US. Ensign Ardon Rector Ives personifies grace under pressure as he appears calm and focused unbuckling himself from an inferno engulfing his (appropriatey enough) Hellcat. of VF-9 fighter carrier group. Ardon Ives was KIA in a dogfight [...]

These first three photos were taken in an English scrapyard, full of Luftwaffe wrecks, on February 24th, 1942. Valentine Mk III tank of ‘A’ Division (17/21st Lancers) which was captured during Operation Torch in November 1942 and [...]

I was minded to post just this one image today with no narrative. Joe Rosenthal’s iconic and Pulitzer Prize winning image has few peers. Far from being staged (it wasn’t), Rosenthal almost missed the moment and was not even looking [...]

RAF Air Transport Auxilliary ferry pilot, Veronica, sits in her Spitfire, February 22nd, 1943. Four caskets containing 22nd Marines, Parry Island, Eniwetok, February 22nd, 1944. 22nd February 1944. A TBM Avenger flies over Tinian [...]

In the town of Rath, during Operation ‘Grenade’, the plan for the 9th Army to cross the Roer in Rhineland, Germany. The Ninth Army was finally able to cross the river on 23 February, by which time other Allied forces were also close [...]

On February 20, 1942, Lt. Edward O’Hare took off from the aircraft carrier USS Lexington in a raid against the Japanese at Rabaul and landed as America’s first flying ‘ace’. Rabaul, a small town at the very Northern tip of New [...]

A very clear theme running through the series today, especially with the colourised photos, which need no captions. Private first class Rez P. Hester (sadly, we don’t know the dog’s name) finds time to close his eyes for a moment [...]

Grumman Avenger (VT-82, the ‘Devil’s Diplomats’) shows its mettle as she struggles to return to her carrier, USS Bennington, CV-20. The Avenger collided with another TBM in raids against picket shipping around Chichi Jima (pic 3, [...]

Today, February the 17th in 1956 as saw the YF-104 make it’s first flight from Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, US. To me, and many others, there just isn’t a more beautiful aircraft ever made. On this first flight, [...]