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Items related to World War II (1939-1945) |
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 | The RAF Fauld explosion was a military accident which occurred at 11:11am on Monday, 27th November 1944 at the RAF Fauld underground munitions storage depot.
Between 3,450 and 3,930 tons (3,500 and 4,000 tonnes) of ordnance exploded—mostly comprising high explosive (HE)-filled bombs, but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million rounds of rifle ammu... |  | 09/26/2007 | 528 | 
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 | Nore Fort was the nearest of the Maunsell forts to the shore, situated north east of Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey. Built at the same time as Shivering Sands and Red Sands it was also built with the same configuration and design.
It was abandoned by the army when the War ended, though the fort was maintained for several years afterwards.
The fort was damaged b... |  | 09/24/2007 | 431 |
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 | 1944 aerial photograph showing relocation center farm fields north and south of the developed area at Manzanar. | | 09/21/2007 | 208 |
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 | There were eleven Dachu sub-camps near Landsberg am Lech, all with the name Kaufering, numbered I through XI. Kaufering I and Kaufering IV had been designated as sick camps for prisoners who could no longer work. Kaufering IV was liberated by the 12th Armored Division on April 27, 1945 with help from soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division, who arrived on April 28, 1945.
After re... |  | 08/13/2007 | 563 |
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 | The site of Becklingen War Cemetery was chosen for the position on a hillside overlooking Luneburg Heath, where Field-Marshall Montgomery accepted the German surrender from Admiral Doenitz on 4 May 1945. Burials were brought into the cemetery from isolated sites in the countryside, small German cemeteries and prisoner of war camps cemeteries, including the Fallingbostel cemetery, within a radiu... | | 08/12/2007 | 511 |
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 | The small village of Meedhuizen (Groningen, Holland) captured by an allied aerial photo april 1945. | | 07/07/2007 | 545 |
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 | Another base in Hamburg was the mostly similarly constructed "Fink II", built from 1940 to 1942 with an overall length of 139 m and a width of 153 m, containing five boxes of 22,5 m width each after the final completion. Fink II was built on existing land and then dug out from there, and the Ruesch-Canal which led to the basin was widened. The fifth box was not constructed until April... |  | 06/25/2007 | 771 |
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 | NAS Hitchcock was established on 22 May 1943. Commander Charles W. Roland was installed as base commander and 133 personnel were assigned to the station. The first airship arrived on 13 June, and base manpower expanded with the establishment of Blimp Squadron (ZP) 23. Later, detachments arrived from ZPs 21, 22 and 24. During the ensuing year, numerous patrols were made over Galveston Bay and th... | | 05/03/2007 | 329 |
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 | In 1942, with World War II raging in Europe and the Pacific, the Navy set out to build 17 blimp hangars across the nation as the anchor for a network of blimp squadrons that would patrol the Pacific, and act as escorts for coastal convoys. Two of those hangars were located at the newly opened Naval Air Station Tillamook.
A hard winter drug out construction of Hanger B for nine mo... | | 05/02/2007 | 503 |
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 | Commissioned September 15, 1942 and named for the sawmill community, which it replaced, NAS Richmond became the world’s largest blimp base. Located on 2,107 acres nineteen miles southwest of Miami’s central business district, the need for this facility came from the Nazi U-boat threat to Allied merchant marine. To provide anti-submarine patrol, rescue, escort and utility services in t... | | 05/02/2007 | 278 |
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 | A 1943 USDA aerial view of Flagler Beach Airport. | | 04/27/2007 | 256 |
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 | A 1943 USDA aerial photo of Dorr Field | | 04/27/2007 | 214 |
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 | A close-up of Carlstrom's hangars & ramp, from a 1943 USDA aerial photo of Carlstrom Field. | | 04/27/2007 | 249 |
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 | Located approximately 250 miles southwest of Anchorage, Kodiak Island was one of the major centers of Alaskan military activity during World War Two. Facilities on the island included several airfields, a Naval operating base and several other installations.
To protect this important harbor the Coast Artillery Installed a total of 8 major gun batteries, ranging in caliber from 8... | | 04/19/2007 | 506 |
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 | Fort Segarra is an underground fort, part of the United States' defense strategies during World War II. Its purpose was to help protect a submarine base on St. Thomas. The war ended before its completion and the project was subsequently abandoned. Visitors to Water Island can view gun emplacements, walk inside tunnels and visit underground rooms. The observation deck on the roof of the fort off... | | 04/19/2007 | 255 |
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 | Located on Unalaska Island approximately 780 miles southwest of Anchorage, Dutch Harbor was the site of an important Naval operating base during the Aleutian Campaign of World War Two. To protect this strategic harbor from enemy attack, the Coast Artillery Corps would construct a total of seven gun batteries in the harbor, along with numerous fire control stations, searchlight positions and oth... | | 04/16/2007 | 438 |
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 | The Base End Station B2 S2 for Battery 291 was completed. It was a two room concrete structure raised six feet on concrete stilts located at the highest point of Ataku Island. Searchlights No. 19 and No. 20 had temporary wood-frame shelters. The planned splinter-proof concrete shelters were not completed. The Distant Electric Control (DEC) station atop a timber tower was not built for these lig... | | 04/13/2007 | 200 |
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 | During the battle of Stalingrad, and especially of their 6th army was encircled, the Germans used the Gumrak airfield for their operations: re-supply, taking wounded away, ect. The overlay photo was taken on March 6, 1943, after the field was overrun by the Red Army | | 04/12/2007 | 841 |
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 | Princess Anne’s Battery is on the hillside above the harbor. The site is sometime referred to as Princess Caroline’s Battery, Princess Amelia’s Battery, or even Princess Royal’s Battery. These three battery names, however, refer to 18th and 19th-century batteries located in and around Princess Anne’s Battery. Princess Anne’s Battery was constructed in 1732 to mount five 12 pounders, and saw act... | | 04/12/2007 | 294 |
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 | This five-story concrete tower with attached barracks was built on a leased site under the authority of the Boston Harbor Defense Command, and was jointly used as a Base-End Station for Fort Dearborn and for Fort Ruckman in Nahant, Mass. It is currently the Park HQ and Visitor Center for Halibut Point State Park. The roof deck was used for Boston's anti-aircraft intelligence service (AAIS OP 18... | | 04/12/2007 | 196 |
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 | This structure, now used as a beach house, was completed in September 1943 on a government-owned 1.41 acre site as a Base-End Station for Fort Dearborn and Fort Foster. The second story observation level was intended for Battery 205 (B6 S6), and the first story level was for Battery Seaman (B11 S11). The roof, through a trap-door, was used as the anti-aircraft intelligence station (AAIS OP 10).... | | 04/12/2007 | 203 |
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 | This seven-story tower was completed in April 1944 on a leased 1.94 acre site as a Base-End Station and Radar Station for Fort Dearborn. It is now owned by the Shoals Marine Laboratory of Cornell University. Searchlight positions #6 and #7 were located elsewhere on the island. To the north of the tower past the old USCG Boat House were the Army station barracks (Site 1B) and the Navy's Magnetic... | | 04/12/2007 | 207 |
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 | This concrete tower, now a local real estate office, was completed in September 1943 on a leased 0.32 acre site as a Base-End Station for Battery 103/Seaman (B13 S13) at Fort Dearborn. The roof deck was used for the anti-aircraft intelligence service (AAIS OP 12). Searchlight position #20 was located nearby just east of the tower.
The lighthouse decoration on top of the tower is... | | 04/12/2007 | 158 |
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 | The onset of World War II saw the need for increased protection of Portsmouth Harbor that could not be met by any of the other existing forts of the area. Two batteries of modern twin 6-inch guns (200-series), with a range of 15 miles, and a battery of twin 16-inch guns (100-series), with a range of 25 miles, were planned as part of the new defenses. Fort Foster only had room for one new batter... | | 04/11/2007 | 376 |
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 | On to the Cape Prior and Cape Prioriño positions to see the remains of the two-gun 15-in batteries and the four 6-in batteries. Each position also had an AA battery of four 10.5 cm Vickers guns in a monolithic concrete structure. These batteries had all the guns removed and were in a vandalized state. The 15-in guns had unfenced wells, and one could enter them by going down steps or slopes to s... | | 04/06/2007 | 239 |
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