
Fascinating colourised photographs have shed new light on war machines used on the front line during the Second World War.

Photos brought to life with colour show British, American and German tanks and their crew during conflicts across Europe and in northern Africa.

One shows the British crew of an upended Sherman tank enjoying a drink while waiting for a recovery team in Italy. Others show German Afrika Korps soldiers surrendering to allied forces next to a tank with a swastika flag tied to the front in northern Africa.

German tanks are also seen rumbling along dirt tracks in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge while US troops are seen marching towards the French town of Le Coudray, south west of Paris.

Royston Leonard, a 55-year-old electrician from Wales, said he spent 60 hours adding colour to the black and white photos in the hope it would encourage younger generations to learn about the conflict.

Fascinating colourised photographs have shed new light on the war machines on the front line during the Second World War. Pictured above, the British crew of an upended Sherman tank enjoy a drink while waiting for a recovery team along the Gothic Line - a German defensive line of the Italian Campaign - on September 13, 1944

Surrender: A captured German Afrika Korps soldier puts his hands up as allied troops surround his Nazi tank in northern Africa in December 1941

German troops drive a Sturmgeschütz tank- Germany's most-produced armoured fighting vehicle during World War II - down a dirt track in Ardennes, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944

On the March: American troops are pictured walking past a US M5 Stuart tank on their way to the French town of Le Coudray, south west of Paris. it is not known exactly when the original photo was taken

Photos also show American crew smiling as they pose in front of an M3 Tank holding shells at Souk el Arba in Tunisia on November 24, 1942

Three German soldiers inspect an M5 Stuart tank after capturing the armoured vehicle. It is not known exactly where or when the original photo was taken

The colourised photos also show a German Heavy Tank Panzerkampfwagen Ausf.B, often referred to simply as Tiger II. The date and location of the photo is not known

The photos also show this German Panzer VI Tiger I tank camouflaged in the undergrowth in Villers-Bocage, Normandy. The Battle of Villers-Bocage took place on June 13, 1944, one week after the Normandy Landings by the Western Allies that began the conquest of German-occupied France

The rare collection of photos, brought to life with colour, show two tanks parked up next to the ruins of a building in Italy. Royston Leonard, a 55-year-old electrician from Wales, said he spent 60 hours adding colour to the black and white photos in the hope it would encourage younger generations to learn about the conflict

A US soldier stands in front of a destroyed Panther tank outside Cologne Cathedral in Germany on April 4, 1945. A sign in front of him implores people not to stray into the warzone, adding: 'Beyond this point you draw fire on our fighting men. He risks his life 24 hours a day. Do you?'

Advance: A Canadian Sherman tank trundles thought the streets in to the La Maladerie area of Caen in northern France in 1944

A US Harley-Davidson WLA motorcycle is parked up on the street in a town in Normandy while an M10 tank advances the background. The original image was captured in the summer of 1944

US troops move through the commune of Avranches in Normandy, northern France, on July 31, 1944 as residents watch on

James Gordon and Private Rainwater inspect a deserted Panther tank formerly of the Panzer Division Das Reich near Grandmenil, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge, at the end of 1944

Infantrymen and a tank of the 11th Armored Division, 3rd US, Army, advance through a smoke-filled street in Wernberg, Germany, in April 1945

An M4A3 Sherman tank of the 11th Armoured Division, 3rd US Army is seen advancing into the centre of the German town of Kronach on April 12, 1945

The incredible pictures were brought to life by colouriser Royston Leonard, 55, an electrician from Wales. Above, a Panzer division

Mr Leonard said it has taken him more than 60 hours of work spread over weeks of evenings to complete the set. Above, the 9th SS Hohenstaufen in Normandy

Two of the pictures are included among a similar collection of colourised images in author Michael D. Carroll’s book, Retrographic: History’s Most Important Images Transformed into Living Colour, available on Amazon for £13.31.