Pictures of World War II

The Second World War was documented on a huge scale by thousands of photographers and artists who created millions of pictures. American military photographers representing all of the armed services covered the battlefronts around the world. Every activity of the war was depicted--training, combat, support services, and much more. On the home front, the many federal war agencies produced and collected pictures, posters, and cartoons on such subjects as war production, rationing, and civilian relocation.

The pictures described in this list are from the holdings of the Still Picture Branch (NNSP) of the National Archives and Records Administration. Most are from the records of the Army Signal Corps in Record Group (RG) 111, the Department of the Navy in RG 80, the Coast Guard in RG 26, the Marine Corps in RG 127, and the Office of War Information in RG 208. Others were selected from the records of 12 additional agencies. Most World War II Air Force photographs are not in the National Archives.

Pictures are listed by subject and campaign. Original captions are in quotation marks. Photographers, artists, locations, and dates, when known, are also included. This information is followed by identification numbers in italics.

At the end of this leaflet there are instructions for ordering complete sets of slides from this and other Select Audiovisual Records lists. To order individual prints, negatives, or slides from this list, write to the Still Picture Branch (NNSP) for a current price list and ordering information. With the exception of 11 pictures that are also in color (indicated by an asterisk following the identification number), all pictures in this list are available only in black and white. Inquiries about other World War II pictures that may be part of the National Archives' holdings should be made separately. Please list, as specifically as possible, names, dates, places, subjects, events, and other details. Please limit each request to three items.

Jonathan Heller researched, selected, and arranged the items for this list and wrote these introductory remarks.