New Carrier, 4/22/1944. New York, N.Y. – The U.S.S. Bon Homme Richard, 27,100-ton Essex Class aircraft carrier, will be launched Sat., April 29, at the New York Navy Yard. Mrs. John S. McCain, wife of Vice Adm. McCain, USN, will be the sponsor. The new carrier, named for the Continental frigate made famous by Capt. John Paul Jones, is the second carrier built at the yard in Brooklyn. Credit: US Navy Photo from ACME;
”THOUGHT WARFARE” –JAP STYLE, 4/27/1944. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Jap propagandists, in a “thought warfare” offensive against American and Australian troops, are using political and pornographic cartoons in a not too subtle attempt to follow the Nazi “divide and conquer” technique. The propaganda—pornographic, nostalgic, and other morale-ebbing methods – is designed to undermine the emotional security of the soldier by representing his wife as unfaithful and the home-front as complacent, well-fed and above all, unconcerned about the fate of men in uniform. The leaflets were made available by the OWI Foreign New Bureau. Credit: ACME;
JAP PROPAGANDA, 4/27/1944. WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a not too subtle fashion to follow the Nazi “divide and conquer” technique, Japanese propagandists are using political and pornographic cartoons in an effort to split the Allies and undermine soldier morale. Some cartoons are designed to undermine confidence in Allied leaders. The one above refers to President Roosevelt as “America’s No. 1 Playboy.” It shows the Chief Executive pushing a soldier in front of a Jap cannon. The leaflets were made available by the OWI Foreign News Bureau. Credit: ACME;
Unwelcome Neighbors, 4/13/1944. GREAT MEADOWS, NJ—Five Japanese Evacuees who thought they might have a chance to start anew on the muckland Farms of New Jersey’s Warren County, packed up their bags and prepared to leave Great meadows as outraged farmers threatened to run them out with shotguns, if necessary. Placed on the farm of Edward Kowalick on a tenant basis by the War Relocation Authority, the Japanese didn’t have a chance to prove their loyalty before irate neighbors, many of whom have relatives in the service, demanded that they be ousted. Kowalick yielded to the pressure of his neighbors after his shed, holding seven tons of fertilizer, burned down causing $800 damage. Here is a sign on route 6 erected by protesting farmers, pointing in the direction of the Kowalick Farm. John Nykun, a recently discharged Great Meadows soldier, points in the same direction as the sign. Credit: ACME;
China's Youth On The March, 4/17/1944. CHUNGKING – in celebration of Youth Day, March 28th representatives of all Chin’s young groups gathered at this huge field in Chungking to demonstrate their strength and spirit. In spite of rainy weather and a water drenched marching ground, the ceremonies were an impressive sight.Credit: ACME. Photo by Frank Cancellare;
UNWELCOME NEIGHBORS, 4/13/1944. GREAT MEADOWS, N.J.—Five Japanese evacuees who thought they might have a chance to start anew on the muckland farms of New Jersey’s Warren County, packed their bags and prepared to leave Great Meadows as outraged farmers threatened to run them out with shotguns, if necessary. Working on the farm of Edward Kowalick (left), on a tenant basis, where they were placed by the War Relocation Authority, the Japanese have been forced out by the protests of neighbors—and a fire in Kowalick’s shed, which sent seven tons of fertilizer up in flames, caused damages estimated at $800, and proved that the neighbors meant business. The ousted evacuees are: (left to right) Eddie Taniguchi, Frank Kitadawa, Ted Midmura, George Yamamoto and T. Matsumoto.Credit: Acme;
Air “Squeeze Play” on Axis, 4/24/1944. Sardinia – Hitler’s “Festung Europa” today, is being shattered and rocked by the greatest concentration of aerial might the world has ever seen. Day after day, in mounting numbers and with ever-increasing ferocity, huge masses of Allied bombers and fighters are blasting German war plants, communications, and airfields into crumbling and smoking ruin in preparation for “D-Day” – and Allied invasion. These aerial armadas have occupied Europe in a gigantic pincers, with one “leg” in England, and the other in Italy and Sardinia. This series of photos shows U.S. B-26 Marauders taking off and operating from Allied fields in Sardinia, against the Southern Coast of France. Their target was the Var River railroad bridge near Nice. ---Here, the Marauders approach their target in tight, compact groups. Credit: (ACME Photo by Charles Seawood for the War Picture Pool);
Old Glory and Awards in Sunny Italy, 4/14/1944. Nettuno, Italy—Old Sol paid his respects and sunny Italy lived up to her name as Old Glory was unfurled at ceremonies for the presentation of Silver Star Medals to soldier heroes of the fighting in the beachhead area around Nettuno, Italy. Credit: ACME.;
The “Nineties” Reach Iceland, 4/24/1944. Iceland—Under USO auspices “The Doughgirls and the Drunkard,” a melodrama with music, staged a six-months engagement at a base in Iceland. On stage (left to right) are: Pvt. Michael Eppolito, N.Y.C.; Miriam Stovall, Vienna, Ga.; Betty McCabe, Boston, Mass.; Molly Dodd, Hollywood, Calif.; and Parker McCormick, N.Y.C. Throughout their entire stay, the girls were never at a loss for an enthusiastic audience. Credit: ACME.;
Nazi Duds, 4/14/1944. SOMEWHERE IN ITALY – The 280mm shell at left is the largest German dud to land on an Allied beachhead in Italy. Weighing 550 pounds, it is 11 1/8 inches in diameter and, with its nose cap (not shown) it stands 49 inches high. The dud is shown with two other shells, a 170mm and a 150mm, which landed without exploding. Credit (U.S. Army Radiotelephoto from ACME);
Bombs Away – Over Romania, 4/29/1944. Romania has felt the weight of our air might before. This picture was taken during a recent raid by the 15th Army Air Force on the marshalling yards at Ploesti. A B-24 Liberator is seen dropping its load of eggs on it’s target. Ten bombs may be seen descending. Credit: Army Radio telephoto from ACME;
Bombs Away – Over Romania, 4/29/1944. Romania has felt the weight of our air might before. This picture was taken during a recent raid by the 15th Army Air Force on the marshalling yards at Ploesti. A B-24 Liberator is seen dropping its load of eggs on it’s target. Ten bombs may be seen descending. Credit: Army Radio telephoto from ACME;
They Won’t Do Hitler Any Good Now, 4/30/1944. ITALY—Looking a little sheepish, but not at all despondent over the prospect of spending the remainder of the war in a U.S. prisoner of war camp, these German captives are marched to the rear of the U.S. lines on the beachhead area. They were captured by an American-Canadian raiding party in the pre-dawn mission on the beachhead, and turned over to an M.P. to be taken back from the front. The fact that they are no longer available to “fight and to die for the Feuhrer” is probably the reason for the despairing expressions in their faces. Credit: ACME.;
Homeward Bound!, 4/29/1944. Billows of black smoke rising skyward tell the tale of a mission accomplished, and the trim body of this A-20 Havoc attack bomber turns tail and heads for her English base after hitting at Nazi installations on the continent. These fast, light bombers have been operating out of England for several weeks, and their success marks them for an important part in the coming invasion. Credit: Official U.S. ARMY AIR FORCES Photo from ACME.;
Greets Crew of His Namesake Plane, 4/13/1944. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, has a grin and a handshake for the crew of "General Ike", newest model B-17 G Silver Flying Fortress, as he christens the ship during an inspection tour of the base. This latest B-17 is unpainted, and thus gains in speed due to less weight and friction loss. To the right of Gen. Eisenhower is Col. Claude E. Putnam, Jacksboro, Texas, group Commanding Officer. Credit (US Army Radiotelephoto from ACME);
HOSPITAL [illegible], 4/8/1944. ANZIO, ITALY—Surveying the damage done to an American evacuation hospital at Anzio when German shells pounded the mercy encampment mercilessly, are: (left to right) Pvt Tom Botley and T/5 Jack Horn, both of Chicago, Ill. The latter holds a shrapnel-riddled hospital blanket.Credit: Signal Corps Radiotelephoto from Acme;
MOBILE RADIO STATION “GETS AROUND”, 4/19/1944. ITALY—War weary men and women of the Allied Fifth Army in Italy are mighty proud of their mobile radio station, officially known as the Fifth Army Mobile American Expeditionary Station, which gets its music and its “big time” programs to them wherever they are—in the front lines, or in rest camps. The hard working crew that moves the station’s ten-unit “circus caravan” of jeeps and trailers, and 2-1/2 ton trucks to various points in the combat area making sure that every group is reached at least once a day, have the moving operation down to a fine point. They can take the station down, move it 50 miles (which is the range of the transmitter), and set it up again, all within less than two hours. Here, in the studio on wheels, T/Sgt. Barney Weadlock, of New York City, the chief announcer, gives out with GI gags on the “old Oaken Bucket” all-request program.Credit: Acme photo by Sherman Montrose for the War Picture Pool;
BAZOOKA “MUSIC” FOR NAZIS, 4/19/1944. ITALY—Allied Infantrymen, (left), use a bazooka to blast Germans from this farmhouse (right, background), along the Anzio front. The weapon, (on shoulder of man at far left), has just fired a shell which can be seen exploding to the left of the house.Credit: U.S. Signal Corps Radiotelephoto;
HIS RIFLE “HAS 40 NOTCHES”, 4/19/1944. NETTUNO, ITALY—Pvt. Alton W. Knappenberger, 20, of Spring Mount Pa., cleans the automatic rifle with which he recently killed about 40 Germans during a hour and a half “blitz” on the Nettuno Beachhead Front. During the skirmish, he fired 600 rounds of ammunition killing a German officer and seven men who ordered him to surrender, and played havoc with other Nazis in the vicinity. He is the latest to be given the term, “One Man Army.”Credit: U.S. Signal Corps Radiotelephoto from Acme;
MOBILE RADIO STATION “GETS AROUND”, 4/19/1944. ITALY—War weary men and women of the Allied Fifth Army in Italy are mighty proud of their mobile radio station, officially known as the Fifth Army Mobile American Expeditionary Station, which gets it [sic] music and its “big time” programs to them wherever they are—in the front lines, or in rest camps. The hard working crew that moves the station’s ten-unit “circus caravan” of jeeps and trailers, and 2-1/2 ton trucks to various points in the combat area making sure that every group is reached at least once a day, have the moving operation down to a fine point. They can take the station down, move it 50 miles (which is the range of the transmitter), and set it up again, all within less than two hours. Here, Maj. Francis L. McAloon, (left), of 67 Bridgeham St., Providence, R.I., who first proposed the idea of a mobile station in North Africa a year ago and developed the Fifth Army station, looks over “spot” news on the station’s teletype with 2nd Lt. Vern Canstensen, of 211-1/2 Second Ave., Clinton, Ia., who is in charge of the station.Credit: Acme photo by Sherman Montrose for the War Picture Pool;
MOBILE RADIO STATION “GETS AROUND”, 4/19/1944. ITALY—War weary men and women of the Allied Fifth Army in Italy are mighty proud of their mobile radio station, officially known as the Fifth Army Mobile American Expeditionary Station, which gets it [sic] music and its “big time” programs to them wherever they are—in the front lines, or in rest camps. The hard working crew that moves the station’s ten-unit “circus caravan” of jeeps and trailers, and 2-1/2 ton trucks to various points in the combat area making sure that every group is reached at least once a day, have the moving operation down to a fine point. They can take the station down, move it 50 miles (which is the range of the transmitter), and set it up again, all within less than two hours. Here, a Fifth Army band set up before the station “somewhere in Italy,” furnishes a swing concert for Combat Engineers of the 337th Battalion, who call a halt to listen. At the same time, the music is broadcast by the station.Credit: Acme photo by Sherman Montrose for the War Picture Pool;
THROUGH BATTLE’S SMOKE, 4/9/1944. CASSINO—The smoke of battle still lingering on the scene, New Zealand infantrymen search a partially-demolished house in Cassino as they look for enemy snipers during the heavy fighting for possession of the German stronghold. Cassino has turned out to be the toughest single point in the entire Italy-Sicily campaign.Credit: Acme;
SORROWFUL FAREWELL, 4/21/1944. ON THE FIFTH ARMY BEACHHEAD—A mixture of sorrow and anger appears on Pfc. Earl H. Brandell’s face as the covers the bodies of two of his fighting friends who were killed by Nazi machine gun fire. The soldiers were killed during attack by Allied 5th Army infantrymen on enemy positions in the Anzio beachhead area in Italy. Brandell is from Fort Atkinson, Wis.Credit: US Army photo from Acme;
Yank "Triphibian" Attack, 4/24/1944. This photo, just released in the U.S., shows four American warships executing a maneuver to port forming a battle column in which the vessels' maximum fire power may be brought to bear of Jap installations at Kavieng, New Ireland. This was part of the "triphibian" attack by land, sea, and air on Kavieng, and at Emirau in the St. Matthias Islands, last March 19. While fleet units blasted Kavieng as a feint, Marines landed at Emirau. Credit: ( U.S. Navy Photo from ACME);
The Value of Precision Bombing, 4/24/1944. MARSEILLES, FRANCE -- Smoke billows upward from direct hits upon Nazi submarine pens at Marseilles, because of the bombardier's deadly aim and accuracy, only the objectives were hit, and the rest of the city remained intact. Thus, the months of training that bombardier cadets have undergone has resulted in a minimum of destruction to the parts of bombed cities in which there are no military objectives. Credit (US Army Air Forces Photo from ACME);
Newcomers Join the Vets, 4/12/1944. Three new Flying Fortresses, their silver sides flashing in the sun, (lower-right), thunder along with their olive-drab-painted formation mates, headed for another historic "obliteration attack" on Berlin. Camouflage paint has been eliminated from new Fortresses saving some 50 to 100 pounds in weight and adding 5 to 10 miles per hour. Credit: (U.S.A.A.F. Photo from ACME);
Nazi "Reminder", 4/27/1944. ANZIO, ITALY -- The camera catches the explosion of a Nazi shell, which throws a column of water high into the air narrowly missing an amphibious DUCK headed for the beach at Anzio. The shell served as a reminder to Allied forces operating the beachhead supply line that they are still within range -- and within danger. The DUCK in the foreground is heavily loaded with supplies, while the others, (background), are empty and headed out to transports for a refill. Credit Line (U.S. Navy Photo from ACME);
One-Two Bombing Technique, 4/16/1944. GERMANY -- Using a boxer's system of hitting his opponent with successive blows so that he does not have a change to recover from the first blow, the Eighth Air Force returned to Schweinfurt on April 13th to stop rebuilding efforts on ball bearing plants there after the February raids. The Flying Forts met heavy enemy opposition. Credit (Signal Corps Radiotelephoto from ACME);
Bombed Tirpitz Spouts Flames, 4/15/1944. NORWAY -- The wake from a fast-moving motor boat as she hurries away from the battered German battleship Tirpitz can be seen (upper left) as a huge cloud rises from an early hit on the battleship. Barracuda bombers, escorted by Seafire, Corsairs, Hellcat, and Wildcat fighters from aircraft carriers, carried out the successful mission as the Tirpitz lay in the Kaa Fiord, Norway. Credit Line (ACME);
Fortress in Peril, 4/5/1944. BERLIN – Smoke pouring from the flames in one of its engines, a Flying Fortress continues in formation over Berlin during the U.S. 8th Air Force raid on the Nazi city on March 22nd. Intense flak met our warbirds over the target area, but there was no fighter opposition at all.Credit Line (Acme);
Time Out from War, 4/10/1944. NAPLES, ITALY – These U.S. soldiers take time out from the battle field to inject a little American tradition on to the streets of Naples, Italy. Walking along Via Roma with three local signorinas in typical Easter parade fashion are Pfc. Arnold Middendorf, Dubuque, Iowa, Pfc. Walter Sakala, Newark, N.J. and Pfc. Don Allen, Woonsocket, S.D. Credit Line (OWI Radio Photo from Acme);
Beaufighters at Work, 4/10/1944. Smoke can be seen rising from a German 3,000-ton merchant ship after being raked by Beaufighter cannon fire. The ship was part of a large German convoy attacked by a Beaufighter strike wing of RAF Coastal Command off Friesian Islands, March 29. Two ships were hit by torpedoes and at least three others were damaged.Credit Line (Acme);
This May Be Your Blood, 4/25/1944. ANZIO, ITALY – Blood plasma is giving this soldier, hit by German shrapnel, another chance to get out and in the fight again. Capt. Robert Stith, of Florence, S.C., injects the needle as Lt. Gladys Pilger, Buffalo, N.Y., pours the plasma into the tube. The whole personnel of this evacuation hospital, although it is under almost continuous shell fire, works calmly and does its job thoroughly. Credit (Acme) (WP);
Air “Squeeze Play” on Axis (#3), 4/24/1944. SARDINIA – Hitler’s “Festung Europa” today, is being shattered and rocked by the greatest concentration of aerial might the world has ever seen. Day after day, in mounting numbers and with ever-increasing ferocity, huge masses of Allied bombers and fighters are blasting German war plants, communications, and airfields into crumbling and smoking ruin in preparation for “D Day” – and Allied invasion. These aerial armadas have occupied Europe in a gigantic pincers, with one “leg” in England, and the other in Italy and Sardinia. This series of photos shows U.S. B-26 Marauders taking off and operating from Allied fields in Sardinia, against the Southern Coast of France. Their target was the Var River railroad bridge near Nice. ---Here, high over the coastline of Sardinia, the Marauders in groups of six, roar toward Southern France.Credit Line (Acme Photo by Charles Seawood from the War Picture Pool);
Air “Squeeze Play” on Axis (#1), 4/24/1944. SARDINIA – Hitler’s “Festung Europa” today, is being shattered and rocked by the greatest concentration of aerial might the world has ever seen. Day after day, in mounting numbers and with ever-increasing ferocity, huge masses of Allied bombers and fighters are blasting German war plants, communications, and airfields into crumbling and smoking ruin in preparation for “D Day” – and Allied invasion. These aerial armadas have occupied Europe in a gigantic pincers, with one “leg” in England, and the other in Italy and Sardinia. This series of photos shows U.S. B-26 Marauders taking off and operating from Allied fields in Sardinia, against the Southern Coast of France. Their target was the Var River railroad bridge near Nice.---Here, in groups of three, the marauders roar into the takeoff. Credit Line (Acme Photo by Charles Seawood for the War Picture Pool);
Air “Squeeze Play” on Axis (#2), 4/24/1944. SARDINIA – Hitler’s “Festung Europa” today, is being shattered and rocked by the greatest concentration of aerial might the world has ever seen. Day after day, in mounting numbers and with ever-increasing ferocity, huge masses of Allied bombers and fighters are blasting German war plants, communications, and airfields into crumbling and smoking ruin in preparation for “D Day” – and Allied invasion. These aerial armadas have occupied Europe in a gigantic pincers, with one “leg” in England, and the other in Italy and Sardinia. This series of photos shows U.S. B-26 Marauders taking off and operating from Allied fields in Sardinia, against the Southern Coast of France. Their target was the Var River railroad bridge near Nice.---Here, in Marauders swing into formation above their base.Credit Line (Acme Photo by Charles Seawood for the War Picture Pool);
Mission Accomplished, 4/23/1944. ITALY – Clouds of black smoke billow skyward and shroud the target after a Mediterranean Allied Air Forces raid by B-26 Marauders had successfully bombed out the strategic structure. Returning pilots and bombardiers reported an excellent concentration of bombs on this 11-span viaduct at Arezzo, Italy. USAAF Photo from Acme;
Italian Crew and Gun Aid Allied, 4/23/1944. ITALY – An Italian gun crew swabs out its 194mm railroad gun. The gun is in use helping in the Allied offensive on the Cassino front. Its 25 man crew has proved invaluable aid for the Allied cause.Signal Corps Photo from Acme;
Invasion Caution in Belgium, 4/23/1944. BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – The “underground” in Belgium during the first World War proved itself one of the most effective forces against the Kaiser’s troops of all the little groups of patriots fighting, through sabotage, the German hordes. Belgian patriots have proved to be no exception today. The Gestapo has found suppression of sabotage more and more difficult. On the eve of the opening of the Second Front the jittery Nazis have started a systematic search of all civilians in Brussels, permitting only those with identity cards in order to go free, allowing, of course, that they are not carrying guns. Photo shows a Belgian policeman, acting on orders from the Gestapo, searching the pockets of a civilian during a night swoop in the blacked-out streets of Brussels.Credit Line (Acme;
Germans Pass Through Allied Wake, 4/23/1944. ITALY – This photo which reached New York from Lisbon shows, according to the caption accompanying the picture, “German shock troops passing through the street of an Italian town in the Nettuno bridgehead area.” The rubble and ruin was caused by “a heavy Anglo-American Navy artillery bombardment March 24.”Credit Line (Acme);
Destruction Follows German Troops, 4/23/1944. ITALY – Caption accompanying this picture received in New York from Lisbon described it as made in an “upper Italian town.” A German police unit which occupied a castle there “was attacked by a group of partisans who had taken possession of the town and besieged the German force for ten days.” A German relief unit is shown making its way through the battle-scarred streets of the partisan-held town.”Credit Line (Acme);
Blast Nazi Airdrome, 4/21/1944. HOLLAND – Marauder bombers (B-26) of the U.S. Army 9th Air Force head for home as their bombs explode on the Nazi-held Schipol Airdrome at Amsterdam, Holland. One of the largest and heavily defended airfields in Europe our air force has successfully attacked it many times.USAAF Photo from Acme;
Shells for Guns in Italy, 4/22/1944. ANZIO, ITALY – Hitler’s troops at the Italian front are to be the eventual recipients of this “present” for our fighting men in Italy. An American LST is shown approaching Anzio harbor with trucks loaded with shells to provider “gun fodder” for Fifth Army guns on the Anzio front. Credit Line (Acme);
Anzio in Ruins After Heavy Battle, 4/22/1944. ANZIO, ITALY – Enemy resistance met by the Yanks when they stormed Anzio was heavy, as evidenced by the ruins in this street scene. Continuous shelling made a shambles of this street, which was in perfect conditions when the troops landed. in the foreground, a wounded soldier is being placed on a stretcher. Credit (Acme) (WP);
In the Tombs of the Ancient, 4/22/1944. NETTUNO, ITALY – When the Allied forces reached Nettuno, they found underground headquarters already built for them. The ancient catacombs make excellent living and working quarters for the men. The niches in the walls, formerly used to hold wine barrels, have been converted into bedrooms or offices. Note the calendar by the captain’s table, with the days carefully X’d out. Credit (Acme) (WP);
Detour on Anzio Beachhead, 4/22/1944. ANZIO, ITALY – Blown up into uselessness by the retreating enemy, the permanent bridge over the Mussolini Canal has been replaced by a temporary one built by the Allies to carry supplies to their forward lines. The Germans are entrenched in an area five hundred yards from the Canal.Credit (Acme) (WP);
A Narrow Escape, 4/22/1944. ANZIO, ITALY – A few yards more and the bomb which dug this huge crater in the foreground would have landed right on the International Red Cross sign designating a hospital area. Although each tent is clearly marked with the Red Cross, the area has been shelled, strafed, and bombed by the enemy. Credit (Acme) (WP);
“Rest Camps” for Allies, 4/22/1944. ANZIO, ITALY – Though they may appear so, these pillboxes and crawl trenches in the British sector at Anzio are not part of the front lines, but are used by men taking a two day rest from the front. They are only 600 yards from the battle locale, but the pillboxes are protected from enemy observation by a slight rise in ground.;
Battleship Tirpitz in Flames, 4/7/1944. NORWAY – Huge clouds of smoke rise from the German battleship Tirpitz after a hit near the bow. Wake of motorboat leaving ship shows faintly in left center. The British raided the ship April 3 at Alten Fjord, Norway. Hitler’s navy, what’s left of it, has yet to present itself, in any force, for battle.Credit Line (Acme Radiophoto);
Nazi Tank in Rome, 4/5/1944. ROME – Passersby stop to stare as a huge tank, manned by Nazi personnel, rumbles through the streets of Rome, according to the German caption received with this photo. Picture was obtained through a neutral source.Credit Line (Acme);
“Home, Sweet Home” in Italy, 4/3/1944. ITALY – Sgt. Vernon Dennis, (left), of Northome, Minn., and Pvt. Harry Boone, (right), of Oneonta, N.Y., warm themselves before the fire in their “home away from home” – the mayor’s house in a tiny Italian village, where the two members of a U.S. Army Photographic unit are quartered. The mayor’s wife, (center), has done her best to make the lads comfortable and has even allowed them to display their favorite collection of pinup girls on the walls and over the fireplace.Credit Line (U.S. Army Official Photo from Acme);
Mt. Vesuvius Erupts Its Terror, 4/8/1944. NAPLES, ITALY – Gigantic cloud of smoke swells in ascendancy, like some huge jinni, from the Aladdin’s lamp that is Mt. Vesuvius. The city of Naples rests in the foreground. Credit Line (Acme);
Anzio Hospital Bombed, 4/3/1944. Italy – Allied soldiers clean up the debris after the Germans bombed the U.S. Evacuation hospital at Anzio. The bombing resulted in killing two and wounding 56 at the beachhead. Credit (U.S. Army Radiotelephoto from Acme);
Any Shelter In Port Of Storm, 4/11/1944. Italy – Two American engineers use a derelict boat as protection from shrapnel as German teller mines explode in background. Sappers are making beachheads safe from German mines and barbed wire. Credit Line (US Army Radiotelephoto From ACME) 4/11/44;
Easter Bonnets For Free, 4/1/1944. Germany – Women in Frankfurt have quite a time with their new bonnets which they looted from a train carrying wine and clothing. Train was halted by an Allied air attack on area and was wiped clean of its cargo Credit Line (ACME);
Allies Hit German Communications, 4/1/1944. ITALY - An unidentified village near the Nettuno area on the Ialian front is shown after the Allies blasted German communications system in that area. The Allies are showing success in hitting German military targets on the Italian front.;
ACCIDENT AT THE FRONT, 4/1/1944. CASSINO, ITALY—At a corner of the road leading to Cassino from the north, a jeep and an ambulance, both riddled with shrapnel, are “piled up”. Enemy shells burst amid the wreckage all around the crashed vehicles. Reports from Cassino indicate that the months-long stalemate on this front may be at an end, with the Allies smashing forward in a three-pronged drive designed to outflank German troops at Cassino. Credit: Acme;
THEY DIED FOR VICTORY, 4/19/1944. ADMIRALTY ISLANDS—These three heroic Americans gave their lives so that the Japs might be driven from the Admiralty Island and a new step taken on the road to victory in the Pacific. They lie on litters at a first aid station in the Papitalia Area, where they died from battle wounds. Four of their buddies prepare them for removal to the rear. Credit: Signal Corps photo through OWI from Acme;
ALL THE COMFORTS—, 4/7/1944. MAINGKWAN, BURMA—Chinese officers, members of the valiant Allied force fighting under General Stilwell in Burma, set up housekeeping in the ruins of a temple at Maingkwan. Two men work at an impromptu desk at left, while a third fixes the “bed” in center. Bedclothes and wash hang from lines strung between the supports of the shattered building. Credit: Acme;
Mobile Radio Station “Gets Around”, 4/19/1944. Italy – War weary men and women of the Allied Fifth Army in Italy are mighty proud of their mobile radio station, officially known as the Fifth Army Mobile American Expeditionary Station, which gets its music and its “big time” programs to them wherever they are – the front lines, or in rest camps. The hard working crew that moves the station’s ten-unit “circus caravan” of jeeps and trailers, and 2 ½ ton trucks to various points in the combat area making sure that every group is reached at least once a day, have the moving operation down to a fine point. They can take the station down, move it 50 miles (which is the range of the transmitter), and set it up again, all within less than two hours. Here, the “Voice of the Fifth Army” is all packed up and ready to move. Salvaged enemy equipment and material played a big part of constructing the outfit. (Passed by Censors) Credit: ACME photo by Sherman Montrose for the War Picture Pool;
Railway Guns Blast Nazi Strongholds, 4/18/1944. Cassino Front, Italy – Firing over a range of 10 miles, the first railway guns went into action against the Germans on the Fifth Army Front. The three big guns belong to a Battery of an Armored Regiment of the Italian Army, and were manned by Italian soldiers. German strongholds received blast after blast from these big 194mm caliber weapons. Credit: ACME;
Battleship Tirpitz in Flames, 4/15/1944. Norway – Smoke screens fail to hide the German battleship Tirpitz from the waves of Baracuda Bombers that crippled the vessel hiding in Kaa Fiord, Norway. Scores of carrier-based fighters formed the escort for the bombers in their successful mission. Credit: ACME;
Helicopter to the Rescue, 4/18/1944. NEW YORK CITY -- The Third Naval District's air arm of the U.S. Coast Guard is now using helicopters for patrol and rescue assignments. While such uses are admittedly in experimental stages, Coast Guardsmen have found that, particularly in the case of rescue work, the little plane is speedier and eliminates much of the rough handling unavoidable in other methods of rescue. In a recent demonstration (above) the helicopter delivers a "wounded" flier picked up from the sea to the very door of the dispensary. The plane descends slowly, vertically so that there is very little jarring. Credit: (Coast Guard Photo from ACME);
Yanks Blast Japs at Palau, 4/11/1944. This photo, flashed to the U.S. by Radiotelephoto, shows three Jap ships burning at Palau, (At top, center; lower center; and lower right) during the three-day attack by a huge armada of U. S. Pacific Fleet units on Palau, Yap, Woleai, and Ulithi Islands. In the attack—the greatest American Naval victory since Midway—46 Nip ships were sunk or damaged and 214 enemy planes destroyed. Credit: U.S. Army Radiotelephoto from Acme;
Air Commandos Outwit Japs, 4/20/1944. Burma—In a recent daring infiltration behind Jap lines in Burma, the 1st Air Commando Force, commanded by Col. Philip J. Cochran, USAAF, landed men in gliders to construct an airfield, then transferred the troops of Maj. Gen. Orde C. Wingate’s British Command to the field in transport planes. Gen. Wingate has since been killed in combat. Here, where they were landed behind Jap lines, and some 200 miles from Imphal, India, where the British and Japs are now locked in battle, some of the Commandos are hard at work on the airfield, called, “Broadway.” Note road building equipment (in right background), which was brought in by glider. Credit: USAAF photo from ACME;
Air Commandos Outwit Japs, 4/20/1944. Burma – In a recent daring infiltration behind Jap lines in Burma, the 1st Air Commando Force, commanded by Col. Philip J. Cochran, (above, standing at right), of the U.S. Army Air Forces, landed men in gliders to construct an airfield, then transferred the troops of Maj. Gen. Orde C. Wingate’s British Command to the field in transport planes. The field, named “Broadway”, was some 200 miles east of Imphal, India, where the British and Japs are now locked in battle. Here, American and British officers are given their final briefing before taking off on the mission, by Gen. Wingate, (standing, left), and Col. Cochran. Wingate was killed in combat later. Credit: USAAF photo from ACME;
Bulldozer Direction, 4/22/1944. Los Negros Island – Brig. Gen. Hanford C. MacNider, of Mason City, IA.; former National Legion Commander, with Carpenter’s Mate First Class William Miller (seated) of Mineral Wells, Tex., pointing out the next piece of construction work to be done on this island. Gen. MacNider is in charge of all construction work and in less than a month under his supervision has had more than 30 miles of four-lane roads built by his men. Credit: Photo by ACME photographer Thomas L. Shafer for the War Picture Pool;
This Office Came From the Skies, 4/10/1944. An Air Base somewhere in China – Interior of cracked up transport is used as an office and alert shack. Operating the operations board is Sgt. Willard Mitchell, Portland Oregon. Sgt. Wm. Casto, Anaconda, Montana, is at the desk. Credit: ACME photo by Frank Cancellare, War Pool Correspondent;
Jap Freighter Hit by U.S. Planes, 4/13/1944. Mergui, Burma – Scouring it with direct hits and near misses, planes of the U.S. Army 10th Air Force play havoc with this Jap freighter at Mergui, a port on the Andaman Sea. The near misses were so close that they, too, wrought destruction on the freighter, which Flounders amid rising water sprays. Credit: US Army official photo from ACME;
"Cold Turkey" for Nazis, 4/19/1944. ANZIO, ITALY -- Here's how this evacuation hospital looked to German fliers who bombed it recently, killing many wounded and members of the staff. The Red Crosses on the tents and the huge ones on the ground stand out clearly and could not possibly have been mistaken by Nazi raiders. At the left (in photo) bomb craters from the air attack can still be seen, although most have the damage to tents and buildings had been repaired, when this photo was taken from an Allied observation plane. Credit: (ACME) (WP);
Air Commandos Outwit Japs, 4/20/1944.
Yank Task Force Raids Palau, 4/15/1944. Palau – Smoke rises from fires burning all over Palau Islands as the most powerful task force ever to operate in the Central Pacific strikes a blow at the strategic Jap base, only 600 miles from the Philippines. Unchallenged by the wreaked havoc on Palau and adjacent enemy bases for three days at the end of March, sinking 28 ships and damaging 18, destroying 160 Jap planes and probably ruining 54 others. Only 25 of the hundreds of American planes in the force were lost.Credit Line -WP-(ACME);
No Title. 4/15/1944. Palau Islands – Twin columns of thick, black oil smoke rise from a pair of burning Jap ships which were sunk off the shores of Palau by carrier planes of a U.S. Navy Task Force raiding the important enemy base on March 29th and 30th. The burning ship in foreground is a large cargo vessel. The other target is hidden by a tiny island at left.Credit Line (Official U.S. Navy photo from ACME;
Water Ambulance, 4/17/1944. At Sea – While the patient, destined for an emergency appendectomy, swings from the crane of a seaplane tender in the South Pacific, a destroyer escort plows ahead to pick him up for further transfer to a base hospital. Men on the tender watch the transfer with anxious eyes.Credit Line (Official US Navy photo from ACME);
Yank “Triphibian” Attack”, 4/24/1944. This photo, just released in the U.S., shows American Marines hitting the beach at Jap-held Emirau, St. Matthias Island, while a U.S. destroyer, (lower center), keeps sharp lookout. The landing was effected last March 19, while a heavy U.S. Navy task force dominated by battleships was pounding the Jap base at Kavieng, New Ireland, 34 miles away, to keep Nip planes grounded.Credit Line (U.S. Navy photo from ACME);
Air Commandos Strike Again, 4/24/1944. Burma – Planes of the First Air Commando Group, unique U.S. Army Air Forces organization which recently constructed air bases behind Jap lines, hit their “weekly” target, again, blasting the temporary bridge at Meza, Burma, important Nip communications artery. At lower left in photo, can be seen the original bridge, wrecked in an earlier attack.;
Spirit of Young China, 4/17/1944. Chungking – Serious faces and a military bearing unusual in young girls typify these Chinese girl scouts as they march in review on Youth Day in Chungking, March 28th. Representatives of all China’s youth groups took part in the demonstration.Credit Line (ACME photo by Frank Cancellare War Pool Correspondent);
A Joke on the Japs, 4/3/1944. Burma---American Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill, (right) enjoys a joke with Lt. Gen. Sun Li-Jen (left) Chinese Divisional Commander, as they met in Burma to discuss new blows agains the common enemy. Gen. Merrill is commander of the famous “Merrill’s Marauders”, who have been successful in driving the Japs from North Burma. Col. Edward J. McNally (center) is laison officer serving with Gen. Sun.Credit Line (ACME);
IN MEMORIUM, 4/8/1944. BURICKI ISLAND—As a final gesture toward those buddies who fell in the last stages of the Tarawa campaign, marines tend the graves of their dead. Buried close the spot where they fell, the Leathernecks lying in this cemetery on Buricki Island were killed by a Jap Ambush just before the campaign ended. Natives had marked the graves with bottles and crude crosses, but the marines have replaced the markings with neat, white crosses. Credit: ACME.;
NO LANDING PLACE DOWN THERE, 4/16/1944. C.B.I. THEATRE—There’s no welcome mat for this strudy C-46 transport as it wings its way over the stern Himalayas following a hump route from India to China. Until the advent of the airplane, these high, sharp ridges successfully barred human transportation facilities. Now they are no longer a barrier, but they can still make a hump pilot’s life very tough.Credit: ACME.;
Aussie Wives Head for U.S., 4/19/1944. AUSTRALIA – Two Australian wives of American servicemen pose with their babies aboard a ship leaving an Australian port for the United States. Marriage to U.S. servicemen does not bestow citizenship on the gals. Credit: ACME;
Stormy Strifes—Wives to You, 4/19/1944. AUSTRALIA – This large group of little ladies is composed entirely of Australian wives of American servicemen—some with babies. The girls are shown on a ship leaving an Australian port for the United States. Marriage to servicemen does not confer citizenship on the women. Credit: ACME;
First Aid Under Fire, 4/7/1944. Eniwetok – Braving a hail of enemy bullets and acting as a fearless target for the Japs, Navy medical Corpsman LaVern L. Hamer (left) of Jordan, Minn., calmly goes about his mercy work on the battlefield at Eniwetok Atoll, in the Marshalls. Keeping his head low, he pours sulfa drug onto the wounds of a fallen Marine, who was later removed to safety when other Leathernecks drove the Japs back. Credit line (U.S. Marine Corps photo from ACME);
Solomons Exodus, 4/3/1944. Solomons: Hundreds of green islands natives are shown being removed on landing craft to safer zones pending the complete occupation of the Solomons objective. The natives, ranging in ages from wrinkled-faced great-grand-fathers to babes in arms, present a strange scene of aboriginal domesticity to the war craft, about which they gathered. Credit (U.S. Navy official photo from ACME);
Mac Arthur’s Forces Capture Hollandia, 4/26/1944. This photo by Acme photographer Thomas L. Shafer and flashed to the U.S. by radio telephoto shows American troops resting among the wreckage of the Jap base at Korako, in the Hollandia area of New Guinea. The smashed installations give an idea of the tremendous sea and air bombardment put down by allied craft prior to the landing. Credit line (ACME photo by Thomas L. Shafer for the War Picture Pool via Army radio telephoto);
Yanks Shop for “Suds”, 4/4/1944. Brisbane, Aus. – American soldiers and sailors line up with civilians to buy their share of a slender stock of beer, outside a store in Brisbane. Doors of the store open at 1:30 p.m. and remain open until the daily supply of beer is gone. The Yanks always manage to get their share of the “suds”. Credit line (ACME photo by Frank Prist, Jr. for the War Picture Pool);
Under New Management, 4/4/1944. New Guinea – Four U.S. Navy PT boat skippers at the wheel of a captured Jap barge, which is now serving with the allies, at a base “somewhere in New Guinea.” Left to right, are: Lt. Edward P. Farley, of New York city, who commands a craft which has two enemy barges and part of a third to her credit, has sunk an enemy PT boat and destroyed two planes; Lt. Cmdr. John Harllee, Washington, D.C., who has seven barges and one enemy lugger to his credit; Engsign Robert Hunt, Marshalltown, Iowa, who is credited with fight and one-half enemy barges and one Jap “Betty” bomber; and Lt. (JG) Rumsey Ewing, of St. Louis, MO., who has a large score of seven barges, two planes, one lugger, one picket boat, one ketch, and one cargo boat. Ewing and Farley both hold the silver star, won after their two PT boats were attacked by 30 Jap dive bombers for 45 minutes. They shot down four of the attackers and got back to base safely. Credit line (ACME photo by Thomas L. Shafer for the War Picture Pool);
Death Claims Another Jap, 4/5/1944. Seconds after this photo was taken, the Jap “Betty” bomber marked by the circle (right), slammed into a deadly wall or anti-aircraft fire from the U.S. Navy carrier, left), and crashed into the sea. The Nip plane was one of those trying futilely to ward off the attack of a U.S. Navy task force of Saipan, in the Marianas last Feb 22nd. Credit line (U.S. Navy official photo from ACME);
Where Death Caught Nips, 4/25/1944. Burma – A long supply line of American-trained Chinese forces of Lt. Gen. Joseph Stilwell, pass the bloated, rotting corpses of Jap soldiers caught and killed along this road in Burma. The hot, humid climate has decomposed the bodies rapidly, (note the Chinese holding their noses against the odor of death). Credit line (U.S. Signal Corps photo from ACME);
Bomber – and “Bombee”, 4/26/1944. Two bombs from U.S. Navy dive bombers explode on, and near a Jap destroyer, while at upper left (circle) a bomber comes out of its dive. The Nip warship was one of 48 enemy vessels sunk or damaged in the smash a Japan’s Western Caroline island bases last March 29-30-31. More than 200 Jap planes were destroyed in the raid on Palau, Woleai and Yap. Credit line (U.S. Navy photo from ACME);
Rising Sun’s His Apron, 4/7/1944. Burma—Swallowing a mouthful of rice, which he’s eating with a spoon instead of chopsticks, this Chinese warrior uses a captured rising sun flag for an apron. He’s already dropped a few grains of the food on the “sun”. The allied fighter is one of the transport boys attached to 75 mm guns manned by Gen. Joe Stilwell’s men. Credit line –WP- (ACME;
Tanker Goes Down at Truk, 4/7/1944. Truk—Rising from a seething bubble of oil and flame-topped sea water, a pillar of black smoke climbs skyward over Truk, marking the grave of a Japanese tanker. The vessel was one of 23 enemy ships sent to the bottom by U.S. Navy task force raiders in the attack of February 16th and 17th. Credit line (official U.S. Navy photo from ACME);
“Death Rattle”, 4/7/1944. Truk – Enveloped in steaming smoke and sea water, a Japanese destroyer wriggles in its “death rattle” before going down to the bottom of Truk Harbor. The victim of a Grumman avenger, it was one of 23 Japanese ships sunk during the U.S. Navy task force raid on Truk on February 16th and 17th. Credit line (official U.S. Navy photo from ACME);
Merry Christmas, Dear Tojo, 4/7/1944. Kavieng, New Ireland – Delivering their Christmas gift to Tojo, Navy planes rained death and destruction on Jap cargo and warships at Kevieng, New Ireland, on Christmas day, 1943. In the foreground two Jap escort vessels, the equivalent of our own destroyer escorts in size and weight, smoke from the attack. In the background, a Grumman Hellcat swoops low to strafe a big cargo ship. Credit line (Official U.S. Navy photo from ACME);
Fire Doesn’t Stop ‘Em, 4/9/1944. Sauder, New Guinea – Men of the 32nd division trudge determinedly on past burning huts in a native village in the Saidor, New Guinea, area. The homes were set aflame by mortar, grenade and rifle crossfire between allied and Jap troops. Yanks and Australians continue to give the Eastern end of the axis plenty to worry about in the Northern portion of New Guinea towards Madang. Credit line (official Signal Corps photo from ACME);
“I Did it This Way”, 4/10/1944. China – Expert airmen still wonder how he ever got the plane off the ground. 1st Lt. Owen F. Price (left), El Paso, Texas, is shown telling his buddy, 1st Lt. Duane McDonald, Eaton, Colorado, pilot, how he took off in a transport plane with a 12,000 pound load. Normal load is much less. Credit line –WP- (ACME photo by Frank Cancellare War Pool , correspondent);
Blood to Their Ancestors, 4/1/1944. Maingkwan, Burma – The bodies of Jap warriors and their horses, blown into the world of their ancestors by men of Maingkwan-Walumbum, are strewn along a road about three-quarters of a mile out of Maingkwan. A retreating company of eighty men and six officers was blasted down to the scorched Earth by Chinese shell-fire and mortars. Credit line-WP-(ACME);
Marine Cameraman Showered the Japs, 4/22/1944. South Pacific – Taking time out from a shower to tell of his saga against the Japs, Marine Pfc. Burt B. Balaban, of Bye, N.Y., demonstrates how he dropped his rifle, gas mask and canteen on enemy installations on Wake Island during a raid on that base. A combat photographer, Balaban was leaning out of the camera hatch taking pictures of the strike, when an enemy anti-aircraft shell exploded under the plane. The force of the blast nearly threw the cameraman from the plane, but he pulled back just in time—to see his gear floating down toward the foe. Credit (Official U.S. Marine photo from ACME);
Advancing Under Cover, 4/9/1944. New Guinea – Cautiously advancing under the cover of a .50 caliber machine gun (foreground) American infantrymen wade across a river running through thick New Guinea jungle. The heavy foliage rising immediately on the opposite side of the river could provide excellent hiding places for Jap snipers. Credit line (Signal Corps photo from ACME);
Downed Jap Cargo Ship, 4/8/1944. Eniwetok – Strafed, bombed and sent to the bottom by U.S. Navy raiders at Eniwetok Atoll, in the Marshall, in January 30th, this 2500-ton Jap cargo vessel smokes and tosses on the water during the attack. The single gun that the ship carried for protection is located forward in a “tub” on the high prow. Photo was made as a dive bomber swooped down to deliver the death blow. Credit line (Official U.S. Navy….);
Panorama of Battle to Death, 4/5/1944. Kwajalein – in this unusual battle picture taken by U.S. Navy planes, a small band of Japs (entrenched in the semi-circle in foreground) puts up the last-stand fight for Kwajalein against U.S. tanks advancing across the wrecked Nip airfield (top of photo). Scattered about the field (right) are the gaunt skeletons of shattered Jap planes. Photo was taken above the Marshall Island Atoll last Feb. 2nd and released in the U.S. Today. Credit line (U.S. Navy official photo from ACME);
A Yank Bombardment "Sweeps Clean", 4/5/1944. Kwajalein—The photo at the top was taken of a section of the Southern tip of Kwajalein Atoll, Jan. 31, 1944, before the allied invasion of the Marshalls, showing a well-forested and highly-developed Jap base. A few of the buildings show bomb damage from previous U.S. raids. The photo below shows exactly the same section of the Jap base after trees, buildings and other installation had been completely leveled by the terrific air and sea bombardment laid down by U.S. forces during the Marshalls invasion. This latter photo was taken by U.S. Navy planes Feb. 3rd, 1944. Credit line (U.S. Navy official photos from ACME);
German “Doodlebug” Has a Sting, 4/27/1944. Italy - - An American soldier examines the inner works of a German “doodlebug” tank. A miniature remote-control tank containing 250 pounds of explosives, the “bug” is 69 inches long including bumper, and 25 inches high. Used against the allies in the Anzio area, it proved an easy mark for snipers. Credit line (ACME);
London Hospital Hit in Nazi Raid, 4/19/1944. LONDON -- This dramatic photo shows what was left of one of the wards in a London hospital after a direct hit during a Nazi raid on the capital. The hospital, one of London's largest, housed 2,000 patients. Nurses worked frantically but effectively in evacuating most of the patients. Rescue workers, however, are still digging in the wreckage in a search for casualties. Credit: (ACME Radiopohoto);
U.S. Troops in "Salute the Soldier" Parade, 4/7/1944. LONDON -- U.S. troops pass through Trafalger Square on the way to the Mall in support of the "Salute the Soldier" ware savings drive. They are the first foreign troops to march through London in full battle kit. Credit: (ACME);
Russian Troops Free Odessa, 4/17/1944. ODESSA - It was a joyous mass of civilians which greeted Soviet forces when they stormed Odessa on the Black Sea, sending Axis troops on the run into lower Pessarabia. In 19 days of fighting, the Russians killed 26,000 troops and captured 10,680, in addition to masses of German equipment destroyed or captured.;
Death—At a Summer Resort, 4/26/1944. 4/26/1944. Alusha, Russia—When Red Army forces drove the Germans from this once-famous Russian summer resort, they found a scene of desolation and death. Here, abandoned German supply wagons line the curb of one of the streets of the town, while on the sidewalk are the corpses of Nazis and horses. (Passed by censors) Credit: ACME radiophoto.;
Death—At a Summer Resort, 4/26/1944. Alusha, Russia—When Red Army forces drove the Germans from this once-famous Russian summer resort, they found a scene of desolation and death. Here, abandoned German supply wagons line the curb of one of the streets of the town, while on the sidewalk are the corpses of Nazis and horses. (Passed by censors) Credit: ACME radiophoto.;
Russia Lives Anew, 4/26/1944. Gurzuf, Russia—In the warm spring sunlight, residents of Gurzuf walk down the town’s main streets where the buildings have been rebuilt by Russians returning to the Crimean town after Red forces had freed it of Nazi occupation. Though the war has meant a dark spot in their lives, Russians quickly return to normal living when the battle has passed them. (Passed by censors). Credit: ACME radiophoto.;
Paramushiro by Night, 4/17/1944. San Francisco—Search planes of the Fleet Air Wing had remarkable success with this night view taken of the Jap base on Paramushiro Island. The snow-covered airstrip can be seen clearly, as well as the warehouses and camp area huddled close to the docks. From these night flights, and the photos taken on them, was gleaned information which led to the successful U.S. bombings of the island situated only about 600 miles from Japan’s mainland.;
Helicopters to the Rescue #1, 4/16/1944. New York City—The Third Naval District’s air arm of the U.S. Coast Guard is now using helicopters for patrol and rescue assignments. While such uses are admittedly in experimental stages, Coast Guardsmen have found that, particularly in the case of rescue work, the little plane is speedier and eliminates much of the rough handling unavoidable in other methods of rescue. In a recent demonstration, the helicopter (above) settles on the water next to a “wounded” flier on a life raft and rests on pontoons while the injured man climbs aboard to the stretcher basket.Credit: Coast Guard photo from ACME.;
Helicopter to the Rescue #4, 4/16/1944. New York City—The Third Naval District’s air arm of the U.S. Coast Guard is now using helicopters for patrol and rescue assignments. While such uses are admittedly in experimental stages, Coast Guardsmen have found that, particularly in the case of rescue work, the little plane is speedier and eliminates much of the rough handling unavoidable in other methods of rescue. In a recent demonstration, the helicopter (above) has landed right at the door of the dispensary and waiting pharmacist’s mates can remove “wounded” flier directly into a ward without transferring him to an ambulance.Credit: Coast Guard photo from ACME.;
Rest Haven In Hawaii, 4/25/1944. Hawaii – The pretty Army hostess, Miss Beatrix Eklund, of Hilo, Hawaii, has her hands full entertaining five officers at once, but she seems to have the situation well in hand. The group of officers (left to right): 1/Lt. Roscoe White, Shreveport, La.; William W. Pittendreich, New Bedford, Mass.; Lt. John Wattich, Library, Pa.; and Capt. M.M Weinstein, Stamford, Conn., Are at the Kilauea Military Camp taking a rest after active duty in the combat area of the Pacific. 4/25/44 Credit (ACME);
Dry Landing, 4/24/1944. Washington, D.C: When one of their two motors went dead above the wasteland of Arizona, as they were flying to the West Coast, the pilot and crew of this giant 20-ton Martin Mariner (PBM) Seaplane landed on a dry lake. Though the plane suffered minor damage, lack of facilities forced the Navy to dismantle it and ship it out piece by piece. The pilot, Lt. Scott S. Fitzgerald, USNR, of High Point, N.C., and the other six airmen have been commended for “exceptional airmanship.” 4/24/44 Credit (ACME);
First “Sea-to-Airship” Rescue, 4/14/1944. Picked from the sea by a Navy patrol blimp in the first “sea-to-airship” rescue, Lt. Harvey Medcalf, USMC, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is removed from the cabin of the rescue ship to be taken to a hospital, only one hour and twenty minutes after his Torpedo Bomber crashed. The blimp was guided to the scene of the crash by flares sent up from the life raft bearing Lt. Medcalf, who was badly wounded, and another pilot, who was uninjured. The rescue took place in March 1943. Credit: U.S. Navy photo from ACME;
IKE WATCHES “EGG” LOADING, 4/24/1944. ENGLAND – Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Chief of Allied Forces in the European theater, (center), watches a heavy bomb being hoisted into the bomb bay of a B-26 Marauder, during a recent visit to a American base “somewhere in England.” (The men with the General are not identified.)Credit: U.S.A.A.F photo from Acme;
AMERICA’S 30-PLANE ACE IN ACTION, 4/12/1944. ENGLAND – Capt. Don S. Gentile of Piqua, Ohio, is the first American Ace of World War Two formally recognized as having broken Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker’s record in the last war of 26 planes, and yesterday, Gentile was decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Last Saturday, Capt. Gentile downed three German planes when he led a P-51B mustang fighter group escorting U.S. Liberators on a mission over Northern Germany. At the same time, he received official confirmation for destroying five planes on the ground, bringing his current total to 30 – seven destroyed on the ground and 23 in the air. One of the few original members of the RAF Eagle Squadron still flying, Capt. Gentile transferred to the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1942. He now flies his mustang from a base in England, where he is shown (photo above).New York BureauWith the wheels of his mustang up, Capt. Gentile pulls the ship into a climb after taking off from his base.Credit: Acme;
BENEFICIAL “BLIZZARD”, 4/27/1944. ENGLAND – Looking like the work of a blizzard in “Greenland’s icy mountains,” foamite covers this U.S. Flying fortress and firefighter, after a fier in the wing and one motor of the big ship had been extinguished. Flak set the blaze while the Eighth Air Force bomber was laying “eggs” on the Nazi fighter field at Achmer. Lt. Bernard T. Kuhlmeier, of Ft. Madison, Iowa, who flew the flaming ship back to its base in England, said the bomber was so full of smoke and fumes that he “couldn’t even see the instruments on the panel in front of me.” Nevertheless, he brought her home.Credit: USAAF photo from Acme;
U-BOAT GETS THE “DEEP SIX”, 4/27/1944. SOMEWHERE IN THE ATLANTIC – This German undersea vulture will never pluck at Allied merchant ships or battle vessels again. Water and a piece of metal rise skyward as a depth charge from an RCAF coastal command Sunderland flying boat strikes near the U-boat in the Atlantic. Submarine crew took to one-man dinghies as the craft sank.Credit: Acme;
NAZIS ESCAPE DEATH IN U-BOAT, 4/27/1944. SOMEWHERE IN THE ATLANTIC – RCAF Coastal Command Sunderland flying boats attacked a German submarine in the Atlantic and sank it after accurate depth-bombing. The crew of the U-boat escaped the sinking undersea craft in one-man dinghies. Photo shows a group of the Nazis escaped from death, maneuvering their individual dinghies after leaving the sinking sub.Credit: Acme;
RAT TRAP FOR RATS-AND JAPS-IF THEY FIT, 4/15/1944. CAPE GLOUCESTER – Marine Sgt. Phillip J. Bianco, Cleveland, O., demonstrates his rat trap designed to rid Cape Gloucester of the furbearing animal – and the two-legged one if he can fit. The first night it was in operation 10 rats, fur-bearing, met their doom. A 55 gallon drum replaced the five and 65 rats were caught in one night. The rat walks up the runway to get the food but the last section gives way under his weight and he drops into the can and to his death.Credit: Acme;
Winged Sharpshooter, 4/8/1944. Somewhere in England - Returning to his base, after a mission over Europe, with the report that he picked three more German planes from the skies to bring his total kills to the all-time record of 30, Captain Don S. Gentile of Piqua, Ohio, is congratulated by Captain Duane Beeson (right) of Boise, Idaho. The sharp-shooting airman was the first aerial fighting man in American history to exceed the record set by Eddie R. Okenbacker in World War I. Credit: Signal Corps Radiotelephoto from ACME;
Looking Over the “Lawn Mower”, 4/19/1944. England - Lt. Dean R. Morehouse, of Williston, N.C., looks over his P-47 Thunderbolt Fighter at his base in England, after the ship had plowed through a row of 50-foot trees “like a lawn mower” during a mission over Germany. Here, Morehouse examines the engine cowling that was damaged and wonders how he was able to get home. He doesn’t know how many trees the ship mowed down, “I didn’t stop to count them” he said. Credit: USAAF photo thru OWI from ACME;
Cliff Evacuation #3, 4/28/1944. England – Combat medical soldiers of the U.S. Army are men who go into the front lines armed only with a small kit of first aid materials, administer to the wounded under fire and who return only to carry a stricken man to safety. Near a stretch of rugged coastline in Great Britain, a unit of such soldiers trains every day for the jobs it will do on the coasts and interior of Europe. Here, the ascending party runs into tough going in a narrow defile in the cliff. Two soldiers back up the rescue party in case of a slip. Credit: US Army Signal Corps photo from ACME;
Damage Courtesy of the Allies, 4/29/1944. France – The R.A.F. bomber command recently dispatched more than 1,000 aircraft on a large number of operations, and in particular the offensive was resumed against railroad targets in France. Extensive damage was done to the railroad yards at Hirson in France. Clouds of smoke can be seen in this photo, taken at low level, covering the locomotive barns and repair shops. Many of the rail tracks leading into the barns and shops are seen to be wrecked, as well as freight cars near the shops. Credit: ACME;
One Way To Stop ‘Em, 4/3/1944. England – This Flying Fortress of the U.S. Army Air Forces, returned from a raid over France where the ship was severely damaged, had to land without brakes and with half its controls shot away. A Nissen hut, the remains of which can be seen under the Fortress in the photo, served nicely in stopping the big bomber. No one was hurt. Credit: U.S. Signal Corps Radiotelephoto from ACME;
Invasion Rehearsal, 4/24/1944. London – Thousands of British glider and parachute troops staged one of the biggest maneuvers yet held in cooperation with the Royal Air Force and American troops poised for the invasion of western Europe. Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder and other high British and American officers watched the operation, held somewhere in England while the Nazis were frantically second-guessing on the time set for D-Day. A group of “Horsa” gliders are shown being moved to take-off. Credit: ACME Radiophoto;
Our Bombers Raid Creil Yards, 4/5/1944. Creil, France – Sweeping over the Creil railway marshalling yards in the raid of March 23, Marauders of the Ninth U.S. Air Force sent more than 300 tons of bombs down to blast the important junction of the Nazi transportation system in France. Photo at left shows how the yards looked at noon, as the first wave of Marauders hammered the yards. At right the yards are shown one hour later, after the “eggs” had been planted in locomotive sheds, transit sidings and storage sidings. Bomb craters have cut all tracks in the yards. Credit: ACME;
Mission Accomplished, 4/3/1944. England – Bombers are shown returning to their home bases after their attack on the Nazi’s twin-engine fighter base at Dijon, France. Credit: U.S. Army Radiotelephoto from ACME;
Aerial Blood Plasma, 4/3/1944. England – A wounded waist gunner gets immediate blood plasma treatment as his plane returns from attack over Northwest France. This emergency treatment was given while in the air and all medical aid will be given on the plane until the wounded man can be safely moved to a hospital. Credit: U.S. Army Radiotelephoto from ACME;
Ike” Calls Time-Out, 4/15/1944. Wembley, England—Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower shakes hands with members of the Charlton team, winners in the Southern Cup Football final against Chelsea at Wembley Stadium. Gen. Eisenhower came as an unexpected guest to witness his first soccer game and the record wartime crowd of 85,000 gave him a thunderous ovation 4/15/44 (ACME Radiophoto);
Seargent Arrivs Home to See Sick Child, 4/29/1944.
Hara Kiri By Error, 4/14/1944. Empress Augusta Bay -- This still smoldering Jap soldier committed Hara Kiri -- But it was not intentional. In the Japanese breakthrough on the Empress Augusta Bay perimeter, this Jap entered the American command post and attempted to destroy a food dump with an incendiary grenade. Also stored in the building were some flame throwers which were ignited by the grenade and burned the soldier before he could escape the flames 4/14/44 (ACME);
Navy Blue Is Fashionable This Year, 4/9/1944. New York—WAVEs Virginia Fielding (left) from Austin, Texas, and Rosemary Wagner, also of Austin, Texas, value their “Easter bonnets” as much as anyone, so they wear havelocks to protect them from the rain. They are leaving to St. Thomas’ Church after attending the Easter services 4/3/44 (ACME);
Open Aircraft Carrier Is Launched, 4/29/1944. New York City – Sliding down the ways under the impetus of 44,200 pounds of grease, the USS Don Homme Richard was launched at the Navy Yard this afternoon. The super aircraft carrier, which will house about 80 planes, including torpedo and scout bombers, is the thirteenth Essex class carrier to be launched since the U.S. entered the war. The ship, 850 feet long, is the namesake of John Paul Jones’ flagship, which had a keel length of 74 feet. Mrs. John S. McCain of Washington, wife of Admiral McCain, sponsored the carrier. Mrs. Frank Blasdel of Brooklyn and Mrs. Allen Raymond, of New York City, served as the matrons of honor. 4/29/44 (ACME);
"Over There, General", 4/26/1944. An American officer points out on the water to illustrate a point in his animated discussion with Gen. Douglas MacArthur, (wearing cap), on the beach at Tadji, in the Hollandia area of New Guinea, after the General had supervised landing of Allied troops at this point, 1,800 yards from the Tadji Airfield, last April, 22. Soldier in center background, seems to be enjoying the talk. At the right, (background) is an LST. 4/26/44 (Acme Photo Via Army Telephoto);
U.S. TROOPS PASS IN REVIEW, 4/1/1944. ENGLAND – Premier Winston Churchill watches American Infantry men from atop the reviewing stand as they march past in the famous Barpack Square. Mr. Churchill was accompanied by the Supreme Commander of the Allies, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower (left) on a recent review of the Second Front U.S. Forces in England. Credit: OWI Radiophoto from ACME;