In the basement of an "antique store" these two books of 35mm negatives were found. They were destined for the dumpster no doubt, but rescued for LOST GALLERY and the enthusiasts who treasure the history and memorabilia of the second world war.
The first book of contains 327 negatives. The photographs were scanned and uploaded to a set on Flickr in 2007 and then grouped generally by subject for the pages of LOST GALLERY. Most of the photographs in this set are of aircraft in world war two. Nothing was known for sure about the photographs but slowly over the years some information has accumulated. It was established that the date for most of the photographs is late 1944.
Most of the negatives had notations on the accompanying index pages. Mostly the photographer was concerned about the lighting and exposure of each frame but occasionally also made notes on the subject matter. Where possible these notations will be included under each picture on this page.
The 205 negatives in the other file were taken postwar, about half in England and the rest in Texas, USA. The photographs apparently show a bit of touring before leaving the England based AAF unit and the first photographs after arriving in Texas.
This page will review all of the negatives in the set that feature the aerial shots of the base and environs and information that has accumulated since 2007.
All images are the property of
Lost Gallery
and the author. Permission must be granted for their use.
All rights reserved.
From Hawk914 on Flickr: Oh wow... despite the poor quality, this is a groovy shot.
Looks like a mix of P-51B/Cs (I see at least one that looks like it could have a Malcolm hood) and P-51D/Ks.
From G. Asher on Flickr: Judging from the rest of the shots in the series, this is the 339th FG at its temporary home during the winter of 44-45, lined up on either side of Runway 17-35 at Bassingbourn. Their normal location, nearby Fowlmere, was having its PSP surfaces reworked.
Arial Shots poor
Arial Shots poor
Arial Shots poor
aerial views 8000 feet 4 100 green filter 90mm Elmar
aerial views 8000 feet 4 100 green filter 90mm Elmar
aerial views 8000 feet 4 100 green filter 90mm Elmar
Aerial Shots alt 8000 feet 70mm Elmar
Aerial Shots alt 8000 feet 70mm Elmar
Aerial Shots alt 8000 feet 70mm Elmar
Aerial Shots alt 8000 feet 70mm Elmar
aerial views 8000 feet 4 100 green filter 90mm Elmar
aerial views 8000 feet 4 100 green filter 90mm Elmar
The above two shots were morphed with a current day GoogleEarth shot to show indeed that it was Bassingbourn AAF base and how much it has changed in the ensuing 70 years.
CLICK HERE to view the
POSTWAR PHOTOGRAPHY
from the other negative file from this same photographer.
Look at the bazookas on that little honey!
Click here for the whole story!
Here are more stories about the 91st Bomber Group and some of the missions flown on a fine website by
Sam Halpert
For others in the AAF Bassingbourn series see also
The P-61 Black Widow
B-17 Bomber
The Lancaster Bomber
P-51 Mustang
The Avro York
The Short Stirling Bomber
The Piper Cub with the Bazookas
The B - 26
The Aerial Shots (This One)
The Personnel
The Christmas Party
The Photographer Tours England
And Miscellaneous clouds, landscapes and snow
Bassingbourn from a Window on the base.
Go back to THE MAIN INDEX PAGE
There are now more than 8,000 photographs in the Lost Gallery. Or try out the NEW BACK PAGE INDEXBassingbourn 1944 
Discovered! Long lost negatives taken during the winter of 1944-45 at Bassingbourn AAF base in England.
Area 51 and a Half 
You are probably not authorized to see these.
Don't take my picture! Oh! You DID didn't you! 
This is a collection of photographs that disappear on the way home from the photo processing shop.
And don't missCabinet Card GallerySquare AmericaTattered and LostVernacular PhotographyThe bestFOUND PHOTOGRAPHsites on the web. And for postcards try POSTCARDY And see what's going on over at Sepia Saturday!
All images are the property of Lost Gallery and the author. Permission must be granted for their use. All rights reserved.
THE KIDS 
It is always a mystery how a photograph of any of these precious children could end up lost or abandoned. Here are a few. You will probably say "Ooh..." at least once.
Dee and the Business School 
The beautiful Dee. A curious story; What do you see?
WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?
"What are they doing?"
It is difficult to comprehend how navigators and bombardiers used B&W images like these to plan for bombing runs in WW2. The skill needed to identify anything, much less the appropriate target, must have required hundreds if not thousands of man-hours, multiple magnifying lens and countless maps.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mike Brubaker. It's a mystery to me too. I think these aerial shots might have been just his personal shots with his Leica. I'm hoping that the official reconnaissance photographs were taken with a high speed camera for that purpose. But even then I don't know how they could tell anything. I don't recognize my own house from a satellite photograph.
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