world war

WWII Bellerose, Long Island B-18 Bomber Crash in Neighborhood Backyard

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Occasionally I revisit my WWII photo collection to cull through material I’ve overlooked.  In this instance, I found a real gem that I somehow never took the time to research.  I remember buying this photo at a local flea market with the intention of doing some research on the crash incident, but never got around to it.  I assumed that the wreckage in the image was from a B-17 or C-47, but it turns out to be from two B-18 bombers that collided mid-air over Bellerose, Long Island on June 17th, 1940.  Eleven men died in the crash, and one Bellerose citizen died of burns following the event.  Scanning the internet, I was able to find an advertisement for asbestos siding from 1940 that makes reference to the event.  This photo is an incredibly close up shot of the event.  A fireman’s hat and jacket can be seen on the wing of the B-18 in the backyard of the burned home.  Incredible.

I was able to find an article written by one of the local survivors of the crash:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2009/june-online-only/survivingaplanecrash.html

Also, a minor league baseball played died in the fiery inferno.  Here’s an excerpt from the Baseball in Wartime website:

“On Sunday, June 16, 1940, Bedient sent his parents a telegram stating that he was spending the day with his wife at Great Neck. At around 9:00 A.M. on Monday, June 17, two twin-engined Douglas B-18 Bolo bombers, escorted by two fighter planes, left Mitchel Field on a routine training flight. The two bombers carried a crew of 11, including Second Lieutenant Bedient. Just 15 miles from Mitchel Field, above the densely populated area of Bellerose Manor on the eastern edge of Queens, New York, the two bombers were executing a maneuver at 2,500 feet. One plane had to pass under the other and there was not enough clearance. The two planes collided and crashed in flames. One landed within a block of a school and the second smashed into a one-story residence that instantly went up in flames. All 11 crewmen — two of whom unsuccessfully attempted to escape by parachute — perished in the wreckage.”

http://www.baseballinwartime.com/in_memoriam/bedient_hugh.htm

UPDATE 

An author who is writing a book on the B-18 emailed me with the following technical info on the two planes that crashed.

Douglas B-18A – AAC 37-576 Accepted 17 May 1939 and immediately assigned to Langley Field, VA. To Mitchel Field, NY 10 November 1939. Accident 17 June 1940 at Bellerose, Long Island, NY 1LT P. Burlingame, collided with B-18A 37-583 (q.v.), w/o. Coded 9B45 and 9B43 at the time, order uncertain.

Douglas B-18A – AAC 37-583 Accepted 9 June 1939. Assigned to Langley Field, VA 10 June 1939. To Mitchel Field, NY 12 November 1939. Accident 17 June 1940 at Bellerose, LI, NY, 2LT R. M. Bylander, collided with B-18A 37-576 (q.v.), w/o.

Thanks!

Actual WWII Combat Snapshot – 99th Division, 395th Infantry Regiment in the Ruhr Pocket April 1945

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Amateur combat snapshots are nearly impossible to find.  I only have a handful in my personal collection, and have only seen them for sale on rare occasions. In this photo, a veteran named Earl Reese snaps a photo while his squad is attacking through a forest on April 13th, 1945 while in the “Ruhr Pocket”.  I have a collection of Reese’s photos and personal memoirs that were saved from the trash bin at an estate sale in California.  Imagine images like these rotting away in a landfill?

 

Is that a ricochet dent on the M1 helmet?

 

 

WWI Photo Collection – 31st Railway Engineers in France

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I love collecting WWI albums and named photo groupings.  They are much harder to come by compared with the relatively plentiful single photo purchases.  In this case, I was able to come across a wonderful grouping of photos from the grandson of a WWI 31st Engineer veteran.  I promised to post the photos on the site to help raise interest in this obscure unit and help bring this man’s photos to the digital world.  Digital preservation allows thousands of viewers to enjoy images that would otherwise be relegated to the corner of a dusty upstairs closet.  I will do my best to describe what I can about the unit and share a few biographical vignettes.

Pvt. Herbert Conner posed in France

Pvt. Conner

 

“My grandfather was born in 1892 in Fordsville, Kentucky later the family moved to Amity Oregon and later to St Helens, Oregon. As a young man he was a prizefighter(that what they called them in those days). He was a logger for awhile later he went to work in Portland, Oregon for the railroad before the war  and after the war he continued with the railroad for over forty years as a fireman and an engineer. He never owned a car and the station was about two blocks from his house and Kelly’s Bar and the grocery store were across the street from work  so I guess he felt he didn’t need one. He passed away in 1968.

Grandpa was very proud to have served in World War 1. I do not believe he was in combat. The 31st engineers provided supplies and transported troops. The only story I can remember when he was on guard duty in France and a soldier had gone awol for the night, apparently celebrating and didn’t know the password or had forgotten it and Grandpa felt sorry for him and let him back in the camp. It has been such a long time ago there were probably other things that happened that I can’t remember right now. He must have spent some time at the French Riviera and Monte Carlo because there was a lot of postcards from that area and one postcard to his brother had him on the Italian Riviera for awhile.”

Some Guys from A Company

SS Manchuria in Port (Not the return ship for the 31st)

Hospital Train

German Prisoners

Check back for updates…………….

WWI Photo – 89th Division Soldiers Pose w/ Mascot Dog France

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Following up on one of my favorite common threads seen throughout WWI photography – I present yet another example of the unit mascot.  Normally seen at the compnay level or below, the idea of having a small pet (normally a dog) as a mascot is very common throughout various nations during WWI.  I’ve literally seen examples from the US, England, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and even Australia. I probably have 15-20 examples in my own collection, ranging from small children as mascots, to dogs, pigeons and even goats.  My favorite are the small dogs. Here’s an example from the 89th Division. The collection of 8 photos came from a member of the 356th Infantry.  Unnamed, but we know he was wounded at least once during the war due to the wound chevron on his right cuff.

Post-WWII Photo Negative – 82nd Division Paratroopers in Downtown Fayetteville, NC

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A series of post-WWII negatives from the 82nd Airborne Division is keeping me busy at the V700 Scanner!  Nearly 200 superb images of life in and around Fort Bragg in the years between 1943 and 1948 keep me clicking the SCAN button.  These photos were taken in a downtown Fayetteville diner in 1947.  Love the stereotypical activity in the background. Check out the prices on the sandwiches – Twenty cents?   WHAT?  Also, apparently everyone drank coffee upside down in the 1940s……………….

WWII USMC Marine Corps SBD Dauntless VMSB-231 Pilot and Dive Bomber on Majuro, Marshall Islands

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An eBay seller recently posted an anomalous grouping of negatives online.  The photos were reportedly from the collection of a US ETO fighter pilot, but were clearly taken in a tropical location.  My BS radar went off, and I placed a single bid on one of the “better” images.  After the negative arrived (2.5 by 3.5 in original glassine envelope), I was able to extract a bit more info; although the man posed in the photo is still a mystery.  His name appears to be Jud – and I’ve narrowed down the unit info to place him as a pilot with the VMSB-231 station on Majuro in the Marshall Islands in 1944.  I’ve contacted the seller to track down more shots from this historic grouping.

The VMSB-231 stands for Marine Scout Bombing Squadron # 231.  They were known as the “Ace of Spades” and can sometimes be seen sporting spade insignia on their planes.  The unit was responsible for dive bombing Japanese shipping and freight.  The SBD was a radial engined dive-bomber that was extensively used in the early portion of the US involvement in the PTO.  Here’s a good site regarding the SBD: http://science.howstuffworks.com/douglas-sbd-dauntless.htm

 

 

Some technical data on the SBD:

Douglas SBD Dauntless Specifications

Wingspan: 41 ft. 6-1/2 in.

Length: 33 ft. 1-1/2 in.

Height: 13 ft. 7 in.

Empty Weight: 6,500 lbs

Gross Weight: 10,700 lbs

Top Speed: 252 mph

Service Ceiling: 26,100 ft.

Range: 1,100 miles

Engine/Horsepower: One Wright R-1820/1200

Crew: 2

Armament: Two .50-inch Browning machine guns in the nose; two .50-inch Browning machine guns flexibly mounted in the rear cockpit; 1,600 lbs of bombs under fuselage; 650 lbs under the wing

WWII German Snapshot Photo – RAF Gravestones in Germany 1939 – 1st Australian Soldier Killed in Action

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Today’s post comes from a loyal PortraitsofWar follower from the Netherlands.  He recently stumbled across a single snapshot at a Dutch flea market and did some savvy investigative work to tease out the historical significance.  Thanks Werner!

Wartime German Snapshot of the Graves

Begraafplaats Engelse Vliegeniers

By: Werner Peters

Here we have a photo taken by a German soldier depicting the graves of three Allied airmen who lost their lives in the skies over Germany.  These soldiers were likely recovered from their crashed plane and buried with full military honors by their German adversaries.  A Nazi laurel wreath can be seen in the left corner of the photo.

At the time, two of the airmen could be positively identified by the Germans; one body was unidentifiable.  One the left side of the burial plot lies Mr.Hammond whose RAF identification number was 562535RAF.  On the right side of the grave lies J. MCI. Cameron, Offr res 24225RAF.  The middle marker merely says , Engl. Flieger(English Airman).  On all three grave posts is written “Hier ruht ein Engl. Flieger – im luftkampf gefallen 28.9.1939 Vorden” – which translates as “here rests an English airman who died in aerial combat on 28.9.1939 Vorden(?)”.

With a little research it turns out that this crew belonged to the 110th RAF squadron.  They were flying a Bristol Blenheim type IV, number N6212 which crashed on September 28th, 1939 during a recon mission over Munster in the neighborhood of Kiel, Germany.  They were shot down by a German pilot named Klaus Faber, a feldwebel of the Ersten Abiteilung.  Jagdgeschwader Eins (1st Section of the 1st Fighter Group).

It turns out that the man buried on the right is wing commander Ivan McLoed Cameron, an Australian who, in fact, is the first Australian to die in action during WWII. The man to the left is Thomas Cecil Hammond, an Irishman.  The last grave belongs to Thomas Fullerton.

For more information regarding the crash, please check out the following website: http://ww2chat.com/biographies/5839-raf-australians-wing-commander-ivan-mcleod-cameron.html

After researching the photograph, Werner visited the current grave site in Kleve, Germany where the three men were reburied after the war.  He snapped some great photos and generously allowed for them to be posted here at PortraitsofWar.

Thanks Werner!

Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Gates

The Three Graves

Cameron's Headstone

Fullerton

Hammond


Captured German U-Boats in Portsmouth, New Hampshire – May 1945

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Who knew that the US captured a series of German U-Boats during the tail end of WWII?  I had no idea until I picked up a rare collection of 24 photos that belonged to a member of the original prize crew for one of the U-Boats.  The photos are incredibly detailed with crisp focus and in a large 8X10 format.  They show the capturing of U-234 and the subsequent arrival in port in Portsmouth, NH.  Also pictured in the grouping (not all posted here) are Captain Fritz Steinhoff and Luftwaffe General Ulrich Kessler.  Steinhoff actually ended up committing suicide in a Boston jail with the aide of a broken glasses lens. A wartime news article about the suicide can be found here.  Ulrich Kessler was delivering a load of Uranium and a set of German jet planes to an undisclosed South American country when the captain decided to surrender.  An amazing collection for sure.

 

 

Ulrich Kessler

 

 

 

Captain Steinhoff

 

 

 

 

 

Pope AFB, Fort Bragg, NC – 1974 Joint Operations Military Exposition “Brass Key II”

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The following set of slides (and many more not shown) were picked up at a local flea market along with 3000 more from the same photographer.  In this case, he was invited down to view a series of military exercises at Pope Air Force Base in Fort Bragg, NC.  The activities and joint demonstrations by the United States Readiness Command (USREDCOM), Brass Key II at Fort Bragg in North Carolina were a series of military exercises to show the readiness of US airborne and Special Forces troops.  A great set of shots all taken in 1974.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WWII 388th Bomb Group Artist Alva Alegre – Random Snapshots Continued……

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Isn’t it hard to imagine that these images were taken in 1944?  They were, and casual followers of the blog will remember that this is only a sneak peek of a larger collection of prints and negatives that I acquired from a series of two eBay auction in 2010 and 2011.  The photographer, Alva V. Alegre was a professionally trained artist who served with the 388th Bomb Group during WWII.  His treasure trove of images haunt me; my quest to figure out his life story has brought me many new leads and a number of new friends and acquaintances.

 

 

 

 

 

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