Picture of the day. (2 Viewers)

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Hi Shinpachi,

Are you certain it's a composite photo? That one comes from the official USAF WW2 photo collection at the National Archives. The Archives are closed right now, but if they ever reopen I can check to see who was credited for the photo and if the neg is original or a copy. I thought this had been published in a wartime issue of Impact.

Cheers,



Dana
 
Please do!
 

This is a classical topic for the old people but the position of these two planes must look like this in same scale.
IIRC, the composite photo was introduced by Asahi Shinbun in early 1945.

 
Hi again, Shinpachi,

Of course, I've still got nothing definitive to offer here, but the photo couldn't have been taken too early in 1945 - those B-29 markings didn't exist until April.

If it is a Japanese composite photo, there are still two questions:

- who took the B-29 part of the image?, and

- why create a propaganda photo that doesn't show the destruction of the American aircraft?

Anyway, I'll try to get a bit more from the Archives when they reopen this summer...

Cheers,



Dana
 
- who took the B-29 part of the image?, and

- why create a propaganda photo that doesn't show the destruction of the American aircraft?

Was it American privilege to take a picture at the high altitude ?
Why must they dare to show the destruction ?
Such a caption like "Our brave fighter intercepts enemy B-29" would have been enough if I remembered it correctly.
The Japanese at the time thought the B-29 was a huge plane but, to compare, the Ki-45 was not so small as they imagined.

 
Happened on this day 76 years ago: Operation Rösselsprung

Today is the 76 th anniversary of the famous German airborne assault on the small town of Drvar in Bosnia and Hercegovina, location of the Supreme headquarters of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (NOVJ). The main aim of the German surprise attack was to capture Marshal Josip Broz Tito, supreme commander of NOVJ forces. In the early morning about 900 soldiers of the elite 500th SS Parachute battalion were deployed in two waves, using parachutes and DFS 230 gliders. Despite fierce fighting in the town and its outskirts, the attack was unsuccessful, due to the fierce partisan opposition and the lack of precise information about Tito's whereabouts. Tito was at the time residing in a cave located in the hills overlooking the town, and during the day managed to escape and retreat towards the South with most members of the Allied Mission. In the meantime German paratroopers were encircled at the Drvar's cemetary and were nearly annihilated by partisan forces. However, they held and were relieved next morning (26th May) by the 92nd Motorised Grenadier Regiment which, advancing from Vrtoče, took Bosanski Petrovac without a fight about 08:00. It continued its march to Drvar and relieved the 500th SS Parachute Battalion at 12:45.
Throughout their escape, the British mission attached to Tito's headquarters were able to maintain contact with their headquarters in Italy via radio and continued to call in support from the Balkan Air Force against the German formations taking part in Operation Rösselsprung and the Luftwaffe aircraft in the skies over Yugoslavia. This included over one thousand sorties, which helped Tito's retreat into safety.

Picture shows German paratroopers holding Tito's uniform which was "captured" in the tailor's shop in the town. This was their only "prize" of the attack because its owner escaped unharmed.

 
The Douglas XB-19 under construction, presumably around 1940/41. This was at the Douglas plant at the Santa Monica (California) airport. The aircraft was obsolete by the time it was finished, but served the US Army Air Corps as a test bird. After testing, the XB-19 delivered cargo until 1949 when it was scrapped. In 1949, the USAF didn't have a preservation program and the National Museum of the USAF didn't exist. Today, only two tires remain.

 

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