American Armada at Ulithi Atoll

Image size: 1600 x 1215 pixel. 460 KB
Date: Monday, 1 January 1945
Place: Ulithi Atoll, Caroline Islands, Western Pacific Ocean
Photographer: Unknown

Vast array of American warships just offshore of naval base on Mogmog Island in the Ulithi Atoll, part of the Caroline Islands, 1 January 1945. Ulithi Atoll itself are home to the 3rd Fleet in late 1944. The land in the foreground is one of several depot islands surrounding the anchorage. After World War II many battleships were intentionally sunk rather than taken elsewhere to disassemble. These iron bohemoths lie at the bottom of the Atoll and as they rust their iron content leaks into the seawater changing the very chemistry of the nutrient-poor tropical waters. The occupation of Ulithi by US Naval Fleets during the war changed the Islanders’ way of life dramatically. Entire islands were razed to the ground to make room for Allied Troops. Imported food, culture and language changed the traditional ways of these remote islands. After the war a surplus of boats, fuel, and new technologies like spear-guns radically altered the effectiveness of the Islanders’ fishing techniques.

Source:

http://ulithimarineconservation.ucsc.edu/?page_id=435

http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=52966

Pre-Attack Mosaic of Hiroshima

Image size: 1600 x 915 pixel. 333 KB
Date: Friday, 13 April 1945
Place: Hiroshima Prefecture, Chūgoku-chihō, Japan
Photographer: Staff Sergeant Darwin L. Hull

View of Hiroshima from 33,000 feet (10,058 meters) taken during Mission #141 on April 13, 1945 by Staff Sergeant Darwin L. Hull (August 11, 1916 - May 31, 1984) in F-13A-50-BW 42-24811 of the 3rd Photo Reconnaissance Squadron. This flight of unnamed plane #811, piloted by Lieutenant George J. Benedict (April 19, 1921 - April 17, 1994) and navigated by MacKenzie "Mac" H. Hyman (August 25, 1923 - July 17, 1963) left Depot Field on Guam at 1616 Hours Zebra Time (Greenwich Mean Time, 0216 Guam Time) on April 12, 1945, began climbing to 33,000 feet over the Pacific at 2225 Hours, and made landfall over the coast of Kyushu, Japan at 2334 Hours. #811 proceeded to Kokobu (now part of Kagoshima) at 2345 Hours. The plane appeared over Hiroshima at 0038 (0938 Hours Japan time). Staff Sergeant Hull effected 100% coverage of all primary targets including Hiroshima with little cloud coverage to obscure the city. Hiroshima Prefectural Police noted the approach of a B-29 (actually an F-13A, the photo reconnaissance version of the B-29) at 0938 hours. Yoko Moriwaki (c. 1932 - August 6, 1945), a 13-year-old student at Hiroshima Prefectural Girls High School Number 1, wrote in her diary for April 13, 1945: "Today I saw one of those hated B-29s for the first time. It left a long, beautiful smoke trail, circled once in the sky above Hiroshima and then left. I felt really sad. The air raid signal went off again and we went home at noon." Nobuko Ohshita (c. 1932 - August 6, 1945), also a student at Hiroshima Prefectural Girls High School Number 1, wrote in her diary on April 13, "Today we had another air-raid drill during first period at school. We practiced, doing everything as we had been told yesterday. At the start of the second period, even though no air-raid alert had been issued, B-29s were invading the air over Hiroshima." #811 diverted to Iwo Jima for fuel, landing at 0345 Zebra Time and leaving at 0610. Four and half ours later, the plane landed back at Guam. The film was processed by the 35th Photographic Technical Unit; This unit provided the quantitative reproduction of photographs required by XXI bomber command. It also performed detailed interpretations of the photographs for these units. Strips of film taken by Staff Sergeant Hull were arranged together into an uncontrolled mosaic. An uncontrolled mosaic is formed by joining several overlapping vertical photographs taken at different camera positions. The term is generally applied to an assembly of one or more vertical strips. When the several photographs are oriented with respect to each other, the result is an "uncontrolled mosaic." This provides a good pictorial representation of the ground, but will have errors in scale and azimuth. This view shows the rivers of Hiroshima and vibrant life of the city prior to the atomic attack. Areas indicated are 1.) Hiroshima Bay; 2.) Yamate River; 3.) Fukushima River, filled in in the 1960s; 4.) Temma River; 5.) Hon River; 6.) Motoyasu River; 7.) Kyobashi River; 8.) Enko River; 9.) Ota River; 10.) Epicenter of the August 6, 1945, atomic attack; 11.) Hiroshima Castle, constructed in the late 1500s and the Imperial Army Headquarters, reconstructed in 1958. Both Yoko Moriwaki and Nobuko Ohshita perished in the atomic attack, along with 295 other staff and students of Hiroshima Prefectural Girls High School Number 1. Moriwaki was exposed cleaning up debris from houses destroyed as preventative firebreaks in the Dobashi District, about two thirds of a mile (1 kilometer) from the epicenter. Dying, she was taken to the rubble of her school and died that night. Ohshita was also exposed while cleaning debris from firebreaks and was severely burned. She and a friend crossed three rivers before arriving at Koi School, which became a relief station. Ohshita was taken home to Otake, a nearby city, by a relief worker and died there at midnight. This view was included in the United States Strategic Bombing Survey (USSBS) in a report by the Physical Damage Division in May 1947. The Navigator for mission #141, "Mac" Hyman, went on to write the successful book "No Time For Sergeants" satirizing the Air Force. The book was made into a stage play and film starring Andy Griffith. Later a television series of the same name ran for one season in the Fall of 1964. Thanks to Jeff Rohling, 3rd Photo Recon Yahoo Group, B-29 Superfortress Yahoo Group, and the Hiroshima Peace Museum for their assistance researching this photo. 

Source:

War Department. U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey. Pacific Survey. Physical Damage Division

National Archives (NARA) ARC#540225 Record Group:243

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pre-attack.jpg

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii1450

"Lunar Landscape" Wesel after the bombing

Image size: 1600 x 1234 pixel. 543 KB
Date: Sunday, 1 April 1945
Place: Wesel, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

Wesel is in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district. Wesel became a target of the Allied air forces particularly in its capacity as a strategic depot. Many Germans headed for the Western Front passed through Wesel, using the bridges to cross the Rhine into France. The German town of Wesel was devastated in Allied air raids. As the Allies prepared to cross the Rhine and enter Germany in 1945, the Royal Air Force (RAF) attacked Wesel on February 16 (100 Lancasters of No 3 Group), 17 (247 Halifaxes, 27 Lancasters, 24 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups), and 19 (168 Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out an attack in the railway area). On March 5, 1945, the 116th Panzer division withdrew across the Rhine and detroyed the Rhine bridge behind it. The Germans blew up the Lippe Bridge and the Rhine Railway Bridge, the last in German hands, on March 10. As preparation for Operation Plunder, 3,000 artillery pieces concentrated on Wesel. On March 24, 195 Lancasters and 23 Mosquitos of Nos 5 and 8 Groups made the last raid on Wesel. British Commandos entered and captured the town the next day. 97% of the town was destroyed; the population had fallen from almost 25,000 in 1939 to 1,900 in May 1945! Wesel, an ancient city, was rebuilt in the 1950s.

Source:

National Archives and Recoreds Administration (NARA)

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0013

390th Group B-17 Flying Fortresses Strike Bois-Colombes

Image size: 1600 x 1284 pixel. 602 KB
Date: Friday, 31 December 1943
Place: Paris, Region Parisienne, France
Photographer: Unknown

B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 390th Bomb Group, 13th Bomb Wing, 8th Air Force, unload 500-pound (227-kilogram) general purpose bombs on the Hispano-Suiza engine plant and the Compagnie d'Applications Mécaniques (CAM) ball bearing factory in Bois Colombes outside of Paris, 31 December 1943. Other B-17s attacked the CAM factory in Ivry-Sur-Seine in Southeast Paris. 120 of 125 B-17's hit the industrial areas at 1207-1227 hours; one B-17 was lost, one damaged beyond repair and 49 damaged; casualties are two Wounded in Action and ten Missing in Action. These missions are escorted by 74 P-38's, 441 P-47's and 33 Ninth Air Force P-51's; they claim nine Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed, one probable and one damaged; one P-38, two P-47's and one P-51 are lost; one P-38 and six P-47's are damaged beyond repair and one P-38 is damaged; casualties are three Wounded in Action and two Missing in Action. CAM and Hispano-Suiza were forced into producing equipment for the Luftwaffe. The engine factory at Bois Colombes was converted from making car engines to aircraft engines and first bombed on September 15, 1943. This knocked out the metal hardening facility and all the bearings were shipped to Ivry for finishing. After the attack in this photo, the ball bearing production was moved to mushroom caves near Taverny at great effort and expense. Casings for the Hispano-Suiza engines had to be shipped from the Pyrenees, difficult with the wrecked transport system leading up to Operation Overlord. When Paris is liberated in August 1944, cases of finished engines are found at the Hispano-Suiza plant. There was no transportation to take them to the Luftwaffe.

Source:
National Archives and Recoreds Adminisstration (NARA)
http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0012

German Town Destroyed During Operation Varsity

Image size: 1600 x 1244 pixel. 536 KB
Date: Saturday, 24 March 1945
Place: Hamminkeln/Wesel, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

Photographed from an 8th Air Force Consolidated B-24 Liberator operating in support of the British 6th and American 17th Airborne Divisions engaged in Operation Varsity, this German town, in the path of General Montgomery's armies crossing the Rhine, has been torn by the passing battle. Hardly a building stands undamaged. As part of Field Marshall Sir Bernard Law Montgomery's 21st Army Group's Operation Plunder, these two divisions were air-dropped around the towns of Wesel and Hamminkeln. The B-24s of the 8th Air Force's 2nd Air Division came in around 200 feet (60 meters) to drop ammunition, food and supplies to the paratroopers. The largest one-day airborne operation in history, some 1500 aircraft and gliders participated. Wesel and Hamminkeln were heavily damaged by pre-invasion air bombardment and artillery shelling.

Source:

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) NRE-338-FTL(EF)-2802(6)

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0003