By Ben Wheeler
FASCINATING images showing US Troops fighting in the Pacific War, which include the island of Guam currently being threatened with nuclear attack by North Korea, have been expertly colourised.
The harrowing photos reveal soldiers attempting to navigate their tanks and 4x4s through tricky jungle terrain.
Other snaps show groups of marines stationed at a machine gun, whilst one man can be seen nervously sighting down his rifle in preparation for a potential attack.
And electrician Royston Leonard, 55, who spent time restoring the pictures into colour, says the pictures give an accurate portrayal of the struggle faced by American troops in the Pacific theatre.
“The pictures show the total war they faced from the moment they landed to victory on every island taken from the Japanese,” he said.
“The Japanese soldiers’ code was to fight and not surrender. To die for the emperor of Japan, or earn victory, has always been the way of life for them going back to the beginning of history.”
Royston has been restoring black and white photos into colour for several years, now, and admits it’s a time-consuming process if you want to get it right.
“For this project I used paint shop pro, and it took about 50 hours of work to repair and colour all of them.
“All pictures are significant, as they show moments in time that would be lost without the courage of the camera person being there to take them.
“The main problem was trying to get them to look correct and repairing damage that all photo’s get as they age.”
The United States territory of Guam in the Western Pacific has featured heavily in the news in recent weeks, after a war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un resulted in the North Korean leader threatening an attack on the island.
Tensions did seem to be de-escalating after a climb-down by both leaders, but on Monday the dynamic shifted once again after North Korea fired a missile over Japanese airspace in an apparent display of the strength.
