Aircrafts

Luftwaffe Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) landing on the Island of Crete, Greece, from Junkers Ju 52 transporter aircrafts. May 20th 1941. A burning Ju 52 is seen crashing from the air, while British ships are being sunk in Suda Bay in the background. The Battle of Crete was won by Axis forces …

An American soldier waves off a US Army Air Force Liberator bomber which had just departed for a raid over Japan (we can see the landing gear receding). The image was taken on September 13th, 1943, at an advanced US base in China, one of many American bases on Chinese …

A wrecked PZL P.23B aircraft, sometime in 1939. The PZL.23 Karas was a Polish light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, designed in the early 1930s. It first flew in 1934, and entered service in 1936. The 23B variant (pictured here) was equipped with a superior Pegasus VIII engine. The PZL.23 was …

A Japanese Kawanishi H8K2 “Emily” Flying Boat shot down by a PB4Y-1 heavy bomber (consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft used by the US Navy) on July 2nd, 1944, in the Central Pacific. The Japanese Kawanishi H8K (and the improved H8K2) was a large four engined aircraft designed to land and operate …

Uruguayan Chargé d’Affaires in the United Kingdom, Senor Montero de Bustamante, speaks at a ceremony to name a Royal Air Force Spitfire fighter in 1943. The Aircraft had been funded by Uruguayan donations. Uruguay was neutral during World War II until signing the Declaration by United Nations in February 1945, …

German aircraft, possibly a Dornier Do 17, crashed into a house during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The Battle of Britain was a large scale aerial assault by the Luftwaffe in an attempt to subdue Britain, so that Germany could force Britain into peace and focus on the Eastern …

Heavy anti aircraft fire against Japanese night raiders by US Marines defending the Yontan Airfield in Okinawa, April 16th, 1945. Two US Marine Corsair fighter planes of the “Hell’s Belles” attack squadron can be seen in the foreground. Image captured by Technical sergeant Chorlest of the Marine Corps. Book suggestion …

A German Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber raiding a British supply depot near Tobruk, Lybia, October 1941, during the North African campaign. The siege of Tobruk was part of the Western Desert Campaign (1940-1943), and lasted for 241 days. With the Allies defeated and forced back on most of …

A De Havilland Mosquito PR Mk XVI British combat aircraft, part of RAF’s 140 Squadron, warming up its engines before a night photographic reconnaissance mission. Melsbroek, Belgium, February 15th 1945. The light, quick and agile De Havilland Mosquito stood out due to the fact that it was constructed of mostly …

A Romanian IAR-81C aircraft being inspected by Soviet personnel after a crash, sometime between 1942 and 1944. The IAR-81C was an upgrade on Romania’s main WW2 fighter, IAR 80. The IAR 80 first flew in 1939, and at the time it was comparable in performance with similar aircrafts of more …