colorized

Colorized photos gallery

Updated on October 29, 2006

For what I know, there are not real color photos about the Great Patrioctic War of Soviet sources; eventually, one can find few color photos of German sources, or of their allies.
Drawing color profiles, I feel their absence very much; as a sort of compensation, I have tried to make what I would like to find.
All the photos shown here are colorized versions of old grayscale photos from many sources.
The choice of colors should be close to real ones, but misinterpretations are always possible.
The colorization work has been done with Adobe Photoshop, respecting the original luminosity of each pixel, and acting on the hue and saturation values only.
The work was made combining these techniques:

colorization either with brush/options: color only, or with selection of zones by paths and image/adjust/hue,saturation/colorize;
colorization either on the base layer or on a overimposed layer, option color only (this allows to hide the color layer and to see the original bw photo when desired; it is the ideal option using the colorization to reconstruct a camouflage);
the base colour was slightly changed according to lightening conditions; usually lightened surface were turned to yellow or orange, and shadow surfaces to blue; this could be made both by hand or with the image/adjust/ color balance;
to slightly change the base color, one can use brush with low opacity value;
multilayer files are saved as .PSD files; when the image is end, a version of it is flattened on one layer, reduced in resolution and saved as .jpg file.

click on images to see larger ones

A line of MiG-3s on the Vnukovo airport.
Photo was taken on March 7 1942, when the 120 IAP of the Moscow Air Defence (PVO) was made a Guards Regiment as 12 GIAP as a reward for its merits.
Image colorized by Massimo Tessitori

The pilot on the left is Kovachevich A.F. (19+5 victories) of 27 IAP of Moscow PVO , Klin airbase, winter 1941-42.
Both pilots are sitting on a compressed air bottle lying on a siedge. The thin pipe for air refuelling is visible on the left.
Image courtesy V. Antipov via Audrius Nairanauskas, colorized by Massimo Tessitori

The sun is going down on the background.
Image colorized by Massimo Tessitori

This pilot is A.K. Niekliudov; he served within 6th AK (Avia Corps) PVO of 1 VIA PVO (Vozdushnaya Istrebitelnaya Armiya: Air
Fighter Army) in Spring 1943.
The veteran has taken action in Halkhin Gol, Winter war and of course GPW. Has scored 7 victories.
Note the white bands on the wings, probably for quick identification.
Image colorized by Massimo Tessitori

This aircraft was piloted by Lt. N.M.Estyen and made a forced landing after being hit by AA fire near Utti air base in southern
Finland on July 12, 1941.
Many remains of this aircraft are still in the Vesivehmaa museum in Finland.

This aircraft was obliged to land in German-hold territory.
This colorized image was made on an original bw image from Jan Koennig.

This aircraft was hit and wrecked on the ground by German forces in the first days of war. Its look is typical of prewar MiGs.
On the background we see a SB, a Ju-52 and a pair of I-153.
The fuel tank looks exploded, but no traces of fire are visible.

This photo represents two Luftwaffe officers on a captured MiG-3. The man on the ground looks to have a Soviet pilot leather helmet on his hands.

photo from Alex Ruchkovski via Ilya Grinberg, colorized by Massimo Tessitori
This excellent unpublished photo shows many Soviet pilots and ground crew with different styles of uniforms.
Note the unusual painted propeller blades . I've darkened the blades on the photo to make them look black, but they were lighter (possibly green) on the original image.
I have slightly faded the background to give the idea of a slight mist.
The aircraft and the pilots are of 180 IAP (later made a Guard regiment as 30 GIAP), 6 IAK PVO.
They landed at Borki airfield, near Moscow, on 17 October 1941.
The photo was probably shot on late October or November 1941.

This interesting image shows a winter camouflaged MiG-3 of unknown unit during the winter 1941/42.

These MiG-3s were collected from spare parts, and delivered to 122 IAP in February 1942. They are probably between the last MiG-3s even built.
The slogans are:
"Za rodinu" (For the homeland), pilot D. Latyshev
"Za Stalina" (For Stalin), pilot A.K. Popov
"Za Partii Bolshevikov" (For the Bolshevik Party), pilot V.V. Rybalko.

A MiG-3 of 2 GSAP/VVS-SF at Vayenga airport in 1942.
Particularly noticeable are the Lapps with their reindeer helping the VVS ground crew. Sleighs were used on the unsnowed ground too. The objects on the canisters look like bombs, probably for bombers SB that were in the 72 SAP; this SAP got Pe-2 as well since July 1942.

This image represents the delivery of an aircraft to an operative unit in presence of a delegation of the Collective farm.
The aircraft was paid with funds collected by the workers, and entitled to the Hero of the Soviet Union Valeriy Chkalov.
The image was obtained by merging two different ones, and then colorized.

This was the aircraft of Leonid Galachenko of 145th IAP in summer 1942. The pilot is approaching the aircraft and the technician is marching towards him.
Note the absence of red stars on all the aircraft, except for the spinner.

Here is an image of Captain V.P. Mironov on his LaGG-3 in spring 1942; he was the commander of 609th IAP, and shot down twenty-one enemy aircrafts; later he was made Hero of the Soviet Union.

Mechanics Efimov, Voronin, Alexandrov, Trahtenberg, Leznikov, Solncev. On the background, a Yak-7 of 12 IAKP KBF (12th Red-bannered Fighter Aviation Regiment of Red Bannered Baltic Sea Fleet).
Solnzev was Tikhomirov's mech for the final part of the war.
Trakhtenberg was killed when he got hit by a rotating propeller.
Image colorized by Massimo Tessitori

This is the early type Yak-1 of the pilot Georgiy Nikanorovich Zhidov, later Hero of the Soviet Union, of the 123 IAP of the 7th IAK PVO (Leningrad Air Defense).
We see a mechanic refueling it. Note the parachute on the wing, thus the photo is taken right before the mission.
The photo was taken on 15 April 1942 on the ice of Ladoga Lake. That day the regiment performed ground attack sorties.
photo of G. Zhidov via Ilya Grinberg

Here is an old photo colorized on request of Ilya Grinberg, that comments:
The names on my photos are: Captain Semen Grinberg (on the left, with field shoulder boards), Captain Semen Nayshuller (on the right, with golden shoulder boards), Polina Nayshuler, his wife, and my mother Yevgeniya. She was 10 at that time.
The photos were taken on July 10 1943, station Platonovka, Tambov area.

Other photos from Ilya Grinberg:
(left)
The photo of my grandfather alone, Captain Semen Nayshuller, was taken in Nikolaev in 1940, when he was still a lieutnant and returned after the Bessarabia campaign.

(right)
The engineer on the photo is Captain Skok of 13 Guards Bomber Regiment of the ADD( Long-range Aviation), equipped with B-25s.

back to VVSresearch index

	A line of MiG-3s on the Vnukovo airport. Photo was taken on March 7 1942, when the 120 IAP of the Moscow Air Defence (PVO) was made a Guards Regiment as 12 GIAP as a reward for its merits. Image colorized by Massimo Tessitori
	The pilot on the left is Kovachevich A.F. (19+5 victories) of 27 IAP of Moscow PVO , Klin airbase, winter 1941-42. Both pilots are sitting on a compressed air bottle lying on a siedge. The thin pipe for air refuelling is visible on the left. Image courtesy V. Antipov via Audrius Nairanauskas, colorized by Massimo Tessitori
	The sun is going down on the background. Image colorized by Massimo Tessitori
	This pilot is A.K. Niekliudov; he served within 6th AK (Avia Corps) PVO of 1 VIA PVO (Vozdushnaya Istrebitelnaya Armiya: Air Fighter Army) in Spring 1943. The veteran has taken action in Halkhin Gol, Winter war and of course GPW. Has scored 7 victories. Note the white bands on the wings, probably for quick identification. Image colorized by Massimo Tessitori
	This aircraft was piloted by Lt. N.M.Estyen and made a forced landing after being hit by AA fire near Utti air base in southern Finland on July 12, 1941. Many remains of this aircraft are still in the Vesivehmaa museum in Finland.
	This aircraft was obliged to land in German-hold territory. This colorized image was made on an original bw image from Jan Koennig.
	This aircraft was hit and wrecked on the ground by German forces in the first days of war. Its look is typical of prewar MiGs. On the background we see a SB, a Ju-52 and a pair of I-153. The fuel tank looks exploded, but no traces of fire are visible.
	This photo represents two Luftwaffe officers on a captured MiG-3. The man on the ground looks to have a Soviet pilot leather helmet on his hands.
	photo from Alex Ruchkovski via Ilya Grinberg, colorized by Massimo Tessitori This excellent unpublished photo shows many Soviet pilots and ground crew with different styles of uniforms. Note the unusual painted propeller blades . I've darkened the blades on the photo to make them look black, but they were lighter (possibly green) on the original image. I have slightly faded the background to give the idea of a slight mist. The aircraft and the pilots are of 180 IAP (later made a Guard regiment as 30 GIAP), 6 IAK PVO. They landed at Borki airfield, near Moscow, on 17 October 1941. The photo was probably shot on late October or November 1941.
	This interesting image shows a winter camouflaged MiG-3 of unknown unit during the winter 1941/42.
	These MiG-3s were collected from spare parts, and delivered to 122 IAP in February 1942. They are probably between the last MiG-3s even built. The slogans are: "Za rodinu" (For the homeland), pilot D. Latyshev "Za Stalina" (For Stalin), pilot A.K. Popov "Za Partii Bolshevikov" (For the Bolshevik Party), pilot V.V. Rybalko.
	A MiG-3 of 2 GSAP/VVS-SF at Vayenga airport in 1942. Particularly noticeable are the Lapps with their reindeer helping the VVS ground crew. Sleighs were used on the unsnowed ground too. The objects on the canisters look like bombs, probably for bombers SB that were in the 72 SAP; this SAP got Pe-2 as well since July 1942.
	This image represents the delivery of an aircraft to an operative unit in presence of a delegation of the Collective farm. The aircraft was paid with funds collected by the workers, and entitled to the Hero of the Soviet Union Valeriy Chkalov. The image was obtained by merging two different ones, and then colorized.
	This was the aircraft of Leonid Galachenko of 145th IAP in summer 1942. The pilot is approaching the aircraft and the technician is marching towards him. Note the absence of red stars on all the aircraft, except for the spinner.
	Here is an image of Captain V.P. Mironov on his LaGG-3 in spring 1942; he was the commander of 609th IAP, and shot down twenty-one enemy aircrafts; later he was made Hero of the Soviet Union.
	Mechanics Efimov, Voronin, Alexandrov, Trahtenberg, Leznikov, Solncev. On the background, a Yak-7 of 12 IAKP KBF (12th Red-bannered Fighter Aviation Regiment of Red Bannered Baltic Sea Fleet). Solnzev was Tikhomirov's mech for the final part of the war. Trakhtenberg was killed when he got hit by a rotating propeller. Image colorized by Massimo Tessitori
	This is the early type Yak-1 of the pilot Georgiy Nikanorovich Zhidov, later Hero of the Soviet Union, of the 123 IAP of the 7th IAK PVO (Leningrad Air Defense). We see a mechanic refueling it. Note the parachute on the wing, thus the photo is taken right before the mission. The photo was taken on 15 April 1942 on the ice of Ladoga Lake. That day the regiment performed ground attack sorties. photo of G. Zhidov via Ilya Grinberg
	Here is an old photo colorized on request of Ilya Grinberg, that comments: The names on my photos are: Captain Semen Grinberg (on the left, with field shoulder boards), Captain Semen Nayshuller (on the right, with golden shoulder boards), Polina Nayshuler, his wife, and my mother Yevgeniya. She was 10 at that time. The photos were taken on July 10 1943, station Platonovka, Tambov area.