By Mark McConville
STRIKING action images of World War Two’s deadliest tanks have been brought into the present day after being expertly colourised.
Stunning shots show a British commander and Indian crew of a Sherman tank encounter a newly liberated elephant, a French Army Sherman tank landing on Normandy beach and an American M10 tank firing near Saint Lo.
Other incredible pictures show American tank destroyers moving forward during heavy fog to stem German spearhead during the Battle of the Bulge, a German Tiger Tank moving fast and Sherman tanks carrying infantry at the start of Operation Goodwood in Normandy.
The old photographs were brought back to life after being painstakingly colourised by designed engineer Paul Reynolds (48) from Birmingham, UK.
“I don’t really have a message to convey, the content of the photo does that, however I am glad that by colourising these photos more people are aware of the happenings of WWI & WWII,” he said.
“I think colourising detailed photos really brings them to life; you notice detail that usually gets missed due to the monotone background.
“I colourise these photos to bring our past to a new generation of people, many of my colourisations on my Facebook page get viewed by tens of thousands of people – many from the 16 to 24 age group.”
The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers.
The German’s most common tank was the Tiger I (officially known as Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf. H).
It was deployed on all German fronts during WWII. The formidable tank weighed 50 tons (54 metric tons) and was heavily armoured. About 1,350 Tiger tanks were produced in total, between August 1942 and August 1944.
