Thousands of images from second world war include bomb damage to Old Trafford and troops at leisure
Black-and-white aerial photographs offering a bird’s eye view of England as it changed during the second world war are being made available to the public for the first time.
The 3,600 images include pictures of bomb damage to Old Trafford in Greater Manchester,
as well as other towns and cities. They also show ancient monuments
surrounded by anti-tank defences in West Sussex, and troops at play at a
US army camp in Wiltshire.
They
were taken by US army air forces (USAAF) photographic reconnaissance
units, stationed at bases across England in 1943 and 1944, after the US joined the war in December 1941.
B-17 bombers of the Eighth Air Force fly over the Brecks in Norfolk during a break in the clouds.
Damage to the main stand of Manchester
United’s stadium can be seen after it was hit in a bombing raid in
March 1941. Old Trafford was not used again for football until 1949. In
another photo, taken through a break in the clouds, B-17 bombers of the
Eighth Air Force are seen flying over the Brecks in Norfolk.
A photograph of Newbury racecourse shows it being used as a marshalling yard for military equipment.
Newbury racecourse covered in military equipment in 1943
The collection is available to view in an online, searchable map on the Historic England archive.
Duncan
Wilson, the chief executive of Historic England, said: “Our USAAF
collection records changes taking place in England as a result of the
second world war, as well as capturing fascinating incidental detail,
like American troops playing baseball.
“Our collection of USAAF wartime photographs were
taken in England by the pilots and aircraft of squadrons that provided
intelligence for the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany. This came at a
cost, with many pilots killed in the line of duty.”
He
said making the images available to the public highlighted the vital
role aerial reconnaissance played in the second world war.
If you would like to become a W³P Lives contributor, please fill out the contact form below. You may submit any email address; however, you will need a gmail to login to blogger.com and access the back end of the blog where posts are created.
If you do not want to submit your actual email, please create a gmail specifically for this purpose and submit it to us via the form below. It will skip a step, since a gmail will be required to login anyways.
After filling out the form keep any eye out for your email invitation in your inbox. Accept the invitation, login to blogger.com, and start making discussions.
Post a Comment