Aviation

Photos of Aviation, Planes, B25, F6F, Air Force

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

This page is dedicated to those who fought in the Air Corps

"A Chinese soldier guards a line of American P-40 fighter planes, painted with the shark-face emblem of the 'Flying Tigers,' at a flying field somewhere in China." Ca. 1942. "Pilots aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier receive last minute instructions before taking off to attack industrial, and military installations in Tokyo." February 17, 1945.
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"Dynamic static. The motion of its props causes an 'aura' to form around this F6F on USS YORKTOWN. Rotating with blades, halo moves aft, giving depth and perspective." November 1943. "Take off from the deck of the USS HORNET of an Army B-25 on its way to take part in first U.S. air raid on Japan." Doolittle Raid, April 1942.
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"TBF (Avengers) flying in formation over Norfolk, Va." Attributed to Lt. Comdr. Horace Bristol, September 1942. "The first big raid by the 8th Air Force was on a Focke Wulf plant at Marienburg. Coming back, the Germans were up in full force and we lost at least 80 ships-800 men, many of them pals." 1943.
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"Photograph made from B-17 Flying Fortress of the 8th AAF Bomber Command on 31 Dec. when they attacked the vital CAM ball- bearing plant and the nearby Hispano Suiza aircraft engine repair depot in Paris." France, 1943. "Pilots pleased over their victory during the Marshall Islands attack, grin across the tail of an F6F Hellcat on board the USS LEXINGTON, after shooting down 17 out of 20 Japanese planes heading for Tarawa." Comdr. Edward Steichen, November 1943.
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