolded, and has a placard placed around his neck.
Then he is made to lay down, and the first guy comes up and fires 2 AK47 rounds into his abdomen, as does the next guy. The 3rd shooter however sprays 2 rounds, one strikes the man in the lower jaw, breaking it, and cracking the top of his jaw open and exiting out his cheek-we look closely and the guy is still breathing. I was absolutely horrified!!!!

Also from Bosnia. A loyalist soldier was captured and strung up by his bootlaces from a booby-trapped AFV. His face has been completely skinned, and you can actually see his eyeballs, and perfectly white skull-that image will never be removed from my mind. How can people be like this to one another???

 

The most horrendous image of war that remains with me is from VVietnam depicting the Saigon Police Chief executing an enemy soldier.

Quite distressing.

 

Ye, definatly, along with the monk who set fire to himself.

 

I hear you on this one. Being American, I catch hell if I say anything complimentary about the German Army of WW2. I say "Hitler was an asshole and I don't share his beliefs but the German Army was incredible." I give credit to any army that can take over Europe during it's lunch hour. And about that Vietnamese execution video...I remember seeing that in Sophomore History class and every boy in the class going "Holy sh*t!! Rewind that! Rewind that!" The teacher didn't but our science teacher showed us a video of a Kamikaze pilot's head rolling across a flight deck over and over. I'd say the most disturbing images I've seen are the 9/11 jumpers. War images might be in a book I seen where it's just pictures from various WW2 aircraft of other aircraft during battle. You have to wonder what goes through the mind of a tail gunner after the back half of his bomber is seperated from the rest..or what the flight crew thinks when they lose an entire wing.

 

Thanks guys, we get to see some pretty funny sights too you know, I guess those poor guys were literally victims of being in the wrong place at the wrong time Bish. Another terrible one that comes to mind, I was recently talking to a FDNY Jake, he witnessed Father Judge being killed by a falling body on 9/11. That day and its horrendous events will be irrevocably stuck in the minds of many of my Brothers from New York

 

This is one of the most disturbing images of WWII (or any war for that matter) that I can recall.

This picture does not have a caption, but it was taken during the Japanese invasion of Nanking.
It appears to be a child who is about to be beheaded.

http://museums.cnd.org/njmassacre/photos/behead.jpg

 

No blood, no guts...just disturbing imagery. That pic of the kid shows the cruelty of war.

The most terrible I can think of is of an American prisoner at Cabanatuan prison camp in the Phillipines. It was in a place called "zero ward" where cahances of survival were non-existent. I found it in a book called "Ghost Soldiers."