IWM photo collection site

[Marc-André Haldimann]

Hi there Gang!

I just found out that a significant part of the immense IWM photo collection is now available online. Here are some of the gems I found so far:

Bf 109 G repair line, Wunstorf, 1945
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207064

Bf 109 G, Detmold, Germany Winter 1945
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207496

Bf 110 G at Stavanger Sola, June 1945
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205205890

Bf 110 G-4, Grove 1945
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207587
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207591
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205196716

He 115 shot down by Mosquito "P", 333 Sqn
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205090440

Fw 200 shot down by two Beaufighters of 248 Sqn, Bay of Biscay
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205211371

Me 410 A-3 F6+OK TF 209, 1426 EAF Collyweston.
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205210731

Me 262 W.Nr. 170 122, shot down at Helmond B 86.
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205211700

Me 262 1./KG (J) 51 Hptm. Hans Christoff Buttmann, shot down south west of Nijmegen
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205211668

BV 138, Tromsö, 1945.
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205208034

Go 145, Celle, 13 April 1945
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207081
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207082

He 111's, He 177, Fw 190's at Scharmbeck, 20 April 1945.
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207120


Cheers
Marc

[ChristianK]

Nice findings Marc (also yesterday), thanks for posting!

But also the IWM is incorrect sometimes, location of the last photo is Faßberg. Schmarbeck is a very small village just south of this airfield.

The very same photo was published in Jet&Prop "Foto-Archiv 6" and another one, after the planes have been brought in the open in Brett Green's "Götterdämmerung".
I guess most of those aircraft had belonged to Fliegertechnische Schule 2. Two of the He 111 visible carry a code beginning with "TS+C.", resp. the code "TS+CA". Also the He 177 reveals a "..+CO". My guess is now that "TS+C." is not a Stammkennzeichen block but the Verbandskennzeichen of (at least) FTS 2. (Just like what I think could be "TS+MB" for FTS 3 (Munich) and "TS+MA" for FTS 6 (Bayreuth)). Can anyone comment on this?

Regards,
Christian

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by ChristianK

Nice findings Marc (also yesterday), thanks for posting!

But also the IWM is incorrect sometimes, location of the last photo is Faßberg. Schmarbeck is a very small village just south of this airfield.

Regards,
Christian

They were probably correct in that the aircraft were in a dispersal area and the British used the name of the nearest village. The IWM photo of the II./JG 26 Fw 190 "blue 6 + —" is captioned Steen-Ockerzeel, a village at the north-eastern corner of Brussels-Melsbroek aerodrome.

[Marc-André Haldimann]

Originally Posted by Nick Beale

They were probably correct in that the aircraft were in a dispersal area and the British used the name of the nearest village. The IWM photo of the II./JG 26 Fw 190 "blue 6 + —" is captioned Steen-Ockerzeel, a village at the north-eastern corner of Brussels-Melsbroek aerodrome.

Nick,

thanks for your precision, which honors the ones given by the captions written down at the time.

Muggs_ro,

Simple but frustrating: not all pictures are already available as scans, the ones which aren't scanned so far are represented by the logo. Their number will certainly dwindle over time...

Cheers
Marc

[Marc-André Haldimann]

Hallo Christian,

Thanks for your correction and development, much appreciated.

Here some other links I've found in the meantime, which might complete your excellent LEMB airfield database:

Flensburg 1945: Fw 190's and Ju 52's, Ju 88's
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207608
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207609
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207610
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207611

Paderborn, 1945
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207615

Hart, near Paderborn, bomb disposal
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207446
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205126529
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207447
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207448

Alfen, 1945 Engine parts for Do 217
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207619

Hannover, 1945, Bf 109 G wings
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205206216


Cheers
Marc

[muggs_ro]

Thanks for sharing Marc, do you know why there are also "blank" images like this one ?

http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205025245

[Marc-André Haldimann]

Certainly taken also from the IWM photo collection and posted on his Flickr account by Kemon 01 is this photo from a simmering FW 200 wreck still afloat on open sea.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kemon01...in/photostream

I searched the IWM database without luck so far. Any details about this particular "kill"?

Thanks in advance
Marc

PS: I just found this pic on the IWM site:
http://beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205184977

the caption doesn't contain any useful element regarding the date, attacked ship, etc...

"The last minutes of a Focke-Wulfe FW 200, shot down into the sea. Here the wreckage is lying on the surface with some smoke drifting from it. The survivors were picked by a boat from a British ship."

[ChrisDNT]

Their price policy for publishing is just demential.
I just tested it for a single picture, not even planned for a printed book but just in a digital ebook, it is more than 420 pounds.
Frankly do they really wait that aviation publishing houses can affort such "athmospheric" high fees ???
It is a real pity that such interesting images detained by organisations like the IWM are in fact lying in an editorial grave !!!