US Army Air Force

In queue for the soup

47th BG

Under the North African sun, the aircraftmen of the USAAF’s 47th Bombardment Group in queue for the lunch (the soldier’s lunch!), likely a soup (excellent and abundant…) drawn from a great pot. The plane in background is likely a dive bomber Douglas A-24 Banshee, the USAAF’s version of the US Navy’s SBD Dauntless, employed during the first phases of Allied invasion of Western North Africa. The photo was taken during the first deployment of the 47th BG in Mediterranean Theatre, in Algeria and Tunisia, perhaps on the first months of 1943. Victor Sierra