World War II Album: The War in View #33

Both M6A2E1 prototypes lost their hull machine guns but did not receive additional armor.

M6A2E1, rear view.

Second M6A2E1 prototype, October 3, 1945.

Subcaliber T29E3 round tested on the second M6A2E1 prototype.

Potentially the last "living" photograph of the M6A2E1 first prototype. Several years later, the tank was scrapped.

Experimental Christie T3E2 tank, shown here during tests in 1936.

J. Walter Christie with an early tank design.

Tanks of the Sixth Marine Division probe the outskirts of Naha, capital city of Okinawa, Japan, on May 27, 1945.

British troops wade out to waiting ships at Dunkirk.

British troops wearing crude cork buoyancy aids aboard a ship headed for England. The oil depots of Dunkirk burn in the background as a transport and a clearly marked hospital ship embark more troops.

British soldier assists French civilians removing bodies from bombed out buildings, Caen, 1944.

Liberation celebration in Caen, 1944.

Liberation celebration in Bayeux, Normandy, 1944.

Ranville, Normandy, 1944.

World War II begins!

A French man weeps as German soldiers march into Paris on June 14, 1940, after the Allied armies had been driven back across France.

French refugees clogged the roads, impeding troops and supply movements, 1940.

A celebration of Germany's surrender takes place on Paris' Champs Elysees, as seen from the top of the Arc de Triomphe, on May 8, 1945.

Emperor Hirohito (seated, at left) accompanied by former Qing emperor Pu Yi to an official event. In 1932 the Japanese occupied Manchuria and installed Pu Yi as a Japanese puppet leader.

Citizens of Leningrad, Soviet Union vacate their houses, destroyed by German bombing, on December 10, 1942.

Roger Godfrin, the only survivor of a massacre during which Nazi troops locked 643 citizens (including 500 women and children) inside a church and set fire to it on June 10, 1944 in Oradour sur Glane, France.

French women accused of collaborating with the Nazis have their heads shaved by French Resistance fighters in Paris on June 21, 1944.

Photo taken at the instant that bullets from a French firing squad hit a French man who had collaborated with the Germans in Rennes, France on November 21, 1944.

French women accused of collaborating with the Germans are marched through Montelimar, France, to have their heads shaved as punishment.

British guards check on prisoners in a barrack block at a camp for SS, Luftwaffe and civilian women prisoners of war at Vilvoorde on the outskirts of Brussels.

Churchill displays the “V” for Victory gesture at 10 Downing Street, London.

At its production peak, during World War II, Bletchley Park (also known as “Station X”) employed around 10,000 people. In this image we see code-breaking personnel during 1943.

The “Rock” (Gibraltar), a great natural fortress, approached from the land side only across a narrow isthmus, presenting to the sea on three other sides its steep walls of rock.

German prisoners of war in a British camp. Extensive use was made in Britain during both world wars of large country houses as prisoner of war camps. Many such houses were situated in remote rural areas, from which it would be relatively difficult to escape.

German prisoners taken during the Commando raid on the Lofoten Islands arrive at a prisoner of war camp in Scotland, watched by a private of the Gordon Highlanders.

Entertainment in a British POW camp.

Gardelegen, Germany: On a farm outside of this town, teenage SS troops massacred and burned hundreds of Polish, Soviet and Hungarian slave laborers. The SS troopers herded their victims into a barn and ignited the straw on the floor which had been saturated with gasoline.

Goebbels announces to the German populace that war has been declared on the Soviet Union.

Burying victims of the Leningrad siege, one year into the siege.

With no men able to build defenses, women worked around the clock in Moscow to prepare for the German onslaught.

Located in Manchuria, Unit 731 was the most notorious biological weapons complex during the war.

Actress-comedian Martha Raye entertains servicemen of the U.S. Army 12th Air Force on a makeshift stage on the edge of the Sahara Desert in North Africa in 1943.

German Fuhrer and Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler and members of his General Staff review plans for 'Operation Bodenplatte,' an airstrike in support of the Ardennes offensive.

Combined attack of Soviet tanks and planes. T-34 tanks and Petlyakov Pe-2 ground attack aircraft. Actually a composite photo.

German troops, likely of the Sixth Army, surrender en masse to Soviet troops during the defense and subsequent encirclement of Stalingrad.

Comparison of T-34/85 and Tiger I.

A captured Me 262A-1 in British markings.

This is the same exact photo as the previous one, except the photo has been retouched to delete the British markings and add German markings.

Mistel composed of a Junkers Ju 88 and a Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8/U3, captured by the British. The original German national markings have been painted over with British roundels.

Focke-Wulf FW 190/Junkers Ju 88 “Mistel” in RAF markings during evaluation flight testing.

One of nine Arado Ar 234Bs that were flown to Britain for evaluation.

Dornier Do 217M-1, Werk Nr 56158, originally captured at Schleswig, Germany, 1945, seen here in its original camouflage scheme but with RAF markings replacing the German markings. It is now AIR MIN 107.

Messerschmitt Me 262A-1 captured by the Russians.

Heinkel He 111H bomber, which was abandoned by the Luftwaffe during the retreat after the Battle of El Alamein on a landing ground in Libya after being “commandeered” by No. 260 Squadron RAF. Several 260 Squadron pilots climbed in and took off to check it out. It worked fine, so they painted RAF roundels on it and the squadron letters “HS-?”, flying it to Alexandria for mess supplies. 260 Squadron’s popularity climbed fast in this period as they were the only mess around with cold beer in a hot desert. It was nicknamed Delta Lily.

Squadron Leader Bobby Gibbes smiles widely in “his” new Messerschmitt—the captured “Black 6” with an improvised canopy replacement.

Me 109F found at Derna was repaired and flown by No 1 Squadron SAAF. The aircraft was eventually sent to England for testing.

Another view of No. 1 Squadron SAAF’s Me 109F.

Another Me 109F captured and test flown by pilots of No. 1 Sqn. SAAF until it crashed after takeoff.

The same Me 109F as in the previous photo.

Many of Germany’s captured new and experimental aircraft were displayed in an exhibition as part of London’s Thanksgiving week on September 14, 1945. Among the aircraft are a number of jet and rocket propelled planes. Here, a side view of the Heinkel He 162 “Volksjaeger”, propelled by a turbo-jet unit mounted above the fuselage, in Hyde park, in London.

Messerschmitt Me 262A-1a during flight testing in the U.S.

A captured Blenheim IV twin-engined bomber in German markings.

Lippisch DM 1. Construction began in August 1944 at the Flugtechnische Fachgruppe (FFG) Darmstadt but the war ended before workers could finish the glider and the Allied armies discovered it when they occupied the base at Prien am Chiemsee in southern Germany early in May 1945. The DM 1 was an unusual aircraft and specialists in U. S. army air intelligence deemed it worthy of further study. They arranged for construction to resume and continue throughout the summer. A number of people visited the project site including Charles A. Lindbergh. The aircraft was completed late in the summer and Allied authorities shipped the glider back to the U. S. The glider arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, late in 1945 and it was soon moved to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Langley Aeronautical Laboratory. Wind tunnel tests began at Langley in February 1946 and finished by year's end.

Captured Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a (USAF designation FE-107) on the ground at Wright Field being fueled by a crewman sitting on the fuselage. Engine panels have been removed. July 26, 1945. Original caption: "German Messerschmitt ME 262, FE 107, details, at Vandalia 7-26-1945.

Captured Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a (USAF designation FE-107) on the ground at Wright Field being serviced. Engine panels have been removed. July 26, 1945. Original caption: "German Messerschmitt ME 262, FE 107, details, at Vandalia 7-26-1945.

Captured Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a (USAF designation FE-107) on the ground at Wright Field. A crewman is in the cockpit, and another crewman sits on the fuselage forward of the cockpit. July 26, 1945. Original caption: "German Messerschmitt ME 262, FE 107, details, at Vandalia 7-26-1945.

Captured Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a (USAF designation FE-107) being serviced on the ground at Wright Field. A crewman sits on the fuselage forward of the cockpit. July 26, 1945. Original caption: "German Messerschmitt ME 262, FE 107, details, at Vandalia 7-26-1945.

Captured Messerschmitt Me 262, FE-107 on the ground. 26 July 1945. U.S. serviceman sitting on nose. German markings still visible. Engine panels have been removed.

Captured Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a Schwalbe, FE-107, on the ground, Wright Field. U.S. servicemen pose in foreground. July 26, 1945.

Captured Messerschmitt Me 262A (USAF designation FE-107), at Wright Field, July 26, 1945. Engine panels removed.

Messerschmitt Me 262 (USAF designation FE-107), details at Vandalia (Wright Field, Ohio), July 26, 1945.

Messerschmitt Me 262 (USAF designation FE-107), details, at Vandalia, (Wright Field, Ohio), July 26, 1945.

Messerschmitt Me 262 (USAF designation FE-107), details, at Vandalia, (Wright Field, Ohio), July 26, 1945. Detail of engine nozzle.

Captured Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a Schwalbe (USAF designation FE-107), on the ground, Wright Field. A crewman, sitting on the fuselage, fuels the aircraft. July 26, 1945.

A captured Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a (USAF designation FE-107) being towed on an apron at Wright Field, July 26, 1945.

Henschel Hs 129B in the United States with Foreign Equipment number FE-4600.

Messerschmitt Me 262A-1, Junkers Ju 290A, Junkers Ju 388L-1 (FE-4010), V-2 rocket, Arado Ar 234B-2, Mitsubishi A6M Zero, Heinkel He 162, Bachem Ba 349 Natter, Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet and Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka on display at Wright Field in Ohio in October 1945.

Junkers Ju 388L-1 with American Foreign Equipment number FE-4010 at Wright Field, Ohio.

Messerschmitt Me 262A-1, Junkers Ju 290A, Junkers Ju 388L-1 (FE-4010), V-2 rocket and Arado Ar 234B-2 on display at Wright Field in Ohio in October 1945.

Junkers Ju 388 on display at Wright Field, Ohio in October 1945 with American Foreign Equipment number FE-4010.

LaGG-3. This example was flown by a Soviet pilot who defected to Japanese-occupied Manchukuo in the spring of 1942. It was extensively tested by the Japanese.

Japanese soldiers posing for a photo with USAAC Seversky P-35 fighter, Philippines, 1942.

A captured Bachem Ba 349 Natter on display.

Captured Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in RAF markings being shown to American airmen.

Captured Dornier Do 335 "Pfeil" being examined.

Members of the “Zero Club” are all men that test flew Mitsubishi A6M2B Zero 3372 (aka P-5016). The members include standing, left to right: Colonel Casey D. Vincent (Executive Officer, CATF); Lieut. Colonel John Alison, (CO of the 75th Fighter Squadron); and Colonel Bruce Holloway (CO of the 23rd Fighter Group); kneeling right is Major Grant Mahony (CO of the 76th Fighter Squadron) and kneeling on the left is Captain Ajax Baumler, CO of the 74th Fighter Squadron (Spanish Civil War ace).

Boeing B-17G-65-BO Flying Fortress 43-37516 "Tondelayo" of the 492nd BG. Painted all black for night "carpetbagger" operations with the 492nd/801st BG.