
A four-star general's personal photos of the battlefields of France and Germany from World War II are being published for the first time, shedding new light on the bloodshed and violence that darkened Europe during the Nazi era.

General Charles Day Palmer spent most of the war fighting on the Western Front, and took photos of the bombed-out cities and lifeless bodies he witnessed along his European march.

After sitting in his personal files for years, the photos were shared for the first time by his grandson Daniel Palmer earlier this month, on the website Argunners.com.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Forest burial: An American soldier decorates the grave of an unknown U.S. soldier, who was buried by the enemy before retreating

Through his eyes: Brigadier General Charles D Palmer (right) receives the Legion of Merit from Lieutenant General Alexander M Patch. The below pictures were taken by Palmer during his time in Europe during WWII

General Palmer was born in Chicago, Illinois on February 20, 1902, and went on to study at the U.S. Military Academy, which he graduated from in 1924.

At the break-out of World War II, Palmer worked in the British West Indies, helping to establish military bases there and run projects on anti-submarine warfare.

When the U.S. entered the war in 1941, Palmer became involved in plans to invade Europe. In 1944, he was named chief-of-staff of the Second Armored Division, which took part in the invasion of Normandy and pushed through to Belgium and the western front of Germany.

In October 1944, he transferred as chief of staff of VI Corps, where he was promoted to a brigadier general.

After World War II, Palmer went on to serve in the Korean War and then earning later posts as commander of the U.S. Army in California, deputy commander of U.S. forces in Europe and deputy commander in chief of U.S. European Central Command.

He retired in 1962, and settled in Washington DC where he worked for some years as a military consultant. Palmer died in 1999 from cardiac arrest at his home and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

His pictures of World War II were for many years unpublishable, since they were considered confidential. But his family have now been able to share them after censoring some of the information from the pictures.

Fort: A pill box located on the edge of a fort bears damage probably caused by American tank fire

Up in flames: A French truck burns ferociously after its cargo of 800 gallons of gasoline explodes and catches fire

Decimated: General Palmer wrote on the reverse of this photograph, 'Remains of a friendly little town, that was "scorched" '

Gruesome: The bodies of two German soldiers lie on together in a gutter in France

The other casualties: Troops string wire past four German artillery horses that were killed along with five German soldiers in this street

On patrol: An American tank is seen driving down a battle-ravaged street in Rohrwiller, France, on February 4, 1945

Out of action: A knocked-out American tank sits beside a similarly wrecked German tank on a street on the Western Front

New territory: A tank moves through the ruins of a freshly retaken French town, while two medics attend to a fallen soldier on the roadside

American soldiers father around the aftermath of a shelling. General Palmer wrote: 'Shell from Railway did this. Not far from where I live. Five bigger ones hit about 150 yards from my place the others .. (?). One blew the door in on my caravan. The place was a mess. Nice guys!'

Hunt for the enemy: American soldiers raid a building where German soldiers were thought to be hiding out and holding prisoners at the end of a three-day battle

Last fight: Three dead German Waffen-SS Troops like on the ground after trying to stop an advance of an American armored column

Marching on: Advancing US troops are seen moving through a city, with an American soldier lying dead on the ground

Crash: This photo taken on March 15, 1945, shows the charred remains of a German pilot whose plane was brought down on the first day of the Seventh Army offensive in Germany

Sad sight: Dead horses and wrecked equipment cover the road near Lug, Germany, after an attack by the US Army

Wreckage: A US soldier surveys the scene after a pair of German Howitzers were destroyed in an attack by the Seventh Army

On the lookout: In Bobenthal, Germany, US soldiers on the hunt for snipers are held up when their heavy artillery gets stuck in mud

Resting place: The bodies of infantrymen lay in a ditch at the side of a road near Saarbrucken, and are marked with a helmet placed upon a rifle

Explosion: US engineers blow up a bridge in a German town as a defense measure against troops trying to invade the settlement

Black smoke: Mines are used to blow up German pill boxes, using 400 pounds of TNT

Death in the streets: Germans lie dead on the ground after the Seventh Army broke through the Siegfried Line

Never the same: This bombed-out town is thought to be Freiburg im Breisgau, which was on the southern part of the German Siegfried line

Leveled: Yet another obliterated German town on the Western Front captured by General Palmer

Picking up the pieces: German civilians begin the clear-up of their bombed-out town. General Palmer wrote: 'Well liberated town' on this photo

Moving in: Seventh Army soldiers raid a home in Bobenthal, Germany, looking for snipers

Scars of war: General Palmer captures an explosion during the battle to retake the French town of Wingen-sur-Moder

All quiet: A German machine gunner lays dead beside his weapon after suffering a shot through the head in Germany

Soldiers gather around the side of a B-17 bomber that crashed into a snow-covered field on the Seventh Army front. The pilot escaped the crash relatively unharmed after the rest of the crew bailed out

Harrowing: The bodies of dead German soldiers are piled up on the ground as snow falls in France

Those that were lost: German prisoners help to dig graves for scores of American and German casualties in a makeshift cemetery

'End of the line,' General Palmer captioned this photo of German troops surrendering to the Allies near the town of Landeck, Austria

Walking the line: Prisoners of war from the German military police and Gestapo are led by French resistance fighters in Strasbourg to the Third Infantry Division

Last march: One thousand German soldiers march down the mountains that lead to an important Austrian town as they surrender to Allied troops