Grandads WWII Photo's

[JasonF]

Hi Guy's

I have a selection of WWII aircraft photo's from my Grandfathers memoirs. After he passed away i scanned a few of them and they have been siting on my Mac for some time. I thought i should probably share some of them to places where there might be some interest.

All i know for sure is that he was with 1AD in the South African Air Force, and was based in Egypt and later sent to Italy.

So here it goes... Hope you enjoy them.

 

[fubar57]

Very nice. Thank you

 

[JasonF]

Here is a few more...

 

[Micdrow]

Sweet photos, thanks for sharing.

 

[Snautzer01]

Thank you.

 

[rochie]

Great stuff, thanks for sharing those

 

[JasonF]

My Grandfather also had quite a unique, but eerie photograph of Benito Mussolini and Mistress Claretta Petacci looking "a bit hungry", and hanging upside down in the Piazza Loreto in Milan.

Here are a few more from his collection. I wont post the Mussolini photo without Moderator's approval. Would hate to get blocked or banned on my first topic and 3rd post!

.

 

[herman1rg]

It would be interesting to know how he managed to get the picture of Mussolini and Petacci

 

[JasonF]

It would be interesting to know how he managed to get the picture of Mussolini and Petacci

I'm pretty sure (70%) he said he had taken it himself...

Their bodies hang in the square for quite some time i think?

Jason

 

[SaparotRob]

Those photos are great. Thanks for the posts. I got a kick out of the Mosquito in USAAF markings. Does anyone know the story behind the P-47 with the question mark on the tail?

 

[Crimea_River]

Great pics and thanks for sharing.

 

[Dana Bell]

Hi Jason,

Great shots - a lot of things there that were rarely photographed! That Mosquito was an NF.30 night fighter flown by the 416th Night Fighter Squadron from November 1944 through shortly after VE-Day. (The 416th was the only AAF night fighter squadron to fly Mosquitos.) They were based at Pisa, then Pontadera, though I can't be sure the photo was taken at either base.

I've been studying and writing about America's involvement with the Mosquito since my first trip to the Archives in 1972. Is there any chance you can share a high-resolution scan of that shot and permission to publish it? I've got a book in the works about America's search for a night fighter, and I'd love to include that image.

Cheers,



Dana

 

[Crimea_River]

There's a late war Bf109 thread at TOCH and I posted the above two there. Nick Beale came back with this:

"With a bit of adjustment they both seem to be reconnaissance machines: 77022_ and possibly 210054.

If that second one is correct then it was a 3./NAGr. 11 aircraft which suffered minor engine damage on 17 February 1945 during a non-operational flight.

If they were photographed together then the other may be 770220 which was delivered from München-Riem to Lonate, Italy on 24 February 1945 (ULTRA CX/MSS/T472/2). "

 

[mhaldimann]

To further what Crimea River kindly forwarded, location is most probably Udine-Campoformido, Friuli.
Is by chance your grandfather Lt. Noel Lennard Johnson ?

Thanks for sharing
Marc

 

[Airframes]

Great set of pics, thanks for posting.

 

[JasonF]

Hi Jason,

Great shots - a lot of things there that were rarely photographed! That Mosquito was an NF.30 night fighter flown by the 416th Night Fighter Squadron from November 1944 through shortly after VE-Day. (The 416th was the only AAF night fighter squadron to fly Mosquitos.) They were based at Pisa, then Pontadera, though I can't be sure the photo was taken at either base.

I've been studying and writing about America's involvement with the Mosquito since my first trip to the Archives in 1972. Is there any chance you can share a high-resolution scan of that shot and permission to publish it? I've got a book in the works about America's search for a night fighter, and I'd love to include that image.

Cheers,



Dana

Hi Dana,

I'd be happy to share the photo with you, (As far as i can remember i only had the one.) and you are welcome to publish it in your book. If you send me an email I'll send you the saved image I've got, but it might not have the resolution you are looking for. jason.fouche at gmail.com

Id be happy to try and get a better resolution scan for you but the original photo's are all with my Uncles, back in South Africa. I will make contact with him to ask if he could help with scanning bigger and better quality image. (It shouldnt be a problem.)

Regards

Jason Fouche

 

[JasonF]

Here is some "nose art" he photographed.

In this last image, he used to tell us how "the lads would have to sit on the tail while the piolts did their engine run up checks to keep the tail on the ground." He said "the Spitfires used to be so nose heavy when fully loaded with amo, that even with the stick full back, they would want to fall onto their nose. Then when the pilots were ready to head up, only 1 person would ride on the tail to the end of the Runway and bail of just as they start to roll down the runway.

He said there were many stories n the RAF where the pilots would take off and think "hell this thing is sluggish, he'd look in the mirror and see a "WAF" hanging onto the tails for dear life" Then he'd have to turn around and go land to drop off the WAF and take off again.

 

[fubar57]

Good Lord this is a gold mine with something for everyone. Again, thanks. With regards to the B-17, s/n 42-32105

 

[Gnomey]

Cool shots!

 

[vikingBerserker]

Awesome!