Thousands of aerial photos of England taken by the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II have been released publicly for the first time, revealing airfields with American bombers, a damaged Manchester soccer stadium and troops playing baseball at a U.S. military camp.Photographic reconnaissance units of the USAAF took the 3,600 black-and-white images when they were stationed at bases across England in 1943 and 1944, after the United States joined the war in December 1941.
The images, capturing swaths of English towns and cities, are available to view on an online map as part ofThe collection also features radar equipment installed in the middle of fields in the English countryside in Suffolk, army hospital tents set up in Wiltshire in southern England and antitank defenses around Cissbury Ring, an Iron Age hill fort in West Sussex.
These crews often used aircraft that were adapted by removing weaponry to accommodate fixed cameras and fuel tanks for long-range missions. Pilots took photos during flights near their bases “while gaining the necessary experience to qualify for operations over enemy territory,” Historic England said. They also flew to test aircraft or camera equipment.