The US Army Air Forces

Photos of US Army Air Forces, American P-51 Mustang, Sicilian campaigns, Negro Navigation Cadets

We have gathered a collection of some of the best and most moving photos taken of African-American soldiers during the Second World War. They are from the National Archives in Washington D.C.
Please browse at your leisure. Meditate on the sacrifices given by these men and women in wartime.

This page is dedicated to African Americans in the US Army Air Forces

Howard A. Wooten. Graduated December 1944 from Air Corps School, Tuskegee, AL. Ca. December 1944. 18-T-44-K-17. Members of the 99th Fighter Squadron of the Army Air Forces, famous all-Negro outfit, who are rapidly making themselves feared by enemy pilots, pose for a picture at the Anzio beachhead. In the foreground, head bared, is 1st Lt. Andrew Lane. Ca. February 1944. 80-G-54413.
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1909th Engineers Aviation Battalion (Negro) aboard LST 683. August 15, 1945. 80-G-337464. With an officer giving them pointers from a giant map, pilots of an American P-51 Mustang fighter-bomber group learn their 'target for today' during a briefing at a base in Italy. Both the map and the briefing chart (right) indicate another objective in Germany will soon be on the receiving end of their bullets and bombs. The men are members of the 15th U.S. Army Air Force, whose planes fly as part of the Mediterranean Allied Air Force. Ca. September 1944. 208-MO-18K-32983.
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Fliers of a P-51 Mustang Group of the 15th Air Force in Italy 'shoot the breeze' in the shadow of one of the Mustangs they fly. Left to right: Lt. Dempsey W. Morgan, Jr.; Lt. Car roll S. Woods; Lt. Robert H. Nelson, Jr.; Capt. Andrew D. Turner; and Lt. Clarence P. Lester. Ca. August 1944. 208-NP-6XXX-1. Pilots of a U.S. Army Air Forces fighter squadron, credited with shooting down 8 of the 28 German planes destroyed in dog-fights over the new Allied beachheads south of Rome, on Jan. 27, talk over the day's exploits at a U.S. base in the Mediterranean theater. Negro members of this squadron, veterans of the North African and Sicilian campaigns, were formerly classmates at a university in the southern U.S. February 1944. 208-MO-18H-22051.
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American pilots of a P-51 Mustang fighter group, whose planes are named after wild horses that once roamed the U.S., listen intently as they are briefed for a mission at a base in Italy. Like cavalrymen of old, they ride down the enemy in their flying steeds and have destroyed German installations and personnel throughout Europe. They are members of the 15th U.S. Army Air Force, whose fighters and bombers are part of the Mediterranean Allied Air Force, which also includes British, French, and Polish fliers. Ca. September 1944. 208-N-32987. [Capt. Andrew D. Turner], who in a few minutes will be escorting heavy bombers en route to enemy targets, signals to the chief of his ground crew before taking off from a base in Italy. He is a member of the 15th U.S. Army Air Force, which has been smashing enemy objectives in Germany and the Balkans with both fighter and bomber craft. The pilot's plane, a Mustang, is named for a type of wild horse that once roamed in America. ca. September 1944. 208-MO-18K-32981.
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Lt. Andrew D. Marshall, pilot in a Negro fighter group of the Mediterranean Allied Air Force had his plane shot up by flak during a strafing mission over Greece before the Allied invasion. When he came down all that was left of the plane was his engine and himself. But he only suffered some bruises and cuts. Greeks hid him from the Nazis, then directed him to the British forces when they parachuted into Greece. Here Lt. Marshall tells an American pilot of the 51st Troop Carrier Wing of his harrowing experience. ca. October 1944. 208-AA-102E-5. Members of the Nation's first Negro Navigation Cadets, who will receive their commissions in the Army Air Forces on February 26th, visited City Hall as guests of Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia this afternoon. They are shown on the steps of City Hall as the mayor greeted their commanding officer, Maj. Galen B. Price. February 16, 1944. Acme. 208-PU-113M-26.
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Capts. Lemuel R. Custis (left) and Charles B. Hall, of the 99th Fighter Squadron of the U.S. Army Air Forces, chat while on leave in New York City. Their all-Negro squadron first went into action in North Africa on June 4, 1943, and is now closely supporting Allied ground forces advancing in Italy. The fighter group flies all types of combat missions--bomber escort, dive bombing, patrol for beachheads, and strafing. In one year, the squadron has made more than 3,000 sorties and has shot down 17 planes, scored 3 probables and damaged 6 other planes. Ca. June 1944. 208-MO-120H-29054. 1st Lt. Lee Rayford who has returned to the United States from Italy where he served with the 99th Fighter Squadron. The nature of his assignment here has not been announced. Other pilots formerly assigned to the 99th now back in America include 1st Lts. Walter I. Lawson, Charles W. Dryden, Graham Smith and Louis R. Purnell. N.d. 208-NP-6EEE-1.
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An armorer of the 15th U.S. Air Force checks ammunition belts of the .50 caliber machine guns in the wings of a P-51 Mustang fighter plane before it leaves an Italian base for a mission against German military targets. The 15th Air Force was organized for long range assault missions and its fighters and bombers range over enemy targets in occupied and satellite nations, as well as Germany itself. Ca. September 1944. 208-MO-18H-32984. Members of the ground crew of a Negro fighter squadron of the 15th U.S. Air Force in Italy place a loaded wing tank on a P-51 Mustang before the group takes off on another mission escorting bombers over enemy targets. The squadron uses the auxiliary fuel tanks for long distance flights. Left to right: T/Sgt. Charles K. Haynes, S/Sgt. James A. Sheppard, and M/Sgt. Frank Bradley. N.d. 208-AA-49E-1-3.
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Sharing credit for Negro fighter pilot's victory over Nazis are mechanics George Johnson and James C. Howard. Their outfit, the 99th Fighter Squadron, bagged 12 Nazi fighter planes in two days. Ca. February 1944. 208-AA-49E-1-1. Capt. Wendell O. Pruitt., one of the leading pilots of the 15th Air Force always makes sure that he leaves his valuable ring with his crew chief, S/Sgt. Samuel W. Jacobs. Ca. November 1944. 208-AA-46BB-4.
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Staff Sgt. William Accoo, crew chief in a Negro group of the 15th U.S. Air Force, washes down the P-51 Mustang fighter plane of his pilot with soap and water before waxing it to give it more speed. Ca. September 1944. 208-AA-46BB-30. Staff Sgt. Alfred D. Norris crew chief of a Negro fighter group of the 15th U.S. Air Force, closes the canopy of a P-51 Mustang for his pilot, Capt. William T. Mattison operations officer of the squadron based in Italy. N.d. 208-AA-46BB-6.
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Staff officers of an Air Corp Squadron near Fez, French Morocco. Left to right: Lt. Col. Benjamin O. Davis, C.O.; Capt. Hayden C. Johnson, Adjutant; Capt. E. Jones, Service Det.; Lt. Wm. R. Thompson, Armaments; Lt. Hervert E. Carter, Engineers; Lt. Erwin B. Lawrence, Operations; Lt. George R. Currie, Ordnance. May 12, 1943. 111-SC-184968. Jackie Wilson (left) and Ray Robinson have fought two bitterly contested ring encounters. Now it's Sgt. Wilson and Pvt. Robinson in the same Aviation Squadron at Mitchel Field, New York, and they stand shoulder to shoulder--ready for a fight to the death on the Axis. 1943. 208-PU-214B-5.
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