U.S. First Army troops advance in Cologne, Germany during World War II. View of Cologne Cathedral still standing. Sherman tanks tow away street cars used to block roads. M-26 Pershing tanks roll through streets of Cologne. City almost destroyed by bombing. U.S. Soldiers walk through streets and fire machine guns from behind piles of rubble. Heaps of debris on streets. A German car is struck by a collapsing building. U.S. troops shoot at German soldier walking across street. Sherman tank firing from a park square. Close range view of a German Panzer tank, filmed by combat cameraman Jim Bates, as it is is hit by fire from an US Army M-26 Pershing tank (gunner Corporal Clarence Smoyer) and the German crew jumps out. The tank goes up in flames. Wounded German soldier lying on ground. Two American officers shake hands, standing on an abandoned German Panther (Panzer) tank, in front of the Great Dome Cathedral, which was deliberately spared by U.S. bombers. Many German prisoners of war. Hohenzollern Bridge, destroyed by retreating German forces. A road sign reads: "Welcome to Koln, courtesy of the Spearhead Division." German residents stream back into the wrecked city. An older German civilian man sits on his luggage next to a damaged train track. Damaged street car on rubble-filled street. Views of the Cologne Cathedral, standing in the midst of destroyed city.
The United States Army 415th Regiment, 104th Infantry Division in Cologne, Germany during World War II. Destroyed buildings along a street in Cologne. A soldier fires a rifle. Another soldier observes the surroundings through binoculars. Soldiers advancing on the street and firing rifles. Debris and rubble on the street. Destroyed buildings on both sides of the street. Wrecked vehicles on the street. Two soldiers talking.
The United States Army 415th Regiment, 104th Infantry Division in Cologne, Germany during World War II. Destroyed buildings along a street in Cologne. Soldiers advancing through the street. The soldiers fire rifles from inside buildings. The artillery crew firing 60 mm mortar. A U.S. soldier gently removing rings from hands of a wounded German prisoner. United States Army soldier places a captured German weapon on the ground directly in front of the tread on M10 tank destroyer which then rolls over it. Debris on the street. Prisoners of war marching on the street.
The U.S. soldiers of the 3rd Armored Division in Cologne, Germany during World War II. Rubbled buildings along the street sides. U.S. soldiers racing across streets while tracers from the U.S. tanks cover their advance. The destroyed cathedral in the foreground. Posters in German on the wall of a building. Tracer fire striking vehicles in the background. German soldier walking across the intersection. Soldier breaking down the door of a building. Two soldiers watching through binoculars.
United States Army 3rd Armored Division soldiers in Cologne, Germany during World War II. Damaged buildings and rubble along the street. Split column of the United States troops walking towards Cologne Cathedral. United States Army M-26 Pershing tank moves into position. It fires at the building. Ruins of the city. View of the Cologne Cathedral (Domkloster 4, 50667 Köln, Germany).
The U.S. soldiers of the 3rd Armored Division in Cologne, Germany during World War II. Rubbled buildings along the street sides. U.S. soldiers cautiously advance through the debris filled streets. U.S. soldiers attend wounded German girl lying near a wrecked vehicle.