In Photos: Unforgettable Photos From World War II

Getting the perfect shot in wartime is not only about weapons. With over 30 countries involved in World War II and the loss of over 50 million lives, war photography captured the destruction and victories of the deadliest war in history.

Lead by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, over one million German troops invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Just two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany—and the world was once again at war. Photographers were there every step of the way to capture the heroic triumphs and devastating losses.

Here is a look at some unforgettable moments captured.

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A Frenchman weeps as German soldiers march into the French capital Paris, June 14, 1940. National Archives/via REUTERS

St. Paul’s Cathedral is pictured during the great fire raid of Sunday December 29, 1940, during the Battle of Britain, in London. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

Children of an eastern suburb of London made homeless during the Battle of Britain, September 1940. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

A captured photograph taken aboard a Japanese carrier before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 1941. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

German troops in Russia, 1941. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

Prisoners of war have their hands tied behind their backs during the March of Death from Bataan to the Cabanatuan prison camp, in the Philippines, May 1942. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

Jewish civilians are led down a street by German soldiers during the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto, in Poland, 1943. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

A dust storm at the War Relocation Authority center, where evacuees of Japanese ancestry in the United States spent the duration of World War II, in Manzanar, California, July 3, 1942. U.S. National Archives/Dorothea Lange/via REUTERS

With a canvas tarpaulin for a church and packing cases for an altar, a Navy chaplain holds mass for Marines at Saipan, June 1944. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

A Japanese plane is shot down as it attempts to attack the USS Kitkun Bay near the Mariana Islands, June 1944. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

U.S. Private Roy Humphrey is given blood plasma by Pfc. Harvey White, after he was wounded by shrapnel in Sicily, Italy August 9, 1943. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

A photo taken from a U.S. B-17 Flying Fortress of the 8th AAF Bomber Command when it attacked a ball- bearing plant and the nearby Hispano Suiza aircraft engine repair depot in Paris, France, December 1943. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

U.S. soldiers land on the coast of France under heavy machine gun fire, June 6, 1944. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

The USS Bunker Hill after being hit by two kamikazes within 30 seconds off Kyushu, May 1945. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

Pilots aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier receive last minute instructions before taking off to attack industrial, and military installations in Tokyo, February 17, 1945. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

U.S. soldiers of the 347th Infantry Regiment are served food on their way to La Roche, Belgium, January 13, 1945. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

U.S. soldiers are pictured during landing operations on Rendova Island, Solomon Islands, June 1943. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

A member of a U.S. Marine patrol on Saipan finds a Japanese family hiding in a hillside cave during fighting on the island, June 21, 1944. The mother, four children and a dog were in the cave. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

U.S. 2nd Lt. William Robertson and Soviet Lt. Alexander Sylvashko in front of a sign symbolizing the historic meeting of the Russian and American Armies, near Torgau, Germany, April 25, 1945. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

U.S. vehicles knocked out by Japanese resistance on the black sands of Iwo Jima, March 1945. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

Wounded are transferred from the USS Bunker Hill to the USS Wilkes Barre following a Japanese attack off Okinawa, May 11, 1945. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

U.S. troops of the 28th Infantry Division march down the Champs Elysees in Paris after capturing the city from the Germans, August 29, 1944. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

Two U.S. Coast Guard-manned LST’s open their great jaws in the surf on Leyte Island beach as soldiers strip down and build sandbag piers out to the ramps to speed up unloading operations, Leyte, Philippines, 1944. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

The U.S. 90th Division discovered this Reichsbank wealth, SS loot, and Berlin museum paintings that were removed from Berlin to a salt mine in Merkers, Germany, April 15, 1945. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

Coast Guardsmen on the deck of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Spencer watch the explosion of a depth charge while providing convoy protection from Nazi U-boats, April 17, 1943. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

Slave laborers in the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany are pictured after U.S. soldiers of the 80th Division entered the camp, April 16, 1945. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

G.I.’s celebrate the surrender of Japan with a special edition of the Paris Post, in Paris, France, August 10, 1945. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS

People in New York City’s Times Square kiss while celebrating the surrender of Japan, August 14, 1945. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS