World War II Album: The War in View #2

Self-propelled anti-tank guns of the 2nd Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery (R.C.A.), taking part in a parade marking the handing-in of the guns of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division near Oldenburg, Germany, 15 May 1945.

The two anti-aircraft mounts, the one nearest the camera with a Polsten quad and the one in front of it with a different but generally similarly configured 40 mm Bofors gun, both mounted on Canadian-made CMP flat bed 3-ton trucks with a Type 43 cab, essentially a fold-down version of the more familiar Cab Type 13. The possibility to fold down the cab was essential if the guns were used in the anti-tank role firing straight over the vehicle itself.

Canada’s 500,000th military vehicle, RHD truck, General Motors Oshawa North Plant.

Two CMP FAT (Field Artillery Tractors) with limber and 25-pounder gun. These vehicles are from the 1st Canadian Division, 1st Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (RCHA). The car in the background near the demolished house is a CMP Chevrolet C8A Heavy Utility. Liberation Parade on June 29, 1945 in de Vijzelstraat, Amsterdam.

Canadian Dry Pin track links.

A CDP track and drive sprocket. The sprocket had 17 teeth instead of the standard 13.

Ram Armoured Recovery Vehicle ARV I.

Churchill ARV (Armoured Recovery Vehicle) I with its front jib erected. Note the twin Bren guns mounted in the hull. A Ram cruiser tank is in the background and at far upper right is a Sherman medium tank that appears to have been converted to a Kangaroo infantry carrier. These vehicles are from a Canadian armored unit.

A column of Canadian Alligator amphibious vehicles passing “Terrepin” amphibious vehicles on the Scheldt River near Terneuzen, the Netherlands, 13 October 1944.

Centaur Mk. II anti-aircraft vehicle, Elbeuf, France, 28 August 1944, Canadian Grenadier Guards.

Male and female workers assemble instrument panels for Ram (Cruiser) tanks at the Montreal Locomotive Works plant, 1942.

Unsuccessful Canadian experimental self-propelled gun mounted a 3.7-inch gun on a Ram tank chassis.

Valentine, Angus Shops, Canadian Pacific, Montreal.

Canadian personnel with the German halftrack vehicle which transported them around Norderney during surrender negotiations, Norderney, Germany, 8 May 1945.

Infantrymen of Le Régiment de la Chaudière riding on an M10A1 tank destroyer vehicle of the 3rd Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery (RCA) during the attack on Elbeuf, France, 26 August 1944.

M10 self-propelled gun, British Army.

Personnel of the 16th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers (RCE), building Bailey pontoon rafts to transport the M10 self-propelled guns of the 3rd Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery (RCA), across the Scheldt River near Terneuzen, Netherlands, 13 October 1944.

Canadian Grant medium tanks.

Unidentified Canadian trooper climbing out of a Grant tank of the Governor General’s Horse Guards, England, 18 February 1942.

Major-General E.W. Sansom inspecting the Grant Mark I tanks of the British Columbia Dragoons, Canadian Army, Headley Down, England, 12 March 1942.

Unit photo of 601st Bombardment Squadron members, 398th Bombardment Group, on and in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, England.

B-17F production line in Seattle back in 1943.

Bell P-39 Airacobras (41-28360, 41-38276) from a training unit in the US..

Consolidated B-24J-160-CO Liberator Bomber 44-40428 of the 43rd Bomb Group 64th Bomb Squadron. Nose art “Cocktail Hour”.

A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress flies over Yankee Stadium during Game One of the 1943 World Series.

In memory of the crew of "My Gal Sal", Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress 41-9032, who on 27 June 1942 were forced to successfully perform a gear-up landing on a Greenland ice field. With only 40 gallons of fuel remaining, in abysmal weather that prevented an airfield landing, Lt Stinson and his crew did a remarkable job resulting in no injuries and minimally damaging the airplane. So began a 10-day survival ordeal.

Before the WASP there was the WAAF: the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II was established June 28, 1939. At its peak, their ranks contained 182,000 members who supported RAF operations around the world.

Doolittle Raider Major John Hilger minutes after receiving his Distinguished Flying Cross, the fifth highest US combat decoration at the time, Bolling Field, Washington DC, 27 June 1942.

RAF tail gunner next to the tail gun turret on a Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber, April 1940.

Left to right, captured Henschel Hs 162, Focke-Wulf Fw 190, Messerschmitt Bf 108, Freeman Field, 1946.

Wartime poster: "When? It's up to you!"

The 105mm caliber FlaK is undoubtedly the most famous artillery piece of the Second World War and perhaps even of the twentieth century.

Downed Consolidated B-24 Liberator of the 492nd Bomb Group after an aerial battle over Oschersleben on 7 July 1944. On 7 July 1944 a force of 1,129 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators of the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force set out from England to bomb aircraft factories in the Leipzig area and the synthetic oil plants at Boehlen, Leuna-Merseburg and Lützkendorf. This formation was intercepted by a German Gefechtsverband composed of IV.(Sturm) / JG 3 escorted by two Gruppen of Bf l09s from Jagdgeschwader 300 led by Major Walther Dahl. Dahl drove the attack to point-blank range behind the Liberators of the 492nd Bomb Group before opening fire. 492nd Bomb Group was temporarily without fighter cover. Within about a minute the entire squadron of twelve B-24s had been destroyed. The USAAF 2nd Air Division lost 28 Liberators that day, the majority to the Sturmgruppe attack. IV./JG 3 lost nine fighters shot down and three more suffered damage and made crash landings; five of the unit's pilots were killed.

Only days after the bombing of Hiroshima, the second operational nuclear weapon was readied by the U.S. Called “Fat Man”, the unit is seen being placed on a trailer cradle in August of 1945. When the Japanese still refused to surrender after Hiroshima, U.S. President Truman issued a statement saying in part “If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth.”

“Fat Man” was dropped from the B-29 bomber Bockscar, detonating at 11:02 AM, at an altitude of about 1,650 feet (500 m) above Nagasaki. An estimated 39,000 people were killed outright by the bombing a further 25,000 were injured.

A massive column of billowing smoke, thousands of feet high, mushrooms over the city of Nagasaki, Japan, after an atomic bomb was dropped by the United States. A B-29 plane delivered the blast killing approximately 70,000 people, with thousands dying later of radiation effects. The attack came three days after the U.S. dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The attacks brought about Japan’s unconditional surrender. August 9, 1945.

Terraced hillsides surrounding Nagasaki did little to lessen the destructiveness of the bomb dropped on this Japanese city. The city was almost completely destroyed except for a lone house standing here and there. August 9, 1945.

An arrow marks the spot where the A-bomb struck at Nagasaki, Japan. Much of the bombed area is still desolate, the trees on the hills in the background remained charred and dwarfed from the blast and little reconstruction, except of wooden shacks as homes, has taken place. August 10, 1945.

Crew of the B-29 “Bockscar”, 11 August 1945.

Harold Agnew (right) holding the Nagasaki atomic bomb core. The core was redacted by Agnew at the insistence of the FBI after the war.

This memorandum informs the Army Chief of Staff that another atomic bomb would be available for delivery on August 17 or 18, 1945.

This desolated area, with only some buildings standing here and there is what was left of Hiroshima, Japan after the first atomic bomb was dropped. September 3, 1945.

This picture made from the town of Yoshiura on the other side of the mountain north of Hiroshima, Japan, shows the smoke rising from the explosion of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima. It was picked up from an Australian engineer at Kure, Japan. Note the radiation spots on the negative caused by the explosion of the A-bomb, almost ruining the film. August 6, 1945.

Major James Stewart briefs members of the 453rd Bomb Group before a mission.

Air Corps Lieutenant William Holden.

Marlene Dietrich.

Lt. Col. David Niven, British Army.

Returning heroes (l to r): Lt. Cmdr. Robert Montgomery, Major Clark Gable, and Lt. (jg) Robert Taylor with MGM executive Eddie Mannix.

Jane Wyman salutes 2nd Lt. Ronald Reagan of the U.S. Army Air Corps.

Curtiss P-40C US Army Air Corps.

Former members of the American Volunteer Group, Flying Tigers, serving with the 23rd Fighter Group, standing beside a Curtiss P-40, Kunming, China, July 1942. Left to right: Maj. John R. Alison, Maj. David Lee "Tex" Hill, Capt. Albert J. "Ajax" Baumler, and 1st Lt. Mack A. Mitchell.

75FS pilots standing in front of P-40 “KING BOOGIE” including Major Goss sitting on fuselage, Lt.Col. Alison and Lt. Pryor on the wing, and standing from left are Lt. Griffin (AVG observer and ace), Lt. Mitchell, Captain Hampshire (ace, later KIA), and Captain Blackstone.

118th TRS pilots at Kweilin, China, July 1944 in front of P-40 "Idiots Delight", 16th Fighter Squadron. Front from left: 1st Lieut. Frank Bickel, 1st Lieut. Hank Davis, Captain Ray Darby and Captain Robert Burke. Back from left: 1st Lieut. Oscar "Pop" Nislar, 1st Lieut. Oran Watts, 1st Lieut. Jack Smith, Major Edward O. McComas and Captain Carl Eley.

Pilots from the 85th “Flying Skull” Fighter Squadron, 79th Fighter Group discuss air tactics in front of a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter.

Curtiss P-40N modified with a jump seat and painted with the 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron's "Black Lightning" markings. 1st Lt. John Bissette and Pfc Ed Smyth. The 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron operated in India during 1944 before being assigned to the 23rd Fighter Group in China covering the airbases at Kharagpur and Chakulia.

During 1944, prior to being assigned to the 23rd Fighter Group in China, the 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron operated in India covering the airbases at Kharagpur and Chakulia. At that time the Squadron operated P-40N and L-5 liaison airplanes. The Squadron would replace the P-40's with P-51C's after their deployment to China. Maintenance facilities were primarily outdoors.

Major McComas and crew chief TSgt Mailett with P-40N "Kansas Reaper".

An 80th Fighter Group Curtiss P-40 in Burma, c. 1943-1945.

P-40B Warhawk pilot in his cockpit in the early 1940s.

Curtiss H87A-2 P-40D (40-359 c/n 13234) US Army Air Forces.

Curtiss XP-40F Warhawk (40-360 c/n 13234) US Army Air Forces. Second of only 23 P-40D's converted to XP-40F and was flown on November 25, 1941. A total of 1,311 production P-40F's were built in 1942. The XP-40F became a ground instructional airframe on September 16, 1942.

P-40 Aleutian Tigers on Adak Island, Alaska.

Chinese Army guard with P-40 fighters of 23rd Fighter Group.

Curtiss H87A-2 P-40D (40-359 c/n 13234) US Army Air Forces.

The shattered wreckage of American P-40 Warhawks bombed by the Japanese in their attack on Pearl Harbor is strewn on Hickam Field, Dec. 7, 1941.

P-40, “Destitute Prostitute”, Guadalcanal.

Ground crews work on Captain George D. Mobbs' P-40 that crash-landed riddled with 20mm shell holes after a bomber escort mission over Libya on December 8, 1942.

Tuskegee airmen alongside a P-40 at a base in the Mediterranean theater.

A P-40 with landing gear issues, Iceland, 1941.

Captured P-40E fighters and B-17 with Japanese markings.

An instructor teaches the parts of an Allison liquid-cooled P-40 engine to a class of white aviation cadets and black maintenance students. (U.S. Air Force photo)

99th Fighter Squadron P-40 flown by 1st Lt. (later Maj.) Charles Hall. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Former sergeant pilot Paul Hesler, Jr. (right) and crew chief SSgt Conrad Smith beside a P-40. He was promoted to flight officer just before leaving for North Africa in 1942. At the time of this photo, he had destroyed five enemy aircraft on the ground and one in the air.

P-40s of the 66th Fighter Squadron take off on a mission over North Africa. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Curtiss Tomahawk IIB (P-40C), 3rd Squadron, AVG, China. Note Nationalist Chinese roundel beneath the wing.

A Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk of the American Volunteer Group in Burma, where the Flying Tigers were helping the RAF slow the Japanese advance.

P-40 Flying Tiger. Note the Nationalist Chinese roundel beneath the wing.

Pilots of the 2nd Squadron, the “Panda Bears,” of the AVG (Flying Tigers) pose in front of one of the P-40 fighters. Back row: Buster Keeton, Frank Lawlor, Freeman Ricketts, Bob Layher, Hank Gesselbracht, Tom Jones, and Frank Schiel. Front row: Ed Rector, Pappy Paxton, Pete Wright, Jack Newkirk, Tex Hill, Gil Bright and Ed Conant.

Curtiss P-40 of the Flying Tigers. Note the fuselage artwork, provided by the Disney Studios. The American Volunteer Groups were volunteer air units organized by the United States government to aid the Nationalist government of China against Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War. The only unit to actually see combat was the 1st AVG, popularly known as the Flying Tigers. To aid the Nationalist government of China and to put pressure on Japan, President Franklin Roosevelt in April 1941 authorized the creation of a clandestine "Special Air Unit" consisting of three combat groups equipped with American aircraft and staffed by aviators and technicians to be recruited from the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps for service in China.

John “Pete” Petach in the cockpit of a P-40 with the Flying Tiger insignia on the fuselage.

Curtiss P-40N-40-CU Warhawk (44-47773), USAAF.

Maintenance on a P-40, China, 1943.

P-40N Warhawk 'Little Joe II' at Kunming airfield in Yunnan, China, September 1, 1944.

Armorers working on an RAAF P-40 Tomahawk Mk. II of No. 3 Squadron in the Western Desert, North Africa, 23 December 1941.

P-40s from the 343rd FG in the Aleutians, 1943.

Flying Tigers 3rd Pursuit Squadron with P-40.

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk "Miss Frances III".

P-40 mechanic teaching Chinese ground crew.

Col. Robert Scott with his P-40, 23rd Fighter Group.

P-40 and pilots.

Painting the Flying Tiger emblem on the side of a P-40.

Capt. Bill Hennon with his P-40E, 49th Fighter Group.

Lt. Duke Bishop, 51st Fighter Group, with his P-40K.

Flying Tiger pilots and P-40.

In 1944, this P-40N was photographed at Kweilin, China, by Gen. Laurence Kuter using 35mm Kodachrome. The color slide reveals a subtly lighter blue border around the national insignia on this American fighter that shared the skies with Japanese adversaries. The blue rim covered a short-lived attempt to introduce a red border on U.S. aircraft insignia in 1943 that was quickly overpainted in the Pacific where any overt use of red paint could be mistaken at first glance for the red in Japanese markings.