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/

A Heinkel He 111 Rolling Towards its Heavily Guarded Revetment

Image size: 1600 x 856 pixel. 399 KB
Date: Between 13 September and 7 October 1944
Place: Varrelbusch Airfield, Cloppenburg, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

A Heinkel He 111 rolling towards its heavily guarded revetment. A groundcrew member looking out of the cockpit gives the pilot instructions to prevent hitting trees and other obstacles. Please note the flame damper on the exhaust pipes and the carrier for the V-1 on the right hand side of the fuselage! This picture was taken between September 13th and October 7th 1944 with 1.Staffel / Kampfgeschwader 53 (KG 53) on Varrelbusch airfield. The Staffel operated from September 16th from this base with V-1’s against England. The V-1’s were to be released over the northsea. The missions were flown at low level to prevent detection by British radar. After release of the flying bomb, the bomb was directed to its target by a fixed bearing and fuel load. The losses of KG 53 were high, mainly caused by Allied nightfighters and bad weather.

Source:

Luftwaffe im Focus - Edition No.1 2002

New Focke-Wulf Fw 190 For JG 51

Image size: 1577 x 1600 pixel. 728 KB
Date: September 1942
Place: Jesau, Ostpreußen, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

Picture taken at Jesau/East Prussia in September 1942 where the I.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51) switched from Messerschmitt Bf 109 to Focke-Wulf 190 A-3 within a couple of days. The Gruppe was pulled back from the Eastern Front early September for retraining on the Fw 190. After a few days they returned to the front with their new aircraft and were operational again on September 6th. Note the yellow under cowling and the emblems of JG 51 and I./JG 51, which have already been applied. The Fw 190 A-3 has no ETC yet. The Fw 190 A-3/U3 was the first of the Jabo (Jagdbomber), using an ETC-501 centre-line bomb rack able to carry up to 500 kg (1,100 lb) of bombs or, with horizontal stabilising bars, one 300 L (80 US gal) drop tank. The U3 retained the fuselage-mounted 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17s and the wing-mounted 20 mm MG 151 cannon, with the outer MG FF being removed.

Source:

Luftwaffe im Focus - Edition No.1 2002
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Wulf_Fw_190

Ground Crew of 301st Fighter Squadron Affix Fuel Tank to P-51C Mustang

Image size: 1600 x 1174 pixel. 459 KB
Date: Friday, 1 September 1944
Place: Ramitelli, Campobosso, Italy
Photographer: Toni Frisell

Technical Sergeant Charles Kemper Haynes of Saint Louis, Missouri (June 14, 1910-April 3, 1995), Staff Sergeant James A. Sheppard of New York, New York (September 20, 1924- ) and Master Sergeant Frank Bradley of Los Angeles, California (1915-????) affix a 75-gallon drop tank "babies" (auxiliary fuel supply) to the bomb shackle on the wing of a North American P-51C Mustang "Yvonne" of the 301st Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, 306th Fighter Wing, 15th Air Force. Contrary to some other captions for this photo, the tanks were mounted empty and then filled. A pint of fuel would be removed before flight, which usually collected the water and contaminants from the tank. Note wear on leading edge of the wing! Sheppard graduated from Haaren High School in New York City as a qualified aviation mechanic in June 1942 and can remember Navy recruiters refusing to meet with the black students after Pearl Harbor. He was immediately sent to Tuskegee when he entered service on October 14, promised pilot training. However, upon arrival he was assigned as a mechanic because he was already certified. Haynes and Bradley completed ground school at either Lincoln, Nebraska or Chicago, Illinois. Soon Sheppard joined the 100th squadron and was sent to Italy, where he remained for the duration of the war. He received a three-week course in the Packard-built Merlin V-16-50 engine, which was used in the P-51. Sheppard remembers that the day of the photo, a United States Army Signal Corps photo unit was shooting film and the other two men came over to help with the fuel tank on camera, which normally was affixed by only one man! If there was no damage to the aircraft, a plane could be readied for its next mission in six hours; oil or ethylene glycol leaks took eight to twelve hours to fix, while a coolant leak took two days, as the entire engine had to be stripped and checked. Often the ground crews would work by floodlight to ready the aircraft for the next day's mission. Contrary to popular myth, beer was not stowed in the fuel tanks for chiling at high altitude; the chance of blocking the fuel line was too great. Sheppard and other crew chiefs complained about the red tail order from General Nathan F. Twining, who wanted his fighters to be easily identifiable in the air, so all groups were assigned tail colors in early 1944. This P-51's red tail can be seen in the upper left of the photo. The ground crews protested this added work, which required constant touch-ups. When Twining sent the order, some of the 332nd fighter group's men wondered if the red color was picked to make the African-American pilots easier targets for the Axis! After the war, Sheppard became a pilot and safety inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as remaining in the Air Force Reserves as a flight engineer, retiring as a Master Sergeant in 1961. 

Source:

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) 208-AA-49E-1-3 

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0020

PFC John T. Fields Checks Ammunition on P-51B Mustang of 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group

Image size: 1600 x 1086 pixel. 465 KB
Date: Friday, 1 September 1944
Place: Ramitelli, Campobosso, Italy
Photographer: Toni Frisell

Original caption: "An armorer of the 15th U.S. Air Force checks ammunition belts of the .50 caliber machine guns in the wings of a P-51 Mustang fighter plane before it leaves an Italian base for a mission against German military targets. The 15th Air Force was organized for long range assault missions and its fighters and bombers range over enemy targets in occupied and satellite nations, as well as Germany itself." This picture shows Private First Class John T. Fields, aircraft armorer of the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, 15th Air Force, checks the magazine feeds of the Browning .50 caliber machine guns on a North American P-51B Mustang. Note the angled guns for optimum armament entry! During the period this photo was taken, the 332nd was engaged in frequent ground strafing of Axis airfields in Hungary, Austria and Italy. Behind Fields is the P-51B Mustang "Stinky II." Before each flight, the plane's armorer would seal the machine guns with tape to prevent moisture from forming ice in the guns at high altitude, which would cause them to jam. Since most of the 332nd's fighters were hand-me-downs from other groups, they were often war-weary aircraft and had frequent malfunctions. The P-51B had four machine guns; the later D-model had six. The 332nd Fighter Group was composed of Afro-American pilots and ground support personnel trained at Tuskegee, Alabama (USA), and the members of the group became collectively known as the "Tuskegee Airmen".

Source:

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) 208-MO-18H-32984 

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0019

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