World War 2 In Review: Air power in view

Captured Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger being flight tested in the United States, probably out of Wright Field near Dayton, Ohio, 1944. during World War II.

Fieseler Fi 156C-2 Storch, WL-IWFT, Luftwaffe, Poland, circa September 1939 to October 1939. Fieseler Storch wearing a paramilitary WL registration, photographed in Poland during or shortly after the German invasion - the stricken aircraft is a Polish Karaś light bomber, perhaps aircraft 8 of 41 Eskadra Rozpoznawcza.

Fokker G.1.

Fokker C.V.

Leading Aircraftman R. Stuart of Birkenhead retrieves tools from a flooded equipment chest following heavy rain at Celone, Italy. In the background can be seen Handley Page Halifax Mark IIs of No. 614 Squadron, RAF, and Republic P-47 Thunderbolts of the U.S. Fifteenth Air Force, parked on the airfield.

Fiat CR.32, Hungarian Air Force.

Pilots of 605 Squadron, Palembang, January 1942. Any semblance of regular flying kit has almost disappeared from this group. The figure at far right appears to be wearing a thin leather jacket with cuffs; his colleague probably wears a black cotton flying overall.

Ground crews of 605 Squadron, Palembang, 1942. Uniformity has been sacrificed to comfort and protection during the retreat from Singapore.

This armorer of the RAF’s Middle East Command prepares a bomb for its mission against the Italian forces campaigning in Africa. This big bomb is not yet fused, but when it is it will be ready for its deadly work. Photo taken on October 24, 1940.

This photograph was taken on January 31, 1941 during a nighttime air raid carried out by the Royal Air Force above Brest, France. It gives a graphic impression of what flak and anti-aircraft fire looks like from the air. In the period of three to four seconds during which the shutter remained open, the camera clearly captured the furious gunfire. The fine lines of light show the paths of tracer shells, and the broader lines are those of heavier guns. Factories and other buildings can be seen below.

Bombs explode on the northern dispersal area at Abbeville/Drucat airfield, France, during an attack by 18 Lockheed Venturas of No. 21 Squadron RAF and No. 464 Squadron RAAF.

View from low-flying Blenheims of the RAF of Dutch inhabitants on the streets of a Rotterdam suburb during their attack on Rotterdam harbor on 16 July 1941. Seventeen enemy ships were put out of action, five severely damaged, as well as the bombing of two large warehouses and a factory.

A German transport column under strafing attack by a Blenheim Mk IV of No. 113 Squadron, 26 October 1941. Rommel’s supply line, stretched out along the solitary road which hugged the North African coast, was acutely vulnerable to air attack. The Desert Air Force exacted a heavy toll of transport vehicles in this featureless landscape.

Messerschmitt Bf 110.

Kesselring inspects members of a Luftwaffe Me 110 unit.

Fairey Battle K4303.

Officers of No. 103 Squadron RAF lined up in front of a Fairey Battle at Betheniville. They are, (left to right): Squadron Leader H G Lee (wounded, 9 June), Pilot Officer V Cunningham (killed, 14 May), Flying Officer J R Hayes, Flying Officer G B Morgan-Dean (killed, 12 May), Flying Officer D D A Kelly, Flying Officer T B Fitzgerald, Pilot Officer T Pugh, Flight Lieutenant J A Ingram (commander, 'A' Flight), Pilot Officer Taylor (Equipment Officer), Wing Commander T C Dickens (Commanding Officer), Flight Lieutenant C E R Tait (commander, 'B' Flight), Flying Officer "Doc" Mahon (Medical Officer), Flying Officer A L Vipan, Flying Officer W Rayne, Flying Officer Rhys Price (Officer i/c Servicing Flight), Flying Officer M C Wells (prisoner of war, 10 May), Flying Officer MacDonald (Intelligence Officer), Flying Officer J N Leyden (prisoner of war, 26 May), Pilot Officer E E Morton (killed, 12 May), Pilot Officer K J Drabble (killed, 10 May), Flight Lieutenant Fallowfield (Intelligence Officer) and Pilot Officer J C F Hayter.

Contrails above London after dogfight between British and German aircraft. September 1940.

British barrage balloon being deployed.

German barrage balloon being deployed.

French anti-aircraft fire during a Nazi raid on Algiers, 1943.

A4b rocket. First launched January 24, 1945 as a modification of the V-2 (A-4) rocket.

Pilots participating in the International Air Alpine Rally on the tarmac in Warsaw, July 1932. Capt. Bolesław Orliński (on the right) and Capt. Jerzy Bajan with the prototype of the PZL P.11 aircraft.

PZL P-11c fighter from the 141 Fighter Squadron, Polish Air Force, assigned to the "Pomorze" Army, abandoned at the airport in Toruń in a damaged condition (without engine reducer). 1939.

Visit of Polish airmen in the United States, September 1932. Col. Jerzy Kossowski in front of PZL P.11.

PZL P.11c, Polish Air Force. From the 3rd Air Regiment in Poznań - Ławica.

Polish Air Force PZL P.11 interned after it landed in Hungary. It carried civilian markings at first and was later studied at the University of Technic.

The cockpit of the Hungarian-interned Polish PZL P.11.

Types of aircraft used by the Polish Air Force (PAF) during the invasion of Poland, including a PZL.37 'Los' medium bomber of the 1st Air Regiment with row of PZL P.11 fighter planes of the 111th and 112th Fighter Escadrilles in the background, photographed at Okecie airfield near Warsaw in early 1939. No. 303 Squadron carried on the 11th Escadrille's traditions.

Destroyed light bomber PZL P-46 "Sum" prototype.

Destroyed PWS 33 Wyżeł and three PZL.37 Łoś medium bombers, Okecie airport.

One of the destroyed PZL.37 Łoś medium bombers at the Okecie airport.

Captured PZL.37 Łoś medium bombers under construction.

The same two captured PZL.37 Łoś medium bombers under construction.

Ground crew remove a Type F.24 camera from Westland Lysander Mark IIIA (V9437) AR-V of the 309 Polish Squadron RAF (part of the RAF Army Cooperation Command), at Dunino, Fife, following a photo reconnaissance sortie, 12 March 1942.

Former 19th Bomb Group B-17D that was pieced together from several damaged birds abandoned by the US in the Philippines. Alongside are a pair of other captured aircraft: A Brewster Buffalo from the Netherlands, and a U.S. P-40 Warhawk.

Former 19th Bomb Group B-17D that was pieced together from several damaged aircraft abandoned by the US in the Philippines.

B-17E taken as a prize in Java. The photo was taken from the B-17D in the previous picture.

Brewster B-339 serial number B-3119 of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Air Force.

Prince Bernhard’s Beechcraft D17S Staggerwing PB1 in RAF camouflage and markings but note the Dutch insignia on the nose, an orange triangle with a black border.

Prince Bernhard’s Beechcraft D17S Staggerwing with registration PB1, 1942-45.

Fokker T.VIIIW begins a patrol after taking off from Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, one of eight that escaped from the Netherlands to Britain on 14 May 1940, which formed No. 320 (Dutch) Squadron on 1 June 1940.

Dutch mechanics maintain a Fokker T.VIIIW seaplane, 1940. Having anticipated a German invasion of the Netherlands, military planners had already directed that the T.VIIIs be dispersed prior to May 1940. Immediately following the German invasion in 1940, nine aircraft were relocated to bases in France; while some reconnaissance missions were flown early on, these were soon suspended in the face of German aerial superiority. On 22 May 1940, these aircraft escaped to the United Kingdom; notably, one T.VIII was used to aid in the escape of two members of the Dutch Cabinet. Those aircraft that reached Britain would form the nucleus of No. 320 (Netherlands) Squadron RAF, Coastal Command, based at Pembroke Dock in Pembrokeshire, South Wales. The unit performed numerous convoy escort and anti-submarine patrols, aiming to detect and attack Germany raiding forces. It was also used for espionage operations as a liaison aircraft for contacting members of the Dutch resistance on the continent. Eventually, a lack of spares meant that these aircraft become unserviceable and were retired; their Dutch crews were transferred to newly-procured Lockheed Hudson light bombers.

Dutch crew gets on board one of the Fokker T.VIIIW seaplanes that escaped from the Netherlands to England, 1940.

Dutch Naval Aviation Service in England. Launching of one of the Fokker T.VIIIW seaplanes that escaped from the Netherlands to England, 1940.

Fokker T.VIIIw (AV961), No. 320 (Netherlands) Squadron RAF, Pembroke Dock, Wales, August 1940.

Fokker G.1, Dutch air force.

Dutch Fokker T.V medium bomber. A good plane for its time but only 16 were produced by the time of the German invasion in May 10th 1940. Still they managed to shoot down two German bombers and attack German troop concentrations and bridges, but by May 13th they were all unserviceable or shot down.

Brewster Model 339D Buffalo of the ML-KNIL.

Javanese ground staff preparing ammunition to load guns on a Netherlands East Indies fighter aircraft, January 1942.

At a Netherlands fighter squadron, a Javanese member of the ground staff closes one of the gun-bay panels on a Dutch Brewster Buffalo fighter, January 1942.

Curtiss CW-21B fighters, ML-KNIL, 1941. On 1 January 1942, the Dutch forces joined the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command, but at the onset of the Japanese assault the ML-KNIL was not up to full combat strength. Of the aircraft that had been ordered, only a small number had been delivered, and many were obsolete models. There were five groups, three of bombers and two of fighters, each of three to four squadrons. A sixth depot group provided support, transport and training. Reconnaissance aircraft were placed directly under command of the Army to give support to ground troops. Despite stubborn resistance the Japanese occupied the Dutch colonies, though numbers of aircraft found their way to northern Australia to continue the fight.