Still Pictures Aerial Photography in Record Group 208: Records of the Office of War Information
Photographs of the Allies and Axis, 1942 - 1945 (208-AA)
Record Group 208, Series AA, the largest of all the Office of War Information (OWI) picture series, covers the broad spectrum of military activities in the European, North African, Asian, and Pacific theatres, as well as the impact of the fighting on civilian life inside and outside the war zones. The approximately 9,700 distinct subject categories range from "Airplanes -- C-75" to "Germany Frankfurt," from "Prisoners --Liberated Philippine Islands" to "Stilwell Road --Engineers" to "War Relief Greece." Coverage of all phases of U.S. ground, air, and sea operations are the basis of this series. Photographs depict the historic landings at Algiers, Oran, and Casablanca, Sicily, Salerno, Normandy, Aitape, Leyte, Lingayen, Saipan, Guam, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and other sites; aerial bombardments, naval firefights, artillery assaults, infantry advances and patrols on all fronts; casualties and field hospital activities; engineering projects; communication, transport, and supply operations; liberation of Axis-held cities, towns, and internment sites; establishment of occupation government in Germany, Italy, and Japan; myriad interactions with civilians; reviews, memorials, and awards ceremonies; conferences and planning sessions; and varied aspects of camp life, from food and shelter to recreation and religion. Action shots and aerial views are mixed with group portraits and other posed pictures. Included, as well, are numerous equipment closeups -- such aircraft types as the B-26 Marauder and the B-29 Superfortress, such artillery specimens as the 240 mm Howitzer and the 60 mm jungle mortar, and such naval craft as the LST and the Mark 1A Airborne Lifeboat. Activities on American bases in locales far away from the fighting (such as, Aleutian Islands, Greenland, post-1941 Pearl Harbor) are documented along with the campaigns at the front. Among the particular groups, places, and events covered in this series the contributions of minority American troops, including highly-decorated black units within the 71st Infantry Division in Austria and the famous 100th Infantry Battalion of Japanese-Americans in Italy; the April, 1942 fall of Bataan and beginning of the Bataan Death March; the link-up of U.S. and Soviet forces at war's end, including the meeting of General George S. Patton and Lieutenant General Nikonor Dimitrievitch Zahwataeff, near Linz, Austria; heroes of the "Flying Tigers," U.S. Army 14th Air Force in China; ceremonies for the surviving members of the original group of six soldiers who raised the American flag on Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima; reunions of Italian-American soldiers with relatives on the Italian front; the execution of Benito Mussolini in Milan, Italy; formal German surrender proceedings in Berlin, Germany (May 9, 1945) and Japanese surrender proceedings aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Japan (September 2, 1945); aerial and ground-level views of the destruction caused by the atomic bomb at Nagasaki, Japan; executions of prisoners by Axis forces, from captured German and Japanese photographs; and Allied liberation of concentration camps, slave labor camps, and prisoner-of-war camps in Germany, including Dachau, Belsen, Buchenwald, Dortmund, Gardelegan, Wobbelin, Schwarzenfeld, Kauritz, Moosburg, as well as other sites. The finding aid for the series is available in the Still Pictures Research Room. This series is partially digitized.
Photographs of American Military Operations, 1942 - 1945 (208-MO)
The series covers a wide array of military activities in the European, North African, Asian, and Pacific theatres, as well as the impact of the fighting on civilian life inside and outside the war zones, with a focus on coverage of American activities at home and abroad. Among the relatively few scenes of Germany or Japan that are not also incorporated in 208-AA are aerial views of the destruction wrought by the atomic bomb at Hiroshima. The finding aid for the series is available in the Still Pictures Research Room. This series is partially digitized.
Photographs Depicting "Life in the United States", 1942 - 1946 (208-LU)
The photographs in this series were produced and collected by the Picture Division and were furnished to other units of the News and Features Bureau and the Overseas Operations Branch of the Office of War Information (OWI). The photographs were used to illustrate OWI leaflets, booklets, magazines, and other publications and exhibits which were distributed for use overseas. Arranged into some 300 subject areas, these photographs document the breadth of American activity in the arts, sciences, politics, war production and defense, education, recreation, medicine, architecture, and communications, to name a few. Included are photographs highlighting activities in many U.S. states; activities in U.S. colleges and universities; the role of women in the home front defense effort; the contributions of African-Americans to American society; war veterans and their adjustment to civilian life; the activities of American youth; the development of the United Nations; and features on activities of the armed services. The series includes aerial views of Washington, D.C. The finding aid for the series is available in the Still Pictures Research Room. This series is partially digitized.
Photographs of Military and Civilian Activities, 1939 - 1945 (208-AMC)
These prints and negatives were used by the Office of War Information (OWI) to illustrate various military and civilian activities during World War II. The military photographs document army and navy operations in the European and Pacific theaters of war and on the home front. Included in the photographs are images of the 8th Army Air Force performing bombing runs over Europe, aerial photos of damage to Germany, treatment of wounded airmen in England, and photographs of the Flying Tigers in Alaska. The finding aid for the series is available in the Still Pictures Research Room. This series is partially digitized.
Photographs Used in Publications, 1943 - 1945 (208-PR)
Photographs used in Office of War Information (OWI) publications, including USA and Photo Review. This series is partially digitized.
Selected Photographs of Military and Civilian Activities Sent to OWI Outposts, 1942 - 1943 (208-MCP)
The series comprises a partial but significant run of the microfilm editions, with thorough representation from August 1942 to June 1943 , with gradually less comprehensive coverage through early November 1943. Altogether, this series includes copies of 121 separate microfilm editions, reproducing a total of approximately 9,300 images. Aerial photos depicting American bombing hits also appear with increasing regularity in this series. The finding aid for the series is available in the Still Pictures Research Room.