Aerial Bombing Operations

Dramatic aerial photographs capturing bombing missions during World War II, showcasing destruction and military tactics in various European theaters.

Smoke And Flame Soar Skyward At The Misburg Oil Refinery Near Hanover In Germany June 20 1944 As Us 8Th Aaf Consolidated B-24 Liberators Attacked.

Four Cars Were Destroyed Or Left Burning When Mataf P-47S Bombarded And Strafed This Milan Railyard, Italy, 31 January 1945.

NAZI ORDNANCE BURNS-Incendiaries and high explosives mingle on the German ordnance depot at Mainz, about 20 miles southwest of Frankfurt as U.S. Eighth Air Force bombers unleashed a daylight assault Sept. 8, 1944. A vital link in Hitler's supply

Aircraft, Burma, India & Bombing,

Osaka Mission - 1 June 1945 - A Japanese Fireball Is Sent Hurtling At B-29S Of The 21St Bomber Command During Their Large Scale Attack On Osaka, Japan's Second Largest City. Thousands Of Incendiary Bombs Directed At The Congested Industrial Area Achieved

FROM ADVANCED BOMBER BASE November 13--Two aerial photographs give clear picture of how American Marauder bombers are clipping the German supply lines in Italy. In the second photo, the target is completely obscured by the Marauder's

EUROPE-Flames and smoke rise skyward from two German supply trucks, stopped enroute to the Western Front when Republic P-47 Thunderbolts of the U.S. 8th Air force made low-level attacks on them. The photograph, made by one of the attacking

Bombing of Fallersleben Aircraft wing and Vehicle Factory.

Consolidated B-24 Liberators Of The 15Th Air Force Fly Through Dense Flak To Bomb The Florisdorf Oil Refinery In Vienna, Austria 12 March 1945.

Heinkel Aircraft ATC plant and airfield at Rostock, Germany spouts columns of smoke high into the air as U.S. 8th Air Force heavies attack on 4 Aug 44.

Smoke And Flame Soar Skyward At The Misburg Oil Refinery Near Hanover In Germany June 20 1944 As Us 8Th Aaf Consolidated B-24 Liberators Attacked.

Strike Attack, Himeji, Japan. 6 June 1945.

SIX DAYS THAT SHOOK GERMANY-When the six days ended, every one of the factories attacked had been seriously injured, and some of the most important ones had been all but obliterated. This is an unusually good view of an air-raid, combining as it does

Bombs from 9th AF Marauders make hits on a Nazi-held section of the northwestern part of the Cherbourg peninsula--one of the last sectors to surrender to the American forces in this area.

SOFTENING UP THE COAST. Flying Fortresses of the U.S. Army 9th and 15th Air Forces during recent attacks on Nazi-held coastal points in France. Attack by Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses on the naval base are at Toulon, south coast of France. Note

A Consolidated B-24 "Liberator" of the 15th Air Force heads for home leaving destruction in its wake at the Ploesti oil fields in Rumania.

At Ehmen, near Brunswick, Germany, Consolidated B-24 Liberators of the 8th AF bombed the German oil storage depot, starting numerous fires and explosions. Here the target is almost obscured by clouds of dense smoke.

Consolidated B-24S Of The 392Nd Bomb Group Over Salsbergen, Germany. 16 Feb. 1945.

This is exactly the same area pictured in number one, but taken after the bombs from the flying ofrtresses and begun to explode. Later reconnaissance photos showed that great damage was done to the important factory.

View Of Unidentified Japaneseanese Airfield Showing Japaneseanese Fighter Aircraft Lined Up For Surrender.

Bombs, Dropped By Planes Of The 386Th Bomb Group, Explode On Enemy Installations At Freilassing, Germany During A Raid On 25 April 1945.

Bombing Of The Binthay Alcohol Distillery, Largest Commercial Alcohol Plant In The Saigon Area, And Adjoining Light Industry And A Small Boat Building Yard By The 90Th Bombardment Group.

CHINA-In shipping strikes like this one on South China Sea lanes, the 14th Air force has whittled down Japanese seagoing vessels by nearly a million tons. The ship is beginning to burn from a direct hit aft the stack. 375th Bomb Squadron

Synthetic rubber plant at Huls, 6/22/43.

Direct hits by Consolidated B-24s bombing from 9,500 feet finished off this 6,000 ton Japanese merchant vessel biggest plum in the Wewak-bound convoy, wiped out on 19 March 44. Shown here are bombs in full explosion.

Here you see the Les Ponts de Ce rail bridge, 55 miles east of Nantes, over the river Loire in France, under attack by Marauders of the 9th Air Force. Under blanket of bomb bursts, the 5 span rail bridge--one of several Loire river spans over which

Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" Of The 452Nd Bomb Group While Flying Enroute To Target At Berlin, Germany, Encounter Momentary Breaks In The Cloud Banks, Such As Shown In This Photogrpah. Taken 22 March 1944.

PALL OF SMOKE--The Bettenhausen Focke Wulf works at Kassel lies hidden by smoke from fires started by the U.S. 8th AF heavy bomber attack on April 19. Two large workshops, assembly shops and smaller units were hit. Both 8th and 9th AF fighters

Bombs bursting on Salamaua. Widespread destruction to Japaneseanese military installations at Salamaua, a major Japaneseanese base on the North coast of New Guinea, result from this devastating air raid by Gen. George C. Kenney's bombers, August 13th, 1943.

High over the smoke of fire started by the RAF the night before, Boeing B-17s strike at Key targets from five miles up. Black flak bursts hang in the air. At lower right Nazi fighters rise to challenge invaders. 381st Bomb Group.

Continuing their support of the ground operations in Italy, Consolidated B-24 Liberators of the 15th AAF attacked the Marshalling yards at Piacenza, May 13th 1944. This photo shows a good concentration of hits in the target area.

Rockefort, France, Bombed On 15 April 1945 -- The 'Forgotten Front' The German-Held Gironde Area Of Bordeaux Was Bombed By Us 8Th Af Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses And Consolidated B-24 Liberators Attacking Anti-Aircraft Batteries, Strong Points And Other

Aircraft, Burma, India & Bombing,

A Consolidated B-24 Of The 392Nd Bomb Group Encounters Flak As It Wings Its Way Over Enemy Territory En Route To A Target Somewhere In Europe. 10 August 1943.

Billows of smoke shrouds the Luftwaffe's twin-engine fighter base at Dijon in eastern France as American heavy bombers took their toll of four hangars damaged or destroyed and hits on the main workshops, three smaller hangars and the barracks area

The Ahr River Railroad Bridge At Sinzig, Germany, Convered By Bomb Bursts Following A Successful Attack By Martin B-26 Marauders Of The 9Th Bombardment Div., Feb. 15Th 1945. Reconnaissance Following The Assasult Showed The Bridge As Unservicable, Deprivi

Smoke whirls over Werl--The Nazi repair and equipment airdrome at Werl, east of Dartumend, was attacked 19 April by AAF heavy bombers. Although the results were covered by smoke, the main hangars facing the field and living quarters were all hit.

Nancy-Essey, France-during bombing. Hits fall in south hangar area pinpointed by smoke marker (arrow) dropped by pathfinder.

Bombs, dropped by Consolidated B-24 "Liberators" of the 494th Bomb Group, burst on the target at Corregidor in the Philippine Islands on 14 March 1945.

Pass number four is made from more altitude, probably by another plane and shows one grounded Luftwaffe plane emitting an oil black pall of smoke as it burns fiercely and puffs of smoke as slugs plow up the ground, moving towards the grounded JU-88

Incendiary white phosphorus bombs dropped by the USAAF bursts and spread their sticky, flaming "tentacles" out to encompass and burn a Japaneseanese radio station at Rabaul, New Britain.

Bombing Of Ammunition Storage Area At Klein Engstingen, Germany, By Planes Of The 320Th Bombardment Group, 443Rd Bombardment Squadron, April 8 1945.

250 pound bombs dropping toward the docks and large transport at the pier at Balikpapan, Borneo, just off the paraffin refinery area of the target.

3,128 Tons Of Bombs Were Dropped On Corregidor To Soften Up Target Areas Totaling About One Square Mile.

The plane is completely obscured except for its wing from the smoke and dust of the hot lead tearing into it from the Republic P-47 Thunderbolts guns.

Danube Oil Depot -- More Than 100 B-26S Dropped 200 Tons Of Bombs On Tanks, Supplies And Warehouses To Deprive Last Ditch Defenders In The 'National Redoubt' Area Of Vitally Needed Fuel In The Deggendorf Oil Depot, On The Danube River.

Consolidated B-24 Liberators met flak on Orleans A/F mission.

One day before the landings on 22 Jan the Liberators of the 15th AAF hit the railroad yards at Pontedera, half way between Pisa and Florence. Three days before, they had been hit by the Fortresses. Object was to block all lines that connected

NAZI TRAINING CENTER--At Lechfeld, in southwestern Germany, one of the training center for German personnel heavy concentrations of bomb hit hangars, control tower and other buildings as 8th AAF Liberators attacked it on April 13th 1944. At least

Consolidated B-24 Liberator of the 15th Air Force is shown leaving the smoke covered airdrome of Malacky, Czechoslovakia on 29 September 1944. The field was well covered with hits. An oil tank on the east side of the field was set afire, as well as

Parachute bombs on Japaneseanese military installations along the Francisco River, near Salamaua, on the north coast of New Guinea. A Japaneseanese used bridge is shown in upper right corner.

Giant column of smoke casts its shadow across the Czechoslovakia landscape as B-24 Liberators of the 15th A.A.F. come off the target area of the Pardubice oil refinery on August 24, 1944. Returning crewmen reported good concentration of bombs in the

The Apollo refinery at Bratizlava, Czechoslovakia was one of the first attacked by 15th Air Force bombers on the Czech target.

Bombs burst on the Orvieto North Railroad Bridge, Italy during a mission by planes of the 320th Bombardment Group, 42nd Wing on December 28, 1943.

Japaneseanese bomber explodes (right) while parachute bombs fall on other Japanese planes on Vunakanau airdrome at Rabaul in the first and greatest attack made by American and Australian planes on that

4th Fighter Group attacking German aircraft on airdrome 30 miles west of Leipzig, Germany, on February 27, 1945. The Group, commanded by Col. Everett W. Stewart, 300 Rogers Ave., Abilene, Kansas, destroyed 41 aircraft, some of which are shown burning

ofrtress Target-Keeping up their assaults on Luftwaffe plants and bases, ofrtresses of the 8th AAF, struck at the Nazi, base at Diest, about 35 miles Northeast of Brussels and believed to be a base for night fighters. Many fires were left burning as

Under fire of Japanese shore batteries near Zamboanga, southern Philippines, the crew of a 13th AAF B-25 Mitchell scrambles out of a sinking bomber and prepares to paddle away in a rubber life on the same 11-hour mission, also rescued two other B-25

Invasion of French Coast, morning of 6 June 1944.

Bombing Of Enemy Installations At Chalons-Sur-Marne, France, On 3 October 1944, By Consolidated B-24 Liberators Of The 2Nd Bomb Division, 8Th Af. Altitude 16,500 Feet.

Swirling with tornado intensity 2,000 feet upwards from the water into a heavy cloud, these twin waterspouts each 200 feet in diameter move with destructive majesty across the Adriatic Sea as they were photographed in this unusual picture by Lt.

Amphibious Forces Headed For Landing At San Jose.

Erupting bombs spread havoc at the German oil refinery at Hemmingstedt, Germany during the concentrated attack 14 January 1945, by U.S. 8th Air Force Consolidated B-24 Liberators. Billowing smoke marks tell-tale fires in the plant.

The Japanese-held airstrip at Bonisk near Buka Passage, is shown after bombing attack made by Pacific Fleet carrier aircrafts Pillers of smoke rise high into the air from the bomb-scarred runway. December 28, 1943. (Photo by U.S. Navy Photo).

Between Naval shellings, Consolidated B-24s of the 494th Bomb Group, dropped their bombs on Corregidor and Caballo Island in the Philippines, 14 February 1945. Here, smoke rises from the target.

A Huge Column Of Black Smoke Rises As Bomb Bursts On The Synthetic Oil Plant At Politz, Germany During A Mission By Planes Of The 96Th Bombardment Group, 8Th Air force, 25 Aug. 1944.

Ihiya Jima Invaded: Landing craft leave a milky wake as they approach the beach at Ihiya Jim, small Island 15 miles northwest of Okinawa in the Ryukyus, June 3. Some of the landing craft have already hit the beach. Smoke rises from a burning enemy emplacement fired by a pre-invasion bombardment. July 16, 1945. (Photo by AP Wirephoto).

Billowy Smoke Rising Over The City Of Hengyang Is Proof That 14Th Air Force Consolidated B-24 Liberator Bombers Have Completed Their Mission Of Hitting Japaneseanese Supply Dumps On Sept. 16, 1944. The Bend Of The Siang River Is On The Upper Left-Hand Corner.

Bombing Of Marshalling Yards At Lyon, France, By Consolidated B-24 "Liberators" Of The 15Th Air Force, On 26 May 1944.

Bombing Of Bridge Near Vegesack, Germany, 18 March 1945 By Planes Of The 2nd Bomb Division, 8Th Air force.

Bomb strikes from part of a force of Martin B-26 Marauders which attacked the Worms Marshalling yard in Germany mushroom into smoke columns where they cut rail lines and laid waste to cars, sidings, and warehouses.

Another key bridge on the River Loire at Le Port Boulet was attacked 15 June 44 as the 8th USAAF heavies continued to disrupt enemy communications behind the lines. Located about 10 miles east of Saumur, Consolidated B-24 Liberators launched a heavy

Consolidated B-24S In Formation Over Ingolstadt, Germany. Note The Smoke Marker Across The Sky. 1 March 1945.

Columns of smoke soar from bombed Japaneseanese installations at Wewak in the wake of one of the many repeated aerial attacks by Gen. MacArthur's bombers on that strong enemy air base on the North coast of New Guinea.

Fighter planes of the 8th USAAF have kept up their harassing of enemy communications and supplies, in support of the advancing ground troops. Here in this photo, taken just after a low-level attack, is shown the burning marshalling yards at Guise

Kuma class cruiser taking...

Flak from German anti-aircraft guns did not divert the Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortresses" from their target-Munster, Germany-the Nazi communications center which was hit by the B-17's 25 years after the armistice was signed.

Bombing of Caballo Island, Manila, Philippine Islands.

This Emplacement At Watten, France In The Pas De Calais Area, Is One Of The Structures Mentioned By Prime Minister Churchill As Possibly Intended For The Firing Of Rockets. It Looked Like This To Bombardiers Of The 8Th Air Force Who Made Their Initial At

This was the scene as three...

CLOUD HOPPING TO BERLIN: With breaks in the cloud banks below them affording only momentary glimpses of the earth, these Fortresses of the U.S. Army Air Forces wing their way to Berlin to take part in a history-making attack. The American heavy

FRANCE-BEACHHEAD LANDINGS-Men and assault vehicles storm the beaches of Normandy as Allied landing craft make a dent in Germany's West Wall on 6 June 1944. As wave after wave of landing craft unload their cargo, men move forward

Dense barrage of flak thrown up over Merseburg, Germany. 452nd Bomb Group.

Before Bombing: This is a Ju-88 assembly plant, draws components from Aschersleben and Galberstadt.

The 11,000-ton Italian cruiser Gorizia lying off La Maddalena harbor of Northern Sardinia. One of the largest Flying Fortress formations badly damaged the Gorizia with direct hits April 10. It's sister ship, the 10,000-ton Trieste was sunk on the

Bursts of high explosives and incendiary bombs are seen in the Focke-Wulf 190 Components Plant and the two Karl Borgward Motor Transport factories at Bremen, Germany, which turn out armored fighting vehicles, bombed by B-17 Flying Fortresses of the

Photo collection Service for army contacts Indonesia. DLC Kampongs around Cheribon. Failed recording? Recording of cloud fields. October 29, 1947. Cirebon, Indonesia, Dutch East Indies

This was the scene as three...

Pacific - A Tiny Dot, Hard To Find, Raft Is Located By Consolidated Oa-10 "Rescue Cat". Crewmen Usually Take 'Gibson Girl' Transmitters Aboard Dinghies; Search Planes And Shore Stations Keep Up Contacts.

Photo taken during bombing raid, Hon Gay Railroad Yards, 6/8/43.

Pedro Miguel/Locks - Smoke Screen Tests, Aerial Photograph.

Mitchell medium bombers of the 14th U.S. Air force recently swept over Laichokok, important Japaneseanese oil storage dump on the mainland opposite the ofrmer British Crown Colony of Hongkong, which has been in the hands of the Japaneses since Christmas Day

Republic P-47 Thunderbolts Of The Twelfth Af Scored Direct Hits On Approached To The Highway Bridge At Sassvolo, Italy, February 14, 1945.

DURING: Of 100 Boeing B-17's dispatched, 96 laid down this precise concentration, totaling 598 five-hundred-pound GP bombs, & 1,368 hundred-pound incendiaries.

END OF CONTE VERDE in Shanghai Harbor. When the U.S. Army 14th Air force announced the sinking of the 17,500 ton Italian liner Conte Verde by a lone Consolidated B-24 Liberator, the Tokyo radio denied it, claiming that the luxury liner was undamaged

Sheets of flame from fire bombs dropped by more than 250 Mustangs, Lightnings and Thunderbolts of the 5th A.F. Fighter Command cover Jap entrenchments in the rugged terrain near Ipo Dam east of Manila, Philippines Is. Three days of intensive fire

Enemy installations at Zvecan, Yugoslavia are covered with bomb bursts after planes of the 451st Bomb Group, 727th Bomb Squadron dropped their bombs on 2 September 1944.

8th Air force fighter planes swept down to tree-top level and strafed a column of German oil tank trucks on a highway in Belgium during one of their many recent attacks on Nazi transport. Five of the vehicles may be seen burning fiercely here.

War Theatre #11 (Japanesean)

Hiro Naval Aircraft Plant At Kure, Japan. May 5, 1945.

STRIKE AT NIGHT; Fires spread throughout Shizuoka, Japan during a night incendiary raid by Boeing B-29's of the 20th Air force. Shizuoka, located about midway between Tokyo and Nagoya, produces aircraft engines, munitions, components

of 3