US Marines Practice at Sea

 

 

Off the coast of Dunedin, Florida, autumn 1941. Marines of the Amphibian Tractor Detachment practice formation driving at sea. Semaphore flags were used to communicate since most early amphibian tractors lacked radios. The LVT-1 alligator (seen here) revolutionized ship to shore movement of troops and equipment. First intended strictly as a cargo carrier, the tractors were soon adapted and improved. FMC built about 1,200 LVT-1s, some of which saw combat service through the end of the war. Life Magazine Photo by Dmitri Kessel

LVT-1 Alligators maneuver off the western coast of Florida in the autumn of 1941. Designed by Donald Roebling, the Alligator revolutionized amphibious warfare and was the first true amphibian vehicle. The LVT-1 was the first in an evolutionary line of amtracs and is the forerunner of the AAV-7 tractor still used by Marines.

 

Autumn 1941, near Dunedin, Florida. Marines of the Amphibian Tractor Detachment practice formation driving at sea. Amtrackers used several basic formation during ship-to-shore movement: column, line and wedge. Most early amtracs did not have radios, so semaphore flags and hand signals were used to signal formation changes.

Autumn 1941, near Dunedin, Florida. Marines of the Amphibian Tractor Detachment practice water movement in a brand-new LVT-1 amphibian tractor. The detachment was formed in May 1941 near the Food Machinery Corporation plant in Dunedin, on Florida's western coast. The new tractors were delivered from the factory straight to the detachment. Such was the need that many of the initial batch of tractors were clad only in the red anti-rust coating. The Amphibian Tractor Detachment was assigned to the 1st Marine Division in December 1941, becoming the nucleus for Co A, 1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion.

Source :
https://www.facebook.com/Fixbayonets1985/photos/a.114279460312369/232247321848915

A squadron of American Lockheed P-38 Lightning in Flight over an Unidentified Aleutian Island

A squadron of American Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter planes in flight over an unidentified Aleutian Island, Alaska, 1944. The planes are part of the 54th Fighter Sqaudron, 343rd Fighter Group, 11th Air Force. In the foreground is a P-38G, serial number of 42-12908, likely piloted by Bennie H. Stone and behind it is a P-38E, serial number 41-2069, likely piloted by Richard T. Clapper. when the 343rd Fighter Group first went to the Aleutians, the 54th Fighter Squadron had P-38 Lightnings, while 11th Fighter Squadron and 18th Fighter Squadron had P-40s (by the end of the war the whole Group was P-38 equipped). On 29 May 1942, 25 P-38s began operating in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. The fighter's long range made it well-suited to the campaign over the almost 1,200 mi (2,000 km)–long island chain, and it would be flown there for the rest of the war. The Aleutians were one of the most rugged environments available for testing the new aircraft under combat conditions. More Lightnings were lost due to severe weather and other conditions than enemy action, and there were cases where Lightning pilots, mesmerized by flying for hours over gray seas under gray skies, simply flew into the water. On 9 August 1942, two P-38Es of the 343rd Fighter Group, 11th Air Force, at the end of a 1,000 mi (1,609 km) long-range patrol, happened upon a pair of Japanese Kawanishi H6K "Mavis" flying boats and destroyed them, making them the first Japanese aircraft to be shot down by Lightnings.Photo by Dmitri Kessel from Time & Life Pictures

Source :
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/squadron-of-american-lockheed-p-38-lightning-fighter-planes-news-photo/53315688
http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=515204