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Historic Military Aircraft Operations

Images of historic aircraft like the P-51 and B-24, depicting ground crew and aircraft in wartime settings from the 1940s.

Air Borne Reserves For The Battle Of Meiktila - Reserves For Seventeen Divisions Were Flown From Palel, India To Meiktila, Burma, Through The Efficient Efforts Of The 1St And 2Nd Air Commando Groups. Here, Some Members Of The Airborne Engineers Set Up

"Flying Circus" Briefing Of Members Of The 390Th Bomb Group In England. 28 April 1944.

A Diligent And Capable Ground Crew Swarm Over This Dismantled North American P-51 Mustang Of The 15Th Aaf, Grounded As A Result Of Deficiencies Found During Pre-Flight Tests. These High Altitude Planes Act As Fighter Escort To Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

Ground Crew Of The Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" "Delta Rebel" Overhaul One Of The Engines At The 91St Bomb Group Base In Bassingbourne, England. 16 March 1943.

North American B-25 Which Was Damaged During The Eruption Of Mt. Vesuvius On 23 March 1944. 340Th Bomb Group.

First Casualty Was This Commando That Veered Off Runway During Take-Off, Ploughed Through String Of Vehicles Near Control Tower. Four Paratroopers Were Injured, Two Jeeps Flattened, Truck Damaged.

Wing Tips Of This Consolidated C-87 Were Cut Off When Japaneseanese Planes Dropped A Cluster Of Anti-Personnel Bombs During An Attack On An Advanced Xx Bomber Command Base In China, On The Night Of 27 October 1944.

Photo collection Service for army contacts Indonesia. DLC Inspectorate General H.J. Curls by Indonesia. Bandoeng The Mitchell B-25 has been hit from the runway. The nose points down General curls leaves the plane through the emergency hatch in the cockpit. May 4, 1947. Indonesia, Dutch East Indies

Crew Chief Repairing The Engine Of The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk 'Available Jones' Of The 79Th Fighter Group Based At Capodichino, Italy.

Aircraft, Burma, India &CREWS,FIGHTER War

Members Of The 9Th Troop Carrier Command Load Equipment Bound For Copenhagen, Denmakr Aboard A Curtiss C-46 "Commando" At An Air Base Somewhere In France. 11 May 1945.

Crew Of The 646Th Bomb Squadron, 410Th Bomb Group Pose Beside A Douglas A-20 Havoc At A 9Th Air Force Base In France.

The Royal Navy during the Second World War Grumman Avenger three seater torpedo bombers being serviced while an air ferry plane passes overhead in the distance.

Nielson Field 5Th Air Service Area Command Depot #7 - After The Lockheed P-38 "Lightnings" Are Brought Ashore On Barges They Are Taken To This Assembly Line At Nichols Field To Be Assembled. Philippine Islands, 1945.

Project 20 - Operation Greenhouse (Enewetak) Test Activities. Removing Samples from B-17 Drone Wing. Photographs of Atmospheric Nuclear Testing at Pacific Island and Nevada Test Sites.

Large Rubber Lift Bags Are Used To Aid In Jacking Up A Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" Whose Landing Gear Has Collapsed. The Lift Bags Are Rolled Beneath The Wing And Inflated Until The Necessary Pressure Is Exerted To Raise The Wing. Rubber Was Chose As

Royal Air Force 1939-1945- the RAF in France, 1940 Pilots of No 1 Squadron at Vassincourt show off one of their Hurricanes to Mr Mahmoud Abu Fath, a member of the Egyptian Parliament, January 1940. Looking at the camera is Flying Officer Billy Drake, who became a 20-kill ace and survived the war.

BELGIUM--T/Sgt. James E. ofust, 666 Ankney Ave., Somerset, Pa., secures the litter in the rear of his Vultee L-5 before the take-off. He is one of the pilots now evacuating litter cases from the front lines to hospitals at the rear by plane.

With Her Bombs Placed Under The Two Wings And Belly This Republic P-47 Is Prepared To Face The Enemy After Taking Off From A 353Rd Fighter Group Base In England, 11 September 1944.

Lt. John C. Kaufman Of The 322Nd Bomb Squadron, 91St Bomb Group, Looks Out Of The Cockpit Of His Boeing B-17 'Thunderbird' At An 8Th Air Force Base In England. 19 June 1943.

Detachment 101, an enigmatic Allied intelligence and special operations unit during World War II, played a pivotal role in the Burmese theater. Operating deep in the jungles of Burma, their mission was multi-faceted, encompassing guerrilla warfare, espionage, and sabotage against Japanese forces. Comprising a diverse group of individuals, from OSS agents to indigenous fighters, they effectively disrupted Japanese supply lines, gathered critical intelligence, and supported resistance movements.

Douglas C-47 troop carrier planes of the 1st Air Commando Force, used as glider tow planes, were displaced among the trees bordering each side of the grass airstrip at Hailakandi, India. The white ball and question mark on the tail structure was the

Royal Air Force Transport Command, 1943-1945. A USAAF ferry crew hand over a Martin Baltimore Mark V to Flight Lieutenant A N Buell of No. 45 (Atlantic Transport) Group at Windsor Field, Nassau, Bahamas. From Nassau, the Baltimore would be flown to the Mediterranean theatre of operations, via the South Atlantic ferry route. The aircraft is fitted with a long-range fuel tank under the fuselage.

A P-51 Mustang pilot, Lt. Bruce W. Rowlett, of Long Beach, Calif., gives the thumbs up sign to his assistant crew chief, Sgt. William R. Jensen of Provo, Utah, as he prepares to taxi his ship for take-off on a strafing mission in support of the

At His Position Behind The Gun-Mount On A Half Track, A Guard Scans The Sky For Possible Enemy Paratroop Activity. Note The Republic P-47 'Thunderbolt' In The Background. Ryukyu Retto, 1945.

Allied mechanics working on a fighter plane. P.R. Clark, Royal Australian Air Force; S/Sgt. W. Covarrubias of Detroit, Michigan and Cpl. Harry C. Browne of Westerly, R.I.

The Royal Navy during the Second World War A Hawker Sea Hurricane taking off with Fairey Swordfish aircraft alongside during an anti-submarine sweep from on board HMS STRIKER.

A Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" Landing On An 8Th Air Force Base After Mission Over Kiel, Germany, On 13 December 1943. England.

The Royal Navy during the Second World War Whilst the armourer ratings unload its guns, a group assembles round a crashed Grumman Hellcat of 804 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm as it hangs over the edge of the ship, to decide how it should be removed to clear the deck on board HMS AMEER. The photograph was taken during the eleven days of action in the course of which the successful landings on the islands of Ramree and Cheduba were made.

North American P-51 'Ginny' Of The 353Rd Fighter Group Ran Off The Runway When It Came In For A Landing At Its English Base On 23 January 1945. Here, Men Dig The Plane Out Of The Mud.

Aircraft, Burma, India &Troops &Paratroops

Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941. An armourer attends to the rearward-firing .303 Vickers K-type gas-operated machine gun in a blister-turret fitted under the nose of Bristol Blenheim Mark IV, R3874, of No. 110 Squadron RAF at Wattisham, Suffolk. The K gun augmented the Blenheim's main defensive armament in providing some defence against a low rear attack by enemy fighters. Comment: The gun appears to be the belt-fed Vickers Mk II, not the magazine-fed Vickers K.

Detachment 101, an enigmatic Allied intelligence and special operations unit during World War II, played a pivotal role in the Burmese theater. Operating deep in the jungles of Burma, their mission was multi-faceted, encompassing guerrilla warfare, espionage, and sabotage against Japanese forces. Comprising a diverse group of individuals, from OSS agents to indigenous fighters, they effectively disrupted Japanese supply lines, gathered critical intelligence, and supported resistance movements.

Ground Crew working on Boeing B-29 in China.

FRANCE-Engineer of Consolidated B-24 Liberator pumps out gas from wing tank of bomber at Lyons.

All that remains of a Spitfire of the 340th Bomb Group, after a Nazi aerial attack on an airfield at Corsica. 1944.

Personnel Of The 332Nd Troop Carrier Squadron Load The Wing Of A Plane On A Cargo Plane At 14Th Air Force Base In China.

Sgt. Miller directs pilot of the 9th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron in taxiing the Lockheed F-5 "MISS VIRGINIA E" out of revetment area at an air base somewhere in India.

Chinese And American Troops Load Mules Onto A Douglas C-47 Of The 319Th Troop Carrier Squadron, 1St Air Commando Group, For Their Flight From Myitkyina, Burma, Over The Hump Into China. 13 December 1944.

12/31/1938. Spanish Civil War. An aspect of the Barajas field, during the review carried out by the generalissimo of the national aviation on the occasion of the imposition of the military medal on the pilots for their selflessness and heroism during the war.

Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Bomber Command Wellington IA's, formerly of No 215 Squadron and now part of No 11 Operational Training Unit (OTU), at Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, 22 July 1940. Fitters are hard at work on the port engine of the foreground aircraft while others are being warmed up for a flight.

2nd Lt. Lee R. Taylor, Kansas City, Mo., 40th Fighter Squadron, by a Bell P-39 at an air base somewhere in New Guinea.

Corp. Jules Meylan, Auburn, N.Y., Sgt. Wm. Hoeflich, pictures at their posts under the wing of their ship, conforming with the practice of constantly being on the 'alert'.

U.S. armament crew and Russian armament man load bombs for a mission out of Russia.

Aircraft, Burma, India &BOMBLOADING War

Surmounting severe weather conditions in France and Germany, 9th Air force medium and light bombers continue the systematic attacks against bridges, roads, tunnels and rail lines to isolate von Rundstedt's forces from their sources of supplies and

Curtiss P-40S Of The 16Th Fighter Squadron, 51St Fighter Group, Lined Up For Take-Off At An Air Base In China. 24 October 1942.

German Pilot Surrenders At Falconara, Italy. Me-109 Of Croation Air Force, 16 April 1945.

Landing Gear Of This Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" (A/C No. 238026) Of The 401St Bomb Group Was Damaged When It Landed At An 8Th Air Force Base In England, 11 February 1944.

"Voice" Aircraft Talks To Communists -- One of the "Voice" AusterAircraft with loudspeakers under the wings, used in Malaya in a 3-weeks Royal Air Force operation now just completed, to tell communists of the Indo-China peace and calling on them to surrender. The pilot is Sergeant B.C. Knott, of Banstead, Surrey, and the wireless operator, facing to the rear, is Corporal A. Creighton, of Blythe Street, Belfast. Received in London August 30. September 10, 1954. (Photo by Associated Press Photo).

Royal Air Force Operations in the Far East, 1941-1945. Leading Aircraftmen J Grogan of Manchester and C Foster of Blackpool, Lancashire, carry a 60-lb rocket projectile for loading onto a Hawker Hurricane Mark IV at a forward airfield in Central Burma, as, in the background, another aircraft undergoes servicing.

Royal Air Force Operations in the Far East, 1941-1945. Ground crew pull the chocks away from a Bristol Beaufighter Mark VIF of No. 27 Squadron RAF, piloted by Flying Officer D J Innes as he prepares to take off at Agartala, India.

At A Former German Airfield All Hands Pitch In To Unload The Ship As Fast As Possible. S/Sgt. John Aquirre, San Francisco, Ca., And S/Sgt. E.D. Lawrence, Roseburg, Oregon, And Shown Carrying Supplies From The Plane.

Men Of The 401St Bomb Group Look Over A North American P-51 "Mustang" At An 8Th Air Force Base In England, 27 December 1943.

Royal Air Force- Italy, the Balkans and South-east Europe, 1942-1945. Curtiss Kittyhawk Mark IV, FX745 'OK-Y', of No. 450 Squadron RAAF, taxying to the runway at Cervia, Italy, loaded with three 250-lb GP bombs for a sortie in support of the 8th Army's spring offensive in the Po Valley.

Wings Over Germany Today Belong To The Allies, And A Large Part Of Them Bear The Label 'Made In The Usa'. Two Lockheed C-69 'Constellations' Are Poised For Flight From Orly Field, Paris, France.

Chinese refueled Boeing B-29. After an emergency landing at Liansham, China, this ship had to be refueled by pouring gasoline from drums into five gallon cans, and then poured directly into the tanks.

Men Of The 364Th Service Group Spray Paint On The Tail Of A Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" At The 91St Bomb Group Base In Bassingbourne, England, On 25 September 1943.

Aircraft, Burma, India & INDIA,Transportation War

A Canadian built, Dehavilland F-8 Mosquito, The Spook, used by the U.S. 3rd Photo group in North Africa. This aircraft was later shot down behind enemy lines.

820th Medical Air Evacuation Transportation Squadron, Wakde Island, Dutch New Guinea. Capt. Gradis, Flight Squadron; and Flight Nurse discuss loading of patients with Troop Carrier pilot. June 1944.

Airborne troops drive jeep into glider. NORTH AFRICA.

Loading bombs on a Consolidated B-24 "Liberator" somewhere in the Western Desert, Egypt.

Royal Air Force in the Middle East, 1944-1945. A Vickers Wellington of No. 76 Operational Training Unit taxies out for a training flight at Aqir, Palestine.

Lt. W.G. Mckenny Examines Hole In The Wing Of His Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" Of The 401St Bomb Group, England, 19 March 1945.

Fleet Air Arm Series, on Board HMS Victorious. September 1942. Fleet Air Arm mechanics carrying out adjustments to the engines of a naval fighter aircraft.

Wreckage Of The North American P-51 'Butch 3Rd' (A/C 414774) Of The 353Rd Fighter Group Which Crashed At Its English Base On 24 July 1945.

Crash Landing Of Consolidated B-24J Near Metfield, Norfolk, England, 3 November 1944. (A/C No. 42-100353).

Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941. Wellington Mark IAs (N2912 LG-G nearest) of No. 11 Operational Training Unit at Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire. The aircraft still bear the unit code letters of No. 215 Squadron, from which 11 OTU had been formed in May 1940.

S/Sgt. John P. Quinlan, 248 Truman Ave., Yonkers, N.Y., in his tail gun position on the Boeing B-17 Flying ofrtess "Memphis Belle."

Royal Air Force Fighter Command, 1939-1945. A De Havilland Mosquito Mark II of No. 157 Squadron RAF is refuelled from a Butterfields' Prime Mover Petrol Bowser at Hunsdon, Hertfordshire.

Aircraft, Burma, India &PHOTOGRAPHY, CAMERAS,STILL War

Royal Air Force Operations in the Middle East and North Africa, 1939-1943. Vickers Wellingtons of No. 38 Squadron RAF (Mark XIII, MP707 'E', nearest) lined up at Berka III, Libya, as another aircraft of the Squadron makes a low pass over them. All are equipped with ASV Mark II anti-submarine radar. The transmitter antenna is just visible under the nose of MP707, as well as one of the two directional receiver antennas extended forward under the closer wing. The receivers are also visible on the aircraft making the flypast. The vertical antennas on the back of MP707 were also part of the radar system, allowing it to scan to the sides of the aircraft. In typical use the vertical antennas would be used while the aircraft searched for targets, and when one was found its approximate bearing was determined and the aircraft maundered to approach it head-on. During this pass the forward-looking antennas would be used, providing a much more accurate directional signal.

RAF Fighter Command 1940 Ground staff re-arm a Spitfire Mk I at Biggin Hill, September 1940.

Anefo photo collection. Jeugdluitbrigade on Ypenburg. July 19, 1960. The Hague, Ypenburg, South Holland

An Armorer Of The 464Th Fighter Squadron, 507Th Fighter Group, Checks The Guns Of A Newly Arrived Republic P-47 'Thunderbolt'. Ie Shima, Ryukyu Retto.

P-47 fighter pilots grab a quick lunch before taking off again from the new Air Base set up in France.

U.S. Air Force personnel greeted U.S.O. players as they debarked from their plane at Poltava Airbase, one of the shuttle mission bases in Russia. 5 January 1945.

Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Fighter Command The Spitfire XIV was the second Griffon-powered version of the fighter to see service. Unlike the Mk XII, it was intended for combat at all altitudes, and was built in large numbers. The size of its five-bladed propeller is apparent in this view of a No 610 aircraft refuelling at Friston in July 1944. The squadron was busy helping to repel the V-1 offensive, and would claim a total of 50 flying bombs by the end of the summer.

The Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" 'Maximum Effort' Of The 401St Bomb Group At An 8Th Air Force Base In England, 18 October 1944.

Very Primitive Methods Are Used By Chinese Laborers Who Are Working On A Taxi Strip At A-1, A 20Th Bomber Command Field In China. A Boeing B-29 "Superfortress" Of The 54Th Bomb Squadron, 40Th Bomb Group, Is In The Background. December 1944.

Men Of The 324Th Service Group Prepare To Move This North American B-25 Out Of The Drifts To Ashes And Cinders So Mechanics Of The 340Th Bomb Group Can Overhaul It. Note Holes In The Fabric Covered Surfaces And Collected Ashes And Cinders On Topside Of P

Type of guns and carriages built at Watertown Arsenal during the Civil War , Armories, Ordnance industry, Arms & armament, United States, History, Civil War, 1861-1865, Watertown Arsenal Mass.. Records of U.S. Army Operational

England. A Huge Night Photography Camera As It Is Being Installed In A Mosquito Plane. From Two To Four Of These Camera Are Placed In Each Aircraft To Give The Maximum Coverage Of The Target Area. The Men Are Cpl. Charles L. Austin, New York City, (Lef

French women and children, who wandered on the airfield, are watching with interest the Republic P-47s taking off on a bombing mission; they are standing in front of a P-47. FRANCE.

Japaneseanese Prisoners Of War Unload Food Rations Through The Bomb Bay Hatch Of A Boeing B-29 Of The 7Th Air Froce At Bolo Field, Okinawa, Ryukyu Retto. 14 October 1945.

A Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" (A/C No. 33057) Of The 91St Bomb Group Heads For The Runway At Bassingbourne, England Prior To Take-Off On A Mission Over Antwerp, Belgium On 4 May 1943.

Detachment 101, an enigmatic Allied intelligence and special operations unit during World War II, played a pivotal role in the Burmese theater. Operating deep in the jungles of Burma, their mission was multi-faceted, encompassing guerrilla warfare, espionage, and sabotage against Japanese forces. Comprising a diverse group of individuals, from OSS agents to indigenous fighters, they effectively disrupted Japanese supply lines, gathered critical intelligence, and supported resistance movements.

The Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" 'Four Aces' Of The 381St Bomb Group Stationed At An 8Th Air Force Base Near Ridgewell, Essex County, England, 26 Nov. 1943.

Lockheed P-38 Lightning "Hammer's Destruction Company," at a 10th Air Force airbase in India, 8 July 1945.

S/Sgt. H.B. Hatt Of Lansing, Michigan, A Member Of The 79Th Fighter Group Based At Capodichino, Italy, Putting Oil In A Curtiss P-40 Warhawk.

Detachment 101, an enigmatic Allied intelligence and special operations unit during World War II, played a pivotal role in the Burmese theater. Operating deep in the jungles of Burma, their mission was multi-faceted, encompassing guerrilla warfare, espionage, and sabotage against Japanese forces. Comprising a diverse group of individuals, from OSS agents to indigenous fighters, they effectively disrupted Japanese supply lines, gathered critical intelligence, and supported resistance movements.

Detachment 101, an enigmatic Allied intelligence and special operations unit during World War II, played a pivotal role in the Burmese theater. Operating deep in the jungles of Burma, their mission was multi-faceted, encompassing guerrilla warfare, espionage, and sabotage against Japanese forces. Comprising a diverse group of individuals, from OSS agents to indigenous fighters, they effectively disrupted Japanese supply lines, gathered critical intelligence, and supported resistance movements.

Its hydraulic system shot out by flak over the Ferrara Railroad Bridge in Northern Italy, this Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber of the 15th Air Force landed with the aid of Parachute preventing the Lib from overshooting the landing strip.

Maintenance Crew Fills The Fuel Tank Of The First Vultee L-5 To Be Re-Assembled At Cub Field No. 7 On Okinawa, Ryukyu Retto After Shipment From Hawaiian Islands. This Plane Will Be Flown By The 163Rd Liaison Squadron Which Is Attached To The 10Th Army. 1

Italian torpedo bomber Savoia-Marchetti SM79 ready to take off, World War II, from L'Illustrazione Italiana, Year LXVIII, No 41, October 12, 1941.

These 8th Air Force Boeing B-17s on Poltava Airfield, Ukraine, Russia, having just completed their first shuttle-bombing msision from England, were destroyed on the ground in a perfectly timed and well executed attack by the German Air Force on the

The Wing Of The Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" (A/C No. 229886) Was Badly Damaged During A Mission Flown Over Enemy Territory On 17 July 1943. 379Th Bomb Group, England.

Pictures From Gen. Arnold'S Report German Weapons - The 'Viper' Had A Maximum Speed Of 620 Mph. It Was A Piloted, Rocket-Propelled Missile, Designed To Attack Allied Aircraft With Cannon, Rockets, Or By Ramming. The Pilot Could Eject Himself Mechanicall

Aircraft, Burma, India &Maintenance, ASSEMBLY OFPLANES War

Royal Air Force Operations in the Middle East and North Africa, 1939-1943. Armourers preparing to load a Martin Maryland of No. 39 Squadron RAF with its full complement of eight 250-lb GP bombs, at a landing ground in the Western Desert.

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