Photos WW2 US Forces

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South Head on Kiska island, Aleutian front August 1943.
A U.S. soldier examines Japanese 20mm gun mounted on a dud bomb dropped by American forces.
The bomb stands inside a pit and is weighted with sandbags.

 

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M3 medium tank number 309490 of D Company, 2nd Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment, US 1st Division at Souk el Arba, Tunisia, Nov 23, 1942.

 

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USMC M4A2 Shermans engage Japanese positions on Saipan - June 1944
LIFE Magazine Archives - W. Eugene Smith Photographer

 

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USS North Carolina BB-55 (L) & USS Washington BB-56 (R) with other ships off of Nouméa New Caledonia in January 1943 with a Kingfisher in the foreground
LIFE Magazine Archives - Scherschel Photographer

 

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Column of Sherman tanks on Saipan - June 1944
LIFE Magazine Archives - W. Eugene Smith Photographer

 

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Aircrew and groundcrew of the 85th Bombardment Squadron / US 12th Air Force in Tunisia, circa 1943.
They display a very interesting mix of gear.
The ground-crewmen wear D-1 shearling jackets ( back row, left, with wool-knit "beanie")
I suspect the Sergeant in the centre of the group wearing the OD Field Jacket is the crew "chief".
The airmen wear Type A-9 summer flying helmets with a range of different goggles.
Second right front row and second left back row wear Polaroid all-purpose 1021s. These had soft expanded foam rubber frames and were supplied with interchangeable plastic lenses in a range of different tints.
The airman, first left middle row, wears RAF Mk VIIs, minus the flip-up sun-shield. These goggles from British stocks were widely worn by USAAF airmen.
The rest wear standard USAAF-issue B7s.
Most of the airmen wear heavy B3 shearling jackets but those on the right have opted for lighter A2 leather flying jackets.
(LIFE / Elisofon)

 

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GIs examine wrecked Pz IVs Ausf. Gs of General von Arnim's Heeresgruppe Afrika, following the fighting in Tunisia's El Guettar valley, April 1943.
German panzers burned too!
(LIFE / Elisofon)

 

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A well-camouflaged M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriage photographed in Tunisia's El Guettar Valley in April 1943.
Behind it is a Jeep and strewn all around are discarded fiber packing tubes for the 75mm shells.
The camouflage pattern was probably created by smearing wet mud over the base OD.
The M3 GMC was hastily designed and produced for the US Army's new Tank Destroyer Force.
The 75mm gun was derived from the classic French "soixante -quinze" of WW1 vintage....the same basic cannon which also armed the M3 and M4 mediums. It was a useful multi-purpose weapon which could fire HE, AP and cannister rounds.
Despite being a stop-gap weapon the M3 GMC saw service with Allied forces in N.Africa, N.W. Europe, Italy, and the Far East.
Also, it had the honour of being selected for the insignia of the new Tank Destroyer Force!
(LIFE / Elisofon)

 

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This "top-kick" strikes a pose beside a captured German 75mm SdKfz 233 (8 Rad)...a US white star has already been applied.
Note the M-1918 trench-knife conveniently slotted in behind his .45 auto in its russet leather M1916 holster.
Tunisia, 1943.
(LIFE / Eliot Elisofon)

 

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African American Marines in training at Montford Point. 1942.
Cpl. Alvin Ghazlo demonstrates a disarming technique of his assistant, Pvt. Ernest Jones. Official Marine Corps photo.

 

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The day the USN's brass came to town!
Following the fall of Saipan in July 1944 a conference involving the USN's senior theatre commanders was held on the island.
Flown in aboard a PB4Y-1 were Commander in Chief of the United States Fleet, Admiral Earnest J. King...Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz... Admiral Raymond A. Spruance USN...and Brigadier Sanderford Jarman, US Army.
Their "host" was Lieutenant-General Holland M. Smith, USMC.
The event was documented by official photographers...both movies and stills...who can be seen in the background.
The commanders signed a few autographs before boarding a Jeep convoy for a tour of the island.
Lieutenant-General Smith armed with an M1 Carbine appears to be "ridin' shotgun" for the Admirals!
Note also the leather "bucket" scabbard containing an M1 carbine lashed to the USMC Jeep.
(LIFE / Eugene Smith)

 

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This series of shots is very interesting and rather "unusual".
They were taken in Tunisia in March 1943.
Apart from the date and location I have no other information.
At face value, an RAF officer has borrowed an M1 rifle (interesting sling) and appears to be demonstrating bayonet drill...but without a bayonet...to a group of GIs!
Quite how or why an RAF officer would be demonstarting such a thing to a bunch of iUS nfantrymen is not known...if indeed that is what he is doing?!
Note he is wearing a brown leather jerkin over his blue suervice dress.
(LIFE / Elisofon)

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Possibly a RAF Liaison Forward Observer showing how arms drill is carried out in the British Forces.

 

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"So...whaddya doin' after the war honey?"
Flight Nurse, 2nd Lt. Julia Corinne Riley and USAAF Navigator Lt. Milton V. Ashlay get close up and personal aboard a C-47 medevac flight taking wounded Allied personnel for treatment at base hospitals in the rear.
North African theatre, April 1943.
Note that both wear A2 leather flight jackets.
2nd Lt Riley's is a loose fit as it is a small man's jacket. I don't believe there was a dedicated female issue version.
(LIFE / Elisofon)

 

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USS Bowfin
Happy Thanksgiving!

 

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B-24D 41-11613 "The Blue Streak" of 514th BS, 376th BG, 9th AF.
The aircraft was a veteran of the first high level Ploesti mission in 1942, but not part of the 1943 low level raid. The A/C went on to survive 110 missions with the 376th bomb group and was sent home for a war bond tour. Left to right: Sgt Willard Tressler; Maj Ralph P. Thompson; Lt Thomas W. McGrain; Sgt Ivan Schwartz; Sgt Alfred Runyan; Sgt James E. Milne; Lt Jose R. Felix, Jr.; Sgt Richard E. Weizenegger; Sgt Henry Magaram; Lt Waino Hakkinen, and Sgt Arthur Weil.

 

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Soldiers from the 158th Regimental Combat Team, 40th Infantry Division land on Noemfoor Island, Dutch New Guinea in order to secure and defend the Namber Airstrip. July 2, 1944.

 

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WW2 A Douglas A-20G Havoc night fighter of the 417th Night Fighter Squadron does a little daylight low flying down in the weeds Image thanks to http://www.vintagewings.ca

 

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Formation of B24 somewhere over Germany