Skylighters, The Web Site of the 225th AAA Searchlight Battalion: USAAF Airfields in the ETO -- Photo Album

USAAF Airfields of the ETO
Photo Album

The 225th spent the majority of their time in the ETO defending airfields, many of which are listed on the Airfield Register (along with pictures of the airfields both from 1944-45 and later). The following scenes, however, have not been associated with any particular location, but are doubtless generally familiar to former members as well as any GI who visited any of the USAAF's airfields in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. All were acquired sans captioning (many are from the collection of the National Air and Space Museum, by whose kind permission they appear here), so pinpointing where and when they were taken is difficult. If you can identify the location, the unit, or any other pertinent details, please contact the Webmaster.


"Notice: No showers till 4:30 pm!" A makeshift shower at an unidentified airfield on the Continent.


GIs, probably engineers of an aviation construction batallion, take a meal break during the installation of "Marsden Mats" at an unidentified airfield.


Engineers laying "Marsden Mats" somewhere in France.


Ground crew quarters comprise a modest "tent city" at an unidentified airfield in France.


Refueling a P-47 Thunderbolt at a French airstrip. Both "Jugs" in this photo are still painted with "invasion stripes" (three white and two black bands, visible on the wings).


Ground crew swarm around a crashed Thunderbolt. Again, on the Continent, but at an unknown location. Note the ubiquitous invasion stripes on the starboard wing and a bundle of either incendiaries or rockets dangling from a damaged pylon.


A P-51 Mustang on the Continent, July 4, 1944 (the Signal Corps photographer's annotation simply indicates that it's a picture of an "airdrome").

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