The Japanese battleship Yamato (大和), the largest battleship ever built, undergoes sea trials in Sukumo Bay on 30 October 1941, shortly before entering service with the Imperial Japanese Navy. Read more
A rare stern view of the Japanese battleship Yamato during the final stage of construction at the Kure Naval Base on 20 September 1941. The photograph clearly shows the ship's massive main battery and secondary armament just weeks before she entered service with the Imperial Japanese Navy. Read more
A rare photograph showing the Japanese battleship Yamato during her sea trials in the Pacific Ocean on October 30, 1941. Just weeks before Japan entered the Second World War against the United States, the largest battleship ever constructed was undergoing final testing before entering active service. Read more
This striking winter photograph captures Red Army soldiers examining several captured German MG 34 machine guns after the Soviet counteroffensive during the Battle of Moscow. Dressed in heavy sheepskin coats and armed with PPSh-41 submachine guns, the Soviet troops carefully inspect one of the Wehrmacht's most feared infantry weapons. Read more
A battle-damaged Soviet Maxim machine gun abandoned during the dramatic opening months of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Read more
A group of Soviet prisoners of war transported in a German heavy truck during the fighting in Ukraine in autumn 1941. Read more
A column of Soviet prisoners captured during the fighting in Ukraine in 1941. The photograph reflects the scale of the Red Army's losses during the first months of Operation Barbarossa. Read more