World War II Aerial Photographs on the Internet

Yahoo! News ^ | 1/17/04 | Jeremy Lovell

[LibWhacker]

LONDON (Reuters) - More than five million detailed aerial photographs from World War II go onto the Internet from Monday, giving the public their first views of some of the most dramatic and grisly moments of the conflict.

From the smoke billowing from the incinerator of the Auschwitz concentration camp in which millions of Jews were murdered by the Nazis, to the U.S. landings on Omaha beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944, the pictures tell dramatic stories.

"These images allow us to see the real war at first hand," project head Allan William said. "It is like a live action replay."

"They were declassified years ago, but it takes days to find an individual image. Now they have been digitized and will be on the Internet, it takes seconds," he told Reuters.

Wartime planners depended heavily on aerial photography -- and in particular the specialist photographic interpreters who spent hours after each sortie pouring over the pictures seeking evidence and clues -- to pick their targets.

"The pictures were vital to the war effort. For example for years before the final choice of beaches was made for the D-Day landings, photographic interpreters had been watching the whole shoreline of northern France," Williams said.

The pilots who took the highly detailed pictures were some of the most daring in the skies, flying unarmed, unprotected and alone often at very low level to fulfil their missions. Hundreds never returned from their perilous missions.

In the Auschwitz pictures, prisoners can be seen queuing up for roll call, and in the D-Day pictures bodies can be seen floating in the sea.

Apart from these gripping images -- some of more than 40 million taken over the years and lodged in the National Archives -- there are also pictures of the German battleship Bismarck hiding in a Norwegian fjord.

Seven days after the picture was taken in May 1941, a combination of Royal Navy bombardment and Royal Air Force attacks had sunk the most feared German surface raider of the war.

There is also a picture showing in stark detail the devastation wrought by the mass bombing raids on the German city of Cologne.

Other pictures show gliders next to Pegasus Bridge, stormed by British airborne troops before dawn on the morning of D-Day in the first action of the Allied invasion to liberate France.

But the images are not just of historic interest. They are still used in the frequent discovery of unexploded bombs left over as deadly mementos of the war.

"We are often contacted when an unexploded bomb is found. We see if we have aerial reconnaissance photographs of the area and send them over so they can see if there may be any more," Williams said.

The images will be available on the Internet from Monday, January 19 at www.evidenceincamera.co.uk, but Williams said the Web site was already under siege.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Fascinating - thanks for posting. I'll look forward to seeing the photos.

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

Bump. Ready for Monday...
www.evidenceincamera.co.uk

[IncPen]

My father's best friend was an aerial photographer and door-gunner in WWII

He was shot down a number of times and had harrowing stories to tell (though he only told us a few).

He also had some hilarious stories (clearing a landing strip of elephants using a bazooka tied to the wing of a Cessna: Elephants 1; Cessna 0)

He also told of the planes flying in formation with giant lights under them, which were set off by radio signal, and enabled night-time photography

He told how he could sleep amidst the ear-splitting noise of a B-17 in flight. And, I remember him telling me that the first time he flew in a B-25, he fell asleep as usual. When the plane landed he rolled over and out the door as he always did, thinking he was in a '17, but the ground didn't come up when he expected it. For a split second he thought he'd dreamed tha landing and rolled out in mid-air. The the ground hit him.

I look forward to seeing these pics.

RIP, Stormy.

[SengirV]

Thanks. Bump to myself.

[Professional Engineer]

ping

[MEG33]

History bump

[Petronski]

Thank you so very much for this information.

Bump!

[Marie Antoinette]

Bump to you

[LibWhacker]

LOL, great story.

One of my uncles died June 29, 1944 outside of Cherbourg. The city fell June 27. We don't know if he was actually killed on June 29, or if he died from wounds received earlier in the battle for Cherbourg. The Army said his tank hit a landmine. But he was a radio operator, so I'm not sure if that jibes. My dad always wanted to find one of his buddies to get the full story. Anyway, I know the family will be most interested in any photographs taken in and around Cherbourg.

[EGPWS]

He also had some hilarious stories (clearing a landing strip of elephants using a bazooka tied to the wing of a Cessna: Elephants 1; Cessna 0)

What was his name? Commander Macbragg? LoL's!!!

[Poser]

Also Bumping. Ready for Monday...
www.evidenceincamera.co.uk

[Riley]

Sounds right- on some tanks, there was a radio operator.

[spodefly]

BTTT

[LearnsFromMistakes]

bttt and for Monday.

[Cobra64]

WWII was all George Bush's fault. He planned it. It's true beacuse I said it. So there.... /end Dim rant

[LibWhacker]

Oh, thank you for that info! I should know this since I was in an armored division myself (except I manned a typewriter, lol) . . . But do modern tank crews include a radio operator?

[Victor]

Thanks...BUMP

[Riley]

Oh, thank you for that info! I should know this since I was in an armored division myself (except I manned a typewriter, lol) . . . But do modern tank crews include a radio operator?

Not in US tanks- its Commander, Gunner, Loader and Driver.

I think the old M4 Sherman had one man next to the driver who manned the hull-mounted .30 machine gun and operated the radio.

[nuconvert]

Thanks for the info.