Lost images of the Second World War

Mr Powell writes: Rare 1945 photos are found -

These photos are well worth your time to see - and read the history, helping those of you too young to remember the times to understand so much of what the world endured during WWII.
Rare World War II photographs

Aerial view of Hiroshima, Japan, one year after the atomic bomb blast shows some small amount of reconstruction amid much ruin on July 20, 1946. The slow pace of rebuilding is attributed to a shortage of building equipment and materials. (AP Photo/Charles P. Gorry) #The Destruction at Hiroshima.

Russian troops at the Brandenberg Gate.Red Army photographer Yevgeny Khaldei (center) in Berlin with Soviet forces, near the Brandenburg Gate in May of 1945. (Waralbum.ru) #

The Destruction of Hitler's lair the Berchsdesgarden :A P-47 Thunderbolt of the U.S. Army 12th Air Force flies low over the crumbled ruins of what once was Hitler's retreat at Berchtesgaden, Germany, on May 26, 1945. Small and large bomb craters dot the grounds around the wreckage. (AP Photo) #

                                               A  scene from the Nuremberg Trial:  "interior of the courtroom of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials in 1946 during the Trial of the Major War Criminals, prosecuting 24 government and civilian leaders of Nazi Germany. Visible here is Hermann Goering, former leader of the Luftwaffe, seated in the box at center right, wearing a gray jacket, headphones, and dark glasses. Next to him sits Rudolf Hess, former Deputy Fuhrer of Germany, then Joachim von Ribbentrop, former Nazi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wilhelm Keitel, former leader of Germany's Supreme Command (blurry face), and Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the highest ranking surviving SS-leader. Goering, von Ribbentrop, Keitel, and Kaltenbrunner were sentenced to death by hanging along with 8 others -- Goering committed suicide the night before the execution. Hess was sentenced to life imprisonment, which he served at Spandau Prison, Berlin, where he died in 1987. (AP Photo/STF) #

Letter from the Americas

 A recent e.mail from former Resolven resident Mr Erich Powell has given the Society some very rare photographs from 1945. These will be posted in due course. Ed.

Dear Mr. Jones,

When I left Resolven for Treforest, one of my fellow students there and a good friend was Billy Lewis of Pontypridd. At the time I went off to India, Billy emigrated to Canada. We kept in touch and when I emigrated to Canada some years later, we met up again and have been in a close friendship ever since. Billy is very active on the internet, usually searching historical information, including the history of South Wales and the coal mining industry which he shares with me. Included in the latest flow of information are "Rare 1945 Photographs". However they do not include events in South Wales, nevertheless are of interest to anyone whose life span includes the Second World War. I am sending these photos on to you as there may be members of the Resolven Historical Society that will remember the time span covered in the photos and which will evoke memories of that period in our history.

Kindest regards,

Eric Powell.