Historical Military Aircraft

Photographs of military gliders, aircraft mechanics, and wartime planes, depicting historical aircraft operations and maintenance during past conflicts.

New Type Cg-13 Glider Being Used In The Eto.

New Type Cg-13 Glider Being Used In The Eto.

Member Of Waaf Works Along With Mechanics Of American Mobile Repair Unit, On A Boeing B-17 At Manston Air Base, England.

A U.S. Army Artillery observation plane is seen just after take-off. The plane has just bee fitted with skiis instead of landing wheels because of heavy snow in this sector.

U.S. Air Corps Blasted This Tank Ordance Shop. This Was One Of Several Shops Nearby Which Were Reduced To Rubble. Shown In The Workshop Are A Panzer Iii, A Panzer Iv, And In The Background, A Panzerkampfwagen V Panther Sd.Kfz. 171.

Crew Members Of The 20Th Mapping Squadron, 6Th Photo Group (Reconnaissance) Based Somewhere In The Southwest Pacific Area, Unload Their Gear From A Truck Prior To Take=Off On A Mission.

A Douglas C-47 Transport Plane Lands On A Former German Airfield Near Gotha, Germany And The Plane Is Soon Surrounded By Curious 3Rd Us Army Troops.

Aircraft, Burma, India &Troops & Paratroops

As Soon As Consolidated B-24S Of The 446Th Bomb Group Return To Their English Base, Armorers And Ground Cres Are Ready To Service The Planes In Preparation For Another Mission.

AMERICAN ARMY CAMP IN RUSSIA: Seen through the wreckage of a German-wrecked Russian building are a portion of the tents which make up the living quarters at an American Air Base in the U.S.S.R. Driven back by the Red Army from this area only

Aircraft, Burma, India &Aircraft, GROUND,VULTEE War

Pipes Are Unloaded From A Douglas C-47 Of The 1St Air Commando Group By Chinese Coolies In Mangshish, China. 27 January 1945. Note Neat Rows In Which Pipes Are Stacked.

Bomb Damage Inthe Hildensheim Marshalling Yards In Germany After A 9Th Af Bombardment Attack. 22 Feb. 1945.

Lockheed P-38 "Lightnings" Of The 36Th Fightre Squadron, 8Th Fighter Group, Parked Along The Runway On The Hill Fighter Strip Near San Jose, Mindoro Island, Philippine Islands. 20 December 1944.

Headquarters And Transportation Buildings, Accra Air Base, Accra Gold Coast, Africa. April 1943.

313Th Bombardment Wing Dropping Mines By Parachute Somewhere Near The Marianas Islands. 21 May 1945.

This is an enemy-held airfield near Busigny, France, photographed from a Douglas A-20 Havoc of the 9th AF which plastered the marshalling yards of the railway system near this site with high explosive bombs. With buildings dispersed and runways

Loading Caterpillar Deisel motor into cargo plane at Gura Airport, Gura, Eritrea. June 1943.

Unloading evacuated wounded from plane at La Senia Airfield, Oran, Algeria. May 1943.

Three Planes Participated In The Air-Drop Of Three Days Rations Over Ynabo, Burma, Sweeping As Low As They Thought Possible Over A Small Area Cleared By Neighboring Kachins For That Purpose.

Bomb Damage To The Railroad Bridge At Sinzig, Germany.

Control Tower At Abadan Field, Abadan, Iran. Note Consolidated B-24 And Bell P-39 Planes In The Foreground. June 1943.

Installations at Gura Airport, Gura, Eritrea. June 1943.

Loading Cargo In Plane At Parnamirim Field, Natal, Brazil. May 1943.

T/Sgt. Robert Natkin, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress photographer, who, with T/Sgt. John E. Rowe, took four aerial shots to accompany story on completion of 50 missions.

LONG RANGE ATTACK: Penetrating deep into Germany and Poland Consolidated B-24 and Boeing B-17s of the 8th AAF struck at Nazi aircraft assembly plants during the 9 April 44 operation. Bomb bursts and smoke from incendiaries are visible as Forts

Europe - Decline And Fall Of This Me-109 (Bf 109) That Is Being Nailed To The Ground By A Xix Tac Fighter Is Recorded In The Gun Camera.

Consolidated B-24 Liberator raid on Youchow, China, 3 Aug 44. All the bombs hit the target and did great damage to the railroad yards. Gunners on the B-24's confirmed 2 Zeros of the 10th which tried to intercept the formation. 308th Bomb Group.

Communications soldiers with a Signal Unit of the 13th AAF Service Command, "dig in," to establish their telephone switchboard in a sandbag dugout at an advance New Guinea Airfield. Signalmen maintain all lines of communication at their Airbase, and

Headquarters of Bombardment Group. Benina Field, Bengasi, Libya.

Aircraft, Burma, India & Bombing,

Pfc. John T. Fields, Rt. 2. Renfore, Ala., an armorer with the all-Negro 332nd Fighter Group, 15th AAF, Italy, inspects the ammunition in the North American P-51 Mustang he services. Mustang machine guns are .50-calibre.

Long Shot Of Huge German Oil Refinery In Merkwiller, France, Completely Destroyed Last August By Usaaf Bomber Force. Of The Whole Plant Only Smokestacks Remain Standing. It Was Photographed When Troops Of The Infantry Entered The City.

As The Wheels Of The Last Flight Of A North American P-51 Mustang Fighter Group Left The Ground On Take-Off On A Late Afternoon, Heavy Bomber Escort Mission Over Germany, The Strains Of The 'Star Spangled Banner' Sounded Through Loud-Speaders All Over The

Natousa Anti-Malarial Organization Aircraft Phase. Douglas A-20 Havoc Formation Dusting Over Cassino, Italy. Door To Hopper On Far Plane Has Failed To Open. Italy.

After The Briefing Is Over, Pilots Of The Curtiss P-40S At Chengkung Airbase In China Dash Out To Their Planes And Prepare To Head For The Target Of The Day.

Destroyed German plane engine at Benina Field, Bengasi, Libya. July 1943.

Unloading airplane engine at La Senia Field, Oran, Algeria. June 1943.

As he comes in fast, his bullets begin to find their mark. Sjeinca, Yugoslavia.

Back at the home base Bomb-Boogie is put in the hangar for a major repair of the landing gear. The man at the extreme right is a sheet metal worker who is patching one of the three flak holes in the bomb-bay doors. Master Sergeant Jerry Z. Docis

Major General Carl Spaatz and staff are greeted uponn arriving at Ibsley Airdrome for tour of inspection. England, 4 Sep 42.

Lt. Dauenhauer's Crew Of The 486Th Bombardment Group In England.

Twisted metal and wrecked aircraft parts are scattered about the field in Germany, following crash of huge JU 52 transport plane, which was shot down by American Anti-aircraft batteries. Portion of fuselage and tail are silhouetted against sky in

Aerial view of barracks and installations at Tafaraoui Airbase in Algeria.

Bombing of Metz Frescaty, France

These 4 Photos Cover The 2 Attacks On The Schwabmunchen Ammo Dump By The 17Th Bomb Group On 25 April 1945. The First Photo Shows The Target Before The Attack. The Tell-Tale Network Of Roads, Ammo Sheds, And Partially Camouflaged Underground Bunkers Are

The U-boat pens at St. Nazaire looked like this to Flying Fortress and Liberator crews on a raid. Many bursts are seen on the target, also hits on the machine shop works, stores for submarines and railroad yards, all within the target area. At the

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator 'My Achin' Back' Parked Beside The Metal Taxi Aprons At A Base In Numana, Italy. 10 June 1944.

Mechanics Of American Mobile Repair Units Work On Boeing B-17G 'Flak Eater' As Manston Air Base, England.

Mechanics Of American Mobile Repair Units Work On Boeing B-17 'Flak Eater' At Manston Air Base, England.

2nd Lt. David Schwartz, 10906 103rd Ave., Richmond, Hill, N.Y., clambers through the yard-wide opening in the wing of his 9th Air force Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bomber made by a German 40 mm anti-aircraft shell. Lt. Schwartz, on his third

Aircraft, Burma, India &Maintenance,

Boeing B-17 Flying ofrtress "Hell's Angels" taking off.

These men of the 38th Bomb Group are enroute to Port Moresby, Papua, New Guinea.

The Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress""Whaletail Ii" Part Of The 381St Bomb Group Formation, Wings Its Way Toward The Target, Somewhere In Europe.

Aircraft, Burma, India &Fields & Installations, War

FRANCE-Cpl Thomas A. Baker, of Nevada, Mo., holds a German bugle that he found when moving into one of the 9th AF bases on the Normandy peninsula. Cpl William "Pop" Rawson, Oaklund, California, asks for the instrument so that he can give it

Projectile, M8, T-30, Rocket aircraft. Mounted under wing of A-20.

Trucks And Tractors Are Used To Haul A Consolidated B-24 Which Crashed On The Runway At Kunming, China, 2 December 1943, Due To Failure Of The Landing Gear. The Plane, Used As A Transport Flying The 'Hump', Was Carrying Gas In A Bomb Bay Tank On One Side

Two Young Refugees Rest Beside The Shattered Ruins Of A Building At Tushan, China.

Douglas C-47 Of The 1St Air Commando Group, Being Gassed In The Early Morning Mist At Tingkawks-Sakan, Burma, Prior To Taking Off To China With A Load Of Pipes. 28 January 1945.

An American soldier three stories underground in a champagne cellar in France where the Germans maintained a plant for the manufacture and assembly of ignition, radio and armament equipment for fighter draft. 9th Air force Service Command mechanics

Two Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortresses" Of The 91St Bomb Group, Based At Bassingbourne, England, Fly Over The Clouds On A Practice Mission Over Europe On 28 January 1944.

Here again our aerial wreckers do a job on the Capodichino Airfield in Italy. The destruction was accomplished by 40 tons of bombs dropped from Boeing B-17's despite hampering weather conditions. Hangars, field installations & planes were reduced to

American Plane Shown After Landing On Captured German Airfield At Polenz, Germany, Near Leipzig. Taken By Combat Command A, 9Th Armored Division, 1St Us Army, The Field Was Strewn With The Wreckage Of German Planes, Including Some Me 262 Jet Planes, Whic

YANKS AT HOME IN THE USSR: Troops of the Eastern Command, U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe, eat and lounge near their tent quarters at an American base in Russia. The building in the foreground is typical of the wreckage which the Germans left

The Camera, In The Belly Of One Of The North American B-25 Mitchells, Caught These Bomb-Puffs As They Marked An Almost Perfect Pattern On Japaneseanese Ground Installations. This Important Transportation Link, On The Salween, North East Of Lashio, Near The Ch

ATC Headquarters building at Lal Senia Airfield, Oran, Algeria. May 1943.

A great quantity of war supplies and equipment unceasingly pours in at a 9th Air force base in France. Newly uncrated masses of glider fuselage are shown lined up awaiting delivery to the wing division for further assembly.

Major William A. Adams of Natchez, Miss., receiving the Air Medal from Brig. Gen. P.L. Williams at a ceremony held at a North African airfield.

View Of Rail Yard At Northeim, Germany, After 1 Hour Of Bombing By Our Air Force On April 8 1945.

Light American Artillery Observation Planes Use The Cologne Superhighway Near Mariaweiler, Germany, For A Runway, Ideally Suited To Their Purpose. 19 February 1945.

Aircraft, Burma, India &CREWS, PILOT War

A demolished locomotive in the San Ambrogio Marshalling Yards in Italy, bombed by the 15th Air Force bombers.

This Army Aircraft Repair Ship in the Philippines areas, performs parachute inspection and packing, does all types of harness and canvas work and performs 4th echelon repair on wing sections (control surfaces). All types of painting and spraying are

1st Lt. Chaplain, Poletti gives two members of a Flying ofrtress crew encouragement before an operational flight. They are (L to R) Sgt. Harold Thorman, Omaha, Nebr, & S-Sgt. Bernard J. Rupp, ofnd Du Lac, Wisc.

The Photogrammetry Officer And His Shift Chiefs Examine Target Charts Produced By The 21St Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron Photogrammetry Section Following Reproduction. China.

Deadly Flak Bursts Dangerously Near A Formation Of The 381St Bomb Group Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" En Route To Bomb Enemy Installations Somewhere In England.

In Packing M-4 Fragmentation Bombs, The Necessary Precautions Were Not Followed And A Terrific Explosion Followed As They Were Transferred From A Truck To The Underground Dump Causing The Death Of Three Men. This Is The General View Taken Near The Site O

The Remains Of A Consolidated C-87 Which Crashed In The Vicinity Of Kunming, China. All The Crew Was Killed In The Crash.

Headquarters 98th Bombardment Group. Benina Field, Bengasi, Libya.

The U.S. Army's Air Force dealt a heavy blow in early February, 1943, to the airdrome and seaplane base at Cagliari, Sardinia. Striking in broad daylight, Flying Fortresses and Martin Marauder bombers showered the Axis fields with high explosive and

Aircraft, Burma, India &Fields & Installations,CONSTRUCTION,Air Fields War

Bombs From North American B-25 Mitchells Of The 12Th Usaaf 'Walk The Tracks' Through The Railroad Yards Of Avezzano, East Of Rome, On The Day Before The Allied Landings On 22 January 1944.

SKEET SHOOT-The importance of a steady eye to an aerial gunner can never be over-emphasized. The flying crew members of this British based 8th Air force Flying ofrtress Station whose markmenship is responsible for a rapidly declining

ON ITS WAY UP into the bomb bay of the plane, the two-thousand-pounder is being cranked by hand from above. Handling these big bombs is a dangerous job. The men say that before the fuses are inserted in the nose and tail the bombs are as harmless as

The famous 11th Bomb Squadron based at Kweilin, China. At the outbreak of World War II this squadron was sent to the Philippines, but before they reached their destination, the Japaneses were already occupying the Island. Thus the squadron was forced

A Carribean Air Base Dispensary (Left To Right): Pfc Loren Holloway, Ottawa, Illinois; Pvt. Ray Kamstra, Camden, Minn.; Pfc John Pindell, Burnside, Ill. Stretcher Bearers In The Jungle Country Of The Caribbean Area Have As One Of Their Hardest Tasks The

FRANCE-Brig Gen James B. Newman, Jr., of Washington, D.C., Commaning General of the 9th AF Aviation Engineers, inspects one of the airfields his men ripped out of the Normandy landscape on the American beachhead, in less time than it takes

Lt. Don Sykes, Of 1626 N. Harvard St., Hollywood Ca., Signal Corps Photo Officer With 1St Us Army, Looks Over Wreckage Of Railyard In Northeim, Germany, Hit By One Hour Air Bombardment.

Douglas C-47-T.C.-Group Caught on runway.

View of the mess hall, chapel and communications building of the 38th Bomb Group at Rorona, New Guinea.

TOMORROW'S HEADLINES--Bombs away and another German-held French target is plastered by this 8th AAF Liberator (Consolidated B-24) which was one of many Liberators and Forts that attacked two ball bearing plants in Paris and airfields in Southern

Aerial View Of Wrecked American Plane In Front-Line Town Of Olsberg, Germany, Which Was First Captured By Squadron Of 4Th Cavalry Group And Then Retaken By Germans, Was Finally Captured By 8Th Armored Division, 1St U. S. Army, On April 6, 1945.

North American B-25 Mitchells Over Boran Field, Wewak, New Guinea 16 Oct. 1943 500Bg 345Bs.

A Messerschmitt Me 110 Attacks A Formation Of 91St Bomb Group Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses Approaching An Enemy Target Somewhere In Europe. 22 January 1944.

Partially rebuilt British planes, Heliopolis Airfield, Cairo, Egypt. June 1943.

Sgt. G.F. Murray Of South Boston, Mass., And Pvt. Ludolf Portong Of Jamaica, Long Island, Work On The Tail Of A Boeing B-17 Stationed At High Wycombe, England, As Part Of The Eighth Air Force. 4 Sept 1942.

A Gun Camera Mounted On A Republic P-47 Thunderbolt Records Pictorially A Victory Of The Thunderbolt Over A German Me-109. Arado Ar 96 Flames Spouting From The Hun Plane Give Proof Of The Accuracy Of The Eight Guns That Comprise Part Of The Fire Power

Chinese Workers Spreading Mixture Of Gravel, Sand And Clay On Runway Bed To Form The Surface Layer. Poashan, China. 3 Feb. 1945.

Members of the 28th...

of 2