Better than a history lesson! Originally in black and white, the photographs of American war industry during WWII were posted on the Internet. After some time, to the surprise of many, internet users converted them into delightful colour photos.
Normally, we do not usually see pictures of World War II in colour. However, the website Shorpy provides us with these photographs. In the same way that we saw the coloured photos of pictures of Paris in the 20th century. These photographs show us the life at the military manufacturing plants and camps during the world war 2.
Photos posted on Shorpy are not really about the scenes of the battle grounds. Rather, the main subject of these pictures are women. These series of photographs pays homage to the movement symbolized as “Rosie the Riveter “, where women replaced men who had went to war, in some manual works, including the construction of aircraft.
May 1942. Work on the nose of an interceptor aircraft engine. Muroc Lake, California.
August 1942. Corpus Christi, Texas. Mrs. Virginia Davis, a riveter in the assembly and repairs of the Naval Air Base Department, supervises Chas Potter, a student from Michigan.
February 1943. Working on the bomb” revenge ” in factories of Vultee Aircraft at Nashville.
August 1942. Mildred Webb, an internee learns to use a machine in the department of assembly and repair.
June 1942. A welder produces boilers for boats.
August 1942. Corpus Christi, Texas. The Aviation Cadet Thanas at the Naval Air Base.
July 1942. Production of B-25 bombers. Mounting a Wright Whirlwind engine of 1700 horsepower. Kansas City.
December 1941. Akron, Ohio.
March 1943. Camouflage class at the University of New York, where women are preparing for jobs in the Army or in industry.
April 1943. “Dorothy Lucke.”
December 1941. An electronics technician at Goodyear Aircraft Corp.., Akron, Ohio.
June 1942. Crew Member of a M-3 Fort Knox Tank, Kentucky. “
October 1942. An A-20 bomber riveted by a worker.
August 1942. An Ex-major in sociology, Her job is to maintain the morale of women by helping them to solve their housing and other personal problems.
August 1942. A greater accuracy is required from these parachute pack operators. They are constantly in surveillance
October 1942. Inglewood, California. Employees of the North American Aviation assemble the cover of an Allison engine for a P-51 Mustang fighter plane.
August 1942. Corpus Christi, Texas.
February 1943. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Elizabeth Little, 30, and a mother of two children, painting small parts of a container. Her husband runs a farm.
October 1942. Women become very competent technicians after a very specific training in the school of the Douglas Aircraft Company.
August 1942. Elmer J. Pace teaches the construction of Navy aircraft at the base of Corpus Christi, Texas.
October 1942. Two workers of the assembly line in Long Beach, California. In the background are two parts of a heavy bomber.
October 1942. A new B-25 bomber is sent for a test flight to Kansas City, Kansas.
October 1942. Labour trained to become motor mechanics. Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, California.
October 1942. ‘Lieutenant’ Mike ‘Hunter, army test pilot assigned to the Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, California.
July 1942. “A wing of B-25 bomber being manufactured at the assembly line of North American Aviation.
August 1942. Corpus Christi, Texas. Mrs. Eloise J. Ellis, senior supervisor at the Assembly and Repairs Department of the Naval Air Base, speaking with men.
December 1941. Pearl Harbor Burns. Mare Island Navy Yard, California. “
October 1942. Inglewood, California. Parts ready to be assembled are marked with this pneumatic numbering machine.
June 1942. Fort Knox, Kentucky. The crew of the M-3 tank learn all the ways of using the 75mm, 37mm and four machine guns.
June 1942. “Building a 33,000 volts is an important war service. Thousands of soldiers are training in the area.
October 1942. Waste of all kinds. Butte, Montana.
September 1942. Senta Osoling learns to measure latitude using a sextant.
October 1942. Long Beach, California. Women are trained to perform specific and vital installations in an engine.
June 1942. The welder produces boilers for boats.
What is your opinion about this history lesson?