Fighter Aircraft of WWII

In this post, I'll go over some of the more important aircraft of WWII.

Let's start with

  'Murica.

The ubiquitous American escort fighter: the P-51 Mustang:

Top Speed: 437 mph

Range: 1650 miles

Service Ceiling: 41,900 feet

Armament: 6 .50 cal Browning AN/M2 machine guns (1840 total rounds of ammo)

When it was realized that the P-51's external weapon load was too small for effective ground attack, the  beefy P-47 Thunderbolt was introduced as a fighter-bomber.

Top Speed: 433 mph

Range: 800 miles

Service Ceiling: 43,000 feet

Armament: 8 .50 cal Browning M2 machine guns (3400 rounds), 10x 5in rockets, up to 2,500 pounds of bombs.

The Pacific required longer ranges and more reliability. Twin V-12's provided reliability and efficiency (somehow). Thus the graceful P-38 Lighting was born.

Top Speed: 414 mph

Range: 1,300 miles

Service Ceiling: 44,000 feet

Armament: 4 .50 cal Browning M2 machine guns (1000 rounds), 1 20mm Hispano M2(C) autocannon (150 rounds), 2x 1000 lb bombs, 4x 500 lb bombs, 10x HVAR rockets

All of the above aircraft were exemplary fighters, but none of them had naval capability. Landing any of these on an aircraft carrier would be a horrible and most likely fatal mistake. The Navy needed a carrier aircraft, and so took the massive engine from the P-47, removed the supercharger, and made the elegant F4U Corsair, the 'bent winged bird'.

Top Speed: 446 mph

Range: 1,005 miles

Service Ceiling: 41,500 feet

Armament: 6 .50 cal Browning M2 machine guns (2,400 rounds), or 4 20mm AN/M3 autocannon (924 rounds), 8x 5 inch rockets, and/or 4000lbs of bombs

Okay, enough of 'Merica.

Now, 

Germany

The Messerschmidt Bf-109 was an early-war fighter that participated in the Battle of Britain. A well-designed aircraft, it was very effective in the early days of the war.

Top Speed: 398 mph

Range: 528 miles

Service Ceiling: 39,370 feet

Armament: 2 MG 131 13mm (basically .50 cal) machine guns (600 rounds), 1 30mm MK 108 autocannon (65 rounds),  1 250 kg (551 lb) bomb. (Note: this is the armament for a late-version 109. Bf-109 B's were armed with two 7.62 mm (about .30 cal) machine guns)

The call then went out to develop a more powerful aircraft, capable of intercepting, dogfighting, ground attack, and night-fighting. The result was the Focke-Wulf Fw 190.

Top Speed: 408 mph

Range: 500 miles

Service Ceiling: 37,430 feet

Armament (A-8 model): 2 13mm MG 131 machine guns (950 rounds), 4 20mm MG 151/20 E autocannon (780 rounds)

During WWII, Germany was at the forefront of jet engine design. in 1944 it became fielded the first jet fighter ever, serving as a bomber-interceptor. This was the Messerschmidt Me 262.

Gun-camera footage of a 262 being shot down

Top Speed: 559 mph

Range: 652 miles

Service Ceiling: 37,565 feet

Armament: 4 30mm MK 108 autocannons (I couldn't find any reliable ammo counts)

Next up,

Britain

In the early days of the Battle of Britain, Britain fielded a tried-and-true fighter, an older design that, while not revolutionary, worked quite well. Ladies and gentlemen, the Hawker Hurricane.

Top Speed: 340 mph

Range: 600 miles

Service Ceiling: 36,000 feet

Armament: 8 .303 Browning machine guns, later up-gunned to 4 20mm Hispano Mk II autocannon

All British aircraft of WWII (and most aircraft of other nations) are overshadowed by this aircraft. It's fast, it has a catchy name, and it's maneuverable. It's the Supermarine Spitfire.

Top Speed: 370 mph

Range: 410 miles

Service Ceiling: 36,500 feet

Armament: (A model) 8 .303 Browning machine guns (2800 rounds), or (C model) 4 20mm Hispano MK II autocannon (480 rounds)

Of course, it was Britain that tested the first jet engine (Germany did beat them when it came to flying on jet power). This new fighter was ground breaking, first being used in combat in 1944. Due to its high speed, it was named the Meteor. Quite an elegant aircraft, if you ask me.

Top Speed: 600 mph

Range: 600 miles

Service Ceiling: 43,000 feet

Armament: 4 20mm Hispano MK V autocannon

Soviet Union

In the late 1930's, the Soviet Union fielded two different fighter aircraft: The Polikarpov I-15 and I-16. The I-15 was a biplane, far outdated when WWII began, so I'll talk about the I-16. Still outdated, but able to (barely) hold its ground against the German fighters.

Top Speed: 326 mph

Range: 378

Service Ceiling: 31,825

Armament: 2 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns, 2 20mm ShVAK autocannon

Due to the Soviet metal shortage (gotta make those tanks and machinery), a requirement was made for a fighter using the least amount of strategic materials. The Lavochkin-Gorvunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 answered to these requirements (It was mostly made of plywood), and was the most advanced Soviet fighter at the time of the German invasion. 

Ski-Plane!

Top Speed: 357 mph

Range: 621 miles

Service Ceiling: 31,800 feet

Armament: 2 12.7 mm (.50 cal) Berezin BS machine guns, 1 20mm ShVAK autocannon, sometimes 6x RS-82 or RBS-132 rockets.

Lavochkin wasn't satisfied with the LaGG-3, however. He developed the La-5, and then the La-7 to fix the issues with the LaGG-3. The La-7 was a one of the better late-war fighters.

Top Speed: 411 mph

Range: 413 miles

Service Ceiling: 34,280 feet

Armament: 2 20mm ShVAK autocannon (400 rounds), OR 3 20mm Berezin B-20 autocannon (300 rounds), up to 440 lb of bombs

And now, 

Japan

When the war started, Japan had barely any modern fighters. That changed with the introduction of the A6M Reisen (nicknamed "Zero" by the allies). This fighter was extremely light (no armor or self-sealing fuel tanks), and very, very maneuverable. It could outmaneuver and outpace any American fighter of the time, and was a good naval aircraft. It was, however, a paper kite, as it could barely take any damage.

Top Speed: 346 mph

Range: 1,929 miles

Service Ceiling: 32,810

Armament: 2 7.7mm (.303) Type 97 aircraft machine gun (1000 rounds), 2 20mm Type 99-1 autocannon (120 rounds)

The J2M Raiden was made to fulfill the shortcomings of the Zero. It was a powerful fighter-interceptor, operating from the Japanese mainland, inflicting losses on the American B-29s.

Top Speed: 417 mph

Range: 795 miles

Service Ceiling: 37,500 feet

Armament: 2 20mm Type 99-2 autocannon (380 rounds), 2 20mm Type 99-1 autocannon (420 rounds), 2x 60kg bombs, OR 2x 200L droptanks

Finally, we have the Kawasaki Ki-61, the only Japanese fighter of the war to be propelled by a V-12 engine. Initially thought to be Bf-109s by American pilots, the Ki-61 totally outclassed the 'Murican P-40's, as they could no longer outspeed the enemy.

Top Speed: 360 mph

Range: 360 miles

Service Ceiling: 38,100 feet

Armament: 2 20mm Ho-5 autocannon (420 rounds), 2 12.7mm (.50 cal) Ho-103 machine guns (500 rounds), 2x 250kg bombs

A quick note on armament:

A machine-gun is an automatically repeating firearm of a caliber up to .50in or 12.7mm (by most definitions), and fires medium-high velocity rounds that do not have explosive filler. Except foe the Ho-103. Most of the machine guns described here (and especially the M2 Brownings in American aircraft), can fire a mix of ammo loadouts. A popular loadout was five normal or incendiary rounds and then a tracer round, which burnt brightly as it flew through the air, allowing the pilot to see where he was shooting. 

An autocannon, on the other hand, is an automatic repeating firearm of a caliber above .50in or 12.7mm. The defining feature of cannon is that their rounds are big enough to carry explosive filler. While machine-guns worked by making a bunch of holes in the enemy plane, autocannon would not only make holes, but also would explode. The German MK 108 high-explosive thin-walled shell carried 85 grams of explosive. Four or five hits were normally enough to down a B-17 bomber, usually known for its toughness. 

The result of a single hit of a MK 108 shell on the empennage of a Spitfire during tests

The MK 108 made up for this by having very low muzzle velocity. Most cannon had this same trait, although none (except for a few 40mm ones) were as bad as the 108. A Browning M2 machine gun has a muzzle velocity of 890 m/s. The MK 108 had a velocity of 540 m/s. This was a disadvantage as the pilot had to 'lead' his target more, making for less accurate shooting. The rate of fire was also lower (it's harder to move big shells around quickly), earning the MK 108 the nickname "jackhammer." 

It always cracks me up looking at the ridiculously short barrel

Island Hopping

Island Hopping was a strategy used by the Americans and Japanese in the pacific war of World War II where by taking key island after key island, you could get closer to your opponent. Key battles were the battle of Midway and the battle of Saipan. The US successfully accomplished Island Hopping and managed to reach Japan and end the war using nuclear weapons.

Trinity, the first nuclear bomb test.

On July 16th, 1945, America had detonated the first nuclear bomb under a test operation code-named Trinity. The bomb was plutonium based and displaced around 20 Kilotons of TNT. The test was conducted in the Jornada del Muerto desert in New Mexico. Not only was there so much destructive power from the bomb and it's shockwave, nuclear radiation was also heavily damaging as well.

Anti-Japanese Propaganda

During WWII, most white Americans began to hate Japanese-Americans and saw them as the enemy. For this reason, Japanese-Americans on the West Coast were interned in camps and kept there for the duration of the war. This was the result of Executive Order 9066, which ordered all people of Japanese descent to The Japanese were given the derogatory name "Japs" and generally depicted as similar to rats, implying that they were nothing more than disease-ridden animals. The military had their troops learn how to recognize the differences between the Chinese and the Japanese, as the Chinese were considered allies. Clearly, this was based on stereotypes and tended to be rather inaccurate, but nonetheless, it was part of training for some troops. Federal government officials often spread this propaganda. The above image, for example, was distributed by the navy and clearly represents the Japanese as rats who are trying to hurt the United States. Japanese-Americans and the Japanese were used as scapegoats and blamed for the attack on Pearl Harbor as well as all of the war in the Pacific. 

The Tuskegee Airmen

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black military aviators in the US Army Air Corps(ACC). They were trained at the Tuskegee Airy Army Field in Alabama and flew more than 15,000 individual sorties during World War II. They earned more than 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses. During this time, African Americans faced significant discrimination and were believed to not be able to learn to fly or operate sophisticated aircraft. In September 1940, however, President Roosevelt announced that the ACC would begin to start training black pilots. The program's trainees came from all over the country. The program trained around 1,000 pilots and nearly 14,000 navigators, bombardiers, instructors, aircraft and engine mechanics, control tower operators, and other maintenance and support staff. In April 1942, the Tuskegee-trained 99th Pursuit Squadron flew missions in second-hand P-40 planes in North Africa and Sicily but had trouble manoeuvring the older planes as compared to the German counterparts. They were then moved to Italy, where they shot down 12 German fighters in two days, finally proving themselves in combat. In February 1944, more fighter squadrons arrived in Italy and combined with the 99th to create the new 332nd Fighter Group. This group escorted the heavy bombers of the 15th Air Force during deep raids into the enemy territory. The tails fo their planes were pained red for identification, and earned them the nickname, "Red Tails." In the end, the 332nd had destroyed or damaged 36 German plans in the air and 237 on the group, 1,000 rail cars and transport vehicles, and a German destroyer. However, they did continue to face racism and prejudice when they went back home. They represented an important step in racial integration in the military.

Enigma Machines

  The Enigma machine was created by Arthur Scherbius, a German engineer. It transcribed coded information as a way of creating secure communication. The machine works where the operator types in a message and the Enigma will scramble the message using notched wheels which displayed different letters of the alphabet. For the receiver to accurately understand the message, they would need to know the exact settings of the rotor, or wheels, to reconstruct the coded text. At first, in 1931, Britain and her allies understood that the Enigma machine posed a problem, but where unable to break the cypher. Eventually, they handed the detail to the Polish Cipher Bureau, who was able to reconstruct the Engima machine with the internal wiring and read the German forces' messages due to their connection with the German engineering industry.
     As there was the threat of a German invasion in 1939, the Poles shared the secret of the machine with the British, who created Britain's Government Code and Cipher School, which became the center for Allied efforts in the Enigma output. At this school, top mathematicians and general problem-solvers were recruited. However, the Germans were convinced of the security of their machine, and so used it for an extensive amount of communications. Through this, the British were able to gain a lot of intelligence, which they called "Ultra" and was top secret. Perhaps the most surprising yet devastating fact about the machine, however, is the fact that the British had to use the information they gleaned from the German's Enigma sparingly so that they would not tip the Germans off. This sometimes meant letting innocent lives die.

Propaganda

World war two propaganda has to be one of the most crucial ways to racially profile countries. This type of propaganda was used to make the enemy look bad and hateful so that people would support the country to fight against them. They used the media so that they could get more attraction from people and have more people involved. One of the U.S biggest target was Japan. With this kind of propaganda, the U.S would make Japan look dreadful. They would see them as vicious animals and not very wise. That they were against every belief Americans had. On the other hand Germany also was a victim of this but not as much as Japan. Germany would just be seen as a foreign enemy that also had to be taken down.

Wendy the welder

 

Wendy the Welder also known as Rosie the Riveter, represented the women who were ordered to work into the factories during the war. During World War ll, more than 2,800 women were sent to work in factories to help provide for the war. While the men were gone fighting in battles, the women usually would end up taking over the jobs of men who would end up leaving for the war. They worked in the Vanscover’s Kaiser ship yards, where they convert steal into aircrafts and troop transports.

Great Depression VS Great Recession

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Great Depression vs Great Recession

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WWII Plane Identification

In the heat of war, being able to recognize the enemy and distinguish their planes from the planes of one's ally is an integral skill. Furthermore, correct identification can help conserve resources and anticipate attacks. 

With the stakes of this task in mind, identification symbols and defining characteristics were quickly utilized in WWII. In order to teach inexperienced soldiers and workers this talent, soldiers were trained to memorize the identification charts and each US soldier was given the Recognition Pictorial Manual. Additionally, soldiers were tested on various identification assessments and conditioned to associate various plane characteristics with either "friend" or "foe." This teaching was especially enforced during WWII because of the war's high mechanization. This new ability to easily cause maximum destruction led to many cases of "friendly fire" and death.

Enemy planes originated in Germany, Japan, and Italy while Allied planes were either from the USA or the UK.

The scale, in the top left-hand corner, shows the scale of the graphics and the relative sizes of the planes. This served as a helpful resource to soldiers and assisted their efforts to categorize and respond to the aircrafts. In addition to the scale and the design of the planes, there were signature symbols that each country's aircrafts displayed. For example, the planes belonging to the US exhibit a 5-pointed white star, which appears on National defense aircrafts produced today. However, now, the stars can be seen in a variety of colors. Meanwhile, in Japan, a red circle served this purpose, and in England, concentric circles.

US Aircraft: Then vs. Now

Standard Japanese Aircraft vs. British Aircraft during WWII

Propaganda

During WWII there was a lot of propaganda from a lot of countries that tried to portray their country as the better one.  This certain poster was made by the American government and it was aimed towards the American citizens. The poster is trying to say that the Japanese people are listening and watching the Americans to figure out what our attack/war plan is. When it says "open trap make happy Jap" it is trying to say that when you talk about war things and open your mouth the Japanese are going to be happy because they are going to figure out what you are trying to do. The American government was trying to tell the American Citizens that they should not give out any war info. I would say this poster is a little extreme because it is trying to show all of the Japanese people as evil and as trying to spy on us and see if they can get any info. This is false because not everyone is like that.

Kamikazes (Japanese Suicide Bombers)

During the attack of Pearl Harbor, the main attack tactics only included strategies such as shooting and bombing the enemy. The Japanese didn't plan on dying at Pearl Harbor, and they made sure to stay alive instead of being shot down.

However, later in the war, the Japanese started using suicide attack tactics that involved a Japanese "volunteer" who was forced to give up their life and hope to take American lives at the same time. This became widely known as the Kamikaze.

The effects of the Kamikaze were insanely big on the American forces:

• 7,465 Kamikazes flew planes to their deaths
• 120 entire American ships were sunk, with countless more damaged
• 3,048 allied live were taken
• 6,025 were wounded

The kamikaze pilots chose to rather die than fail their leaders, and they took any chance they had to inflict maximum damage. They would target vulnerable areas of the ship, such as planes that were parked together, or the offices where the main controls were. 

One sailor recalled seeing a plane crash into a pile of wounded people that the soldiers had gathered. The members on the ship had gathered together a group of wounded people who needed medical help, and a plane flew straight into the pile of bodies, instantly killing multiple people and injuring many more. 

Overall, the kamikazes were a very determined part of the Japanese forces. They struck fear into the minds of American sailors who had never seen something like this act of suicide bombing/crashing, and they did an incredible amount of damage to American forces in the water.

Racist Propaganda during WWII

During World War II, the propaganda aided in inciting fervor towards the war effort. These propaganda campaigns utilized racist and derogatory depictions of ethnic groups who were in conflict with the US. Remnants of the racial stereotypes and ideology produced by these images can still be found in today's society, unfortunately.

Propaganda has always been a common tool in warfare. Used the alter social perceptions, campaigns make use of dark colorings, thick lines, and draw attention to exaggerated traits to create negatives images. In the case of World War II, both the use of scare tactics and racist depicts are both enlisted in the creations of common propaganda campaigns. Purposefully placed props, like bloody daggers, added drama and effectively swayed the American view of the foreign countries at conflict.

In the image below, the American woman is depicted with favorable physical characteristics, while the Japanese man is made to look less human and more monster-like. This deepens the tension and disconnect between the two ethnicities.

Great Depression Vs. Great Recession

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German Helicopter Development

Yes, you read the title right. Although the development of production helicopters is accredited to Igor Sikorsky and the US Army Air Force, Germany came very close to fielding transport helicopters in the last days of the war. Had the war continued, a scenario quite like the Vietnam war could've arisen, with helicopters being used to great effect as forwards cargo. Of course, this was never realistically possible, as the German war economy was basically gone by the point that the first helicopters were ready.

It all started with the Focke-Wulf Fw 61. Widely considered the first "practical" helicopter, it first flew in 1936. It used a novel way to cancel out rotor torque: both rotors rotated in opposing directions, and were space widely apart. It was extremely controllable, allowing test pilot Hanna Reitsch to demonstrate the aircraft indoors at a sports stadium in Berlin. While this design was sound, it had a couple of small problems that Professor Focke wanted to solve. The design was a bit too small to be useful, and the big tubular aluminium frame holding the rotors up was not aerodynamic.

The Fw 61 flying indoors. Note that this is a legitimate aircraft, mot a small model

Around this time another German engineer, Anton Flettner, approached the problem from a different direction. He mounted both rotors so that they overlapped in flight, using an innovative gearbox to prevent them from hitting each other. This resulted in the Fletner Fl 265, the first 'synchrocopter' and one of the silliest-looking aircraft of all time.

Note how the rotor blades overlap as they turn, and just how stupid this thing looks

This little helicopter worked well enough (and was the safest helicopter of its time), but that wasn't good enough for Flettner. He therefore developed the improved Fl 282 Kolibri (hummingbird). This little machine used the same inter-meshing rotor arrangement of the 265 but with a better engine and more streamlining. The Kreigsmarine was impressed by the prototypes, and ordered 15. Depending on who you ask, this makes the Kolibri the first production helicopter. Repeated tests were conducted from the rear deck of the cruiser Koln in 1941, and they were used for transporting supplies and submarine spotting. Later in the war, the army decided to convert a few of these to artillery-spotters, a role in which they proved well suited. This marked another first for WWII - First war to have helicopters used in combat.

Could they have built a smaller landing pad?

One of the 45-ish built was captured and tested by the US Army after the war.

This brings us to the penultimate German helicopter: the Focke-Achgelis Fa 223 Drache (Dragon). It was the result of years of research on helicopter design. It used the same rotor arrangement as the Fw 61, but scaled up. The 160 horsepower Bramo engine was replaced with a 1000 horsepower engine from the same manufacturer. The air-frame was scaled up, and the engine moved to the middle of the fuselage to make room for a cargo compartment. This design proved very reliable and workable. Had it been produced in greater quantities, it's 1000kg cargo capacity would've been very useful to the German Army. Only 20 were built, however, before production was shut down to make room for more pressing things. During trials, the Fa 223 prototype proved it tactical usefulness by airlifting out big  of a crashed Doriner 217. The first helicopter sent up into the mountains to the crash site also crashed. So it was then decided to sent another one to recover the wreckage of both the plane and the helicopter. The Drache was extremely stable, which allowed it to airlift large pieces of fuselage and even half of a wing! This was the first 'search and rescue' operation ever done by helicopter, and the Air Ministry learned many valuable lessons about helicopters through this operation. They weren't able to use those lessons, however, due to the state of Germany in 1945. After VE-day, one of the 223's was flown across the English Channel to Britain, making the first cross-channel flight by helicopter. All in all, the German helicopter program had its merits, but by the time helicopters were tactically useful it was too late to turn the tide of war.

Fa 223 V11 lining up to land during mountain trials

Another Drache during US Army trials after the war

And as if you haven't seen enough ancient helicopters, here's a video of Drache trials:

Depression vs. Recession

The Great Depression and the most recent Recession both share common causes: people’s inability to pay off debts combined with banks loaning too much money.  Throughout the Depression, millions of Americans were trapped in credit debt because of overspending. During the Recession, millions of Americans were unable to pay off their mortgages.  Both of these contributed to each economic slump. In both of the cases, GDP’s also fell by significant amounts. In both scenarios, unemployment rose as well, with the minority ethnicities of the population generally having a rougher time maintaining jobs and property compared to whites.  Although the Depression and Recession share many striking similarities, the impact of the Depression was much worse. The percentage of homeless was four times greater during the Depression, and the GDP fell approximately 10 times more. During the Recession, 500 banks failed compared to the near 10,000 that failed in the Depression.  In sum, the Recession and Depression shared common root cause and similar effects, but the Depression was more impactful and a worse in magnitude for America.

The Great Depression v. The Great Recession

Juan Pujol Garcia

Juan Pujol Garcia was a Spanish double agent during World War II who worked against Nazi Germany.  During the Spanish Civil War, Garcia developed a hatred of the communist and fascist regimes in Europe.  This motivated him to become a spy for the Allies.

Juan Pujol Garcia, a Spanish
double agent during WWII 

Pujol was wildly unsuccessful at first.  He was rejected by both the British and Americans when he contacted their intelligence agencies.  However, Pujol was not deterred and decided to apply for a position as a German spy.  He pretended to be a Spanish government official who was fanatically pro-Nazi.  He spun lies about the information he could provide and his love for Hitler.  The German intelligence agency was very impressed, and Pujol successfully became a German agent.Pujol was instructed to travel to Britain to recruit more agents and collect intelligence; instead, he traveled to Lisbon.  To fool the Nazis, he invented several imaginary sub-agents as a fall-back.  He could blame the sub-agents for things that went wrong but take credit for the things that went right.  The Germans even paid some of these fictitious agents a salary.
Eventually, Pujol was accepted as an Allied spy, and he had assistance in managing his network of fictitious agents.  He reported a number of false invasion alerts, wasting Nazi manpower and money, but he included just enough true information to keep the Nazis' trust.
Pujol was critical to the success of Operation Fortitude.  In order for the Allied attack on the beaches of Normandy to be successful, they had to convince the Nazis that they were attacking elsewhere.  Pujol's misinformation, combined with the Allied efforts at deception, persuaded the Germans that the main attack would take place in Calais, 200 miles to the north of where it would actually take place.

Operation Fortitude was a massive Allied attempt at misdirecting
the Germans.  The Allies set up rubber tanks and fake weapons
at various locations to fool the Germans

When the Allies stormed Normandy, the Nazis held most of their forces at Calais, believing the real attack was coming at any moment.  The counterattack was also diverted in this manner; when Hitler sent the Panzers - a unit of armored tanks - to Normandy, Pujol sent an urgent letter claiming his fake invasion was imminent, and that deploying the Panzers would play into the Allies' hands.

On D-Day, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy in five different locations,
code-named Juno, Utah, Omaha, Gold, and Sword

Pujol's work as a double agent had saved thousands of Allied lives and turned the tide of the war.  Pujol had the unique honor of receiving military awards from both sides of the war.  He received the Iron Cross from Germany and was awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.  Pujol faked his death from malaria in 1949, fearing retaliation from Germany, and the Nazis believed that he died a hero.

Depression VS. Recession Infographic

Liberty Ships

Liberty ships were types of ships cargo ships created in World War II. Each weighed 14,474 tons and was able to carry 10,856 tons of cargo. Because of its massive weight, a Liberty ship could reach the top speed of 21.3 kilometers per hour or 13.2 miles per hour. In total there were 2,710 Liberty ships made. Some of these were bought by the British to take place of their own cargo ships that were destroyed by German U-Boats. Even though Liberty ships weren't made to fight there were some cases where they did. In September of 1942, the SS Stephen Hopkins got attacked by a German boat. Refusing to surrender the SS Stephen Hopkins returned fire at the German attack boat and ended up destroying it while also leaving the SS Stephen Hopkins wrecked. Of the 2,710 Liberty ships made more than 2,400 of them survived the war. Since there were so many of them they started to be sold. Many entrepreneurs and companies bought them to use them as normal cargo ships.

Liberty Ship being Constructed

Liberty Ship

The Double V Campaign

Since the beginning, African Americans have been fighting in wars alongside other Americans and they always hoped it would have earned them liberty and recognition under the law as equals. A popular publication representing these African Americans called the Pittsburgh Courier worked with the African Americans looking for recognition.  Once the U.S. got involved into World War II the Pittsburgh Courier was highlighting the fact that Hitler's words sounded very familiar to the African American ear. The publication came out with the slogan "Victory at Home & Victory Abroad," meaning that if African Americans are willing to fight and die for their country, then they should be recognized as equally part of the country. African Americans constantly argued, especially those going off to fight in World War II, that the country is constantly fighting to protect freedom and democracy in other countries and never worry about the freedom and democracy within their own country. These African Americans helping in the war were the key to pointing out the hypocrisy within the nation, and gave them a good way to advance in the struggle to end segregation.

Operation Bodyguard

As Germany was gaining power throughout all of Europe, the allied leaders decided they would invade Nazi Germany through the beaches of Normandy. It took them almost an entire year to make a plan, and they even created a big misinformation campaign codenamed Operation Bodyguard to essentially make the Nazi's think the invasion would be anywhere except on Normandy's beaches. A lot of the success of this campaign came from the German spies that were in Britain and turned into double agents. Through these double agents, the allies were able to misinform Hitler on a lot of information. One of the most famous ways the Allies were able to deceive the Nazi's was by faking a massive troop buildup in an area away from the actual landing spot. They broadcasted fake radio transmissions and even tricked the German planes by having many balloon tanks to make it seem as if there was a buildup of troops.  During this time, they even hired an actor who resembled General Bernard Montgomery to further convince the Germans. Even while the Normandy invasion began, Juan Pujol Garcia a double agent working for Britain kept sending notes to Berlin that it was simply a distraction and that a major attack was yet to come. This gave the Allies the advantage they needed to be able to turn the tide of World War II and begin to liberate the countries in Europe.

Photography and Film in WWII

During World War II, photographers who were not drafted, alongside the rest of the American society, pledged their support towards the war effort, in favor of democracy and the prosperity of the United States. War documentation was also popularized by the developing trend of social documentary photography, which had started during the Great Depression. The service of documenting soldiers in the war was mainly meant to support and advertise the nation's democratic ideals and values. During World War II, the photography of Americans affirmed the widespread, shining image of the United States as the land of the free.

To protect this image, the Government placed a large amount of censorship on the media. General Dwight Eisenhower wrote, "[Photographers] have a job in war as essential as the military personnel… fundamentally, public opinion wins wars." Censors banned photographs of dead American boys, images that "portrayed the American military in an unfavorable light," and even. at times, photographs of African-American participation in the military. These strict rules were nonnegotiable, forcing the press to not only agree to the restrictions for the news but also distribute handouts and military photographs. This served as a platform for the Government to directly deliver war propaganda to its citizens. However, almost two years into the war, President Franklin Roosevelt and the War Department reversed the regulations due to the high business-labor tensions and opposition to higher taxation. Roosevelt thought that the country needed to see the casualties in order to understand what was really at stake. The new guidelines began in September 1943, allowing photographs of American soldiers bleeding, dying, and dead to finally be revealed. These images formed a public realization of the reality of war.

Furthermore, the intercontinental nature of World War II presented a set of challenges to photographers including expense, transportation, and communication. Fortunately, the technology developed in WWI such as Long-range airplanes and more compact cameras made delivery and processing of film and prints more reliable. Despite these advancements, photographers still worked to document all the fronts and provide content to all publications.

65 military photographers, cameramen, and darkroom technicians accompanied U.S. troops at the beginning of their operations abroad, but it wasn't until the Normandy D-Day invasion when the number of combat photographers reached 100. During the entire war, military combat photographers produced over half of a million pictures to The U.S. and British media. Overall, it is confirmed that at least 37 photographers were killed, 112 were wounded in action, 8 were torpedoed, 50 were imprisoned, and 67 contracted malaria. Their bravery and sacrifice are indisputable.