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Has any war ever been fought as many times as World War II? Countless books, plays and, of course, films about the war have emerged in the 75 years since the conflict began. Casablanca, Saving Private Ryan, Downfall, Stalingrad, Das Boot, The Big Red One, The Great Escape, Empire of the Sun- the list of great movies set during the Second World War is, it sometimes seems, endless.

The most recent big-budget, high-profile WWII production is Fury, written and directed by David Ayer and starring Brad Pitt (opening Oct. 17). This, according to the studio's marketing department, is what the movie's about:

April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and outgunned, and with a rookie soldier thrust into their platoon, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.

Here, LIFE.com shares photos-many of them from the very region of Europe where Fury is set-depicting tank warfare, in all its brutality and banality, as it was unleashed around the world in the 1940s. Some of the pictures are graphic. All of them were made by photographers who witnessed, first-hand, the destruction that tanks could inflict, and the grisly deaths that tank crews frequently suffered inside and outside of their cramped, armored, rolling fortresses.

George Silk-The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Scenes of 'Fury': The Brutal Reality of Tank Warfare in World War II

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Has any war ever been fought as many times as World War II? Countless books, plays and, of course, films about the war have emerged in the 75 years since the conflict began.

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This is a representative sampling of photographs from World War II that can be found in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration. For more information on materials from World War II visit our World War II Records page.

Many images and other records can be located online in our National Archives Catalog.

For additional select images of WWII, see:

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This is a representative sampling of photographs from World War II that can be found in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration. For more information on materials from World War II visit our World War II Records page. Many images and other records can be located online in our National Archives Catalog.

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WORLD WAR II GLOBAL WAR ORIGINALLY STAYED OUT OF THE WAR SOLD WEAPONS TO GREAT BRITAIN WERE ATTACKED AT PEARL HARBOR DEC 7,1941 UNITED STATES UPSET AT WORLD WAR I OUTCOME THE RISE OF HITLER AND THE NAZI PARTY INVADED POLAND 1939, START OF WWII GERMANY WANTED TO CONTROL ASIA

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Go to: www.worldwar2treasure.com if you are interested in high adventure and want to participate in recovering World War 2 treasure. Massive looting as an extension of war is nothing new. The Japanese were serious, sober, and deliberate when they methodically and systematically looted thirteen Asian Countries during World War 2.

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INFO