Take a walk on the tarmac at an Eighth Air Force B-24 Liberator bomber base in World War II. There's an immediacy, a familiarity, with color photography that bridges decades and brings the classic World War II era nearer to us, as these vintage Kodachrome slides reveal. Each minor flak patch stands out. Touch-up paint is evident. The Liberators have an Eighth Air Force modification, carrying heavy bolted-on armor plates outside the cockpit beside the pilot and copilot. This add-on armor inadvertently censored some earlier nose art. Because the B-24 fuselage has a slight curvature, the plates had to be hammered and bent slightly; tool work marks show in the sunlight. Some of the B-24s, like "Rugged But Right" carry thick armor glass in the cockpit as well. The 486th Bomb Group's 834th Squadron famously adopted stylized signs of the zodiac for themed nose art in 1944. Walk amongst the Zodiac Squadron's Liberators in these views. Tail markings suggest some of the Zodiac aircraft transferred to the 493rd Bob Group. Other 493rd BG and 490th BG B-24s are pictured here in color. The first half of the 1940s, when huge formations of Eighth Air Force Liberators and Fortresses rose en masse to fight the European air war as part of a concerted Allied effort, was a brief moment not possible earlier, and rendered out of date by technological advances soon thereafter. Even with all its grim aspects, it was a brief era of a particular breed of brave and dedicated fliers, many of whom went home at war's end, never to operate an aircraft again. We salute them as we remember them.
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Here are more links to interesting programs filled with World War II Kodachorme color photography:
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Full color World War II combat movies from Airailimages include:
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And for some more bomber nose art in black and white:
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