u/kingofnerf

This is a colorized screenshot from the 1944 movie "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo" that I did.

ORIGINAL CAPTION CREW #7 PHOTO: "Front Row (left-to-right): , Lt. Ted W. Lawson, pilot; Lt. Dean Davenport, copilot. Back Row (left-to-right): Lt. Charles L. McClure, navigator; Lt. Robert S. Clever, bombardier; Sgt. David J. Thatcher, flight engineer/gunner."

While the movie was being shot at Alameda, there was an oil fire in nearby Oakland, so the film crew sent up the camera plane and the B-25 to get some realistic footage for the movie and that is the background for this shot.

Lawson intended to land the real Ruptured Duck on a beach below on the island of Nantien and take off early the next with what he believed were 100 gallons of fuel left. The plane was going 110 knots when both engines quit a quarter mile from shore and the plane hit the water with the landing gear down. When the real plane crash landed, Lawson and Davenport were ejected still strapped into their seats through the cockpit windscreen. McClure, the navigator, was anchoring his shoulders against both cockpit seats with his head between the seats. McClure was not ejected but broke both shoulders and couldn't remember how he got out of the plane.

Clever, the bombardier, was crawling aft through the nose section and was ejected through the nose canopy when the plane hit the water. He suffered serious lacerations to his face and elsewhere, eventually passing out from the loss of blood. Thatcher, engineer/gunner, was thrown around a bit and only temporarily knocked knocked out with a bleeding bump on his forehead to show for it.

Lawson was much more badly wounded that portrayed in the movie. His face was pushed in from going through the windscreen of his plane. All of his front teeth were loosened and fell out into his hand when he tried to straighten them. His lower lip was laid open to the cleft in his chin. In addition to his leg being gashed open, his left bicep was severed in half. Thatcher was the only one of the crew who could initially walk, going back to plane twice at risk of capture to try to recover anything that could be useful to the crew's escape and recovery. He was eventually awarded the Silver Star for his actions in caring for his wounded fellow aircrew.

ORIGINAL CAPTION FIRST PHOTO: “1st Lt. Robert C. Thoman, Rochester, N.Y., who recently shot down an ME-109, examines the cockpit of a similar enemy plane at a former Luftwaffe field as fellow 9th A.F. Republic P-47 Thunderbolt pilots look on. The pilots were given the opportunity to see at first hand many German aircraft which they have previously encountered in aerial combat or while strafing enemy fields when their group moved east of the Rhine to their second German airfield. 15 enemy planes of several types were found on the abandoned base.

Left to right: Capt. Paul L. Van Cleef, Salina, Kas., 1st Lt. Thomas Manjak, Ambridge, Pa.,1st Lt. James L. McWhorter, Sanford, Fla., 2nd Lt. Sherman E. Price, Caplinger Mills, Mo.,1st Lt John W. Wise, Prosser, Wash., and Lt. Thoman in the cockpit. All are members of the "Hell Hawk" group of Col. Ray J. Stecker, Hazleton, Pa.” (NARA 342-FH_000335)

ORIGINAL CAPTION SECOND AND THIRD PHOTOS: “Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers of Lt. Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg's 9th AF parked on and near the apron of a former Luftwaffe base in Germany, now used by the 365th fighter-bomber group. Service and maintenance men are working the planes, preparing them for further flights ahead of U.S. ground forces. The base is the twelfth occupied by the 365th pilots since landing in Normandy.”  (NARA 342-FH_000525, 342-FH_001135)

Cooke Air Force Base was renamed Vandenberg Air Force Base on 4 October 1958 in honor of General Hoyt Vandenberg, then the Air Force's second Chief of Staff.

ORIGINAL CAPTION: “Air Force's Experimental Heavy Bomber, the Northrop XB-35.”

The photos were taken in 1948. (NARA 342-C-K-4670, 342-C-K-004603_001)

ORIGINAL CAPTION PHOTO #1: "Dick Cole (left, kneeling) and crew of the 1st Air Commando Force pose beside the Douglas C-47 "Hairless Joe" at Lalaghat, India." (NARA 342-FH_001216)

SECOND PHOTO (CREW #1): Front Row (left-to-right): Pilot Lt. Col. J.H. Doolittle, Co-Pilot Lt. R.E. Cole. Back Row (left-to-right): Navigator Lt. H.A. Potter, Bombardier SSgt. F.A. Braemer, Engineer Gunner SSgt. P.J. Leonard.

Born on September 7, 1915, in Dayton, Ohio, Dick Cole graduated from Steele High School, Dayton, Ohio and completed two years of college at Ohio University. Enlisting on November 22, 1940, he completed pilot training and was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in July 1941. Cole was the co-pilot of Crew #1 (Doolittle’s plane) on the Tokyo raid.

He remained in the China-Burma-India Theater after the Tokyo raid until June 1943 and served again in the China-Burma-India Theater from October 1943 until June 1944. He was relieved from active duty in January 1947 but returned to active duty in August 1947.

Dick Cole was the last surviving Raider when he died on April 9, 2019, at the age of 103. His decorations included the Distinguished Flying Cross with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, and Chinese Army, Navy, Air Corps Medal, Class A, 1st Grade.

ORIGINAL CAPTION: "Crew chief S/Sgt Gerald Bentley of Gainesville, Texas, inspects the oil lines on a North American P-51 at an 8th Air Force base somewhere in England. Underneath is assistant maintenance chief T/Sgt Paul A. Fick of Fremont, Ohio, who is checking the hydraulic pump."

NARA 342-C-K-002110_001

Cdr. Charles L. Crommelin, commander of Air Group 5, was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for action in an attack on Marcus Island on 31 August 1943.

While he was leading a reconnaissance flight over Mili Atoll on 21 November 1943, a flak burst blinded him in his left eye and blood running down his face impaired the vision in his right eye. Despite being badly wounded, with the assistance of his wingman he was able to fly 100 nm back to his carrier and make a perfect landing on the USS Yorktown (CV-10). Footage of him landing and being helped from his Hellcat appeared the Fighting Lady movie and I put some screenshots from that into two montage pics. That's his blood on the inside of the canopy; not oil.

He was awarded a gold star in lieu of a second Distinguished Flying Cross for action as Commander of Air Group Five on board the USS Yorktown (CV-10) during the Gilbert Islands Campaign during this time.

After a lengthy recovery from his wounds, he returned to the Pacific in command of Carrier Air Group 12 aboard the USS Randolph (CV-15). He was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism during the first carrier force raids on Japan in February 1945.

On 28 March 1945, Cdr. Crommelin flew on a pre-invasion strike on Okinawa, but he never returned from that mission.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVNEGdnR8nA

These photos were taken aboard the Royal Navy escort carrier HMS Shah in 1944 and 1945 while she was with the Eastern Fleet in the Pacific. HMS Shah (D21) was the U.S. escort carrier USS Jamaica (CVE-43) on lend-lease from the United States from 1943 to 1945.

In May 1945 she was tasked with the search for the Japanese heavy cruiser Haguro. Mechanical problems with the catapult resulted in most of 851's Avengers being sent to HMS Emperor in exchange for Hellcats from 800 and 804 Squadron. A serious landing accident by one of those Hellcats effectively removed Shah from operations on 11 May. Nonetheless 851's Avengers, flying from Emperor, were able to locate and damage Haguro, prior to her sinking by the 26th Destroyer Flotilla in Operation Dukedom.

ORIGINAL CAPTION PHOTO #1: "Deck crews fueling Avengers. One is standing by on the catapult." (IWM A 27850)

ORIGINAL CAPTION PHOTO #2: "An Avenger (hook down) being batted in by the deck landing control officer as it nears the end of its approach." (IWM A 27849)

ORIGINAL CAPTION PHOTO #3: "Depth charges being loaded into an Avenger." (IWM A 27852)

ORIGINAL CAPTION PHOTO #4: "On the flight deck of the SHAH, left to right: Lieut. (A) S S Laurie, RNVR, observer; Lieut. Cdr. (A) A M Tuke, DSC, RN, pilot; and CPO F R Brown, Telegraphist air gunner." (IWM A 25686)

ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: "How Malaya’s 'invasion' photographs were taken September 1945, Ceylon. No. 888 Squadron, Royal Navy, took the photographs from which the maps for the invasion of Malaya were made. The East Indies carrier-borne No. 888 squadron, equipped with Hellcat aircraft specially fitted for carrying out photographic reconnaissance work, photographed over 100,000 square miles of Siam, Malaya, and Sumatra. They flew mainly at oxygen height of 30,000 feet, but they also had to photograph the Malayan coast repeatedly, which involved low flying in aircraft which were not armed for combat."

ORIGINAL CAPTION PHOTO #1: "Sub Lieut. (A) S C Richardson, RNVR, of Sale, Cheshire, and Naval Photographer (A) J W Price of Chorlton cum Hardy checking up on a camera before a flight." (IWM A 30769)

ORIGINAL CAPTION PHOTO #2: "Officers of No. 888 Squadron Royal Navy. Left to right: front row: Lieut. Godden; Lieut. Sakhonovsky; the CO Lieut. Cdr. Maccaw; Lieut. Dixon; Lieut. Smyth. Back row: Sub Lieut. Wilson; Lieut. Van Wigk; Lieut. Wallis; Photographic Officers Lieut. Waite; and Sub Lieut. Wilkinson." (IWM A 30766)

ORIGINAL CAPTION PHOTO #3: "The Photographic Officer supervising the fitting of prints into a mosaic." (IWM A 30770)

ORIGINAL CAPTION PHOTO #4: "Lieut J Waite, RNVR, Photographic Officer of the squadron inspecting K18 film." (IWM A 30767)

ORIGINAL CAPTION: "The restored World War II B-25 Mitchell bomber aircraft Heavenly Body takes off as In The Mood, another B-25, stands in the background on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-61)."

The re-enactment of Doolittle's Raid took place on 21 April 1992, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the raid that took place on 18 April 1942. The planes were loaded on the Ranger at NAS North Island and launched after the Ranger got off the coast of San Diego.

The photos are courtesy of NARA and were taken by U.S. Navy Master Chief Photographer's Mate Terry Mitchell and Photographer's Mate First Class Carmen Yebba on 21 April 1992.

Royal Navy FAA Corsair Mk IIs on board the carrier HMS Illustrious in the Indian Ocean with the Eastern Fleet in May of 1944. (IWM A 24278)

I also included a pic of the hangar bay of the American carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) for size comparison. (80-G-13976)

The Hornet pic was taken on 19 October 1941, while the ship was fitting out at her builder's yard (Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.). She was commissioned the next day.

As a side note, Hornet was barely a year old when she was lost at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on 27 October 1942.

Sign me up!

ORIGINAL CAPTION: "Wearing their boots loose, a typical group of US airmen."

This is another of my colorizations. They are posing in front of a VF-71 Wildcat from the USS Wasp (CV-7) at RNAS Hatston in April 1942.

The black-and-white original (IWM A 9443) is the second photo.

ORIGINAL CAPTION PHOTO #1: “Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bombers unfolding their wings as they taxi out for takeoff at HMS SPARROWHAWK.” (IWM A 9441)

ORIGINAL CAPTION PHOTO #2: “A US seaplane, a Curtis SOC-3 Seagull, leaving its hangar, watched by US and British sailors at Royal Naval Air Station Hatston.” (IWM A 9363)

In April 1942, the American carrier USS Wasp (CV-7) participated in “Operation Calendar”, which was the effort to resupply British forces on Malta. After flying off her Devastators and Vindicators to RNAS Hatston in Orkney, Wasp loaded 52 Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V fighters (fitted with long range fuel tanks) of No. 601 and No. 603 Squadron RAF at Glasgow on 13 April and departed the next day.

Her screen consisted of Force W of the Home Fleet – a group that included the battlecruiser HMS Renown and the anti-aircraft cruisers HMS Cairo and Charybdis. The destroyers USS Madison and USS Lang also served in the screen for Wasp.

Once all Spitfires had launched and were flying to Malta, Wasp retired toward Gibraltar. Unfortunately, most of the Spitfires were lost when Axis forces attacked Malta within minutes after they landed.

The early American carriers carried amphibian seaplanes and the SOC is likely from Wasp as well since no other American ships with SOCs participated in "Operation Calendar".

ORIGINAL CAPTION: "The wrecks of B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 390th Bomb Group, salvaged for parts by the Luftwaffe in a bombed-out hangar near Paris. Printed caption on reverse: 'Wrecked Fortress Bombers Found In Paris Hangar.’ The Germans had been stripping the machines for spare parts."

Photo taken on September 11, 1944. (IWM FRE 8283)