For second time, we share the work of WW2 Colourised Photos (World War Two Black and White photos that are researched and colourised in detail by Doug and other artists from the 'Colourisehistory Group'). We hope you love it as much as we do! Our most heartfelt thanks for these great Masters of the colourisation.

In this ocasion, we focus in Allied Warbirds. Enjoy!

F6F-5 'Hellcat' Nº23 flown by Ens. Ardon R. Ives crash lands on the USS Lexington, Feb. '45 (Ives survived the crash but died in a dogfight in May '45)

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

USMC. 2nd Lt. William Magill DFC is shown in his F-4U Corsair fighter. For 15 months in the Pacific he flew the plane on 89 combat missions, as represented by the bombs painted on its side. He saw action in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands in the Central Pacific from December 1943 until March 1945, receiving two Distinguished Flying Crosses, as well as five Air Medals.
(Feb.24 1919 - Jan.26 2011 he died aged 91).

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

South African Pilot Officer Albert Gerald Lewis DFC (aged 22) - Hawker Hurricane (VY-R) P2923 - 85 Squadron RAF - 1940

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

RAF Pilot Officer James Harry 'Ginger' Lacey DFM and Bar (credited with 28 enemy aircraft destroyed), hard at work on a model aeroplane in Nº501 Squadron's dispersal hut at Colerne airfield, Wiltshire, England, 30th May 1941. (he died exactly 48 years later on the 30th May 1989 aged 72) IWM.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

F/O William T Lane - Spitfire Mk.IX - RCAF 403 Squadron, Kenley - May '43 ( KIA 15/5/43 aged 21)

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

The Navigator and Wireless Operator of a Vickers Wellington bomber over the desert in North Africa, April 1941

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Vickers Wellington Mk.1c, No.301 (‘Pomeranian’) Squadron RAF. 1941 (IWM)

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

US.Navy Grumman TBF Avenger Pilots, 1943

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Soviet Air force Iyushin il-2m3 Sturmovik (Deputy commander of the 568 th Attack Aviation Regiment, Major MI Kassimov in the cockpit)

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 324th Bomb Squad, 91st Bomb Group, 8th Air Force en route to their target over Tours in France on the 5th January 1944. On the left is B-17F 42-29837 'Lady luck' (DF-A) the replacement for the 'Memphis Belle' after it had completed its tour. On the right is the B-17F 41-24490 'Jack the Ripper' (DF-C)

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by John Winner from America)

B-17 Flying Fortress "MEMPHIS BELLE". 2nd Eighth Air Force WW II Bomber to complete 25 Combat Missions & return to the United States 

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised and Researched by Mike Gepp from Australia)

Group Captain A G "Sailor" Malan, Officer Commanding No. 145 Wing based at Merston, climbing into the cockpit of his Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb (AGM) before taking off from Appledram, Sussex. 1944 © IWM (CH 12859)

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Tinus Le Roux from South Africa)

B-17F-50-DL 42-3352 - 'Virgin's Delight', piloted by Lt. R E 'Dick' Le Pore of the 410th BS/94th BG and photographed by Capt. Roy D Miller, the BS Flight Surgeon

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Nils Hagemann and Ben Nightingale)

Heinkel He.III H-I (Wk.Nº 6853) IH+EN, previously of - II/Kampfgeschwader.26. Seen here in British markings after being forced down on the 9th February 1940 near Dalkeith in Midlothian, after combat with a Spitfire of 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron, it was repaired, given RAF roundels and the serial number AW177 and then used for testing purposes by 1426 Flight at Duxford.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Tom Thounaojam from Imphal in India)

Lt. Edward H. “Butch” O’Hare in his Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat giving a thumbs up at the Naval Air Station Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii. 10 April 1942. Note the “Felix the Cat” insignia of Fighting Squadron Three (VF-3) and five Japanese flags representing the five enemy bombers he was credited with shooting down.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Mike Gepp from Australia)

US. Lt. Ralph "Kidd" Hofer in his P-51 Mustang "Salem Representative" with his pet dog "Duke".

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Mike Gepp from Australia)

Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941. Sailors stand amid wrecked planes at the Ford Island seaplane base, watching as USS Shaw (DD-373) explodes in the centre background, 7 December 1941. USS Nevada (BB-36) is also visible in the middle background, with her bow headed toward the left. Planes present include PBY, OS2U and SOC types. Wrecked wing in the foreground is from a PBY

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Royston Leonard from the UK)

Supermarine Spitfire Mk VB (R6923, QJ-S) of Nº92 (East India) Squadron RAF based at Biggin Hill, Kent, UK. Flown here by Fl.Off. Alan Wright on 19th May 1941. On the afternoon of the 21st June '41 it was flown by Sgt. G.W.Aston on a bomber escort run over France and shot down a Bf 109 before it too got hit and had to ditch in the sea. Sgt. Aston survived and returned for duty that same evening.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Flying Officer J B Burnside, the flight engineer on board an Avro Lancaster B Mark III of No. 619 Squadron RAF based at Coningsby, Lincolnshire, checks settings on the control panel from his seat in the cockpit. February 1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Two U.S. Navy Curtiss SB2C Helldiver dive bombers of bombing squadron VB-1 in the landing circle of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10) in July 1944. Ready to land, this SB2C pilot has lowered the tail hook of his aircraft.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Tom Thounaojam from Imphal in India)

American pilots of No.71 'Eagle' Squadron "scrambling" to their Hawker Hurricanes at RAF Kirton in Lindsey, Lincolnshire - 17/3/41. In the foreground is Eugene Quimby "Red" Tobin of Los Angeles, he was one of 11 American pilots who flew with RAF Fighter Command between 10 July and 31 October 1940, thereby qualifying for the Battle of Britain clasp to the 1939–45 campaign star. On the 7th September 1941, Tobin was killed in combat with Be109's of JG 26 on 71 Squadron's first sweep over northern France, one of three Spitfires shot down. He crashed into a hillside near Boulogne-sur-Mer and was buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France. He was 24 years old

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Admiral Somerville visited HMS Ark Royal to congratulate the officers and ship's company after the successful engagement with the BISMARCK, October 1941. Officers and ratings who were decorated for the part they played in the sinking of the BISMARCK (on 24th May 1941), in front of a Fairey ('Stringbag') Swordfish aircraft. © IWM (A 5826). Left to right: Lieutenant P D Gick, RN, awarded DSC; Lieutenant Commander Eugene Esmonde, RN, awarded DSO; Sub Lieutenant V K Norfolk, RN, awarded DSC; A/PO Air L D Sayer awarded DSM; A/Ldg Air A L Johnson, awarded DSM. all from 825 Squadron, HMS Victorious. Some nine months later on 12th February 1942, Esmonde and Johnson would both die attempting to stop the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen from making the 'Channel Dash'. Norfolk was KIA over Cherbourg 17/9/42. Both Gick and Sayer survived the war.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Supermarine Spitfire Mark VCs of No. 2 Squadron South African Air Force (SAAF) based at Palata, Italy, flying in loose line astern formation over the Adriatic Sea while on a bombing mission to the Sangro River battlefront. Oct-Dec 1943. (© IWM CNA 2102)

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Tom Thounaojam from Imphal in India)

"Operation Tidal Wave". Ploesti, Rumanian oil refinery bombing mission. August 1st 1943 (U.S. Air Force photo)
This aircraft is "The Sandman" of the 345th Bomb Squadron, 98th Bomb Group "The Pyramiders", 9th Air Force. She was a 'Liberator' B-24D-55-CO S/N 42-40402, later lost on a mission to Augsburg,Germany on December 19th 1943.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Royston Leonard from the UK)

Major George Preddy, USAAF (February 5, 1919–December 25, 1944) was a United States Army Air Forces officer during World War II and an American ace credited with 26.83 enemy air-to-air kills, ranking him as the top P-51 Mustang ace of WWII and sixth on the list of all-time highest scoring American aces. (Photo taken on the 7th August 1944, after he had been accredited with six downed enemy fighters in a single mission).

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised and Researched by Mike Gepp from Australia)

20-year-old Flying Officer Harold 'Birdie' Bird-Wilson, Nº17 Squadron RAF Debden. June/July 1940. This photo was featured in a Time Life magazine in March 1941. In September 1938 he survived an aerial accident but was badly burned and lost his nose. He underwent plastic surgery at the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead and was one of the earliest aircrew ‘guinea pig’ patients of the famous, pioneering plastic surgeon, Sir Archibald McIndoe. For some months ‘Birdie’ walked around without a nose whilst McIndoe rebuilt it for him; he subsequently became the No 2 member of the famous ‘Guinea Pig Club’. During the 'Battle of Britain' he was shot down by Luftwaffe ace Adolf Galland on the 24th September 1940 in a dog fight over the River Thames but baled out and was picked up by a riverboat. (Galland's 40th victim). Wounded with shrapnel from the guns of Galland’s Bf.109 embedded in his body and suffering from burns for the second time in his flying career, he recovered and returned to duty after two months recuperation. 

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Maureen Dunlop (aged 24), an Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) pilot, in front of a Fairey Barracuda dive bomber, featured on the front cover of the 'Picture Post' magazine 16th September 1944.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson VC. DSO and bar DFC and bar. (12 August 1918 - 19 September 1944). He was the first CO of the Royal Air Force's 617 Squadron, which he led in the 'Dam Busters' raid (Operation Chastise) in 1943, resulting in the destruction of two large dams in the Ruhr area, for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. On September 19th 1944, Gibson and his navigator, Squadron Leader Jim Warwick, departed RAF Hemswell in a De Havilland Mosquito Mk.XX to serve as the Pathfinder Master Bomber for a large raid on Rheydt and Mönchengladbach. Executing the mission and ordering the bombers home, Gibson was not heard from again. The remains of his Mosquito were located near Steenbergen, Netherlands. 

 (Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Boulton Paul 'Defiant', British and New Zealand pilots and gunners of No 264 Squadron RAF, pass the time with a game of draughts while waiting at readiness outside their dispersal tent at Kirton-in-Lindsey, Lincolnshire. Summer 1940. (© IWM CH 868)

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Lt. Samuel 'Ted' Hutchins of Port Charlotte, Fla. climbs out of his Chance-Vought OS2U Kingfisher spotter-plane after coming back aboard the Battleship USS 'South Dakota' off Okinawa, January 22nd 1945. Ensign Stark, in the rear cockpit, had just been rescued after his Hellcat fighter plane was shot down.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Leo Determann)

USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24). Burning aft after she was hit by a Nakajima B6N 'Jill' Kamikaze, while operating off the Philippines on 30 October 1944. Flight deck crewmen are moving undamaged TBM torpedo planes away from the flames as others fight the fires. USS Franklin (CV-13), was also hit during this Kamikaze attack. 

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Royston Leonard from the UK)

A U.S. Navy Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless of bombing squadron VB-16 flies an antisubmarine patrol low over the battleship USS Washington (BB-56) en route to the invasion of the Gilbert Islands, 12 November 1943. The ship in the background is USS Lexington (CV-16), the aircraft's home carrier. Note the depth charge below the SBD.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Tom Thounaojam)

'Flying Fortress' 1942. December 1942, a year after Pearl Harbor. "Production. B-17 heavy bomber. A nearly complete B-17F 'Flying Fortress' at Boeing's Seattle, Washington plant." Photo by Andreas Feininger for the Office of War Information.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Tom Thounaojam)

A pilot of No. 175 Squadron RAF scrambles to his waiting Hawker Typhoon Mark IB at B5 Airstrip Le Fresne-Camilly, Calvados, France following a call from the Group Control Centre ordering an air strike. 24th July 1944. (© IWM CL 570)

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Pilot and co-pilot in the cockpit of their Nº.149 RAF Squadron Vickers Wellington bomber, at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, 1941. The pilot is Flight Lt. David Donaldson, who was promoted to Wing Commander in 1943 at the age of 28. (Photograph by Cecil Beaton) (© IWM D 4737)

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

This Avro Lancaster is from an RAAF Squadron (Australian), probably Nº463 or Nº467 (the nose art shows an Australian flag over a British Bulldog on a German swastika flag and each bombing mission is represented by a Kangaroo).

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Tom Thounaojam)

Inauguration of "Birdie Schmidt A.R.C" B24 Liberator. 392nd Bomber Group, 8th Airforce, Wendling Air Base, Norfolk, England. August the 8th 1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Jean Marie)

Group Captain Adolph Gysbert "Sailor" Malan in the Spitfire Mk IX (FY-F) of Australian Squadron Leader Hugo 'Sinker' Armstrong, CO of 611 Squadron RAF at Biggin Hill on the 2nd January 1943. Armstrong was shot down and killed in this Spitfire a month later, on 5th February. He was 'bounced' by eight Fw 190s of 5/JG26 over Boulogne. (© IWMCH 8119)

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Tangmere, Sussex, July 1944: in front of a Spitfire IX of 332 (Norwegian) Squadron, a standard 45 gallon Typhoon/Hurricane ‘Torpedo’ jettison tank modified for use on the Spitfire (because of an expected shortage of 45-gallon shaped or slipper tanks) is filled with PA ale from two wooden casks supplied by the Chichester brewer Henty & Constable, for flying over to Normandy while an RAF ‘erk’ writes a cheery message on the tank. The pilot sitting on the wing is wearing a Norwegian Air Force cap-badge. 

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Tom Thounaojam)

'The rear gunner in his position in a Vickers Wellington bomber'. Probably of Nº 149 Squadron at RAF Mildenhall in 1941

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Ensign Robert "Bob" T. King in his damaged TBM-3 'Avenger' White 113 of VT-82, USS Bennington (CV-20), 18th of February 1945.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Paul Reynolds)

Eleanor Lettice Curtis, a British Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) climbs into a Spitfire (probably a Mk IX) ready to ferry it to a front line squadron.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Royston Leonard UK)

Stanisław Skalski DSO, DFC and two Bars (27 November 1915 – 12 November 2004) was a Polish fighter ace of the Polish Air Force in World War II, later rising to the rank of Generał Brygady. Stanisław Skalski was the top Polish fighter ace of WW II and the first Allied fighter ace of the war, credited, according to official list, with 18 11/12 victories and two probable. Some sources, including Skalski himself, give a number of 22+ victories

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Tomek Iwanowski from Poland)

Flight Lieutenant James "Ginger" Lacey DFM & bar, being congratulated by other members of RAF Squadron 501 (Hurricanes) based at Gravesend in Kent sometime in July 1941.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Royston Leonard UK)

US Navy pilots, (in front) Lieutenant (jg) Henry H. Dearing of Cleveland, Ohio, Ensign Charles W. Miller of Houston, Texas and Lieutenant (jg) Bus Alder of San Mateo, California walking toward their Grumman F6F-3 'Hellcats' aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) on the 5th November 1943. (photo by Lt. Wayne Miller of the U.S. Navy Combat Photo Unit)

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

An American Douglas A-20G 'Havoc' bombs the forest near the village of Le Molay-Littry, a municipality in the region of Lower Normandy on the 7th June 1944. The area and it's V-1 and V-2 rocket launches were under the control of Generalleutnant Dietrich Kraiss of the 352nd. Infantry Division.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Royston Leonard UK)

Bell P-400 Aircobra "Sun Setter", 35th Fighter Squadron, 8th FG., Fifth US Airforce at Milne Bay, New Guinea. September 1942 - February 1943.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Leo Determann from the Netherlands)

"Tuskegee" airman Edward Creston Gleed from Lawrence, Kansas, Class 42-K, with two unidentified crewmen adjusting an external seventy-five gallon drop tank on the wing of a P-51/D Mustang, "Creamer's Dream" (generally flown by 1st.Lt.Charles White) 301st FS, 332nd Fighter Group air base in Ramitelli, Italy, March 1945. 

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Toni Frissell)

Squadron Leader Brian 'Sandy' Lane, CO of No. 19 Squadron RAF (centre) confers with Flight Lieutenant Walter 'Farmer' Lawson (left) and Flight Sergeant George 'Grumpy' Unwin at Fowlmere near Duxford, 21st of September 1940. 

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Paul Reynolds)

Royal Air Force 'Thunderbolt' Mark I. (P-47D-22-RE USAAF s/n 42-26228, RAF HD173 "A" nearest) of No. 135 Squadron RAF, lined up at Chittagong, India, while being overflown by three other Thunderbolts. September 1944 - June 1945 (© IWM CF 201)

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Tom Thounaojam from India)

Colonel Robert L. Scott Jr. (Macon, Georgia) Commanding Officer of the 23rd Fighter Group, US 14th Air force. He stands besides his Curtiss P-40 at Kunming airfield, Southern China, before his departure back to the USA. 4th January 1943.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Supermarine Seafire L.IIIs of RNAS 808 Squadron on the deck of the escort aircraft carrier HMS Khedive (02), entering the Grand Harbour of Valletta in Malta. July 1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Royston Leonard UK)

Close port-side view of a CAC CA-13 Boomerang fighter aircraft, serial no. A46-128, of No. 5 (Tactical Reconnaissance) Squadron RAAF, piloted by 407056 Flight Lieutenant Donald Howard Goode of Port Pirie, South Australia. The aircraft is coded BF-N with the nicknamed "U-Beaut 2" and is flying from Mareeba, Queensland. 18th of March 1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Ground Crew applying "Invasion Stripes" to a Martin Marauder B-26 of 553rd Bomb. Squadron, 386 Bomb. Group at Great Dunmow air base in Essex, England sometime between the 3rd and the 5th of June 1944. In the background is the Marauder 131577 AN-Y "Elmer" (which crash landed in France 31st July 1944)

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Royston Leonard UK)

Lt. Robert Roger Marchi standing on his Yakovlev Yak-3 of the Free French "Normandie-Niemen" 1st Squadron. GCIII Normandie (Groupe de Chasse) No.III. East Prussia, March 1945

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Tom Thounaojam from India)

A group of pilots of No. 303 Polish ("Kościuszko") Fighter Squadron walking toward the camera from a Hawker Hurricane Mk.1 (possibly F/O Jan Zumbach's RF-F V6684) after transferring from RAF Northolt for a well earned rest period. Left to right, in the front row are - Pilot Officer Mirosław Ferić; Flight Lieutenant John A. Kent (the CO of 'A' Flight); Flying Officer Bogdan Grzeszczak; Pilot Officer Jerzy Radomski; Pilot Officer Witold Łokuciewski; Pilot Officer Bogusław Mierzwa (obscured by Łokuciewski); Flying Officer Zdzisław Henneberg; Sergeant Jan Rogowski; Sergeant Eugeniusz Szaposznikow. In the centre, to the rear of this group, wearing helmet and goggles is Pilot Officer Jan Zumbach. RAF Leconfield, Beverley, North Humberside, UK - October 1940

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Tomek Iwanowski from Poland)

The Consolidated B-24 'Liberator' waist gunner c.1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised and Researched by Mike Gepp from Australia)

T/Sgt. Benedict "Benny" Borostowski, ball turret gunner of Capt. Oscar D. O'Neil's B-17 Flying Fortress "Invasion 2nd" (serial 42-5070) of the 401st Bomb Sq, 91st BG. 

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Paul Reynolds)

Wing Commander James Edgar 'Johnnie' Johnson DSO & 2 Bars, DFC & Bar, commanding No. 144 (Canadian) Wing, on the the wing of his Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX with his Labrador retriever 'Sally', at Bazenville Landing Ground in Normandy. 31st of July 1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Benjamin Thomas from Australia)

Fl.Lt. Dudley S.G. Honor, Nº 274 Squadron RAF poses by a Hawker Hurricane of the squadron at Gerawala, Egypt, on rejoining his unit following his rescue

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Lt (JG) Tom ‘TK’ Killefer of US Navy fighter squadron VF-17 (the original 'Jolly Rogers') standing on his Vought F4U-1A Corsair while waiting for an engine change on Nissan Island Airfield. 5th of March 1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Fairey Battle Mk.I 63-M K7650 RAF 63 Squadron over RAF Benson, South Oxfordshire. November 1939

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

22 Tuskegee Airmen Class 45A - Single Engine, pose in front of a Curtiss P-40 'Warhawk' on the occasion of receiving their pilots wings at Tuskegee Army Air Base, Alabama. 11th March 1945

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

US Navy personnel freeing a PBY-5A 'Catalina' aircraft from frozen waters in the Aleutian Islands at Kodiak Bay, US Territory of Alaska, sometime during the period between June 1942 and January 1943

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Royston Leonard UK)

USAAF Capt. Dewey E. Newhart. "Mud N' Mules" Republic P-47D-15-RE Thunderbolt LH-D s/n 42-76141. 350th Fighter Squadron, 353rd Fighter Group, 8th Air Force

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

North American P-51 Mustang "Fools Paradise IV" (tail Nº 413309) of the 380th Fighter Squadron, 363rd Fighter Group, 9th USAAF at Maupertuis Airfield near Cherbourg in France. July/August 1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Benjamin Thomas from Australia)

Flight Sergeant Kazimierz Artymiuk and Sergeant Bronislaw Godlewski both of Nº305 Polish 'Ziemia Wielkopolska' Bomber Squadron. c. June 1943

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Pilot Officer Henri Albert Picard (Nº 87693) of No. 350 (Belgian) Squadron, on the wing of his Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb "Luvungi" MN-S at Kenley, London. July 1942

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Johhny Sirlande from Belgium)

Supermarine Spitfire. 80 years ago, in January 1935, the Air Ministry formalised a contract for the Spitfire prototype.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Two Duxford-based Battle of Britain pilots. Squadron Leader Douglas Bader, commanding No. 242 (Canadian) Squadron, with Major Alexander 'Sasha' Hess, CO of No. 310 (Czechoslovak) Squadron, outside the Officers Mess building, Duxford, Cambridgeshire. October 1940

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Student pilots of the Royal Canadian Air Force watch aircraft manoeuvres before taking off, Initial Training School, Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Borden, Ontario, 30 July 1940

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised and Researched by Benjamin Thomas from Australia)

An American Mechanic working on the Tail Fuse of a AN-M64 "Carpetbagger" General Purpose 500lb bomb in the Forward bomb bay of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress. (Nb the B-29 could carry 32 x 500lb GP Bombs)

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Paul Reynolds)

Gilberts Operation, November 1943. A Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat fighter makes condensation rings as it awaits the take-off flag aboard the Essex-class Aircraft Carrier - USS Yorktown (CV-10), 20 November 1943. The plane is from Fighting Squadron Five (VF-5). Yorktown was then hitting targets in the Marshall Islands to cover the landings in the Gilberts

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Paul Reynolds)

Flight Lieutenant Denis Barnham, Spitfire Vc (Trop) BP955, 601 Squadron RAF with Flight Commander Mike 'Pancho' Le Bas. Luqa, Malta. Late April 1942

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

On the 11th of June 1944, F/O H.G. Garwood of 412 Squadron was flying VZ-S (MJ 255) MK IXc Spitfire when it suffered an engine failure* near Tilly-sur-Seulles, France, during the allied invasion. He was forced to execute a wheels-up landing which tore the port wing off as it looped in the grass. Fortunately Garwood was able to make it back to his base unharmed

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Paul Reynolds)

Alex Vraciu, who was just 25 when he reigned as the US Navy’s top World War II fighter ace after downing 19 Japanese aircraft and destroying 21 more on the ground in only eight months in 1944, died on January the 29th 2015 in West Sacramento, Calif. He was 96

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Johhny Sirlande from Belgium)

A Supermarine Spitfire Vc 'Tropical' JK707 MX-P serving with 307th Fighter Squadron, 31st Fighter Group operated by 12th USAAF. The regular pilot was 1st.Lt. Carroll A. Prybylo, but when lost it was flown by Capt. Virgil Cephus Fields, Jr.

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Paul Reynolds)

Consolidated B-24 H Liberator, s/n 42-95379, 'Extra Joker' in the last photo taken of her on the 23rd of August 1944. She belonged to the 725th Bombardment Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group. 15th US Air Force

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Royston Leonard UK)

A Chinese Nationalist soldier guards a row of Curtiss P-40 'Warhawks' flown by the 'Flying Tigers' of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) July, 1942

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Tom Thounaojam from India)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress 42-24592 “Dauntless Dotty”. 869th Bomb Squadron, 497th Bomb Group, 73rd Bomb Wing, 20th Air Force. 24th of November 1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Leo Courvoisier from Argentina)

Soviet Air Force officers, Rufina Gasheva (848 night combat missions) and Nataly Meklin (980 night combat missions) decorated as 'Heroes of the Soviet Union' for their service with the famed 'Night Witches' unit during World War II. They stand in front of their Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Olga Shirnina from Russia)

Squadron Leader J.A.F. MacLachlan, the one-armed Commanding Officer of No 1 Squadron RAF, standing beside his all-black Hawker Hurricane Mark IIC night fighter, 'JX-Q', at Tangmere in West Sussex, England

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Paul Reynolds)

US Air Force pilot 2nd Lieutenant Robert Wade Biesecker with his crew of the 569th Bombardment Squadron, 390th Bomb Group, US Eighth Air Force, standing by 'Honey Chile', their B-17 Flying Fortress bomber (serial 42-31027), at RAF Framlingham, a US Eighth Air Force Bomber Command station in England, 18 October 1943

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised and Researched by Benjamin Thomas from Australia)

F/L J. F. Thomas and the crew of Avro Lancaster Bomber 'B' MkI 'Victorious Virgin' RF128 QB-V of RCAF 424 Squadron "Tiger" Squadron on the 21st of March 1945. (probably taken at the Skipton-on-Swale, North Yorkshire airfield) 

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Tom Thounaojam from India)

"An American soldier cradles a wounded Japanese boy and shelters him from the rain in the cockpit of an airplane during the Battle of Saipan while waiting to transport the youngster to a field hospital. Saipan, Mariana Islands. July 1944." Image taken by 'Life' Magazine photographer -Peter Stackpole. The Aircraft is a Stinson L-5 Sentinel Liaison Light-plane

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Flying Officer Philip Ingleby 137140, the navigator of an Avro Lancaster B Mark III of No. 619 Squadron RAF based at Coningsby, Lincolnshire, seated at his table in the aircraft. February 1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Squadron Commander, Captain Alexander G. Pronin and Major Sergei Stepanovich Bukhteyev aboard an American lend lease Bell P-39 'Airacobra' of the 102nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment at the Levashovo airbase, near Leningrad. c. Spring 1943

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Olga Shirnina from Russia)

The Crew of Avro Lancaster Mk.I HK576 AA-G - 1944/45

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

RAAF Short Sunderland being anchored at Rose Bay, Sydney Harbour, Australia. c.1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Royston Leonard UK)

28th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron – In front of one of their first photo reconnaissance planes in the Marianas Islands

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Paul Reynolds)

An unidentified New Zealand Flying officer from Timaru, Canterbury in a Vickers Wellington Mk 1C bomber, named "Der Oberhund II" most likely belonging to the RAF 37 Squadron and located at an RAF station in Egypt (possibly Kabrit). c. 1940-42

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Brendan Graham)

Flight Lieutenant Anna Leska-Daab, (b. November 14, 1910 - d. January 21, 1998) was a ferry pilot of the British Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA); a commander of a women’s squadron; and the sole ATA pilot to receive the Royal Medal. Seated here in the cockpit of a Spitfire at White Waltham Airfield, Berkshire, 12th of February 1943

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Anna Marjańska from Poland)

Pilot Officer Albert Gerald Lewis DFC (aged 22) in his Hawker Hurricane Mk.1 (VY-R) P2923 with 85 Squadron RAF at Castle Camps, RAF Debden's satellite airfield in Cambridgeshire. July 1940

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Curtiss SB2C Helldivers of the Bombing Squadron Two (VB-2) from the USS Hornet (CV-12) Fast Carrier Task Force 58 are seen midair on a mission over Saipan, in the Mariana Islands, 24th of August 1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Benjamin Thomas from Australia)

New Zealand, Flying Officer E J Kain of No. 73 Squadron, standing in the cockpit of his Hawker Hurricane Mark I "Paddy III" at Rouvres, in the Île-de-France Region in north-central France

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Flight Nurse Dorothy O'Rourke christening "Miss Fit", a Consolidated B-24J Liberator, s/n 44-40557, of the 30th Bomb Group, 392nd Bomb Squadron, 7th US Air Force, by breaking a bottle of beer on the aircraft's nose guns, Marianas Islands, Octgober 1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Benjamin Thomas from Australia)

A Northrop N-3PB of No. 330 (Norwegian) Squadron, RAF. The Squadron was formed at Reykjavik, Iceland on 25 April 1941 from Norwegian personnel who had managed to escape from Norway and then undergone training in Canada. They initially flew with RAF Sunderland crews but in May aircraft ordered by the Norwegian government prior to the German invasion arrived in the form of Northrop N-3PB seaplanes. The Squadron was attached to Coastal Command and operated from bases in Iceland and Scotland, tasked mainly with anti-submarine patrols

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colorised by Rui Manuel Candeias)

Yekaterina Ryabova (July 14, 1921 - September 12, 1974) was a Russian military pilot, awarded the title of Heroine of the Soviet Union on February 23, 1945. She attained the rank of senior lieutenant as a member of the 46th Guards Night Bomber Regiment. She flew 860 night missions in her career as a Polikarpov Po-2 navigator

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colorised by Olga Shirnina from Russia)

"Scramble!". RCAF pilots race to waiting Hawker Hurricane Mk.Is at RAF Northolt. 'Battle of Britain' 1940

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Vickers Wellesley Mark I (L2673 KU-C) of No. 47 Squadron RAF based at Agordat in flight over the rugged landscape of Eritrea. c. April 1941

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colorised by Rui Manuel Candeias)

Squadron Leader Karun Krishna "Jumbo" Majumdar, born in Calcutta September 6, 1913. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross - the first to be awarded to an Indian Air Force officer - for the gallantry and leadership he displayed while serving as the commanding officer of No 1 Squadron, Indian Air Force, during the retreat from Burma in 1942. He was subsequently awarded a Bar to the DFC in recognition of his courage and skill while serving as a tactical reconnaissance pilot with 268 Squadron No, RAF, during the liberation of France in 1944. Majumdar was the only pilot in the IAF to be decorated with a Bar to the DFC., he would have been destined to reach the topmost position in the Indian Air Force, that of the Chief of Air Staff, if fate had not intervened. Wing Commander Majumdar was killed in a flying accident on February 17th 1945

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Factory delivered P-47D-25-RE 'Thunderbolts' of the "1º Grupo de Aviação de Caça - 1º GAVCA" (1st Brazilian Fighter Squadron), attached to the 350th FG, Tarquinia, Italy. October 1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

The crew of 'Our Gang', a B-17 of the 324th Bomb Squadron, 91st Bomb Group, USAAF, posing with their two mascots, Windy and Skippy, at Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, England, 15 June 1943

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Benjamin Thomas from Australia)

"The Few" who flew in the Battle of Britain 10th July - 31st October 1940 (shown here are D.Bader, A Hess, A.G.Lewis, E.J. Kain, L.Haines and S.Lane) (Nb. E.K. "Cobber" Kaine was KIA in France 7th June 1940, so would not have 'qualified as a 'BoB' pilot). Pilots and aircrew of fifteen nationalities flew in the "Battle of Britain". They were: Americans - Czechoslovakians - Poles - Australians - Free French - Newfoundlanders - Belgians - Irish - New Zealanders - British - Jamaicans - South Africans - Canadians - Palestinian - Southern Rhodesians

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

A Dutch Fokker T. V twin-engine bomber displaying the unique tricolour camo scheme and bright orange ID markings used by the Dutch Air Force on the onset of WW2

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colorised by Rui Manuel Candeias)

First Lt. John Franklin "Jack" Bolt, Pacific Theater 1943. (May 19, 1921 - Sep. 8, 2004). U.S. Marine Corps Aviator. In mid-1941, he enlisted in the Navy, later earned his wings in Pensacola and commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U. S. Marines. He became a member of Marine Fighter Squadron 214, nicknamed the "Black Sheep Squadron," led by legendary aviator Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington. During the Solomon Islands campaign, he flew 94 missions in an F-4U Corsair fighter and was credited with six kills, all of Japanese Zero fighters 

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colorised by Johhny Sirlande from Belgium)

W. McKnight, Canada’s highest scoring ace during the Battle of Britain. Squadron Leader Douglas Bader, commanding No. 242 (Canadian) Squadron, with Pilot Officer William Lidstone 'Willie' McKnight and Acting Fl.Lt. George Eric Ball outside the Officers Mess building, Duxford, Cambridgeshire. October 1940

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Mark at Canadian Colour)

Czechoslovak pilots of No. 310 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF and their British flight commanders grouped in front of Hawker Hurricane Mark I, P3143 'NN-D', at Duxford, Cambridgeshire

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Royston Leonard UK)

Sergeant Bohumír Fürst of No. 310 (Czechoslovak) Squadron is greeted by the squadron mascot on returning to RAF Duxford after a sortie in his Hawker Hurricane Mk I Hurricane P3143 'NN-D', 7 September 1940

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Benjamin Thomas from Australia)

B-17F-25-BO "Harry the Horse" S/Nº 41-24548 Field Nº 167. Tadji Airfield, West Sepik Province Papua New Guinea. May 1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Allan White from Australia)

The often forgotten Squadron Ground Crew. Members of No.1 Squadron RCAF ground crew tend to a Hawker Hurricane. While Leading Aircraftman P.J. Thurgeon removes the port wheel, because of faulty brakes, Sergeant Bob Fair checks to see if the craft should go into maintenance to be repaired. Often forgotten, No.1’s ground crew worked tirelessly to keep the aircraft in good repair; without them the squadron could not have flown. July 1941

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

A pilot of No. 175 Squadron RAF scrambles to his waiting Hawker Typhoon Mark IB at B5 Airstrip Le Fresne-Camilly, Calvados, Normandy in France following a call from the Group Control Centre ordering an air strike. 24th July 1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

The rear gunner of a USMC Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber mans his tool of trade allowing for a clear view of the 0.30 in (7.62 mm) Browning machine guns’ mounting

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colorised by Rui Manuel Candeias)

Two members of the 14th Air Force hang around one of their mounts somewhere in China, unknown date. In the foreground a P-51C or D ‘Mustang’, and in the background a P-51C in olive drab

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colorised by Rui Manuel Candeias)

Boulton Paul Defiant Mk Is (including L7026 PS-V and N1535 PS-A) of No. 264 Squadron RAF based at Kirton-in-Lindsey, Lincolnshire, late July 1940

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

F4U-1 Corsair #252 (possibly that of 1/Lt. William 'Bill" Boshart). VMF 224, Marine Corps 4th Marines Aircraft Wing, Majuro Airstrip, Marshall Islands. Planes being readied for fighter patrol due to radar picking up Japanese bombers headed for the Palau Island group, Peleliu, September 19th 1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Paul Reynolds)

De Havilland Mosquito Mk II of No. 157 Squadron RAF refuelling at Hunsdon, Hertfordshire. 16 June 1943

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Benjamin Thomas from Australia)

Maria Dolina (1922–2010) was a Soviet pilot and acting squadron commander of the 125th “Marina M. Raskova” Borisov Guards dive bomber Regiment. She was active primarily on the 1st Baltic Front during World War II, performing 72 sorties in the Pe-2 Petlyakov light bomber, dropping a total 45,000 kg bombs. In six aerial combats Maria and her crew shot down 3 enemy fighters (in the group).
On August 18, 1945 Dolina was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colorised by Olga Shirnina from Russia)

 Quick dedication to the last surviving Dambusters pilot, Sqn.Ldr. Les Munro, who has died at the age of 96. The legendary 'Dambusters Operation' of RAF 617 Squadron flew from RAF Scampton, near Lincoln, in 1943 and successfully used "bouncing bombs" to attack German dams. There are now only two surviving crew members of the Dambusters missions

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Royston Leonard UK)

Rouvres airfield, France, winter of 1939/40. On a cold, misty day, Sergeant T. B. G. ‘Titch’ Pyne, a British pilot serving with 73 Squadron, smiles as he watches two armourers rearming the .303 Browning MGs of his Hawker Hurricane Mk I

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colorised by Rui Manuel Candeias)

First Lieutenant William N. Case of Marine Attack Squadron 214 (VMF-214), known as the 'Black Sheep', at Russell Islands, 5 October 1943

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Benjamin Thomas from Australia)

A 20mm Hispano light anti-aircraft gun crew of an RAF Regiment at the Nidania ('George') beach airstrip on the coast of Bengal, India, wave to a Hawker Hurricane Mark IIC/D of No. 20 Squadron RAF after it had taken off on a sortie against the Japanese in Arakan, Burma. January 1944

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Doug UK)

Wellington Mark X HE239 of No.428 Sqn. RCAF, after its rear turret was blasted off by German flak, April, 1943

(Via WW2 Colourised Photos, Colourised by Mark at Canadian Colour)