 Pilot of 77 Squadron, 20th Fighter Group, Major Merle J. Gilbertson looks through a hole in the canopy of his  P-51 "Mustang" obtained during a raid on a German airfield Espershtedt in the German town of Gotha.  After a dogfight,not far from his aircraft  his opponent,a  German  Fw 190 exploded, debris damaging his  canopy.His eyes reflect the fatigue and stress of combat.He knows he's lucky to have escaped with his head still in one piece. 



Glad to be alive

 An emergency landing on an Italian airfield :Consolidated B-24 Liberator. 


 21/04/1944 


B-24

Toulon, 6 August 1944: the end of a B-24 “Liberator” of the 376th Bomb Group’s 513th Bomb Squadron, 47th Bomb Wing, 15th Air Force, based at Manduria, Apulia, Southern Italy, hit by a 88mm shell on the right wing. Few second after this photo the plane was hit a second 88mm shell near the bomb bay killing five crewmen. The four survivors bailed out: three POW, another escaped the capture and was concealed until the liberation of the Southern France. Victor Sierra