July 9, 1945: A B-29 burns furiously after an emergency landing on Iwo Jima, Japan, while returning from a raid on the Japanese Mainland. The plane was badly shot up on the raid but the fire resulted from damage to hydraulic systems which caused a locked brake and a crash upon landing.


Emergency landing

Studio portrait of 1930s/'40s Big Band leader, Glenn Miller, the "King of Swing".  Joined the US Army, 1942, later assigned to the US Army Air Force Auxiliary, Miller was involved mainly in "musical warfare", designed to promote the morale of the troops.  On the night of 15 December 1944, he was due to fly from Bedford, England, to Paris to play at a concert for Allied troops.  Somewhere on the route, his aeroplane disappeared; no trace of it, or its occupants, was ever found.  Glenn Miller's status remains "missing in action".  Best regards, JR.

Captain Glenn Miller.


Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses ready for action at some unidentified airfield. The enormous capabilities of these classic aircraft were a tremendous boon to U.S. airmen. 