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World War II Aircraft Operations

Historical images of military aircraft during World War II, including bombers and night fighters engaged in practice missions and operations over Europe and North Africa.

North American B-25 and other unidentified planes on a mission over Western Desert, Egypt.
North American B-25 and other unidentified planes on a mission over Western Desert, Egypt.
259 assets in this story
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15Th Air Force Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses Leave A Sky Of Vapor Trails Behind Them As They Fly To Attack The Railroad Yards At Vienna, Austria On 15 January 1945. The Boeing B-17's Of The 15Th Air Force Have Been Hammering Rail Targets At Vienna And Mun
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Cows in the early morning before operations sleeping under a plane where they spent the night. Also used in Press Release "Aerial Burma Road" 1/20/44.
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Coming down like a helicopter rather than the streaking fighter it is, the Thunderbolt is eased onto a lighter from the liberty ship which brought it to North Africa.
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Close-up of repairs to planes in a revetment somewhere in Andreanof group.
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Aircraft, Burma, India & INDIA,Transportation War
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Formation Of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses Of The 91St Bomb Group Wing Their Way, High Above The Clouds, To Bomb Enemy Installations In Brunswick, Germany On 30 January 1944.
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Japanese "Tojo" captured by our forces, shown at Clark Field as it was being put into flying condition by Technical Air Intelligence Unit, SWPA. 1945. Luzon, Philippine Islands.
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A Formation Of 8Th Air Force Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortresses"In England.
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Bombing Of Harbor At Porto Santo Stefano, Italy, By Consolidated B-24 "Liberators" Of The 15Th Air Force, On 12 May 1944. Two Of The "Liberators" Shown Leaving The Smoking Target.
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Republic P-47 "Thunderbolts" escort bomber mission to Europe.
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Looking for a fight-15th Air Forces Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighters of a Fighter Group in Italy fly in formation.
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Bell P-39's in parking area with alert crew on duty.
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Men Of The 14Th Air Force, Based In China, Use A Decontamination Unit To Wash A North American P-51 "Mustang" 7 August 1944.
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Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses Of The 381St Bomb Group, En Route To Bomb Enemy Installations, Fly Across The English Channel.
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Five miles up, with the...
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American flyers who participated in a shuttle bombing mission over Rumania, leave their Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortresses" after landing at Eurk, Russia.
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Snow Scene At 2Nd Service Group Airfield, Reykjavik, Iceland. Note The Douglas A-20 'Miss Carolina' To The Left. 30 November 1942.
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Aircraft, Burma, India &Maintenance, ASSEMBLY OFPLANES War
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Lockheed P-38 Lightnings On The Line At Florence Airport At Florence, Italy. 7 Feb. 1945.
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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.
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Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 8th Air Force invade enemy skies to attack the vital rail artery at Mainz, Germany, through which supplies flow for front-line Nazi troops. Rail yards were covered by clouds and bombing was by instruments in the
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Death of an Me-163 is recorded by gun camera of 8th Air force Republic P-47.
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Republic P-47 'Dove Of Peace' (A/C 225506) Of The 353Rd Fighter Group Belly Landed At Its English Base On 27 April 1944.
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Anefo photo collection. Swordfishes Marine Aviation Service .. 1943-1944}. Britain
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A Formation Of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses Of The 91St Bomb Group, 8Th Af, Enroute To Target Of The Day -- Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. 18 March 1944. (Altitude 24,000 Feet).
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A French Pilot Is At The Controls Of This Martin B-26 Marauder Of The 12Th Aaf As It Wings Its Way Off The Target At Imperia, In Northern Italy, On 30 Miles Away From The French Alps And The Riveria. As A Part Of The Hard Hitting Mediterranean Allied Air
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A right side view of a C-130 Hercules aircraft in use during Operation Urgent Fury. Subject Operation/Series: URGENT FURY Country: Grenada (GRD)
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A Wounded Soldier's Chance For Recovery Is Much Better Today Than It Was At The Start Of The War. Air Evacuation In The Pacific Has Kept Strike With New Discoveries In Medicine And Surgery -- As Well As Thousand-Mile Surges Of Nimitz And Macarthur. This
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SLIGHT TEAR--Men of a First Air Division base view a ripped of a Boeing B-17 Flying ofrtress which managed to return safely after being attacked by jet-propelled Messerschmitt 262's on a recent Berlin air attack. The aircraft was piloted by 1st
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Photo collection Service for army contacts Indonesia. DLC Food E.A. Dropping for infantry 2nd police action December 1948. Air recording. Another Dakota can be seen from a Dakota. Among them a landscape with rice fields. December 1948. Indonesia, Dutch East Indies
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Troops Of The 439Th Troop Carrier Group Await The Signal To Board The Douglas C-47'S At An Airbase Somewhere In France. 19 December 1944.
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On 18 April 1942, Airmen Of The U.S. Army Air Forces, Led By Lt. Colonel James H. (Jimmy) Doolittle, Carried The Battle Of The Pacific To The Heart Of The Japaneseanese Empire With A Surprising And Daring Raid On Military Targets At Tokyo, Yokohama, Yokosuka,
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Climbing high thru the air is a Flying Fortress of the U.S. Army 8th Air Force Bomber Command over the snow-capped mountain ranges in Germany during the recent raid on Regensburg.
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In Responce To An Urgent Radio Message From Major General Howard C. Davidson, General Henry H. Arnold Ordered A Helicopter To Be Flown In A Douglas C-54 From Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio To Myitkyina, Burma To Rescue A Party That Had Crashed In A North Amer
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Aerial View Of North American P-51 "Mustangs" Of The 78Th Fighter Group On The Line At 8Th Air Force Station F-357 In Duxford, England. 7 June 1945.
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Photographs depicting military activities in France, May - June 1940. Included photographs of Rommel, Guderian, Dreuz, Bottcher, Italian General Garaboldi, Lucie Rommel, shots of Rommel with Hitler. Photographs of equipment and troops arriving and in action, from the personal collection of Rommel.
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Shortly After Their Arrival, Major General Willis H. Hale And Vice Admiral John H. Hoover Are Driven Around Aslito Airfield, Saipan, Marianas Islands. 28 June 1944. Hale Is In Front Passenger Seat
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Brenner Pass -- Smoke Rises From A Railroad Bridge In Snow-Covered Brenner Pass Near Dogna, Italy, As Bombs From 12Th Af North American B-25 Mitchells Strike The Target.
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The Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" 'Shade Ruff' Of The 401St Bomb Group At An 8Th Air Force Base In England, 7 April 1944.
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Formation of Consolidated B-24's of the 394th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bomb Group "Bomber Barons," over Balikpapan, Borneo, Netherlands East Indies. July 1945.
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Formation Of Boeing B-29 Superfortresses Of The 73Rd Bomb Wing Fly Over Mt. Fujiyama, Japanesean. 1944.
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Aircraft, Burma, India & INDIA,RESCUE War
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Okinawa, Ryukyu Retto. Kadena Airstrip. Troops Of The 11Th Airborne Division Practicing Loading A Douglas C-54 'Skymaster' Prior To Their Take-Off To Atsugi Airstrip, Japanesean. Each Plane Carried Forty Men. 29 August 1945.
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Royal Air Force- Italy, the Balkans and South East Europe, 1942-1945. A Martin Baltimore Mark IV of No. 223 Squadron RAF, flying from Celone, Italy, releasing 500-lb MC bombs over the target during a raid on the railway station and junction at Sulmona.
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B-29 Superfortress during World War II
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DN-SN-90-01187. State: Pennsylvania (PA) Country: United States Of America (USA)
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The 8th Air Force fighter pilot who caught up with this twin-jet enemy aircraft over Germany had all the instincts of a recognition expert, for as he fired a series of bursts, he photographed it from half-a-dozen angles, thus providing a group of
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Vintage Photograph. Sled Dogs and US Air Force Plane in background.
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An air-to-air right side view of, from front to back, an A-7E Corsair II aircraft, an F/A-18A Hornet aircraft and an A-6E Intruder aircraft from Naval Strike Warfare Center, Naval Air Station, Fallon, Nev. State: Nevada (NV) Country: United States Of America (USA)
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Mars in Jet - Assisted Takeoff - Using twelve rockets in relays as an assist in the takeoff, The Navy's flying boat Philippine mars (above) was airborne in a test flight here yesterday in about 40 percent of the time usually required. During the test the Mars weighed 70 gross tons.Jet Take-Off for the US Navy's flying-boat Philippine Mars in recent tests in California. Using 12 rockets in relays, the ship was airborne in 40 per cent, of the time usually required.The Mars weighs 70 tons gross. July 20, 1946. (Photo by AP Wirephoto).
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Photo collection Service for army contacts Indonesia. DLC Purification actions II-2 RVA at Salatiga. Junction plane flies over the artillery statement. October 23, 1947. Indonesia, Dutch East Indies
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The Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" "Manchester Misses", Attached To The 452Nd Bomb Group, At An Airbase In England. 7 March 1945.
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A-20 Bombers over March Field. ca. 1943, California, USA, 'Wings for Victory' Douglas 'Havoc' A-20's, March Field, California-R.A.F. 'Boston Bombers'
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Prepares For Hawaii-Cairo Flight. The U.S. Army U-29 plane "Pacusan Dreamboat" circles The Island Of Oahu during a recent test hop in preparation for a non-stop flight it will attempt from Hawaii to Cairo, Egypt, a distance of 10,000 miles, as soon as weather in the polar region is favorable. In the background in this view from an accompanying plane is Waikiki Beach and the Diamond Head area of Oahu. February 10, 1946. (Photo by Associated Press Photo).
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Cargo-Carrying U. S. Air Force C-124 Is Unloaded In Flood-Stricken Dacca The second U. S. Air Force C-124 Globemaster to arrive in the flood-stricken area of East Pakistan, is unloaded at the airfield in Dacca. Eight C-124s of FEAF's 315th Air Division are airlifting personnel of the U. S. Army 37th Radical Preventive Medicine Company and tons of medical supplies and equipment to the flood- ravaged area of East Pakistan. The crews of the aircraft include extra pilots,who are alternating at the c
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MITCHELLS FOUGHT BACK: Even the heroic efforts of the Lightning pilots to provide continuous close cover for Mitchell bombers could not prevent attacks by the numerically superior enemy fighter force. In combats which raged from Vunakanau airdrome
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Marines land by helicopter in training maneuvers , Military facilities, Tichnor Brothers Collection, postcards of the United States
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030714-F-3239L-001. Base: RAF Mildenhall State: Suffolk Country: England / Great Britain (ENG) Scene Major Command Shown: USAFE
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World's Fastest Fighting Plane Spanish. 1942 - 1945. Office for Emergency Management. Office of War Information. Domestic Operations Branch. Bureau of Special Services. 3/9/1943-9/15/1945. World War II Foreign Posters