Historical Military Aviation

Black and white photos showcasing military aviation history, featuring aircraft operations, maintenance, and medical assistance during WWII.

Aircraft, Burma, India & INDIA,CREWS War

S/Sgt. Myron A. Dahl, Bellflower, Calif., is presented the Distinguished Flying Cross by Lt. Col. Eugene Fletcher, Group Commander, at an air base in the Mediterranean Area.

A North American P-51 "Mustang" Of The 51St Fighter Group Is Mounted On Blocks And Supported By 'Truck-Crane'. The Guns Are Thus Tested And Directed In Accordance With Sight. Nanning Air Base, China, 5 November 1944.

Spraying Tar Binder On Crushed Rock In Construction Of Runway, Rufisque Airfield, Rufisque, French West Africa. June 1943.

Aircraft, Burma, India & INDIA,CREWS War

As Soon As This Consolidated B-24 Liberator Of The 446Th Bomb Group Returned To Its English Base After A Mission Over Enemy Territory, First Aid Was Given To The Injured Radio Operator.

YANKS AND RUSSIANS SALVAGE FIGHTER: American and Soviet ground crew men lost no time in swarming over this P-51 Mustang which force landed at an American airdrome in the USSR after escorting U.S. Strategic Air Forces heavy bombers across Europe.

A Republic P-47 Thunderbolt Dive Bombing A Column Of German Tanks In Cooperation With The 12Th Armored Division`S Attack On Towns Flanking Wurtsburg, Germany, Crash-Landed After Being Hit In The Left Wing. Medics Renoved The Pilot, Reported Only Slightl

RUSSIAN MECHANICS SWARM OVER U.S. FIGHTER: A P-51 Mustang forced down in Russia after escorting heavy bombers across targets in German-occupied Europe is salvaged by Russian mechanics trained in their own schools and by U.S. troops operating bases

Another view of the natives while at work on a Flying Fortress which has seen much action both in the Far East and in Libya.

The famous 11th Bomb...

Flat on his face, Nazi lies prone on the ground as U.S. fighter swoops in again for one last attack.

EIGHTH AAF SERVICE COMMAND STATION-Washed and scrubbed, wingless Lightning awaits its turn to have wings added.

The Seebee's 40th Construction Battalion is staffed with men of professions. Here, a plumbing crew assembles a gasoline pumping station, one of many which controls the flow of high octane aviation fuel from supply ships to the huge storage tanks at

Headquarters, 13th AAF, Philippines--Heavy bombs are loaded onto a truck by Air Service Command soldiers in preparation for a 13th AAF bomber mission.

Chinese Paratroopers Making Their First Jump After A Brief Three Day Training. American Paratroopers Also Made Jump To Give The Chinese Courage.

Ground Crews Repair Republic P-47 At Manston Air Base, On Dover Coast, England.

North American B-25's sweep low over the Japaneseanese airfield at Cape Gloucester captured by General MacArthur's Marines in their invasion of western New Britain. (FIFTH AIR FORCE PHOTO)

In one of these most successful raids, North American B-25 (Mitchells) of the Tactical Air Force of the NAAF blasted the Kalamaki Airfield, near Athens, Greece, on November 15, 1943. This photo shows two strings of bombs bursting across the landing

Italy - This Is A Picture Of The Actual Salvaging Of A Consolidated B-24 Liberator. The Tents In The Foreground Are The Homes Of The Mobile Salvage Crews Of The 15Th Af Service Command Salvage Depot Which Strips Wrecked Planes Of All Usable Material So T

A Portion Of The Finished Runway At Poashan, China. 3 Feb 1945.

House Military Affairs Committee Visits Air Bases In Italian Theatre. House Committee Members Visiting Recreation Facilities In Caves At 2Nd Bomb Group Area, Near Foggia, Italy.

Smoke rises from Caballo Island, (just southeast of Corregidor in Manila Harbor) as North American P-51s make bombing and strafing runs prior to the landing by troops of the 151st Infantry Regiment, 38th Division.

Arabs at work on a taxiway at an airfield in La Senia, Algeria. March 1943.

Crew Chief Hands A Parachute Up To The Pilot Of A Lockheed F-5A Of The 21St Photographic Reconnaissance Sqd., Based In China, Prior To A 7-Hour Milk-Run Mission To Hainan Island, Near China. Note The 300-Gallon Drop Tank.

Combat Camera Unit-Loading Tractor on a Transport to be taken to Engineers.

The co-pilot, 2d Lt. Winfield F. Muffet, 22, of 195 Euclid, Pasadena, Calif., examines the damage done to a Boeing B-17 Flying ofrtress caused by flak after bombing the marshalling yards at Cologne in the Ruhr Valley 27 Sep 44. The top of the

Refueling Planes On The Line, Rufisque Airfield, Rufisque, French West Africa. June 1943.

Heavy Smoke Rises After A Rocket Explosion During Demonstrations At An Airbase In Chengkung, China.

Line Up Of Douglas C-47 Cargo Planes At Parnamirim Field, Natal, Brazil. May 1943.

Boeing B-17 Flying ofrtress "Hell's Angels", warming up and taxing out with crowd in foreground.

In Order To Keep Pace With The Rapid Advance Of The 1St U.S. Army Through Germany, Gasoline Has To Be Flown Up To Them, Rather Than Transport It By Truck Over The Heavily Burdened Bridges Over The Rhine River. Douglas C-47'S Fly Gasoline From France, T

Crew Members Of The 92Nd Bomb Group Pose In Front Of A Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" "Exterminator." 19 August 1942, England.

Some Of The Men Stationed At An Airbase In Tunisia, North Africa Examine A Captured German Messerschmitt After Ot Was Abandoned By The Pilot. 28 March 1943.

Radar Equipment Of The 559Th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion, Stationed At B-29 Field, China. (Scr-602).

The K-22 Camera Is Installed In The 3Rd Camera Bay Of A Lockheed F-5A Of The 21St Photographic Reconnaissance Sqd., Based In China, For The Split 24 Inch Set-Up.

The Maxim 'Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention' Was Very True In Many Phases Of The War. At The Airfield In San Pancrazio, Italy, These Airmen, Exercising Typical Yankee Ingenuity, Rigged Up Mess Kit Washers, Each Unit Having Its Own Heating System. He

Aircraft, Burma, India &MEDICAL, EVACUATION, Air War

Bombs Dropped By Planes Of The 94Th Bombardment Group, 8Th Af Fall Toward The St. Andre De L'Eure Airfield, France On 6 February 1944.

25 Mitchell Bombers of the "Bobcats" Group in the 12th AAF turn toward home over a cloud bank after bombing a road junction near Rome. Mitchells are pounding communication centers day after day in the vicinity of the new Fifth Army front south of

Kuma class cruiser taking...

Photographed as the first 6,000 foot of mesh on one of the first emergency landing strips in France. Numbers of an engineer aviation battalion are shown fitting the strips together.

Consolidated B-24 Liberator of the 380th Bomb Group, 528th Bomb Sq. making bombing run over target at Amahai, Ceram Is., Moluccas Islands. December 21, 1943.

Lt. James W. Little, Fighter Pilot, 14Th Air Force, Receiving The Distinguished Flying Cross From Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell. Lt. Little Is From Fincastle, Ky. China.

Maj. Howell And Lt. Howard's Crew Of The 486Th Bombardment Group In England.

This Republic P-47 "Thunderbolt" pilot practically mows the lawn as he whizzes into destroy an unidentified parked aircraft.

Enlisted Men Of The 13Th Air Force Based On Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands Team Up For A Volleyball Game During Their Off-Duty Hours. 5 May 1944.

Officers And Men In England, March Forward To Receive Thier Medals From Major General Carl Spaatz, Commanding General Of The Air Forces, Etousa, Of Earleville, Penn. Medals Given Were Distinguished Flying Crosses And Order Of The Purple Heart.

Curtiss P-40S Based At Chengkung Airbase In China Fly Across Mountain Ranges Enroute To Their Target.

Extinguishing Fire Which Occured Upon Starting The Engines Of This Douglas C-54 Plane At Accra Air Base, Accra, Gold Coast, Africa. April 1943.

Bombs Fall In A Compact Cluster Toward The Lebourget Airfield, France As Planes Of The 94Th Bombardment Group, 8Th Air Force, Carry Out Their Mission On 14 July 1943.

Installations Of British Overseas Airways, Ras Heilf Field, Masira Island (Off Arabian Coast) June 1943.

Aircraft, Burma, India &Transportation War

The Crew Of A Consolidated B-24 Liberator Are Receiving Medals For Having Sunk A 550 Foot Japanese Cruiser In The South China Sea On 19 Aug 1944. Major General Chennault Pins The Distinguished Flying Cross On 1St Lt. Lee Cunningham.

Even a small .303 shell can make this big of a hole. This particular bullet lodged in the left wing.

Captured and reconditioned Japanese Hamp flown by American pilot. AUSTRALIA.

Refueling Curtiss C-46 At Val De Caes Field, Belem, Brazil. May 1943.

1st Lt. Jack W. Howard of Llano, Texas receiving the Air Medal from Brig. General P.L. Williams at a ceremony held at a North African airfield.

Just Before He Pulls Out Of His Revetment For A Combat Mission Over Germany, 1St Lt. Russell L. Burgher Of Columbus, Ohio, A North American P-51 Pilot Gets The 'Good Luck' Sign From His Maintenance Crew Chief, S/Sgt. Roderick H. Wallis Of Marie, Mich. At

Strafing Attack By Republic P-47 In The European Theatre.

Bob Hope, On Tour Of North African Bases, Poses With Four Lockheed P-38 "Lightning" Pilots Of Major General Doolittle'S Northwest African Strategic Air Force. They Are, Left To Right: 1St Lt. George E. Richards, Forest Hills, New York; 2Nd Lt. John C. M

Father Kennan Sweating Out A Mission Of The 8Th Af'S 457Th Bombardment Group. England, 23 March 1945.

EUROPE-1st Lt. Grant H. Benson, Stambaugh, Michigan, veteran of 28 missions over enemy territory in the European theatre of operations, shown at his table in the nose of a Boeing B-17 Flying ofrtress, computing and charting a course across

8th Air force Boeing B-17 Flying ofrtresses on way to bomb Berlin, Germany, 19 May 44.

CHINA - The sound Monitoring Sgt. watches a fighter who is circling to come in.

T-15 Tractor For Ice Cap Work Burns Gas, Will Pull 3,000 Pound Payload And Three Men For 300 Miles, Travels 6-10 Mph In Snow. (Personnel Shown: Captain Wade And Major Crowell).

CHOW LINE IN RUSSIA: Red Army girls and civilians serve at GI mess in the U.S.S.R., where the AAF now has bases for operations, "shuttle" or otherwise against the eastern portion of German-dominated Europe.

Engineering Hangars Of The 51St Fighter Group Based At Nanning Air Base In China. 20 October 1944.

Smoke From Bomb Bursts Rises From The Vkr Ball Bearing Plant At Erkner, Germany As More Bombs Fall To Add To The Destruction During A Mission By Planes Of The 93Rd Bombardment Gorup, 8Th Air force, 8 March 1944.

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk Pilots Of The 12Th Af In Italy, Shown After Returning From A Mission Over Anzio, Italy. They Are, Left To Right: 1St Lt. David H. Vandivort, Dallas, Texas; 2Nd Lt. Clinton V. Owen, Capron, Okla,; 1St Lt. Frank L. Nicolai, Jr., Detroi

Consolidated B-24 Liberators Of The 8Th Air Force's 34Th Bombardment Group Have Plastered The Marshalling Yards At Charleroi, Belgium With Bomb Bursts During A Mission On 25 May 1944.

Before the props have stopped turning over. Commanding the 13th Air Force Fighter Groups, raises the hood on his Northrop P-61 Black Widow fighter plane as he arrives at Middleburg Island to officially open the strip for fighter activity against the

Aircraft, Burma, India & Operations War

Bombs that will never find their target--These are German bombs that were left lining the runways of a Nazi airfield in France which was captured by American forces in their sweep toward Paris.

The Sonne Continous Printer Is Utilized For Duplication Of All Important Negatives In Order That Originals May Be Forwarded To Air Force Headquarters. 21St Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, China.

On main road to Reykjavik, Iceland. Icelandic newsboy thumbs ride from U.S. Army truck; orders are to give a lift to everyone who is on the forces.

Aircraft, Burma, India & INDIA,RECREATION War

A fast 8th AAF fighter sweeps along the road in pursuit of an enemy plane, sent up in futile attempt to hold back the swarms of U.S. fighters whose hard-hitting punch throws great confusion and devastation into the enemy movements. France

Aircraft, Burma, India &CAPTUREDMATERIEL War

Men Standing Formation During Ceremony At Which Brig. General Earl S. Hoag Presented Them With Awards In China, February 1944.

Damage Done To Aircraft At Liangshan, China Due To Enemy Attack. This Is The Home Base Of A Medium Bomber Sqd., Fighter Sqd., And A Chinese-American Composite Wing.

Camera Repairmen Of The 21St Photographic Reconnaissance Sqd. Work On A Lockheed F-5A Reconnaissance Plane In A Natural Revetment Formed By The Limestone Buttes At A Forward Base In China.

Smith turns just in time to catch a picture of the last of "Boomerang's" bombs falling. Both wing planes dropped at the same instant, one of the big factors in daylight precision bombing.

FRANCE-Personnel at a 9th AF Service Command base in France found this French version of "The Old Swimmin' Hole" very convenient. It was used for business as well as pleasure--many men took their first baths in two weeks. And the French girls were

S/Sgt. Mitchell D. Sharpnack, Cleveland, Oklahoma, And Sgt. Joesph F. Coates, Route #2, Shamrock, Tex., Lash Smoke And Incendiary Grenades To Structural Members In Interior Of 17Th Airborne Division Glider Prior To Mission. These Can Be Used Either To Ca

Men Of The 323Rd Bomb Group Of The 9Th Air Force, Gathered Around Briefing Tent During Preparation For Their 200Th Mission. England.

Crew Of The 20Th Bomber Command B-29 #461, 462Nd Bombardment Group, 769Th Squadron In China. Left To Right, Front Row: S/Sgt. Thomas J. Barsky, Radio Operator, Of New Kensington, Pa.; S/Sgt. Julus W. Chilers, Right Gunner, Of Bryson City, N.C.; S/Sgt. Le

Aircraft, Burma, India & INDIA,Transportation War

View Of The Eruption Of Mt. Vesuvius On 23 March 1944. Capodichino Airfield Can Be Seen In The Foreground.

Lt. John J. Brahan, Long Beach, N.Y., remembers a close call as he examines shrapnel hole in nose of his Consolidated B-24 after raid on Kiska. The Japaneses don't just sit and take it.

A Mobile Reclamation and Repair Unit sets up "house-keeping" beside a damaged 9th Air force Martin B-26 Marauder. Operating constantly under field conditions mechanics of a 9th Air force Service Command Mobile Reclamation and Repair Unit must know

Clusters Of Smoke And Fire Show How Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses Of The Us 8Th Air force Reduced A Nazi Ordnance Plant At Grafenwohr, Germany To Smoldering Impotence In Their Attack Of April 8 1945. Just To Make Sure The Explosives Would Never Be Used By The E

Observation Squadron Observation Group, Colonel F. R. Anderson Inspecting Aircraft.

Members of the crew that brought back safely a crippled B-17 Flying Fortress, with only two engines running. They are, left to right, standing: Lt. Fritz A. Lippmann, 219, 18th Ave., San Francisco, Calif., pilot; Lt. Frank J. Fovinci, 2316 Beverly

On A Return From A Mission The Ships Are Taxied To Their Dispersal Area And The Crew Chief Takes Over. M/Sgt Herbert H. Roberts, Rosebud, Texas Gives The Signal To Cut The Engines. England.

Lt. Parrish standing in front of his plane.-NEW GUINEA.

A Pitifully Crippled Chinese Soldier Lies In The Street. He Is Barely Able To Raise The Chopsticks To His Mouth To Eat The Rice Given Him By A Shopkeeper.

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

8th AAF. S/Sgt. Marvin McGraw, Tiffle, W. Va. Gunner on Boeing B-17 Flying ofrtress "Skunkface" framed in flak hole.

Bombing damage to communication system at Orleans, France, one of the causes for the final surrender of 20,000 Germans to the 83d Division of the 9th U.S. Army, 17 Sept 44.

The Tall Pine Trees Of The Nazi Retreat Stand Out As Smoke Rises On The Background After An Attack By Republic P-47 Thunderbolts Of The Us 12Th Af. The Fire, Started By The Bombing, Is Getting A Grasp On The Buildings That Provided Quarters For The Enemy

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