British troops - part of the US 5th Army - prepare to cross the Sangro River, east-central Italy; November 1943.

Prepare for river crossing


Two British soldiers of the 1st Battalion of The Leicestershire Regiment rest on a stack of 7.92mm German Mauser 98k rifles in a field near the Dutch town of Soest.
In the hand of the soldier on the right is a bayonet from the French Lebel rifle, model 1886; May 10, 1945.

Resting on a pile of rifles

British gunners load the Land Mattress - ground based multiple rocket launcher -  in the Reichswald, Germany; February 8, 1945.  
The Reichswald was the five-mile gap between the Maas and Rhine Rivers and the natural advance route from the German-Dutch border to the industrial Ruhr area.