History in Color

Image of the Day: First B-32 to enter combat

2009-08-05T07:31:00.000-07:00

B-32 'Dominator' ser# 42-108529, The Lady Is Fresh' of 386th BS - 319th BG, Yonton, Okinawa. This was the first B-32 ever to enter combat service, and the first of her kind from the factory. Seen here after her stop-over from Luzon, to her new unit. Her name seems very apt, as she was fresh off the line, and freshly painted for the task. This is a very rare shot indeed.

The Truth of War

2009-07-17T06:11:00.000-07:00

As I have been scanning and posting our many color slides of the WWII era, (8200 thus far out of probably 18000), pictures like this are the most distressing. What a terrible cost of a war, simply to get America out of a depression. It is now common knowledge that Japan was provoked by the US to attack Pearl Harbor; WWII could have been avoided. But it was politically expedient to have the war.

This is a 1944 picture of Normandy, France, where an estimated 425,000 men from both sides died. The framers of that war have met their reward.

Image of the Day: A RAF "Halifax" Bomber

2009-04-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

"Friday the 13th" (RAF, "Halifax" bomber) was one of the most successful RAF bombers of the war. She finished with a 128 missions to her credit, and was placed in Oxford Street, London (in front of Lewis' department store) so people could visit her. A replica (the only surviving example in world), now stands at the Yorkshire Air Museum. We at ww2color.com were more than happy to donate a large print of this original plane to go with their display in England. (Image date, 1945)

Image of the Day: Remember When

2009-04-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

Remember the "Victory Gardens?" This one is growing corn in the middle of the street in Salinas CA. Note the Gulf gas station with 18 cent per gallon gas. However, that 18 cents was real money, for silver supported the dollar until 1964. America officially went into bankruptcy when hard metals were removed.

Image of the Day: Black Sheep Sq

2009-03-24T14:33:00.000-07:00

F4U Corsair. 1st Lt Robert W. McClurg after a raid on Rabaul, May 44. Part of Pappy Boyington's black Sheep. VMF-214.

Image of the Day: American Delights, 1943

2009-03-08T10:16:00.000-07:00

Daytona Beach.... yes, sir! Once settled back in the United States with his wife, Dorothy Helen, Jeep Crowder wasted little time in making up for lost time. Combat in P-40s and A-36s over North Africa, Sicily, and Italy had been more than rough, particularly as the Crowders had been married a very short time before Jeep shipped out. Dorothy Helen is on the right, money out, ready to chose from a variety of pure American delights... whatever the stomach can stand.

Image of the Day: Tuskegee Airmen, "Red Tail" P-51D, 332 FG

2009-02-24T17:57:00.000-08:00

Side view of a "Red Tail" Tuskegee P-51D, taken in November, 1944, at Naples, Italy. 99th FS, 332FG.

Image of the Day: Tuskeegee Airmen

2009-02-16T06:59:00.000-08:00

The Tuskeegee group was an all Black Man group, including the mechanics. This image is of Tuskegee airmen working on the engine of one of the trainers, a BT-13A Vultee.

Image of the Day: Tuskeegee Airmen

2009-02-14T11:21:00.000-08:00

On March 19, 1941, the 99th Pursuit Squadron (Pursuit being the pre-World War II descriptive for "Fighter") was activated at Chanute Field in Rantoul, Illinois.[3] Over 250 enlisted men were trained at Chanute in aircraft ground support trades. This small number of enlisted men became the core of other black squadrons forming at Tuskegee and Maxwell Fields in Alabama.
In June 1941, the Tuskegee program officially began with formation of the 99th Fighter Squadron at the Tuskegee Institute, a highly regarded university founded by Booker T. Washington, through the work of Lewis Adams and George W. Campbell in Tuskegee, Alabama. The unit consisted of an entire service arm, including ground crew. After basic training at Moton Field, they were moved to the nearby Tuskegee Army Air Field about 10 mi to the west for conversion training onto operational types. The Airmen were placed under the command of Captain Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., then one of the few black West Point graduates. His father Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. was the first black general in the U.S. Army.

Image of the Day: Japanese Surrender Delegation

2009-02-12T06:40:00.000-08:00

These two white with green crosses planes are carrying the Japanese surrender delegation on the way to formal negotiations for surrender. B 25 is on far end.

Image of the Day: Charlie Chaplin

2009-02-11T10:47:00.000-08:00

Charlie Chaplin in "The Great Dictator." New York City, September 1940. Original color shot of theater front.

Image of the Day: Extremely rare 1941 image - XB-15

2009-02-05T10:33:00.000-08:00

This extraordinary color shot, is extremely rare! It is a color photograph of the XB-15 experimental bomber, the project that led to the production of the B-17 Flying Fortress Aircraft. With a wingspan of 142ft this huge aircraft broke the altitude to weight record, lifting a 31,205-pound payload to 8,200 feet on July 30, 1939. Because the lone XB-15 was an experimental airplane, it did not serve as a bomber during World War II. The military converted it into a cargo carrier, designated the XC-105. On January 24,1939, a great earthquake devastated Chile. The U.S. responded by dispatching the XB-15 with 3,250 pounds of medical supplies via Panama and Lima, Peru, to Santiago-a 4,933-mile trip that was accomplished in 29 hours, 53 minute flying time. The XB-15 was converted to a cargo/transport plane after bomber testing was complete. A large cargo door was added to the aft fuselage and the XB-15 was redesignated XC-105 for wartime use! In service for eight years, the airplane carried more than 5,200 passengers, 440,000 pounds of cargo and 94,000 pounds of mail. It flew 70 cargo trips and 60 missions including antisubmarine patrol. An incredible plane that was finally dismantled at the San Antonio Air Depot in 1945 upon the cessation of hostilities.

Image of the Day: Fruitful Day

2009-02-02T10:42:00.000-08:00

[L to R: Sgt Woods (assistant crew chief, Lt Miller (engineering officer, Lt Grimmer (communications officer) MSgt Stone (flight chief), at bottom Zuckermann (radio man), after 12/24/1944 mission to Germany. It a fruitful day for them! This P51D of the 38FS has returned home on Christmas Eve after what was a verys successful day for 55FG! After escorting bombers to hit enemy airfields in Western Germany. With the later assistance of the 357th FG, the trip saw one of the most fruitful days for the 55th, as a total of 15 german fighters were destroyed in the air (8 x Fw190's & 7 x Me 109s) ! The group was to have its biggest test, however, when all the pilots at Wormingford treated and entertained the local orphan group for Christmas.

Image of the Day: Red Cross Worker

2009-01-30T08:14:00.000-08:00

Ever reliable Jan Husten worked for the U.S. Red Cross, personally ensuring daily deliveries of coffee & doughnuts to the mechanics of the 55thFG from its 1st day at Wormingford to the end of the war. A stalwart! Pictured winter '44-'45

Image of the Day: P-51D 1945

2009-01-29T08:38:00.000-08:00

Photographed visiting Steeple Morden, England, in Spring '45. P51D 'Butch Baby' serial 44-14798 was flown by CO Maj. Joseph Broadhead. Desig'n 'G4-V'. Was painted all olive drab in case unit was moved to the continent after D-Day.

Image of the Day: Mosquito MK XV

2009-01-28T19:38:00.000-08:00

A very bright Mosquito of the 25thBG (R) - 653rdBS. These aircraft were adopted in late October 1944 for 'Chaff' dispensing. Used to block enemy radar, 'Chaff' was the code-name for metalic foil strips that were released to confuse radar by disrupting the signal. These Mosquitos were used especially for the task of flying ahead of bomber formations to aid their arrival safely over the target. The bright red tail was adopted to avoid some friendly fighter pilots from mis-identifying them Me410's, that had a very similar shape.