Historical Military Aircraft and Maintenance

Black and white images of WWII aircraft maintenance and operations, capturing the challenging conditions faced by crews and the impact of air raids.

Germany -- This Ju 87 6 (Stuka) Crew Took Part In The Amazing Nazi Air Exodus From Czechoslavakia That Began May 8 As Russian Forces Rolled Relentlessly West Crushing Last Pockets Of Resistance. German Planes Of All Types Were Flown Fully Loaded To Ame

North American P-51 C Canopy.

Plane maintenance goes on even in a snowstorm at Ladd Field, Alaska. 13 February 1944. Note engine heater used on planes.

Progress Of Fire In Nazi Rest Camp, Started By Boms From Republic P-47 Thunderbolts Of The Us 12Th Af. The White Smoke Has Turned To Heavy Black And Billows High Into The Sky.

Mess Kit Washers Of The 515Th Bomb Squadron, 376Th Bomb Group Based At San Pancrazio, Italy. 2 Feb. 1944

Evacuation Scene At Suichwan Airfield, China, With Chinese Sentry Guarding Tires And Other Plane Parts Ready To Be Loaded On Curtiss C-46 Transport For Evacuation.

EIGHTH AAF SERVICE COMMAND STATION-A Lockheed Lightning, newest addition to the Eighth Air force sky fleet over Europe, is shown receiving the latest modification from Eighth AAF Service Command technicians "Somewhere in England."

Germany -- This Ju 87 6 (Stuka) Crew Took Part In The Amazing Nazi Air Exodus From Czechoslavakia That Began May 8 As Russian Forces Rolled Relentlessly West Crushing Last Pockets Of Resistance. German Planes Of All Types Were Flown Fully Loaded To Ame

Chaplain (Capt) Harold Whitlock, from 1621 South 6th Street Springfield, Ill., formerly pastor of the 1st Methodists church of Decatur, Ill., preaches Easter services to crewmen of a Bomb Group, near the ruins of a wrecked German JU 88.

Aircraft, Burma, India &Transportation War

Aerial View Of Road Leading Into Brandscheid, Germany, West Of Prum, Showing Dragon'S Teeth Of Siegfried Line On Both Sides Of The Road.

After the breakaway from the target, the Martin B-26 Marauders pass over the coastline and Smith sees where some other bombers had hit that day.

S/Sgt. Conige C. Mormon, 901 Randle St., Memphis, Tenn., a crew chief in the all-Negro 332nd Fighter Group, 15th AAF, Italy, cleans the glass of his pilot's North American P-51 Mustang.

North Africa-Living conditions of American airmen on the desert. S/Sgt. W.J. Mann of St. Louis, Mo., S/Sgt. Elliott of Lynn, Indiana and Sgt. Howard Flannigan of Rochester, New York in front of their desert home.

Complete Devastation Of The Target Area Is Shown As Huge Clouds Of Black Smoke Obscure The Railroad Yards And Tracks At Siaokichen, China. The Yards Were Bombed By North American B-25 Mitchell Bombers Of The 14Th A.F.'s Hard-Hitting Chinese-American Comp

Remains of Japanese Bomber on Buna Strip.

EUROPE-before taking off on a mission, Lockheed P-38 pilot, 1st Lt. Ray K. Friend, of Yonkers, N.Y., confers with his crew chief, T/Sgt James L. Grant of Broadbent, Oregon.

These Wrecked German Planes Were Bombed To Pieces, And Never Got Off The Ground, At Hangelar, Germany.

Here Are The Martin B-26 Marauders Goatee Hell And Marty Marauder After A Freak Landing Accident Caused Their Collision. When Inspectors Condemned Both Planes As Unfit For Further Service, Boys Of Ninth Air Force Service Group Volunteered To Donate Their

This Consolidated B-24 Liberator Suffered A Direct Hit When Japaneses Bombed Suichwan Airbase, China. 308Th Bomb Group.

ITALY-Its tail assembly practically "shot off" this wounded Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber of the 15th Air Force returned to its base after encountering heavy flak over its target; Munich, Germany on Sept. 23, 1944.

The daily communiques from the various battle front over the world invariably tell of the accomplishments of the USAAF. Subsequent news stories have developed tales of the deeds of individual airmen and air crews. But little publicity has been

Cherbourg, France-Robot ski site known as Sorellerie III (there are three in neighborhood) is good example of what precision bombardment can do to these targets, shows why the enemy abandoned further ski construction and went in for modified skies.

A great number of natives are employed at the Depot on the task of washing down and polishing up the surface of planes. Here a gang of them are shown working on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.

Gun camera photo showing strafing of a train in France, 6 July 44 by fighter pilot, Capt. Carroll A. Peterson, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Lae Airdrome, New Guinea

France - Hundreds Of 5-Gallon Jerry Tanks, Filled With Precious High-Octane, Take Their First Step In The Long Trip Berlinwards Via The Ninth Air Force. When Completely Loaded With Its Complement Of Jerry Cans, The Truck Shown Above Carries Enough Gas To

The Services Of The American Red Cross Are Available At Most Air Bases In England. Here Two G.I.'S Of The 453Rd Bomb Group Enter The Office Of The Field Director. 24 January 1944.

Wreckage Of The Republic P-47 Turnip Termite At A Ninth Air Force Base Somewhere In France.

Remains Of The Isarco Albes Railroad Bridge After Bombing By 15Th Air Force Bombers. Italy, June 1945.

ERKNER, VKF BALL BEARING FACTORY HIT IN MOST CONCENTRATED ATTACK, on 3/8/44 when the 8th Air Force heavy bombers hit this vital Nazi target in the Berlin suburbs. This factory was putting out much of the ball bearing requirements

More Equipment Which Will Help Add To The Potent Tactical Air Power Of The Allies Arrives At A Snow-Covered Airfield In Belgium. Shown Here Are Members Of A 9Th Air Force Service Command Unit Unloading An Aircraft Part Which Will Be Used To Repair A Repu

An 8Th Aaf Bomber Command Station, England -- In The Control Tower Officers At An 8Th Bomber Command Station Search The Sky For Signs Of Fortress Returning From The Blasting Of War Industries In Southwest Germany.

A Chaplain Blessing B-17 "Flying Fortress" Crew Members Of The 8Th Af'S 457Th Bombardment Group By Their Plane 'Perpetual Help' Before They Go Out On A Mission. England, 20 March 1945.

Modification of a Lockheed P-38 at an Air Base, 8th Air force, England.

On 23 March 1945 Two Formations From The 2Nd Brigade De Bombardement (Faf) Attacked The Neckargemund Combined Road And Rail Double-Deck Bridge East Of Heidelberg, Germany. The Above Photos Show A Portion Of The Mission Of The First 23 Aircraft, 31St Bomb

Lt. Zemper, Photo Officer Of The 8Th Af'S 457Th Bombardment Grouop Based In England. 28 September 1944.

Permasens, Germany, After A Bombing Attack By 9Th Af Bombers. 15 March 1945.

Kuma class cruiser taking...

Finished Focke-Wulf FW-190s that have just rolled off the assembly line at Oschersleben are waiting on camouflaged parking strip for test flights. Oschersleben has been damaged severely in three separate attacks, but has not yet had a pulverizing

3/4 Right Elevation Of A Japanese Baka Plane On Okinawa, Ryukyu Retto Island. The Insignia That Appears On The Nose Of The Ship Is That Of The Cherry Blossom Unit Of The Kamikaza Or Suicide Squadron.

1St U.S. Army Troops Capture Airplane Engines And Wing Assemblies On Outskirts Of Kolleda, Germany. Equipment Is Still In Perfect Condition And Ready For Service At This Well Supplied Air Base.

This Temporary Cribbing Was Used To Hold Up The Wing Of 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 B

Lt. Doherty And Lt. Rich Demonstrating The Use Of A G-Suit. England - 7 December 1944.

Bomb Damage At Radar Jamming Installation In Germany. Damage Was Caused By Bombing Of 9Th Af, 362Nd Bomb Group, 2 March 1945.

Allies smash Japanese convoy. An R.A.A.F. Beaufighter strafes a Japaneseanese ship.

Men of the 38th Bomb Group receive Holy Communion during Christmas services on New Guinea. 1942.

500 Lb. Bombs From B-29S Of The 20Th Bomber Command, 468Th Bombardment Group Hitting The Bansue Marshalling Yards, Bangkok, Thailand, 27 November 1944. Smoke Can Be Seen Rising From The Locomotive And Car Repair Shops. Anti-Aircraft Over The Target Was

North American B-25's (Mitchells) over a Japaneseanese destroyer off Cape Gloucester, New Britain, which they hit 14 times in an attack on July 28, 1943. The next day they returned and finished the crippled Japanese vessel.

Gun Camera photos showing strafing of a train in France, 6 July 44 by fighter pilot, 1st Lt. J.A. Farnsworth, Mesa, Arizona.

Yank Examines Nazi He-111 Motored Bomber Smashed On The Ground By Our Air Force At The German Bomber Base.

The Nazis Attempted To Hide The Oil Refinery At Politz, Germany From The 8Th Air force By Using Smoke Pots On 29 May 1944, But This Plane Of The 44Th Bombardment Group Has Dropped Its Bombs On The Target And Begins Its Journey Toward Its Home Base.

Gen. William O. Butler reviewing A.C. personnel during 1st Anniversary of 11th Air Force.

Refueling Douglas C-54, Rufisque Airfield, Rufisque, French West Africa. June 1943.

Pvt. Edward F. Fergus checks the gauge level of the water reservoir in the oxygen compressor room. LOS NEGROS ISLANDS.

A Douglas C-54 On Ie Shima Is Loaded With The Surrender Envoys And Is Prepared To Take Off.

"Target for Today". .. Lt. Edward C. Gleed, 216 East Fourth St., Horton, Kan., is explaining to the pilots of the Fighter Group (an all-Negro fighter outfit in the 15th Air Force in Italy) what they might expect on the day's mission.

Crew members of the 12th Army Air Force Martin B-26 Marauder group in the 12th Air Force wore "flak suits" for the first time during an attack on the important railroad facilities at Pisa, Italy. Left to right, kneelin: the three aerial gunners, Sgt.

Over four hundred planes of...

Smoke Markers Lead The Way As Bombs Dropped By Planes Of The 44Th Bombardment Group, 8Th Air force, Fall Toward The Oil Refinery At Politz, Germany On 20 June 1944. The Enemy Has Attempted To Hide The Target By Placing Smoke Pots Around It.

Three Ground Crew Members Of The 323Rd Bomb Squadron, 91St Bomb Group Pose By The Nose Of The Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" 'Judy`S Little Ass' At Their Base In Bassingbourne, England.

Bombing of Japanese oil installations on Boela, Ceram Islands, Netherlands East Indies, 14 July 1944.

RUSSIANS LEARN ABOUT U.S. EQUIPMENT: Two Russian technicians learn the mechanics of an electric generator from S/Sgt. Douglas Cumbers 4923 Linsdale Ave., Detroit, Mich., at an Eastern Command base of U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Russia.

Photo shows Sgt. Ted Heller of Norwalk, Ohio and Sgt. Edwin Keltner of Edwardsville, Ill., unloading a bomb trailer to bomb up a Consolidated B-24 Liberator just prior to the take off to attack the French invasion coast in support of the ground

This Bridge At Quang Tri, French Indo-China Is Knocked Out By Bombs Dropped By Planes Of The 14Th Air Force's 341St Bombardment Group, 11Th Bombardment Sqd., During A Mission On June 20, 1945.

2000 Pounds Of Death And Destruction In The Form Of A V-1 Robot Bomb Headed For The Port Of Antwerp, Belgium.

Tired fighter pilots lying in bed waiting for the next shift, are shown at an 8th Air force Fighter Station in England, from which planes flew wave after wave of sorties during the early hours of the Invasion. Pilots like these Mustang-men flew as

Martin B-26 Marauders heading for their target in North-central Italy, the important marshalling yards at Arezzo, south of Florence.

Sgt. Jack N. Storey of Williams, California, who recently was awarded the Air Medal and First Oak Leaf Cluster. Shown here with his giant aerial camera.

Sgt. Thomas Zettervall, 22, of Portland, Oregon, member of the ground crew of a Thunderbolt (P-47) somewhere in the ETO, puts his personal greeting to Hitler on this 500 lb "Cookie". Later he rolled it under the belly of the ship and attached it

Brig. General Earl S. Hoag Pins The Presidential Citation On Colonel John A. Feagin, Commanding Officer Of The China Sub-Sector Of The Air Transport Command, From San Antonia, Texas During A Ceremony In China, February 1944.

Aircraft, Burma, India &Aircraft, SINGLE, North American War

Collection of World War I Photographs, 1914-1918 that depict the military activities of British and other nation's armed forces and personnel during World War I.

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

Major Louis E. Scherck, Houston, Texas, 40Th Bomb Group, Xx Bomber Command In China, 'Pitches In' And Rolls Empty Gasoline Drums To Trucks Waiting To Haul Them To Another Area.

Crew Of Boeing B-29 'Totin' To Tokyo', 793Rd Bomb Squadron, 468Th Bomb Group In China. Left To Right, Back Row: Capt. A.D. Bores, Monroeville, Ohio, Pilot; 1St Lt. H.R. Johnson, Duluth, Minnesota, Co-Pilot; 2Nd Lt. D.C. Mccomas, San Diego, California, Bo

Troop Carrier planes load on Sicilian airfield.

In the air the Boeing B-17 Flying ofrtresses carry out the formations studied on the ground under the tutelage of Capt. Westwood. Here the theory is put to actual flight practice. ENGLAND.

A Lockheed P-38 Lightning damaged during Japanese retaliatory raid on Middleburg landing strip, Middleburg Island. Most of the damage was suffered by parked planes.

Sifting Gravel With A Split Bamboo Sieve. Poashan Airfield, China. 3 February 1945.

View Of Kweilin Air Field, China, Before The Japanese Raid.

The ground crew of a Thunderbolt (P-47) rolls a 500 lb "Cookie" up to the belly of the plane, revealing new tactics of the USAAF Fighter force in its shorter sorties over the English Channel.

Combat crews of Troop Carrier Group line the bar for a pint of bitters and excited rehash of paratroop drop in France. While paratroopers carry the first tide of battle to Nazis in France these fliers talk over their respective flak holes.-ENGLAND

American soldiers have built a complete camp from emptied glider crates at a 9th Air force Troop Carrier Command station in England. The place is called "Shantytown" and is complete with barber and tailor shops, recreation rooms, post office

F-4 Phantom aircraft from VMFA-542 on the flight line at Danang Air Base on May 2, 1966. The photograph shows the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing's activities during the Vietnam War. This image showcases the military presence and operations at the airbase during that time.

Tirpitiz, Germany's largest battleship (sister ship Bismarck was sunk by aerial torpedoes) was capsized and is shown resting on bottom of Norwegian fjord after attack by 28 RAF Lancasters dropping Tall Boys from 18,000-20,000 ft.

Native Laborers Construct Airstrip At Accra Air Base, Accra Gold Coast, Africa. May 1943.

A Hawk missile battery being relocated on Hill 327 in Da Nang, Vietnam on March 25, 1965. The image, taken by Sgt. Hallahan, shows the third Marine Division conducting military activities during the Vietnam War. This was documented by the Defense Department.

Aircraft, Burma, India &CREWS,PILOT War

A Japaneseanese transport plane carrying military personnel had just landed on the Cape Gloucester (New Britain) air strip, when American medium bombers attacked the strip. This photo shows the Japanese transport blowing up.

Two Railroad Bridges On Either Side Of Orvieto On The Alternate Central Italy Line To Rome Made Good Targets For The Martin B-26 Marauders Of The Tact. Af (12Th Aaf) On The Day Before The Allies Landed South Of Rome. The Bridge In The Reconnaissance Phot

Captain Nelson Of The 51St Fighter Group Dental Clinic Improvised A Rather Interesting Dental Setup. The Dental Chair Is The Pilot's Seat From A Douglas C-46. The Cuspidor Is The Spinner From A Curtiss P-40 With A Copper Water Tube Soldered To The Insid

SMASHED OIL REFINERY--These twisted pipes and girders were once a petroleum cracking plant, at Balikpapan, Borneo. It produced gasoline for the Japanese war machine. Australian troops found this rubble heap, the result of 13th Air Force pre-invasion

Aircraft, Burma, India & INDIA,CAMOUFLAGE War

North American B-25 Revetment, note the overhead camouflage.

Long range Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters are now operating with the strategic bomber force of the Mediterranean Allied Air Command.

Combat Crews Of The 91St Bomb Group Are Interrogated After Returning To Their Base At Bassingbourne, England After A Raid On Enemy Installations Somewhere In Europe.

Collection of World War I Photographs, 1914-1918 that depict the military activities of British and other nation's armed forces and personnel during World War I.

Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt Signs A Paper For Major Wolf Of Air Transport Command During Her Visit With The 13Th Air Depot Group At Tontouta Airbase In Noumea, New Caledonia. 25 August 1943.

T/5 Andrew H. Klecqynski, Manchester, N.H. and T/5 Robert A. Thiell, Thiells, N.Y., both of an Engineer Aviation Battalion, taking a sponge "quickie" somewhere in France.

Copying Aerial Photographs At The General Staff Aerial Photography Processing Lab Of The 65Th Fighter Wing, Saffron-Walden, Essex, England.

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