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Historic Aerial Bombing Raids

Archival photographs of aerial bombing raids during WWII, depicting bomb strikes on various targets in Europe, showcasing military operations.

The Japaneses At Shihchichwang Rail Yards On The Strategic Supply Line That Runs Through Northeast China To Peiping Cut Loose With Smoke Pots When 14Th Air Force Liberators Of The 308Th Bombardment Group Appeared Over The Target. Nearly 75 Tons Of Bombs Were

Bombs, Dropped By Martin B-26S Of The 387Th Bomb Group, Burst On Installations At Beauvais/Tille Airfield, France. 27 Sept 1943.

Photo of Smah Airfield, taken during bombing raid, 5/4/43.

Marshalling Yards At Hannau, Germany, After The Record 8Th Air Force Attack On 12 December 1944. Photos Taken Just After Last B-17 Had Completed Run By 9Th Air Force Reconnaissance Pilot, 2Lt Russell A. Ward, Of Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Aircraft, Burma, India & Bombing,

Flying ofrtresses and Liberators encounter intense flak areas, commencing at the coast of France, 24 December 1943.

The Japaneses At Shihchichwang Rail Yards On The Strategic Supply Line That Runs Through Northeast China To Peiping Cut Loose With Smoke Pots When 14Th Air Force Liberators Of The 308Th Bombardment Group Appeared Over The Target. Nearly 75 Tons Of Bombs Were

Aircraft, Burma, India & Bombing,

During the week that preceded General MacArthur's landing on Luzon on 9 Jan 45, Fifth Air Force North American B-25's and Douglas A-20's joined their heavy friends in neutralizing the Japs most powerful airbase in the Philippines, Clark Field.

Kuma class cruiser taking...

Consolidated B-24S Of The 456Th Bomb Group, 745Th Bomb Squadron Fly Over The Marshalling Yards At Wels, Austria, As Bombs Dropped By Lead Planes Burst On The Target, 20 March 1945.

FIRE AT A BEND OF THE "BLUE" DANUBE: Tucked away in a bend of the Danube near the Austrian border at Regensburg, the Germans had built a mammoth aircraft factory which produced their latest type fighter, the ME 109G. On August 17th, a large

Horst Wessel District -- Smoke And Bomb Bursts Unite On The Reichsbahn Ausbesserungswerke Railway Repair Shops And Sidings In The Horst Wessel District In Central Berlin During The Height Of The Attack Of 19 May 44 By Heavy Bombers Of The Us 8Th Aaf. 306

B-29S Erase Japanese War Plants

The R/R repair shops have been heavily damaged. The Ferry Sidings and South choke point of the Station Marshalling Yard have also been heavily damaged.-Smederevo, Yugoslavia.

Dust, A Major Problem For Aviation Engineers On Airfields Of The 12Th And 15Th Afs, Sweeps Across This Field In Italy As Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses Taxi To Runways Prior To Take-Off.

Vital installations at the large Henschel works at Kassel, Germany, manufacturers of nearly all Germany's Tiger tanks, plus locomotives and panther tanks, were dealt severe blows by attack of U.S. 8th Air Force heavy bombers during the month of Sept.

France - A Bottleneck In The German Transportation System At Trier, 10 Miles Inside The Nazi Border, Is Created By 9Th Af Douglas A-20 Havocs' Successful Attack On A Marshalling Yard, Crippling Rail Facilities And Destroying Rolling Stock. Warehouses Nea

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses Of The 97Th Bomb Group, 340Th Bomb Squadron, Fly Over The Fischamend Market Aircraft Factory In Austria As Bombs Destroy The Enemy Installation On April 12, 1944.

GERMANY-New bomb bursts crash through the smoke from previous hits on the Focke-Wulf assembly plant at Neubrandenburg, about 75 miles north of Berlin 6 Oct 44 as U.S. 8th AF heavy bombers attacked this Luftwaffe source.

Rebuilding Efforts Halted--Beneath this huge cloud of smoke lies the ball bearings factory area at Schweinfurt. Flying Fortresses returned there April 13th to hit the remaining buildings left standing after their mission on Feb and to disperse

Bombing of Hollandia, on 3 April 1944 by the 3rd Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force.

Bombing Of The Marshalling Yards At Knittelfeld, Austria, By Planes Of The 1St Fighter Group. 12 March 1945.

Tokyo Palace Area - Night Raid - 26 May 1945.

A U.S. 9TH AF BOMBER STATION, ENGLAND. A bomb strike photograph taken during the attack by U.S. 9th AF B-26 Marauders on the Charleroi/Montignies railway marshalling yards April 11th. The bomb concentration covers the entire yards, with hits among

The Wels/Traun Marshalling Yards In Austria Suffer From Hits As Bombs Continue To Fall Toward Their Target During A Bombing Raid By Planes Of The 461St Bombardment Group, 766Th Bombardment Squadron, 15Th Air Force On March 20, 1945.

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers of the 12th USAAF attack the causeway at Mantua, Italy, followed by a Lockheed P-38 Lightning photo plane which took this picture. Smoke from bomb hits can be seen at the far end of the causeway.

Flying Fortresses Of The Fifteenth Air Force Dropped, Within A Six Minute Period, 200 Tons Of Bombs On The Padua Marshalling Yards And Rail Junction In Italy On December 16, 1943. Heavy Concentrations Of Hits Are Visible Throughout The Entire Length Of T

This 4,000 ofot column of smoke resulted from direct hits scored by Martin B-26 "Marauder" medium bombers of the U.S. Army 8th AF on the fuel storage dump at Chievres, Belgium, on Nov., 29, 1943. The concussion resulting from explosion was so great

Diving in low over the gutted hangars the Thunderbolt pilot comes in to attack.

Peenemunde, Germany-Electrostatic Plant for manufacturing hydrogen peroxide was hit on 4 August 1944 by Boeing B-17s dropping tons of bombs. (note craters from previous attacks.) Center installation is only one completed by the Germans.

Saigon Naval Yards, French Indo-China Was Target Of Two 5Th Af B-24 Attacks, 23Rd And 25 April 1945. Note Near Miss On Ss At Top Left Of Picture.

Aircraft, Burma, India &Strafing &Combat War

In three heavy attacks, Gen. MacArthur's bombers demolished or irreparably damaged 288 enemy planes on Japaneseanese airfields at Hollandia. As huge clouds of black smoke mark smashed planes, more bombs fall away.

Underneath These Formations Of Consolidated B-24 Liberators Of The 15Th Air Force, Lies Smoke Covered Military Installations In Leghorn On The West Caost Of Central Italy, Attacked By Heavy Bombers On 6 July 1944.

Smoke Billows Up After Planes Of The 483Rd Bomb Group, 816Th Bomb Squadron, Bombed The Avisio Viaduct, Italy, On 6 July 1944.

Crash Landing At Its Italian Base, This Consolidated B-24 Liberator Of The 15Th Aaf Burst Into Flame, But Did Not Explode. All Crew Members, Returning From A Mission Over Northeastern Italy, Escaped With Minor Injuries.

Aerial view of the harbor at Rabaul, New Britain, major enemy base north of Australia, taken during a bombing raid by Flying Fortresses on Japanese shipping in which several hits and damaging near misses were scored. American Flying Fortresses waged

Bombing of Tarakan, Borneo by Consolidated B-24 Liberators.

Strike At Night - Fires Spread Throughout Shizuoka, Japan During A Night Incendiary Raid By Boeing B-29's Of The 20Th Air Force. Shizuoka, Located About Midway Between Tokyo And Nagoya, Produced Aircraft Engines, Munitions, Components And Textiles For Wa

Nantes France 1943-Major damage to shipping and shipyards.

Leaving A 2,500 Ton Japaneseanese Cargo Ship Doomed In The Anchorage, A Mitchell Bomber (Over Shoreline, Lower Right) Of The 11Th Sweeps In Low Over The Kashiwabara Army Staging Area, Paramushiru Island, For A Strafing Run Behind Another Mitchell Which Shared

SAPRI, ITALY BRIDGES, DURING: The target is shown at 1134 hours on 8 Sept. as 105 Martin B-26s dropped tons of 500-lb. bombs.

BREACHHEAD LANDINGS. Men...

Highly Successful In The Invasion Of Tinian Were The New 'Fire Bombs' One Of Which Is Pictured Above As It Exploded On The Beachead At Tinian Island. In One Day As Much As 10,000 Gallon Ns Of The Liquid Fire Were Dropped From Altitudes As Low As Fifty Fee

Smoke markers and bombs head for Mitteland Canal (near Minden) Germany through overcast.

Warehouses and sheds were damaged by hits and fire.-Damage was inflicted at the Shipbuilding Yards, the Gorlini Mills, the S.A. Aquilina oil refinery and storage depot and the NAFTA refinery where extensive fires caused considerable damage.-Trieste

Consolidated B-24 Liberators Of The 15Th Af Took Part In Great Force In "Operation Plaster' -- The Largest Aerial Assault Of The Entire Italian Campaign Against German Instalaltions In Direct Support Of The 8Th Army Push. Here They Lay A Pattern Of Bomb

B-24 IN FLAMES-A B-24 Liberator of the U.S. Army 8th Air Force's 2nd Air Division goes down in flames during an attack on the railway marshalling yards at Munster, Germany. The port wing is breaking off as the blazing fuel tanks leave a trail of fire

REFINERIES AT HAMBURG--Oil for the Nazi war machine goes up in smoke at several places in Hamburg, Germany, as U.S. Eighth AF Liberators and Fortresses pressed home their attack on 20 June 44. Here the Olwerke Schindler Ernest Schiemann

A Fifth Air Force Douglas A-20 looks over Corregidor, the target, blasted incessantly by Far East Air Force heavies, attack bombers, and fighter bombers, preparatory to a hazardous paratroop landing on February 16th, 1945.

With many German divisions stationed below the Loire river and ready to move up reinfocements, bridges at key points along this main water artery came next on the high priority list. Heavy bombers of the 8th USAAF took over the job of pounding

Bombing of the Deutsche petroleum works at Hamburg, Germany. Estimated annual production before 20 June 1944: 70,000 tons.

During -- Strike Photo Of The Oshima Naval Oil Storage, Oshima, Japan. 7 May 1945.

Bombs continue to fall toward the Emilia Aircraft Factory at Reggio, Italy, as bombs dropped earlier burst on their target during a raid by planes of the 99th Bomb Group, 416th Bomb Squadron, 15th Air Force on January 8, 1944.

Southwestern France, just north of the Pyrenees. Airfield during attack by bombers of the U.S. 8th AF.

Prior To Taking Clark Field, 5Th Air Force Planes Struck At Luzon Communications Daily.

ON THE RIGHT BEARINGS-These...

Blocking rail traffic on the single track line between Koln and Dortmund Martin B-26 Marauders of the 9th Bomb Division hit the six-span, stone arch bridge over the Sieg River at Pracht, near Hamm, March 24, 1945. Bomb bursts blanketing the bridge

Dense black smoke pouring from burning installations cover the damage to vital units at the synthetic oil plant in Zeitz, near Leipzig, Germany, hours after the 16 Aug 44 attack by 8th AF bombers. Severe damage was inflicted on many buildings and

New bomb bursts plus an explosion erupt in the center of this smoke covered target as U.S. 8th A.F. heavy bombers attacked the rail marshalling yards at Munich, Germany, 25 Feb 1945.

GERMANY. H202 concentration building under attack. Peenemunde Experimental Works-Hydrogen Peroxide Plant. 4 Aug 44.

Consolidated B-24 Liberators Of The 15Th Af During An Attack On Blechhammer, Germany, Scene Of One Of The Greatest Synthetic Oil Plants In Europe. Fed By The Rich Coal From Silesia The Germans Felt That Blechhamer Would Be Safe From Air Attack. The 15Th

Allied Landings At Yokosuka, Japanesean.

Aircraft, Burma, India & Bombing,

Consolidated B-24 Liberators Start Their Return Flight Home After Bombing Magdeburg, Germany On 16 Aug. 1944. Note The Smoke From The Smudge Pots Used By The Germans As A Smoke Screen.

Damage is extensive and severe in the Sorting Sidings, the Storage Sidings, the Goods Depot, and the Canneries and other industrial plants near the yard. The suspension R/Bridge further north covering the road to Nimes over the Rhone River has been

THE DEVASTATING HOLLANDIA ATTACK. These continued attacks ran the total score up to 288 enemy planes destroyed. Trails of smoke pour from burning Japaneseanese planes during the US Army 5th Air Force's three-day attack. April 3, 1944.

Aircraft, Burma, India & Bombing,

Railroad Bridges At Nervesa, Italy, Were Hit 10 February 1945, By Republic P-47 Thunderbolts Of The 12Th A.F.

Texas City Fire Aerial.

Aircraft, Burma, India &Strafing &Combat War

A Japaneseanese ship is caught in a line of bursting bombs at Kokas, Dutch New Guinea during an attack carried out by planes of the 5th Air Force's 3rd Bombardment Group, 89th Bombardment Squadron, on June 16, 1944.

Atomic Burst Obscures Target. Clouds And Smoke Obscure Hiroshima From Reconnaissance Planes Seeking To Photograph Atomic Bomb Damage After The Target Was Hit By The Army Air Forces. This Picture Was Made On The Same Day, August 5, 1945, But After The Bo

Bombs Dropped By Consolidated B-24 "Liberators" Of The 15Th Air Force Explode On The Goering Steel Works At Linz, Austria, During Attack On July 26 1944.

Japanese Freighter In South China Sea Is Under Attack On 1 March 1945, By North American B-25S Of The Feaf.

One Rail Bridge And Two Road Bridges Were Knocked Out And Some Rail Tracks Were Cut During This Bombing Raid On Capua, Italy On Sept. 9 1943 By Planes Of The 99Th Bomb Group, 347Th Bomb Squadron, 15Th Air Force.

Cut in half by direct flak hit during mission to Merseburg, Germany 11/2/44, this Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress of the 8th Air Force spins crazily earthward in its final dive. 8th Air Force fighters and bombers avenged this loss by knocking down 168

Bombing Of Vunakanau, Rabaul, New Britain.

A Pall Of Smoke Rises From The Arsenal At Nagoya, Japan.

A Japaneseanese Destroyer Escort ('Frigate') Under Attack By North American B-25S Of The Air Apaches Group Near Amoy, China On 6 April 1945. A Direct Hit Amidship Causes The Frigate To Explode Like A Volcano, Spouting Debris And Japaneses. 345Th Bomb Group.

This was the scene as three...

A North American B-25 of the 886th Operation Company, Chemical Warfare Service (attached to the 42nd Bomb Group) lays a smoke screen during tests at Palawan, Philippine Islands, in preparation for the invasion of Tarakan. 30 April 1945.

Near Rudesheim on the path to Frankfort on the Main, ground defenses have opened up with accurate anti-aircraft fire against this B-24 formation. A photographer in one of the bombers attacking the German transportation & industrial city, caught this

Aircraft, Burma, India &Strafing &Combat War

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses Of The 381St Bomb Group, En Route To Bomb Enemy Installations Somewhere In Europe, Leave Vapor Trails High In The Sky.

A Huge Column Of Black Smoke Rises Over The Sub Pens At Genoa, Italy After Planes Of The 97Th Bomb Group, 340Th Bomb Squadron Dropped Their Lethal Loads On 4 September 1944.

Bombing of Brunswick, Germany.

Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortresses of the U.S. Army 15th Air Force attacked the important Recco Viaduct. 15 miles southeast of Genoa on the Genoa-Spezia coastal rail line recently. The picture on the right shows the viaduct, which consists of 20 spans

This time the fighter comes in low, fast and hard. The effects of the previous punishing blows can be seen in the grounded Luftwaffe fighter that is burning fiercely in the background. Puffs of dust marking hits show that the 8th AF pilot has picked

A Japaneseanese plane burns furiously on the airfield at Babo, Dutch New Guinea after planes of the 5th Air Force's 3rd Bombardment Group, 90th Bombardment Squadron flew in at minimum altitude and dropped parachute bombs, some of which can be seen on the

Douglas C-47s carrying paratroopers to Corregidor. 16 February 1945.

Beginning of attack on Taro-Solignano RR/bridge, Italy.

Smoke shrouds a portion of the city of Metz in this photograph taken the day the city fell to the 3rd Army and the 19th Tactical Air Command of the 9th Air Force. During the 15 day assault 9th Air Force fighter-bombers and 3rd Army Artillery

Japanese Air Base Severely Damaged: On 9 October 1944 (WLT) the air arm of a mighty U.S. Pacific Fleet task force struck the Ryukyu Islands, south of the Japanese homeland, destroying 75 aircraft on the ground and 14 in the air. Hangars and warehouses of a large air base on Ie Island are shown here blazing after direct hits. October 17, 1944. (Photo by Official U.S. Navy Photograph).

four Nazi tanks were caught dispersed in Field in Bulge area, Belgium, 24 Dec. 1944. Incendiary bullets from 9th fighter-bomber strike the nearest tank, causing it to explode. Many others were also hit.

Pedro Miguel/Locks - Smoke Screen Tests, Aerial Photograph.

A Martin B-26 Marauder of the U.S. army 9th Air Force flies over the important Hengelo railroad yard, 40 miles northeast of Arnhem, in Holland, during a heavy attack by Ninth Bombardment Division Marauder medium bombers. The bombing of the yard, busy

A Low Flying Transport Drops Its 'Stick' Of 8 Paratroops Squarely On Target On The Shattered, Bomb Pocket Ruin Of Corregidors Topside.

Bombing Of Wake Island On 30 April 1944, By Consolidated B-24 "Liberators" Of The 11Th And 30Th Bomb Groups, 7Th Bomber Command.

Kuma class cruiser taking...

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