Tag Archives: 99th

Vintage WW 2 US Army Air Force photo lot in an album from an airman in the 99th Bomb Group. There are over 250 photos in this album, along with a 12th Air Force and a 15th Air Force patch. The 99th Bomb Group was part of the 12th Air Force while in North Africa, then was part of the 15th Air Force while stationed in Italy. This group flew the famous shuttle missions where they ended up landing in Russia after bombing distant targets, then after landing and refueling and re-arming they flew another bombing mission on they way back to their airfield in Italy. The information written in the front of the album notes this private enlisted before the war, probably in 1939 and was originally in the 21st Reconnaissance Squadron and was at Langley Field before being stationed in Newfoundland, Canada. There are photos of an early B 17 bomber as well as B-10 and B-18 bombers and other aircraft. There are photos from Newfoundland, Canada including ones of the airfield with various aircraft, soldiers with shotguns after a duck hunt, soldiers walking along railroad tracks, and clowning around with a snowman. There are many photos from North Africa including German war graves, camels, airfield and vehicle photos including a jeep, steam locomotive photo and a photo of the Sphinx. There are photos of captured German tanks and artillery, ancient ruins including an aqueduct, city views including a trolley with a sign in the front noting Djebel- Djelloud, a soldier standing in front of a Tunis sign, a soldier riding on top of baggage including footlockers in an open railroad car, a Free French bulletin board with photos on it, 7 photos of a film crew taking motion pictures of B-17s in flight as well B-17 number 229472 on the ground with the crew getting donuts from the Red Cross. Among the many aircraft photos in this lot are ones of P-38 fighters, P-51 fighters, B-17 bombers, B-10 and B-18 bombers, some English aircraft, a Russian bomber, and various German aircraft destroyed on the ground including a Stuka and a JU 88. Some of the nose art/ identified aircraft in the photos are B-17 229526 named Bugs, as in Bugs Bunny, a B-17 named El Diablo, B-17 number 229472 Sweater Girl, B-17 number 230313 in flight, B-17 Dinah Might, B-17 number 46373 in flight dropping its bombs, B-17 number 46372 in flight, B-17 number 232055 in flight, B-17 number 229068 Mel’s Mess in flight along with B-17 number 232109 and B-17 number 2107143 all in the same photo, and B-17 The Adventuress. There are photos from Italy including a crash landed B-17 bomber, B-17’s on an airfield, a battle damaged B-17 missing most of its nose on an airfield, multiple photos of B-17’s in flight, some B-24’s on the 99th’s airfield, P-38 & P-51 fighters in flight. There are large composite photos from the 99th Bomb Group Photo section with subjects such as Keep Fit, an April 1944 calender compliments of the chaplain which has a small nose art area on it including B-17’s Yankee Doodle, El Diablo, Dirty Gertie, Miss Fury, Never Satisfied, and Bugs. A May 1944 calender compliments of the chaplain which has information about taking college courses while in the service, a large composite photo from the 99th Photo of multiple photographs of Rome Italy with July 1944 on it. A July 1944 calender compliments of the chaplain which has photos of the group’s officer as well as a large photo of an American airman shaking the hand of a Russian soldier over a pile of bombs, an August 1944 calender which has photos of the group’s officer, a November 1944 calender which has a photo of a B-17 having its engines worked on, and a 1945 calender photo with multiple photos around the edge. There are numerous sightseeing and aerial photos from Italy, and a photo of some female Russian soldiers probably taken on one of the shuttle missions. There is a 7.5 inch x 9.5 inch photo of the B-17 Bugs in flight, an enlarged photo of Mel’s Mess in flight, a 7 inch x 9 inch photo of flak over Vienna, a 7 x 8 inch photo from the air of Mt Vesuvius erupting. Some of the larger photos are enlarged copies of some of the smaller photos in the album. I have described many of the photographs, but there are too many for me to describe every one. There are aerial photos include one of a lava flow, aerial bomb damage photos of the actual airstrike by the 99th with visible bomb explosions including 9/16/1943 of a highway bridge at Benevento Italy, 8/31/1943 of Pisa, Italy, 6/05/1943 of ships in a harbour being bombed at La Spezia, Italy, dispersed aircraft at Castelvetrano & another of its airfield, 6/25/1943 bombing of Messina, the Palerma docks, Marsala Port in Sicily, the Bologna Railyards, Gerbini airfield, Foggia, Cupua Italy, and a few others. World War Two, WW2. US Army Air Corps, US Army, US Army Air Force. Good used condition, photos have wear & tear from age and use, there are scuffs, wrinkles, bends, stains and discoloration to the photos. There is writing on the back of some of the photos. Photos vary in size and quality of the image. There is nice detail to alot of the photos. Some of the photos in the album are duplicates of each other, and some of the larger photos are enlarged duplicates of a smaller photo from the album. Photo album has a string for the binding, and I untied the string and took the pages out to take the listing photographs, then put the album back together. Sale includes over 250 photographs in a photo album and 2 patches. It is actually 264 photos if I counted right, but I’m just going to call it over 250 of them. The patches are no glow originals. The pages of the album look like they have been reused at some point with the photos having been re arranged in some places. The photos were acquired from a collector who obtained them from the airman. The airman’s name is noted in the front of the album, and one caption notes he took many of the photos in the album. Regarding my description as original photographs, they are described as this since I did not make a reproduction of the photos myself. The photos could have had more than one of the image reproduced back during the war. These photos appear to be period originals, or period copies of originals that may even have been reproduced after the war. Some of them are one of a kind taken by an individual who did not share the image, some were reproduced back then and shared with other servicemen. As noted some of the photos were produced by the 99th Bomb Group Photo section, so some if not all of the enlarged or duplicte photos were probably produced by them during the war. Just wanted to be clear that I did not reproduce these for sale, each photo is the only one that I have. The free listing tool. The item “WW2 US Army Air Corps photo lot, 99th Bomb Group, 12th Air Force, over 250 pics” is in sale since Saturday, January 30, 2016. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Militaria\WW II (1939-45)\Original Period Items\United States\Photographs”. The seller is “generalbraddock1″ and is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This item can be shipped to United States.