Machine gunners of the 9th Infantry Division fire a Browning M1917 belt-fed, water-cooled machine gun during a battle of the Hürtgen Forest, east of the Belgian-German border; September-December, 1944.

Old reliable weapon

American combat engineers are building a pontoon bridge across the river Seine; France, 1944.

Pontoon bridge being built

The surrender of the German troops in the French city of Cherbourg at the entrance to the underground command post on the southern outskirts of the city.
   The German officer wearing a cap is Rear Admiral Walter Hennecke (1898-1984), commandant of the Normandy naval fortified area. On the day of surrender, an order came out to award him with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
   To the left of the American soldier in a helmet (center) and partially hidden by him, is the commander of the German garrison, Lieutenant General Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben (1894-1964), also in a helmet; June 29, 1944.