Unbroken - Louis Zamperini Story - B-24s IN COMBAT
The National Museum of the Air Force maintains this combat photo of B-24s in action over Europe: “Through flak and over the destruction created by preceding waves of bombers, these 15th Air Force B-24s leave Ploesti, Rumania, after one of the long series of attacks against the No. 1 oil target in Europe.”
B-24s, like other WWII planes, took the fight to the skies in both the Pacific and European theaters. Photographs, from the U.S. National Archives, give us a glimpse at some of the aerial battle scenes.
B-24s, like other WWII planes, took the fight to the skies in both the Pacific and European theaters. Photographs, from the U.S. National Archives, give us a glimpse at some of the aerial battle scenes.
- Inside the cockpit of a B-24J;
- Loading bombs for the next mission;
- Crashing, on take-off, was not uncommon for B-24s;
- Close-formation flying sometimes causes casualties;
- Nearing their target, the crew opens the bomb bay;
- Dropping bombs, from a higher altitude, creates a “close call” for planes below;
- With her rear fuselage blown off, “Red Bow” makes a fatal descent;
- Losing their way, crew members trying to find Benghazi - a coastal town in Libya - crash and are never seen again;
- Waist gunners, at their post, give (and receive) fire power;
- Tanks explode, on “Little Warrior,” as a nearby waist gunner photographs his friends;
- Surviving “flak alley” once, a B-24 crew will soon be back in the same predicament;
- Surviving a mid-air collision could lead to a different result on the ground;
- Taking a direct flak hit, although it does not appear serious, leads to a non-survivable event for this B-24;
- Death by strafing occurs minutes after this B-24's number-one engine is on fire;
- Waiting for a late-arriving bomber, finally in sight of base;
- Sometimes returning planes are late because of engine failure(s);
- B-24 crews do their best to repair their crippled bombers;
- Landings did not always happen on smooth surfaces;
- Crash landings didn’t always seal their fate, but this flak-damaged B-24 never flew again;
- Bursting apart, in flames, this B-24 was lost one month before Hitler took his life (thereby ending the war in Europe).