Historic Military Fires

Dramatic scenes of fire outbreaks during wartime, showcasing military actions, destruction, and firefighting efforts across various locations from the 1940s.

Fire and Explosions Rage at Heavily Damaged Airfield
Fire and Explosions Rage at Heavily Damaged Airfield
129 assets in this story
4409-50113048
05/05/1937. The German Hindenburg airship Moments after exploding at this Airfield.
255-424826
USA, Fireman fighting blaze in burning building
5513-111449204
R.A.F. Bostons Attack Steel Works At Denain, France. Two Bostons (left and right) sweeping low over their target whilst a plume of smoke rises from a bomb burst behind them. This photograph, taken during an attack by Bostons, of R.A.F. Fighter Command on 16/8/43 provides remarkable evidence of the precision with which the important steel and armament works of the Soc. Francaise De Construction Mecaniques, and of the S.A.De Hauts Fourneaux Forges Et Aciéries De Denain Et D'Anzin, were hit by the
1035-30032887
Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, July 1, 1946The atomic bomb exploding over the target fleet in Bikini Lagoon.
6145-52123287
DN-SN-88-04691. Base: Persian Gulf
6145-54412927
DN-SN-87-07338. Country: Ionian Sea
6145-54515024
Channel Blasting. Coast Guardsmen aboard a cutter on the Greenland Patrol blast their way through an ice-locked bay with blocks of TNT. This is one of the duties of the hardy crews serving on the Northern Front--keeping channels open for supply boats which put in at the tiny coastal settlements.
6176-67069923
Invasion of Bayamo, (1850s), 1920s. Artist: Unknown
1746-21113938
bombing carried out on Monday July 22, 1946 by the militant Zionist underground organization, the Irgun, on the British administrative headquarters for Palestine at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. 91 people of various nationalities were killed and 46 were injured
5513-19980728
Great pall of smoke rises above Rawson Chambers today as firemen seek desperately to get the blaze under control. Crowds gathered at every point to watch the fire. August 31, 1948.
6145-51940409
The smoke Bolmar up behind spruce and pine ...
6145-29618916
Anefo photo collection. Evacuation cracked former national clothing magazines Conradstraat Amsterdam; Sitting evacuated. July 18, 1988. Amsterdam, Noord-Holland
6145-29351280
Anefo photo collection. South of the Netherlands. Report on the dangers of mines and abandoned ammunition for children playing. Speeches from fire brigade and police to the children. Encons of accidents. 24 December 1945. Southern Netherlands
6145-29333990
Photo collection Service for army contacts Indonesia. DLC Food E.A. Dropping for infantry 2nd police action December 1948. Aerial recording. Factory complex with rice fields. Visible are vandalism. A building is in fire. December 1948. Indonesia, Dutch East Indies
6145-45368693
Fire in Czewl, parking place 2 p. Polish Legions (III). Front of the Polish Legions in Volhynia. Janowski, Stanisław (1866 1942)
5513-76375429
Air field in Norway Bombed by British -- This photo, supplied by Pressens Bild, Swedish picture agency, is described as a view of the wrecked Kjeller Field hangar near Oslo after an Raf attack last Friday. May 4, 1944. (Photo by AP Wirephoto).
4443-21895463
Fire in lumber yard at German Colony, Aug. 21-22, 1938. 1938, Israel
6176-66094398
TULSA RACE RIOT(May 31 and June 1, 1921): Police Disperse Marchers with Tear Gas . photograph of African Americans who are trying to escape from their tents that have just been attacked with tear gas by troopers who stand lined up with gas masks and guns in the foreground.
5513-16068599
Durban trail of disorder A typical scene in the Non-European quarter of Durban, South Africa, after the fierce Racial riots between Indians and South African natives, in which 105 people were killed, last weekend. The picture shows looted and burned Indian stores at cater manor, Durban. A wrecked automorile lies in foreground. February 09, 1949. (Photo by Associated Press Photo).
4048-1263
D-DAY, Allied Troops invade Normandy, France, 1944
6145-29480416
Anefo photo collection. Large fire on Rembrandt Square Mayor Samkalden (center). December 30, 1968. Amsterdam, Noord-Holland
486-5408
Marshall Island, Kwajalein Atoll, American flag and marines
1746-21106589
World War Two, oil tank explosion at Deggendorf Harbour, Bavaria, Germany after an aerial bombardment 1945
6145-52096792
Firefighters at Pier 4 of the Naval Station work to extinguish a fire that started in a Naval Supply Center building and eventually spread to the converted Raleigh class command ship USS LA SALLE (AGF 3). Base: Naval Air Station, Norfolk State: Virginia (VA) Country: United States Of America (USA)
255-65233532
Vintage Photograph. Union Wharf Fire at Boston Massachusetts.
6177-V53570534
6145-52098300
An old air control tower, replaced in 1978 by a new tower, falls after the explosive ordnance team detonates a charge under it. Base: Mcguire Air Force Base State: New Jersey (NJ) Country: United States Of America (USA)
6176-66908295
The fall of Richmond, Virginia, on the night of April 2nd 1865, during USA Civil Wa
6177-V65998695