Two US Ground Crew Paint Easter Message to the Bomb

Image size: 1600 x 1199 pixel. 581 KB
Date: Friday, 31 March 1944
Place: Somewhere in Southern Italy
Photographer: Arnoldo Mondadori

Two USSAF ground crewmen paint an "Easter Eggs", which are really AN-M65 1,000 Lb bombs with the message "Happy Easter to Adolph!" in Southern Italy, 31 March 1944. The ground crew were an essential yet forgotten component for the success of bombing campaigns during and throughout the war. They were a rough and tough bunch, usually from rural backgrounds. They liked to play their hamonicas, joke, and have a game of craps like most soldiers during the time. They saw the bomber's as their own and did everything to ensure it was safe and fully capable.

Source :
https://www.agefotostock.com/age/en/Stock-Images/Rights-Managed/MDO-AA323333
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhCL7m6H1SF/

Crew of B-24J 44-40783 Photographed in Front of "Tough Titti"

Image size: 1600 x 1139 pixel. 355 KB
Date: 1944
Place: Liuchow, Guangxi, China
Photographer: Unknown

Crew of B-24J 44-40783 photographed in front of "Tough Titti," a B-24J-155-CO serial number 44-40296. On the evening of August 31, 1944, ten crew members of the 14th Air Force, 308th Bomb Group, 375th Bomb Squadron, lifted off in a Consolidated B-24J-180-CO Liberator serial number 44-40783 from a base in Liuchow, China, on a mission to bomb Japanese ships anchored in Takao Harbor, Formosa. Intercepted by an A6M3 Model 32 Zero-Sen fighter piloted by Chief Petty Officer Takeo Tanimizu of the Tainan Air Group, who shot down B-24J 44-40831 and damaged 40783. On its return flight, it was diverted to an alternate field because Liuchow was under air attack. On its way to the alternate strip, it crashed into Mount Arisan (known as Mount Maoer or Kitten, 6000 feet, 1829 meters) and tumbled into a deep ravine. All aboard were killed. The crew: Pilot, Second Lieutenant George H. Pierpont (Salem, Virginia); Co-Pilot, Second Lieutenant Franklin A. Tomenendale (Shabbona, Illinois); Navigator, Second Lieutenant Robert Deming (Seattle, Washington); Bombardier, Second Lieutenant George A. Ward (Jersey City, New Jersey); Engineer, Staff Sargeant Anthony DeLucia, age 24 (Bradford, Pennsylvania); Radio, Sargeant Ellsworth V. Kelley (Newark, Ohio); Radarman, Private Fred P. Buckley (Garden City, Kansas); Gunner, Staff Sargeant William A. Drager (Washington, New Jersey); Gunner, Sargeant Robert L. Kearsey (McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania); Gunner, Private Vincent J. Netherwood (Kingston, New York), age 20, engaged to be married. On October 2, 1996 two Chinese farmers discovered the crash site 62 miles (100 kilometers) south of Gualin, Guangxi Province. Jiang Zemin, president of the People's Republic of China, presented President Clinton with five identification tags and a video of the crash site during a state visit the next month. The names on the military dog tags included: Buckley, Kelley, Netherwood, Tomenendale and Ward. Four times between 1997 and 1999, a joint U.S.-Chinese team excavated the crash site, recovering numerous pieces of wreckage, personal effects and remains. Using DNA, they identified the crew. Six were buried in Arlington and three in their hometowns.  

Source:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/sunday/2013-07/28/content_16842543.htm

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii1076

U-37 Returned to the Base at Wilhelmshaven

Image size: 1600 x 1025 pixel. 273 KB
Date: Sunday, 18 April 1943
Place: Wilhelmshaven, Niedersachsen, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

On 18 April 1943 the type IX boat U-37 returned to the base at Wilhelmshaven after its fourth patrol. On this mission, the boat had operated off Norway under Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartmann’s (11 December 1902 - 26 April 1903) command as part of Operation “Weserübung”. It hadn’t been as successful though, as during its previous patrols. Having sunk 8 ships on both the 2nd and 3rd sortie, it “only” flew three pennants on its periscope this time. The Viking cry “Westward-ho!”, adorning the conning tower, was adopted by Hartmann for his new boat U-198 that completed its first and only patrol under his command very successfully in 1943. It should be mentioned that Kapitänleutnant Asmus Nicolai Clausen (2 June 1911 - 16 May 1943), former 1st Watch Officer and later captain of the U-37, also used the “Westward-ho!” emblem on it and the other submarines commanded by him, namely U-129 and U-182.

Source:

"U-Boot Im Focus" magazine 2nd edition 2007

http://uboat.net/boats/u37.htm

The crew of B-29 Superfortress 42-24598 "Waddy's Wagon"

Image size: 1600 x 1289 pixel. 684 KB
Date: Friday, 24 November 1944
Place: Isley Field, Saipan, Marianas
Photographer: Unknown

The crew of B-29 Superfortress 42-24598 "Waddy's Wagon", 20th Air Force, 73rd Bomb Wing, 497th Bomb Group, 869th Bomb Squadron, the fifth B-29 to take off on the first Tokyo mission from Saipan on November 24, 1944, and first to land back at Isley Field after bombing the target. Crew members, posing here to duplicate their caricatures on the plane, are : Plane Commander, Captain Walter R. "Waddy" Young, Ponca City, Oklahoma, former All-American end; Lieutenant Jack H. Vetters, Corpus Christi, Texas, pilot; Lieutenant John F. Ellis, Moberly, Missouri, bombardier; Lieutenant Paul R. Garrison, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, navigator; Sergeant George E. Avon, Syracuse, New York, radio operator; Lieutenant Bernard S. Black, Woodhaven, New York, Flight Engineer; Sergeant Kenneth M. Mansie of Randolph, Maine, Flight Technician; and gunners - Sargeants Lawrence L. Lee of Max, North Dakota; Wilbur J. Chapman of Panhandle, Texas; Corbett L. Carnegie, Grindstone Island, New York; and Joseph J. Gatto, Falconer, New York. All were killed when "Waddy's Wagon" was shot down attempting to guide a crippled B-29 back to safety during a mission against the Nakajima aircraft factory in Musashino, Japan on January 9, 1945. 

Source:

National Archives (NARA) Identifier 292576

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Air_Force_personnel_%5Eamp,_equipment._The_Pacific,_England,_Wash._DC._1942-44_%28mostly_1943%29_-_NARA_-_292576.jpg

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii1017

Children Playing with Panzer Tiger in France

Image size: 1600 x 1163 pixel. 522 KB
Date: Late 1944
Place: Strasbourg, France
Photographer: Unknown

Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf.E (Sd.Kfz.181) turmnummer 222 of schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503 in front of the Palais Rohan in Strasbourg, France, late 1944. This is a very early production vehicle and still wearing transport tracks. The 2.Kompanie/schwere Panzer-Abteilung 504 was sent to Sicily in April 1943. These first 9 Tigers were joined by two replacement Tigers that were supposed to go to the schwere Panzer-Abteilung 501 in Africa and 6 more to reinforce the island. 10 were destroyed by Naval Gunfire and 6 scuttled to prevent capture. Only Tiger #222 escaped to Italy. Details: 17/08/1943: The last operating Tiger, number 222, was ferried across the Stretto di Messina. The unit lost all the other Tigers in Sicily; 22/08/1943: After some days, Tiger 222 had to be abandoned too, due to a mechanical breakdown in the winding roads of Calabri.

Source:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152110867560752&set=o.303273499761263&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf

B-17G Flying Fortress "Big Yank" of 483rd Bombardment Group

Image size: 1600 x 1285 pixel. 283 KB
Date: Sunday, 25 March 1945
Place: Sterparone, Foggia, Italy
Photographer: Unknown

Douglas-built B-17G-50-DL Flying Fortress "Big Yank" (#44-6405) of the 15th Air Force, 483rd Bombardment Group, 840th Bombardment Squadron, is shown sometime after its 30th mission in March 1945. The names Ken/Jack-D appear on the chin turret. Assigned to the 15th Air Force on August 17, 1944, Italian artist Mario Rucci was commissioned by the plane's crew chief, Irvin H. Davis, to paint the visage of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. On March 24, 1945, this plane was commanded by Lieutenant William S. Strapko for an attack on Berlin, the longest escorted bombing mission of World War II. Jumped by Messerschmitt Me-262 jet fighters, "Big Yank's" top turret gunner, Staff Sergeant Howard Wehner, shot down one and tail gunner, Staff sergeant Lincoln Broyhill, shot down two. "Big Yank" shared credit for a fourth aircraft probably shot down. The aircraft carried crews home from 50 missions before the surrender of Germany. The 840th was disbanded in Pisa, Italy in September 1945 and the aircraft returned to the United States as part of the "Green Project" that returned American servicemen home. Later "Big Yank" was converted for Air-Sea Rescue duty, and dropped a life raft to at least one pilot in the Adriatic. She was scrapped in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas on December 28, 1945.

Source:

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) NLR-PHOCO-A-8658

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0008