The "Fifinella" Patch (aka Fifi) was the patch of the Army Air Force Flying Training Detachment worn by the WASP female pilots during WW2. This official mascot was designed by Walt Disney, who kept the copyright. Fifi went to war and was worn in the form of both leather and cloth patches.
WASP (from left) Frances Green, Margaret Kirchner, Ann Waldner and Blanche Osborn leave their B-17, called Pistol Packin' Mama, during ferry training at Lockbourne Army Air Force base in Ohio. They're carrying their parachutes.
WASP (from left) Frances Green, Margaret Kirchner, Ann Waldner and Blanche Osborn leave their B-17, called Pistol Packin' Mama, during ferry training at Lockbourne Army Air Force base in Ohio. They're carrying their parachutes.
A Kamikaze pilot, armed with an uncommon M. Zulaica y Cia Royal 7.65mm caliber pistol. Produced in Spain during the 1920s, it has a long grip frame holding a 12-round higher-capacity magazine. Japanese officers could buy a foreign weapon to use as their personal sidearm.
An M4A1 Sherman of 1st Armored Division on the road to Lucca, 10th March 1945.
A partially smashed up Henschel Hs 129. The Henschel Hs 129 was a World War II ground-attack aircraft fielded by the German Luftwaffe. In combat service the Hs 129 lacked a sufficient chance to prove itself; the aircraft was produced in relatively small numbers and deployed during a time when the Luftwaffe was unable to protect them from attack.
Two members of a Crusader tank’s crew write home before setting off on patrol in the Western Desert, 28 August 1942. Note the mosquito nets round their faces to keep the flies away.
The German SD 2 'Butterfly Bomb' was used on a large scale during the Second World War, and was designed as an anti-personnel/fragmentation weapon. They were delivered by air, being dropped in containers that opened at a predetermined height, thus scattering the bombs. When released, the casing sprang open to form a sort of parachute which also rotated the whole assembly, thus arming the fuze. Several types of fuze could be fitted, ranging from impact to clockwork anti-handling.
A private releases two pigeons that are used in the message center which operates a few miles behind the front lines. He is attached to a Signal Pigeon Company with the 5th Army in Italy. He's standing on a Dodge.
The Medical Officer of No 417 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, Flight Lieutenant H J F Joncas, having a haircut while seated on a five-gallon can.
An amphibious "duck" comes ashore from its landing craft, Normandy, summer 1944.
Portrait of an unidentified American soldier holding a small koala and a bunch of gum leaves. This image was originally published in 'Soldiering On', page 55 and was captioned "Glad to know you". "An American soldier and a koala become good pals".
A German propaganda poster used during World War II. Translated, it reads: "The frontline soldier sees your sacrifice/offering".
PzKpfw VI Ausf. E The tank was given its nickname "Tiger" by Ferdinand Porsche.
Some great background information about the Tiger I tank can be found here.
Some great background information about the Tiger I tank can be found here.
The United States Marines, 3rd Marine Division in Guam, 1945.
Waffen SS Snipers on the Eastern front.
Japanese defector Lt. Minoru Wada, at a B-25 waist position, directs a US airstrike, Philippines 1944.
Ulithi Atoll, home to the 3rd Fleet in late 1944. The land in the foreground is one of several depot islands surrounding the anchorage. More than 100 ships are visible in this photo. -U.S. Navy photo from NARA collection.
An African soldier or 'Askari' on guard duty at No. 23 Air School at Waterkloof, Pretoria, South Africa, January 1943.
Source: Wikipedia
General George Patton, 1943.
Combat in a Latvian village, summer. 1941.
American propaganda poster.
Two Grumman TBM-1 Avengers sent to Britain under Lend Lease to become Tarpons of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm. The Avenger entered U.S. service in 1942, and first saw action during the Battle of Midway. Despite losing five of the six Avengers on its combat debut, it survived in service to become one of the outstanding torpedo bombers of WW2. Greatly modified after the war, it remained in use until the 1960's.
A member of the Royal Observation Corps keeps watch for enemy aircraft, on the South Coast of England. 1940.
An American soldier, in civilian clothes, stands outside his tent in the Aleutian Islands, 1943.. Adorning the entrance are skulls collected by American troops from an earlier settlement on the islands.
A US military policeman talks to two German boy POWs, who have been loaded unto the Jeep for the quick ride to the detention area. Children as young as 12 were often caught in the net of the army in the last few months of the war as manpower shortages had become dramatic. The history of these unfortunate children has yet to be comprehensively told.
German fighters Bf.110F-2 of the fighter squadron JG5 in flight over Finland.
Non-commissioned officer Hans Dobrich from 6./JG5 (6 Squadron 5 th Fighter Squadron) sits on a pinnacle of his “Messerschmitt» Bf.109 at the airport of the city Petsamo (Finland). Four clover - marking II.JG5 (group 2 5 th Fighter Squadron).
American soldiers on a tour of the infamous Buchenwald Concentration Camp at Weimar, Germany, listen to an English speaking prisoner as he tells how the S.S. guards tortured and killed some of his comrades. Many thousands of prisoners were said to have died in this room. They were hanged by their heads from the hooks around the walls and beaten to death. An elevator at the other end of the room hoisted the bodies upstairs to the crematory.
A Soviet soldier prays before the Battle of Kursk, July 1943.
8cm GrW 34 (the standard German mortar) in action.
At the Battle of Sevastopol, in the Crimea, three German soldiers carry a wounded comrade back from the front line. An awesome colorization by Mike Gepp.
A Membra radio set from the Nazi era which could only pick up official Nazi radio stations.
A column of American medical vehicles during the drive towards Rome.
Beautiful color image of the German Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-5 fighters, of Fighter Squadron JG54, during flight, 1943.
