photos « Lone Sentry Blog

Hellcats Aloft

By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on December 26th, 2012%

Chockman frees an F6F preparatory to its rush down flight deck to join other Hellcats already aloft. In operations, teamwork and split-second timing are vital to the success of every mission. (Naval Aviation News, U.S. Navy, Sept. 1944.)

B-26 Marauder “Bar Fly”

By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on December 26th, 2012%

The Martin B-26 Marauder “Bar Fly” from 386th BG, 554th BS photographed over France on its 67th mission. “Bar Fly” reached 175 missions with the 9th Air Force before crashing on takeoff on its 175th mission in January 1945.

Martin B-26 Marauder "Bar Fly" of U.S. 9th Air Force in WW2

(U.S. Air Force Photo)

Voting Overseas, 1944

By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on December 20th, 2012%

Original Caption: MARIANAS IS. — Propped against the wheel of his jeep with a veteran’s happy indifference to mud, bearded S/Sgt Dale Blakeslee of Carson City, Mich., (his last shave was 9 July, 1944), uses a leisure minute to fill out the personal information form on his war ballot. Print rec’d 11/6/44 from BPR. U.S. Air Force Photograph.

Bearded Soldier with Jeep, Marianas, 1944

( U.S. Air Force Photo )

Bulldozer Removes Dummy German Plane

By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on December 19th, 2012%

A bulldozer from the 9th Air Force engineers clears a German dummy plane from a captured airfield on the Cherbourg peninsula of France. (U.S. Air Force Photo.)

Bulldozer, Dummy German Planes, Cherbourg Peninsula

( U.S. Air Force Photo )

P-47 Mascot

By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on December 17th, 2012%

Dog Mascot P-47 Thunderbolt WW2 Color Photo

Unit mascot sits proudly in the nose of a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter. (U.S. Air Force WW2 Photo)

“Battleship X” is the USS South Dakota

By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on November 29th, 2012%

After the Battle of Santa Cruz and Guadalcanal, “Battleship X” is identified as the USS South Dakota. Source: Newsmap, U.S. Army Service Forces, Army Information Branch, October 11, 1943.

“BATTLESHIP X” IS THE USS SOUTH DAKOTA

Because she was the first of a new class of battleships bearing new armament and possessing greatly increased firepower, official Navy communiques did not identify the warship which shot down 32 Jap planes during the Battle of Santa Cruz, Oct. 26, 1942, and sank three Jap cruisers off Guadalcanal Nov. 14, 1942. She was known only as the “Battleship X” until last week, when the Navy identified her as the USS South Dakota. She has three sister ships, the USS Massachusetts, the USS Indiana and the USS Alabama.

Big 16-inch guns enable the South Dakota to knock off enemy ships before they can bring weapons within range.

These Jap torpedo bombers had visions of a second Repulse and Prince of Wales as they skimmed in toward the South Dakota. During the first enemy attack in the Battle of Santa Cruz, 20 out of 20 Jap dive bombers were shot down.

Automatic Bofors and Oerlikon batteries of the South Dakota (center) and the carrier Enterprise (right) put up a shield of hot steel. The Enterprise and her planes accounted for 63 Jap planes during the Battle of Santa Cruz.

This is one of the quadruple automatic 40mm Bofors, mounted on a fast-swinging turret which brings its guns to bear on rapidly moving planes. The new battleships are covered with these 20mm Oerlikons and heavier pieces.

BB in Port

By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on November 27th, 2012%

BB in Port, All Hands Magazine, August 1944. (U.S. Navy Photo.)

XB-26H “Middle River Stump Jumper”

By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on November 13th, 2012%

The Martin XB-26H variant — nicknamed the “Middle River Stump Jumper” — of the Martin B-26 Marauder was a single test aircraft converted for tandem landing gear (“bicycle landing gear”). Th XB-26H was used to test the bicycle gear configuration for possible use on the Martin XB-48 jet bomber. (U.S. Air Force Photograph.)

Martin XB-26H Marauder Bicycle Gear, Middle River Stump Jumper

Martin XB-26H Marauder -- Middle River Stump Jumper (U.S. Air Force Photo)

Panzer IV Color Photo

By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on October 5th, 2012%

Rare color photograph of a camouflaged Panzer IV knocked out in Normandy in 1944. From the markings and camouflage, the Panzer IV appears to be from the German Panzer Lehr Division. U.S. Air Force Photo.

Panzer Lehr Division Panzer IV in Normandy, 1944, WWII

Perfect SB2C Helldiver Landing

By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on July 3rd, 2012%

An example of a “Perfect Landing” by an SB2C Helldiver on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier from Naval Aviation News, March 15, 1945.

Pilot, landing signal officer, Fly 3 officer and hookman function like precision parts of a well-made machine in a perfect carrier landing. A Navy photographer caught this action.

Given a cut by the LSO, an SB2C comes in nicely over the center of the deck; deckmen line the walkway.

Arresting wire halts SB2C as Fly 3 officer and hook man sprint out to plane; teamwork speeds operation.

Fly 3 officer signals “Hold it” while hookman runs in from rear to free Helldiver from the arresting wire.

Fly 3 officer passes plane along to next director, clearing deck for the next plane in traffic pattern.