Full Color Photos of the 341st Fighter Squadron in New Guinea 1944

George M. Barnes

George M. Barnes

George M. Barnes and his plane, "Little Edie" named after his wife Edith

George M. Barnes (Left)

George M. Barnes (Right)

George M. Barnes (Center)

R to L: Harold "Junior" Wurtz, Kenneth A. Steel, George M. Barnes, Harold P. Stangol

The "Jenny"

George M. Barnes and the "Little Edie"

Wordless Wednesday

Postcards from the U.S. Naval Training School

I have something a little different tonight.  While going through the boxes of letters, I found that they contained a little more than just those written by my grandfather during the war. 

Tucked here and there were uniform patches, letters from other friends and family, and these postcards.  They are all from the U.S. Naval Training School where my great aunt Dorothy went for her training as a WAVE.  The school was located at the Bronx campus of Hunter College. 

Formal Photograph

George M. Barnes

George M. Barnes and the "Little Edie"

Here is a great picture of my grandfather and his plane, the "Little Edie" which was named in honor of my grandmother Edith.

Pictures Taken by Sgt. Albert Arnold

Some time ago I was contacted through the excellent forums over at World War Two Forums, if you have any interest in WWII history you should really check them out, and was offered some great information and pictures by someone who's father was an Air operations Specialist while the 341st was on New Guinea from 23 June 1943 until he was wounded and sent home on 3 February 1945.

This gentleman's name was Sgt. Albert V. Arnold, and he took some excellent photos of his time overseas. His daughter was kind enough to send me some copies to me, and I am proud to share them with you.

The first is Sgt. Arnold himself. His daughter said that he is posing with some model airplanes that he crafted out of spent shell casings. She also let me know that her family still has these (very cool)

This photo is from the inside of the operations building. Sgt. Arnold is third from the left.

Here are two excellent examples of the pin-up art work on the noses of the fighters.

Here is a group shot of several men outside the 341st Operations / Intelligence building.

A wide shot of the camp.

What appears, to my eyes at least, to be a damaged American plane.

A gentleman, unidentified, in a foxhole or trench under what seems to be barracks.

A downed Japanese Zero

This one came to me labelled, "Al's Buddy"

Finally, we have a shot of pilot Lt. J.M. Nixon

I would like to thank Sgt. Arnold's daughter, Katherine, greatly for her generosity in providing me these pictures. I would also like to offer a sheepish apology for taking so long to put them up. Two small kids keep me away from the computer more often than not.

Thank you, also, to everyone over at World War Two Forums for the great information.

Camp Livingston Photos

These photos were taken at Camp Livingston in Louisiana.

Company Street - Livingston. See what I mean about walking into trees.

Full equipment. ready to travel to L.A. Calif.
L to R Ellenberger, LaFontaine, Britton
Ellenburger at Livingston

Foster Field Graduation Program

I figured that it would be easier to scan in the images of this graduation program than it would be to transcribe all of the names. This was Class 42-1 and the graduation was held October 9, 1942.

Foster Field Post Card 1

Photo Collection 1

Here are a few pictures that seem to come from the same roll of film. They all appear to have been taken at some point during pilot training in Texas. Mostly they are of my grandfather but a couple have other men in them; luckily, they are identified on the back.

The caption on this one reads, "Something was wrong with that ammunition on Matagorda. I seldom hit anything with it."

This one reads, "How did that happen? I couldn't have stood still that long with all those mosquitos around. It must be a fake" This one reads, "J.A. Adams, Ben Blair & some dodo. They must have just heard there was a war or sumpin."
This one reads, "C.B. Anderson ready to cut loose. I wonder how he likes Missouri?"

341st Fighter Squadron Group Photo

The caption on the photo reads: "Air Force - George Barnes in 1st row 3rd person from right"