 |
| A P-51 Mustang fighter escorts Eighth Air Force bombers during a raid on a target deep inside Germany. B-17 Flying Fortresses (VP-V, serial number 43-37791), (GD-P, serial number 44-6163 nicknamed "Passaic Warrior") and (VP-S, serial number 42-97059 nicknamed "Marsha Sue") of the 381st Bomb Group are escorted by a P-51 Mustang (WR-P) of the 355th Fighter Group during a practice mission. |
 |
| In Robert Taylor’s painting ‘Company of Heroes’, the 34th Bomb Group B-17 Flying Fortress dubbed “Queenie” sits at its home airfield in Britain following an intense daylight raid against a target in Nazi-occupied Europe. Another B-17 taxis to a stop, while another bomber makes its approach for landing. |
 |
| B-17G 42-39867 'Hang the Expense II' (EP-E) aka 'Boeing Belle' (EP-Z). |
 |
| B-17G 42-39867 'Hang the Expense II' (EP-E) aka 'Boeing Belle' (EP-Z). |
 |
| Another view of the damage to the tail of B-17G 42-39867 'Hang the Expense II' (EP-E). |
 |
| B-17G #42-39867 'Hang the Expense II (EP-E)' aka 'Boeing Belle' (EP-Z) Delivered Long Beach 24/9/43 Gr Island 6/11/43; Assigned 351BS/100BG [EP-E/Z] Thorpe Abbotts 11/11/43; on mission to Frankfurt 24/1/44, with Frank Valesh, Co-pilot: John Booth, Navigator: John Johnson, Bombardier: Maurice G Zetlan, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Herscell H Broyles, Radio Operator: Ernest M Jordan, Ball turret gunner: Louis G Black Jr, Waist gunner: Paul Carbonne, Waist gunner: Herschel Broyes (9 Returned to Duty); Tail gunner: Roy Ulrick (Prisoner of War); flak hit in tail, limped home to RAF Eastchurch, Kent, UK & repaired. TG was blown out of tail and became POW; witnesses swear he flew through the air still in his seat and hanging on to Browning gun handles! ; ret US 6/45;121 BU Bradley 19/6/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 22/6/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA) Kingman 11/12/45. Photo taken January 25, 1944. |
 |
| Another view of the damage to the tail of B-17G 42-39867 'Hang the Expense II' (EP-E). |
 |
| B-17G 42-39867 (EP-E) after repair, February 29, 1944. |
 |
| Another view of B-17G 42-39867 (EP-E) after repair, February 29, 1944. |
 |
| Another view of the same group of aircraft as above. (Imperial War Museum FRE 6253) |
 |
| A B-17F nicknamed “Tom Paine” sits ready to begin a mission as its crew loads up for the coming flight. The bomber’s base was near the birthplace of American patriot Thomas Paine in Thetford, England. |
 |
| High above Berlin, Eighth Air Force B-17s drop their cargoes of destruction on February 28, 1945. |
 |
| Pieces of a German Messerschmitt Bf 110 twin-engined fighter spiral toward the ground as Eighth Air Force B-17s press on during a difficult raid against the manufacturing center of Schweinfurt, Germany. |
 |
| A German Me 410, less than 25 feet from a B-17 Flying Fortress, banks sharply away from the American bomber after pressing home its attack over Czechoslovakia on May 12, 1944. The 50mm autocannon can be seen protruding from the Me 410's nose. |
 |
| Supreme Allied commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower (left) stands with General Carl Spaatz (center), head of Army Air Force Combat Command, and Eighth Air Force Commander General Jimmy Doolittle. |
 |
| B-24J serial number 42-73244 "Lakanooki" of the 374th Bomb Squad, 308th Bomb Group, 14th Air Force, which flew in the China-Burma-India Theater. |
 |
| A later view of the same B-24J "Lakanooki" after the nickname was painted out. The B-24 on the left in the back is a YB-24-CO, probably 40-702, which was with Air Transport Command until it became a recon plane in the states in 1942. |
 |
| In support of landings in the Marshall Islands, F4U Corsairs make a low-level strafing run on the lookout for ground targets. A downed Japanese Zero lies decaying on the beach below, and U.S. Navy vessels in the distance bombard enemy positions. The assault on the Marshalls in January–February 1944 was hailed as “probably the most perfect operation of its kind in the war.” Painting by Robert Taylor, Beach Head Strike Force. |
 |
| Hot Stuff is the name of a Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 41-23728, of the 8th Air Force that was used in World War II. It was the first heavy bomber in the 8th Air Force to complete twenty-five missions in Europe in World War II. [The Memphis Belle was one of the first B-17 Flying Fortresses to complete 25 missions.] It flew several more missions, and finally the crew was scheduled to return home and help sell war bonds. However it crashed in bad weather flying back to the United States, which claimed the life of those on board including Supreme Allied Commander in Europe at the time. The aircraft crashed in Iceland en route to the USA while carrying Lt. Gen. Frank M. Andrews and Brigadier general Charles H. Barth Jr. The above photo is believed to be an original unaltered wartime photo of Hot Stuff. A number of altered images of this same photo have been found online, some colorized (the original is a black & white photo), and many containing a variety of spurious markings. |
 |
| Another original wartime black & white photo of Hot Stuff. B-24 Hot Stuff was on her third mission off the coast of France when this photograph was taken on October 31, 1942. Hot Stuff was part of the 8th Air Force out of Hardwick (Station 104), England, and part of the 93rd Bomb Group, 330th Bomb Squadron. Hot Stuff flew its 25th mission on February 7, 1943, against long odds at a time when many planes were being shot down. Hot Stuff became the first heavy bomber and crew, and first B-24, in the 8th Air Force to complete twenty-five missions in Europe in World War II. It reached its 25th mission milestone three-and-a-half months before the widely celebrated Memphis Belle. After Hot Stuff completed thirty-one missions, it was selected to return to the United States on May 3, 1943, to tour the country and help sell war bonds. |
 |
| U.S. Army personnel remove bodies from the wreckage of Hot Stuff after it struck a mountainside in Iceland, May 1943. In early 1943 Lt. Gen. Frank M. Andrews needed to get back to Washington, D.C. He was Commander of the European Theater of Operations and known as the father of the Air Force. General Andrews knew Hot Stuff's pilot Capt. "Shine" Shannon and chose to fly back to the United States with him. The pilot, Capt. Shannon stated before the flight that he was "assigned to take Andrews home via Iceland." PFC Carroll Stewart, Gen. Andrews' aide and 93rd Bomb Group historian stated that "Captain Robert H. (Shine) Shannon of The Circus would have been going south, too, (to participate in Operation Tidal Wave, the Ploiești Raid) except his plane and crew were tabbed by Frank M. Andrews, gray-thatched European Theater Commander, for a hurried trip to the Pentagon." It was well known that General Andrews was in line for promotion and may have been going back to Washington, D.C., to be promoted to four star general and/or possibly assigned to lead the assault across the English Channel. Hot Stuff had a scheduled refueling stop in Iceland but crashed into Mount Fagradalsfjall near the town of Grindavík, in bad weather on May 3, 1943. Fourteen of those on board were killed, including Andrews, Brigadier general Charles H. Barth Jr. and bishop Adna Wright Leonard; only the tail gunner, George Eisel, survived. Due to Andrews's death, the job of Supreme Allied Commander was assigned to General Dwight Eisenhower seven months later in December 1943. Additionally, because Hot Stuff was destroyed in the crash, the War Department chose to send the Memphis Belle home and celebrate it as the first bomber to reach 25 missions. Memphis Belle later inspired the making of two motion pictures: a 1944 documentary film, Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress, and a 1990 Hollywood feature film, Memphis Belle. A monument honoring the dead was unveiled near the crash site on 3 May 2018, 75 years after the crash. |
 |
| Robert Taylor’s painting Valor in the Pacific shows Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers of the 499th Bomb Group, 20th Air Force, headed home to bases in the Marianas after dropping their cargoes of death and destruction on Tokyo. Low on fuel, their escort of P-51 Mustang fighters begins to turn away toward bases of their own. |
 |
| More than 450 B-29s took part in a major raid on Yokohama. The bombers released incendiary and fragmentation ordnance over an area of 6.9 square miles. |
 |
| Following a Japanese raid on the U.S. airbase at Saipan, November 27, 1944, the tail section of a destroyed B-29 is visible as the rest of the bomber burns. |
 |
| A heavy pall of smoke surrounds a burning oil tank while a parked B-29 sits out of harm’s way following a Japanese air raid on Saipan, December 21, 1944. |
 |
| The Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber rained devastation on major Japanese cities during the final months of World War II. |
 |
| View from the starboard gunner position on a B-29. The accompanying P-51 Mustangs are following the B-29 over the long distance over open ocean as they head for Japan. The B-29 navigated for the P-51s. The closest one is P-51D-30-NA 44-74670. Both planes belong to the 458th FS, 506th FG. |
 |
| First Lieutenant James E. Swett of the U.S. Marine Corps became a fighter ace flying the Grumman F4F Wildcat and survived his plane’s shoot down as well. |
 |
| An F4F Wildcat test pilot demonstrates the proper technique for deployment of a life raft after the Grumman fighter has been forced to ditch in the sea. |
 |
| April 1944: a Douglas SBD Dauntless piloted by Lt. George Glacken with his gunner Leo Boulanger near New Guinea. “The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant [then Lieutenant, Junior Grade] George Thomas Glacken, United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Dive Bomber in Bombing Squadron SIXTEEN (VB-16), attached to the U.S.S. LEXINGTON (CV-16), in action against enemy Japanese forces in the First Battle of the Philippine Sea, on 20 June 1944. Participating in a long-range attack on major units of the Japanese Fleet, Lieutenant Glacken skillfully maneuvered his plane to evade determined fighter opposition and intense enemy anti-aircraft fire in the ensuing action and assisted essentially in the sinking of a large enemy aircraft carrier, in the probable sinking of another large carrier and in shooting down two enemy fighter planes. Upon fulfillment of the critical mission, Lieutenant Glacken succeeded in completing the long return flight to base and in effecting a safe night landing aboard the LEXINGTON. His cool courage, skilled airmanship and devotion to duty throughout this decisive action reflect the highest credit upon Lieutenant Glacken and the United States Naval Service.” Boulanger received the Distinguished Flying Cross. Glacken survived the war. |
 |
| A member of the 2107th Ordnance-Ammo Battalion inspecting a store of M56 4000-pound bombs, some under camouflage netting, along the roadside at the Sharnbrook Forward Ammunition Storage Area, Bedfordshire, England, UK. July 1943. They would be carried externally by B-17s. They were never used operationally by the 8th Air Force in Britain. |
 |
| Armorers of the 91st Bomb Group load 1000-lb. bombs on the new external bomb rack, under the wing of a Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" at the 91st Bomb Group base in Basinbourne, England, 14 September 1943. (U.S. Air Force Number 69347AC) |
 |
| A flight of Corsairs over a Japanese-held island, March 1944. |
 |
| Marine Major Theodore Olsen, commanding officer of VMF-313 (right), stands in front of his badly damaged Corsair. He was later killed in action. |
 |
| A Marine Corsair fires a salvo of rockets at Japanese positions on Okinawa. |
 |
| The victims of crash landings, these Marine Corsairs in a Leyte scrap yard were salvaged for parts. |
 |
| A squadron of Corsairs prepares to take off from an unidentified Pacific island airfield. |
 |
| Curtiss P-40F Warhawk fighters are being hoisted onto the USS Chenango at Pier 7, NOB Norfolk, Virginia, October 15, 1942. |
 |
| A Curtiss P-40F Warhawk (41-14305) fighter is being hoisted onto the USS Chenango at Pier 7, NOB Norfolk, Virginia, October 15, 1942. |
 |
| The 353rd Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group in P-47s take off from Rosières-en-Haye, France, on 28 Feb. 1945. By 8 April 1945, they were relocated to Ober Olm, Germany. Their FG was requested by Patton to provide air support to the Third Army prior to Normandy. P-47 nearest camera is 44-20272 FT-Z. |
 |
| Wake Island raid, October 5-6, 1943. The Curtiss SOC that directed the firing in the bombing of Wake Island, October 5, 1943, is shown just as it has left the catapult of USS Minneapolis (CA-36). |
 |
| Ground crew of the 56th Fighter Group work on the engine of a P-47 Thunderbolt at Boxted air base, February 1945. |
 |
| B-26 41-17858 “Coughin’ Coffin” lost an engine to flak on its 50th mission, right wing nearly torn off in belly landing. Rebuilt and sent back to the States for a war bond promotion. |
 |
| A woman drills parts for a dive bomber at the Vultee Aircraft Corporation factory in Nashville, Tenn., in February 1943. |
 |
| A flight of 9th Air Force B-26 Marauders flying in formation. |
 |
| A B-26 Marauder (serial number 42-96191) nicknamed "The Milk Run Special" of the 397th Bomb Group at Steeple Morden, 1945. |
 |
| B-26 Marauders of the 344th Bomb Group fly in formation during a mission. |
 |
| Ground personnel of the 386th Bomb Group load bombs into a B-26 Marauder. |
 |
| Martin B-26 “Rosie O’Brady”. |
 |
| Martin B-26 “Six Hits and a Miss”. |
 |
| Martin B-26s including 43-34181 Y5-O, 49th BS, 344th BG. |
 |
| Martin B-26 42-96153. |
 |
| Grumman F4F Wildcat and Douglas SBD Dauntless on USS Wasp, 1942. |
 |
| Grumman F4F Wildcat in pre-war markings. |
 |
| F6F Hellcats on the USS Cowpens (CVL-25), January 1944. |
 |
| De Havilland Mosquito, USAAF 25th Bomb Group. |
 |
| As the USS Missouri (BB-63) turns, her Kingfisher lands in her slick, taxis to her side. |
 |
| Bell P-39N Airacobra (42-9719 ) USAAF, 1943. |
 |
| Bell P-39 Airacobra, USAAF, ground crew loading 20mm rounds for the nose-mounted cannon and .50 cal. rounds for the wing machine guns. |
 |
| Bell P-39 Airacobras, USAAF. |
 |
| Republic P-47D Thunderbolt, USAAF. |
 |
| A North American Aviation painter cleans the tail assembly of a P-51 Mustang. |
 |
| B-17 "The Green Banana". |
 |
| B-17G radio compartment. |
 |
| A crew of observers on the Empire State building, during an air defense test, on January 21, 1941 in New York City, conducted by the U.S. Army. Their job was to spot “invading enemy” bombers and send information to centers which order interceptor planes. The tests, to run for four days, covered an 18,000-square-mile area in northeastern states. In 1941, the United States air defense system was made up of the four air districts and the Aircraft Warning Corps. The air districts were reorganized into the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Air Forces. The Aircraft Warning Corps (AWC) provided air defense warnings by using radar stations and Ground Observer Corps filter centers. Air Districts: Northeast Air District; Northwest Air District; Southeast Air District; Southwest Air District; Aircraft Warning Corps (AWC). Provided air defense warnings by using radar stations and Ground Observer Corps filter centers. Notified air defense command posts of the four air forces. Air Defense Command. Established by the War Department on February 26, 1940. Disbanded in mid-1944 when the threat of air attack seemed negligible. |
 |
| North American NJ-1 US Navy. |
 |
| The Waco CG-3A was the USAAF's first production combat glider. The pilot and infantrymen climbed out through the hinged canopy upon landing. |
 |
| Soldiers from Fort Benning's 29th Infantry debark from a CG-3A, the first large troop-carrying glider developed by the United States. This method of debarkation undoubtedly was very hard on the ankles of the passengers. Wright Field, Ohio. February 1942. |
 |
| Waco CG-3A light transport glider at Wright Field, 1943. |
