Military Base Construction and Installations

Historic images of military bases featuring makeshift buildings, airfields, and construction activities across Italy, West Africa, England, Okinawa, and Iceland.

Members Of The 833Rd Engineer Aviation Battalion Pour Cement During The Construction Of A Runway At Raydon, England.

Buildings Of The 94Th Fighter Squadron, 1St Fighter Group, Which Were Constructed By The Men Themselves, From Stone, Bomb Crates And Other Materials Available At Their Base Somewhere In Italy.

Partial installations. Rufisque Field, Rufisque, French West Africa.

Members Of The 833Rd Engineer Aviation Battalion Pour Cement During The Construction Of A Runway At Raydon, England.

Headquarters Squadron Mess Hall As It Appeared The Day Following The 9 October 1945 Typhoon, Okinawa, Ryukyu Retto.

Iceland Is An Interesting And Often Pleasant Place. It Is Not Cold And Snow, But Rather Gales, Fog And Humidity That Makes Iceland Weather So Villainous. Due To These Conditions, Visibility Can Close Down From Adequate To Zero While A Bomber Is Making I

Bombing of Hollandia.

General View Of North American P-51S And Other Fighter And Attack Planes Just Arrived At An Air Force Supply Base At Filton, England. They Will Be Reassembled And Distributed To Other Bases In The European Theatre Of Operations. 18 April 1944.

Liberators Strike Cavite - Another 'First' For The Fightin' 13Th Aaf In The Southwest Pacific Is Recorded Here As The Land-Based Bombers Blast Away At Cavite, Manila Bay. (Former Base Of The U. S. Asiatic Fleet). Cavite Was Destroyed By Jap Bombs And U. S

Ground crews of the U.S.A.F. operating at a forward airfield in Tripolitania change the engine of a Warhawk fighter. In this picture they are pushing it to the aircraft on a mobile crane.

Building Construction In The Motabu Area On Okinawa, Ryukyu Retto, Was Difficult Due To Rain And Resulting Muddy Roads. The Buildings Shown Here Will House A-1, A-2, A-3 And A-4. 26 July 1945.

Aircraft, Burma, India &Fields & Installations, War

Trucks, Bulldozers And Scrapers At Work On The Construction Of Three Strips Which Were Completed By The 928Th Provisional Battalion, The 802Nd 807Th, 1878Th, And 1901St Eabs. The Strips Were 300 By 7500 Feet With Three Taxiways. Since No Coral Was Avail

Bomb Damaged V-1 Rocket Ramp At Cherbourg, France.

Aircraft, Burma, India &Fields & Installations, Storm Damage War

Construction Of Kadena Airfield, Okinawa, Ryukyu Retto By 1878Th Aviation Engineers Bn. 17 May 1945.

Groups of 9th AF Service Command flying "Fixits," completely armed and equipped, are pictured from beneath the wing of a Douglas C-47 transport plane as it arrives to carry them forward to an advanced base somewhere in England. These skilled

General View Of Supply Dump And Camp Area Of The 443Rd Engineer Aviation Battalion On Okinawa, Ryukyu Retto. April 1945.

Crash Crews Salvage Useable Parts From A Consolidated B-24 "Liberator" Which Crashed At Poltava Airbase, A Shuttle Mission Base In Russia. 12 January 1945.

Hurrying From Trucks Which Brough Them To The Airport, A Parachute Battalion Stationed In England, Sprints For Places Beside The Planes Which Will Carry Them To Their Objective.

Generator Section Of The 23Rd Photo Squadron. 11 Jan. 1944.

Exterior view of "Club 22," the American Red Cross canteen at the 22nd Replacement Depot, Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands. 20 August 1945.

Japanese planes burning at Tobera Airfield, Rabaul, after an attack by North American B-25's in which 36 enemy planes were destroyed on the ground at Rabaul's airfields.

Aircraft, Burma, India &Fields & Installations, War

Consolidated B-24S Of The 458Th Bomb Group Await Take-Off For 200Th Mission Somewhere In England. 26 February 1945.

Headquarters Building, Ferrying Squadron, Aden, Protectorate, Arabia.

Aircraft, Burma, India &Fields & Installations,CONSTRUCTION,Air Fields War

Northeast view taken from an old asphalt runway showing two hangars with a revetment in the foreground at Elmas, Sardinia. 24 November 1943.

Bomb damage to airplane at Ciampino Airdrome, Rome, Italy.

The Typhoon Of 9 October 1945 Damaged The 593Rd Engineering Squadron, Orderly Room, Machinato Air Base, Okinawa, Ryukyu Retto.

France - Detailed Information On Normandy Beach Defenses Was Obtained From "Dicing" Shots Like This. Timber Ramps, With Mines Or Saw-Toothed Blades To Tear Bottoms Out Of Landing Craft, Were Another Type Of Defense. Pump And Hose For Jet-Blasting Holes

Late in the day, and with most of the planes already in their revetments, and overdue Liberator comes in for a landing, while anxious members of ground and air crews gather to greet their returning friends.

Photographs depicting military activities in France, May - June 1940. Included photographs of Rommel, Guderian, Dreuz, Bottcher, Italian General Garaboldi, Lucie Rommel, shots of Rommel with Hitler. Photographs of equipment and troops arriving and in action, from the personal collection of Rommel.

Construction work at Poltava Airbase was difficult during the month of November 1944 because of heavy and constant rainfall. Here, an American chats with two Russian women who are digging a ditch near one of the barracks at the shuttle mission base.

Parachute bombing of Japanese oil installations at Boela, Ceram Is., Netherlands East Indies, 14 July 44.

Preparations For The Invasion Of France -- Cg-4 Gliders And Douglas C-47S Of The 8Th Troop Carrier Command Lined Up Along The Runway Await Takeoff Time At An Air Base In England Prior To Taking Part In The Invasion Of France. 6 June 1944. Note #1 Tail

This Perimeter Track At Thurleigh Airbase, England Is Being Repaired. The Broken Concrete In Foreground Shows Condition Of Old Taxiway Before Repair. 1 May 1943.

Anti-Aircraft Positions Are Fortified By This Radar Station That Detects All Aircraft - Friendly Or Enemy. The Scr 584 Parabolic Radar Is On Track As The Rectangular Iff (Identification - Friend Or Foe) Identifies The Plane As Friendly Or Enemy. While

St. Josse Au Bois, France before bombing. Oblique photo of 21 Dec 1943 shows Robot site partly completed. One ski at left is not yet roofed, nor are servicing buildings at R-1 and R-2. Annotations: S-Storage building; St-Personnel shelter or storage

Preparations For The Invasion Of France -- Cg-4 Gliders And Douglas C-47S Of The 8Th Troop Carrier Command Lined Up Along The Runway Await Takeoff Time At An Air Base In England Prior To Taking Part In The Invasion Of France. 6 June 1944. Note #1 Tail

Final stage of bombing run of Dagua Airdrome, Wewak, New Guinea. Japanese planes are (4) Lily. Unservicable planes are marked U.S.

As Far As The Eye Can See On 17 August 1945, Along The Parking Ramps On Kadena Airfield, Okinawa, Ryukyu Retto, Douglas C-54S Are Ready For All Runs. These Planes Of The 13Th Air Cargo Re-Supply Squadron, Have Been Ready For A Week And When They Fly Over

Aircraft, Burma, India &Fields & Installations,CONSTRUCTION,Air Fields War

A Tank Mound Built During The Construction Of Hsinching Airfield, Matterhorn Project At Chengtu, China. This Mound Contains A Gasoline Storage Tank To Hold 42,000 Gallons Of Gasoline.

Less than 24 hours after D-Day, the first American air field in France was ready for use. Built by the Engineers of the 9th Tactical Air Command, it serves as an emergency landing field: the No. 1. Continental base for air evacuation of wounded

Mechanics Of A 15Th Air Force Service Command Squadron Repairing Engines Of North American P-51 Mustangs At An Air Base Somewere In Italy.

Burned out oil storage tanks and condensing plant near the waterfront in Balikpapan Bay. Balikpapan Operation 1-31 July 1945. Balikpapan, Borneo, N.E.I., 5 July 1945.

A 9th Air Defense Command gun crew "Zeros" or orients the sights of a 40mm. anti-aircraft weapon in preparation for action against enemy aircraft. The command employs a variety of weapons in defending all 9th AF bases and other rear area

Aircraft, Burma, India &Fields & Installations,MISCELLANEOUS War

Men Of The 834Th Engineer Aviation Battalion Construct A Landing Strip At Buchschwabach, Germany, With "Hessian Mat" Used For Surfacing. The Mat, A Tar-Paper-Like Composition, Is Laid By Trucks Loaded With 200-Foot Rolls. A 50%%%%%%%% Overlap Is Maintained An

Men Of The 834Th Engineer Aviation Battalion Pour Cement During The Construction Of A Runway At An 8Th Air Force Base At Matching, England. 18 May 1943.

Bailing out so he can walk to work this ground crewman at an Italian Air Base found his shoes and floated, away when he woke up.

Barrage, 1915, Egypt, by William Saunderson Cooper. Gift of Andrew Cooper, 2001.

The Los Negros Cemetery and Momote Chapel in the Admiralty Islands. June 1944.

All That Was Left Of A Japaneseanese Mitsubishi Army 95 Bomber When Colonel Robert L. Scott, Jr., Got Through Riddling It With Bullets. He Admitted Having A Little Trouble With The Pilot, Who Was Escorted By A Japaneseanese Fighter Group, One Of Which Was Also Sho

Yorktown, Virginia. Confederate battery. Magruder with 8-inch Columbiads. Federal transports in river | Library of Congress

Kuma class cruiser taking...

A Brazilian Patient Being Taken From The Dispensary To The U.S. Hospital Where Brazilians Are Treated. F.A.B. Means Forca Aerea Brasileira. Lt. Luthero Vargas, Son Of The President Of Brazil Is In Charge Of The Medical Personnel At The Hospital.

Mechanics Changing The Engine On A P-47 'Thunderbolt' Of The 201St Mexican Fighter Squadron. Porac Airstrip, Philippine Islands - 26 June 1945.

Aircraft, Burma, India &Fields & Installations,CONSTRUCTION,Air Fields War

Water Sprayed On The Ground Settles The Dust During The Construction Of An Airfield By The 833Rd Engineer Aviation Battalion, Somewhere In France. July 1944.

Low Aerial View Shows Army Vehicles Rolling Across The Pontoon Bridge Over The Rhine River In Wesel, Germany. 23 May 1945.

Heavy damage was also done to piers at north end of Pancevo bridge, Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

Panorama Of Agana Filed On Guam, Marianas Islands Taken 5 November 1944.

Members Of The 834Th Engineer Aviation Battalion Debark From Lct'S (Landing Craft- Tank) At Normandy, France.

German Prisoners Quartered On The Landing Field At Bad Abling Airdrome, Germany. May 1945.

Pursuing the peaceful...

Carefully camouflaged, this mobile control tower directs incoming and outgoing traffic at the first American airfield in Normandy. The field, built by members of the 9th Engineer Command, is already in operation refueling and servicing fighters

A Jet Assembly Plant East Of Obertraubling, Germany, Bombed By The 15Th Air Force Bombers. Planes Are Shown Here In Front Of The Assembly Plant.

Crash Trucks Wait On The Edge Of The Field Of The 324Th Bomb Squadron, 91St Bomb Group At Bassingbourne, England Ready To Go Into Immediate Action, If Necessary, When The Boeing B-17S Return To Their Base After A Bombing Raid. 24 June 1943.

General view of the Vunakanau Japanese airfield at Rabaul, New Britain, showing many U.S. parachute bombs falling on the Japanese base (upper left). Smoke in the background is from falling bombs. On October 12, 1943 planes of the United States Army 5th Air

The Waters Along Normandy Beach, France Are Flocked With Shipping As Reinforcments And Supplies Are Funneled Ashore During The Invasion Of France On 22 June 1944. Balloon Barrages Float Overhead To Protect The Ships From Low Flying Enemy Strafers.

Allied Installations Near An Airfield At Rome, Italy. 4 July 1944.

Station Hospital Of The 644Th Bomb Squadron, 410Th Bomb Group At A 9Th Air Force Base In England. 24 July 1944.

Planes parked on the strip at La Senia Airfield in Algeria, North Africa. 1258th AAF Base Unit, Air Transport Command.

These were the Chinese coolie barracks of the Miri shop area. They were used by the Japaneses to house the company employees of the Japaneseanese concern which ran the oil-field. The Japanese soldiers in the area were garrison troops for the protection of these

Aircraft, Burma, India &Fields & Installations, War

Members Of The 834Th Engineer Aviation Battalion Constructing Runway At An 8Th Air Force Base At Matching, England. 30 July 1943.

Anefo photo collection. Test exercise of the Army Force in Valkenswaard (NB). December 9, 1964. Noord-Brabant, Valkenswaard

Consolidated B-24 Liberators Of The 15Th Af Lined Up On The Taxi Strip At An Air Base In Italy, Ready To Take Off On A Mission Over France On D-Day, 6 June 1944.

Historic photographs of the Norfolk Naval shipyard located in the Fifth Naval District. Operating under the Department of Defense and the Department of the Navy.

Men Push A Wrecked Vultee L-5 Of The 163Rd Liaison Squadron To Higher Ground In Order To Salvage Useable Parts Of The Plane. Three Days Of Heavy Rain Turned The Small Stream Running Thru The Area Into A Lake. Okinawa, Ryukyu Retto. 1945.

Alexandria, Virginia (vicinity). Battery Rodgers, erected in 1863, overlooking the Potomac river near Jones' Point. 15-inch Rodman gun (left). 200 pd. Parrott rifle and gun (right) | Library of Congress

Headquarters Bldg., Station #165, At An Airbase In England, 9 March 1945. 493Rd Bomb Group.

The sounding of the alert signal on the field brings out the alert pilots who make off for their P-40's. These "Flying Tigers: are always ready for action with the Japaneses, and drop everything when the time comes to go upstairs.

Wreckage Of A Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" Of The 401St Bomb Group At An 8Th Air Force Base In England, 1 July 1944.

In Preparation For Extending A Bomber Strip, A Scraper Levels Off Ground At An 11Th Air Force Base Near Amchitca, Alaska. Note Plane Flying Overhead. 12 October 1943.

Magnitude Of Work Confronted By American Aviation Engineers After A Voilent Snowstorm Over This Below-Sea-Level Airfield In Italy Can Be Seen By This Runway Being Cleared. Two Hours Earlier The Field Was Buried In Snow. But Engineers Made It Possible Fo

Consolidated B-24 Liberators, Looking Cold And Miserable In The Snow, Wait For The Sun Of "Sunny Italy" - Southern Italy At That -- To Clear Their Field For Operations. A Bulldozer Has Suceeded In Converting The Taxiway In The Foreground To A Strip Of Muc

Advanced Hq. Ninth Air Force Service Command. 'Somewhere In France' - A P-47 Thunderbolt Is Shown Landing At The First American Air Field In Normandy. The Landing Strip, Built Under Fire By Soldiers Of The 9Th Engineering Command, Is Now In Operation Re

Easter On Okinawa. On Easter Sunday, 1946, Peace Again Has Returned To Okinawa And Its Terraced Hillsides.

SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, February-The operations tower at Castle Benito Airdrome, once an important center for thrusts against the Allies, is now in the hands of U.S.A.F. following its recent capture.

Officers' Mess Hall At An Airbase In England, 9 March 1945. 493Rd Bomb Group.

Air Transport Command Officer's Barracks On Ascension Island. 5 October 1945.

Aircraft, Burma, India &Fields & Installations, War

Bomb Damage To A Rail Yard Somewhere In France. 31 July 1944.

Photo Shows To The Left Beachhead Building Built In 1942; To The Right, Powerhouse And In Center Foreground, Several Eskimo Dogs. In The Background Is Ice Cap. Notice Depth Of Snow That Has Already Fallen. 10 Oct 44.

Aerial View Of The 410Th Bomb Group Base At Station A-68 In France. Juvincort

Chapel of the 58th Service Group. Lt. B.A. Norris, Chaplain, gives many of his services in the field to the men who are stationed in the alert emplacements. New Guinea, January 1944.

Aerial View Of The 410Th Bomb Group Base At Station A-68 In France. Juvincort

Food Rations Unloaded From A Boeing B-29 Of The 7Th Air Force Are Stacked Beside The Plane By Japaneseanese Prisoners Of War As Other Men Load The Boxes Onto A Truck At Bolo Field, Okinawa, Ryukyu Retto. 14 October 1945.

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