Photos WW2 US Forces

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Battle of Peleliu. 15 September – 27 November 1944 Cpl Peter P. Zacharko stands by a captured Japanese 141mm mortar, which rained shells down on the landing beaches and on the Marines as they proceeded inland.

 

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Boeing B-29 Superfortresses on the assembly line in Wichita, Kansas. 1944

 

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B-17 Flying Fortresses from the 398th Bombardment Group fly a bombing run to Neumunster, Germany, on April 13, 1945

 

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P-40 Warhawk fighters of the 18th Fighter Squadron escorting B-24 Liberator bombers of the 21st Bomb Squadron over the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, Jul 1943.

 

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An M4A3 (75) Sherman tank and combat soldiers of the Ohio National Guard 37th Infantry Division ( "Buckeye Division") cautiously probe the area from Japanese defenders in Luzon, the Philippines. January, 1945.

 

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Scrap heap of B-29s on Tinian, 1945.

 

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US Army DUKW landing on a beach in southern France during Operation Dragoon. August 1944.

Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil) was the code name for the landing operation of the Allied invasion of Provence (Southern France) on 15 August 1944. The operation was initially planned to be executed in conjunction with Operation Overlord, the Allied landing in Normandy, but the lack of available resources led to a cancellation of the second landing. By July 1944 the landing was reconsidered, as the clogged-up ports in Normandy did not have the capacity to adequately supply the Allied forces. Concurrently, the French High Command pushed for a revival of the operation that would include large numbers of French troops.

 

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US Paratroopers of F Co., 2nd Batt., 506th Parachute Reg. of the 101st Airborne Div. onboard a C-47 headed for Normandy. Early morning hours of June 6, 1944.

A-20G Havocs over Normandy, Summer 1944.

 

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Wounded soldiers of the 163rd Regimental Team are evacuated after the Battle of Wakde Islands, which are two miles off the coast of New Guinea; 18-21 May 1944

Wounded Marines on Iwo Jima are given first aid treatment and plasma injections by navy doctors and corpsmen at an aid station set up in a gully on the island; 1945.

 

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A Marine machine gun team moves through the swamp on Cape Gloucester; New Britain Island, 18-January-1944

 

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B-17 'Tinker Toy' after returning from an October 8, 1943 mission to Bremen, Germany.

A German fighter attacking the bomber hit it in the cockpit with 20mm cannon shells, decapitating the pilot, 1st Lt. William J. Minerich (O-795807), and wounding the copilot, 2nd Lt. Thomas D. Sellers (O-678337), in the left arm. The cockpit was completely covered in blood and brain matter but Lt. Sellers, with the help of T/Sgt. Henry L. Miller - Engineer/Top Turret Gunner (33206929) flew the plane home and safely landed her, ground looping it. The plane was such a bloody mess that the top turret gunner couldn't stand in his turret without slipping. I write this, not to be sensational, but to illustrate the horrific conditions these men had to deal with. Sellers had to fly the plane for probably 3 hours in that cockpit.

The plane would then be lost in action December 20, 1943 after colliding with an Me 109 over Bremen. 3 POW (Pilot: Dorman Lane; Co-pilot: John Johnston; Flight engineer/top turret gunner: John Peanoske) 7 KIA (Navigator: Everett Anderson; Bombardier: Dick Mitchell; Radio Operator: Alphonse Melchiorr; Ball turret gunner: Henry Cramer; Waist gunner: Bill Hrapsky; Waist gunner: Joe Fecho; Tail gunner: Frank McDonald)
Account from another pilot in formation:

I was the pilot of A/C no. 42-30765, which was flying in the No. 2 polsition of the second element, low squadron, low group. At approximately the time of the bomb run, which was about 1147, fighters jumped us from the direction of 11 o'clock. One of the fighters rammed B-17F A/C no. 42-5846 [Tinker Toy] which was flying in the #3 position of the same element. It was under control for about a minute then flipped over on its back and went into a spin. The ship was in flames the last time I saw it.

Handwritten account from one of the survivors:

Our ship was set on fire by 4 M.E. 109's and rammed by one of them which took off most of the tail. The plane went into a spin and blew up not more than 90 seconds after the beginning of the attack which was a head on one. It is highly improbable that any of the crew in the tail escaped as the centrifugal force was so great even in the nose that we were compelled to crawl.

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[BravoZulu]

B-24G Liberator “Fertile Myrtle” with the 724th Bomb Squadron flying over the burning oil refinery at Almásfüzitő, Hungary on the banks of the Danube, 9 Aug 1944.

Fertile Myrtle (42-78471) would be shot down just two weeks later on August 23, 1944. Reports indicate she was attacked by perhaps up to 8 fighters. The pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, and ball turret gunner were later declared dead.

Here are the first few pages of the missing air crew report, as well as several descriptions from crew of other planes. Then there are two pages filled out by one of the surviving crew members after the war. These reports were filled out in an attempt to account for missing crew members.

Finally the last page is a report from one of the crew men that a doctor told him at the time that the Gestapo has said they had shot two officers for "killing many of our civilians" and that those men may have been two of the still missing pilot/co-pilot/bombardier.

Account from another plane:

I was flying as Left Waist Gunner in aircraft #1 position of the low flight. Lt. Donoghue, Pilot of aircraft (471) was flying on our left in the Number 3 position. I estimated 8 fighters attacked, coming in at the at 5 o'clock position. The /#3 engine immediately caught on fire. I saw his landing gear drop and he peeled to his left under control for several thousand feet. I saw some parachutes open.

Later account from the nose gunner:

We were hit by enemy fighters. Just as we turned in on the bomb run. The last thing I heard over the interphones was "fighters at six o'clock" and the interphones must have been shot out -- because you could get no more answer over it.

I could see that our right wing was on fire. The navigator was pounding on my turret door (nose turret) so I straightened up the turret and he opened the double doors so I could get out. The bail out bell was ringing when I came out of the turret. So while I put on my parachute he opened the nose wheel hatch and bailed out. I was alone in the nose of the ship so did not see anyone else... I cannot account for the rest of the crew.

 

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U.S. Marines from the Marine Corps 3rd Defense Battalion operate a 90mm M2 anti-aircraft gun on Guadalcanal, 1942

 

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P-38H-5-LO Lightning, P-51A-10 Mustang, and P-47D Thunderbolt aircraft in flight together, United States, 1944-1945

F6F-5N Hellcat night fighter of Night Fighter Squadron 90 based on the carrier USS Enterprise, 1945.

 

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Us II Corps, May 1943.Crouching beside the ruins of buildings, a U.S. patrol awaits the order to move forward, while another patrol moves forward to reconnoitre. Street to street and house to house fighting took place between Allied and Axis troops before Bizerte became Allied property.

 

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Mortar from the US 7th Army fires from their sand banged position in the railroad yard of the French city of Strasbourg across the Rhine River into German city of Kehl; Dec 1944.

 

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P-39 caught on the ground in a Japanese air strike, New Guinea.

 

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This day in 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber of the USAAF crashed into the Empire State Building in New York City, while flying in thick fog. All 3 crewmen were killed, along with 11 others. The building survived despite the damage, and was reopened 48hr later

 

[colin traveller]

 

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US Navy PV-1 Ventura of Bombing Squadron VB-135 and PBY-5A Catalina from another squadron at the Adak Island airfield, Aleutian Islands. Summer 1943