Posted on 03/19/2013 5:44:56 PM PDT by Doogle
Millions of poignant black-and-white photos have come out of the World War Two era, but it is not often that scenes from the deadliest conflict in human history can be seen in living color.
In 1942, LIFE Magazine sent Margaret Bourke-White, one of its four original staff photographers and the first female photojournalist accredited to cover WWII, to take pictures of the VIII Bomber Command, commonly known as the Eighth Air Force or The Mighty 8th.
The photographs, executed in brilliant hues that make them look almost like oil paintings, put on full display the massive American B-24s and B-17s - or Flying Fortresses - that rained terror on Nazi-control cities often in tandem with the Royal Air Force.
In the early stages of the war, the Eighth Air Force and the bombers under its command were praised for the 'fantastic accuracy' of the attacks.
But as the conflict dragged on, the Flying Fortresses and their crews would face heavy loses, the most dramatic of which came in October 1943 when 60 bombers were destroyed and 600 pilots perished in a single raid in Germany.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
ping
Stunning images.
I caught that right away too...
Outstanding photos. Thanks!
That was when the were Army, they were in the blood and guts business then.
Amazing quality, almost as if they were taken today!
It would take a research assistant probably 15 minutes to find out what ultimately happened to every plane in the first 6 pictures in the story, and would have made a good article memorable.
Very cool.
-——Eighth Air Force or The Mighty 8th.-——
I just got back from a vacation in South Carolina and the Mighty 8 th has a museum near Hilton Head....
They are reconditioning a Flying Fortess there...pretty cool place...
10 guys get into a bomber... Fly at sub zero temps... For hours at a time....Drop six - thousand pounds bombs over Germany all the while talking heavy flak....
Turn around go home.... If you make it....
Will always cherish my B-17 ride in 2007.
Another check on my bucket list.
My dad spent nearly 4 years in England during the war. He flew C-47s. Shot down twice...first time was on D-Day..after he had dropped his paratroops..Bailed out, spent 3 days in the woods, until our troops caught up to him. He always said he would have been really pissed to have gotten killed by his own side..Second time was during Market Garden..he was able to crash land the plane in British held territory..
....had the opportunity to tour the bomber Nine-O-Nine this past summer when it was here local...did the tour. (climbed around inside)...and IT WAS TIGHT..*LOL*. Didn’t do the ride thing, but the tour was worth it. If you get the chance.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2kq28awJ-M
Am I the only one that sees the humor of the photo holding a Rolliflex - made in Germany - while standing on a B-17 getting ready to go and bomb...Germany?
Am I the only one that sees the humor of the photo holding a Rolliflex - made in Germany - while standing on a B-17 getting ready to go and bomb...Germany?
purchased probably before....*smiles*
Great pics. Thanks.
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