Historical Military and Aviation Photo Library
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These cropped thumbnails do not show the full extent of the original images
The concept was to provide a central online resource where authors and artists could pool their original WW2 photo collections so that everybody could easily find photos for their next projects and license them for a reasonable cost. The library was also opened up to the general public by charging a small monthly access fee which went towards the running of the library.
Now, 26 years later, the same concept is reborn in Wingleader Archive.
Of course, technology has improved beyond recognition in those 26 years and whereas ww2images only displayed images at 500pw, Wingleader Archive can now display images at a screen filling 1500pw. This has made the site very attractive for modellers who can now have instant access to over 40,000 reference photos, each of which can be downloaded and enlarged to study details that would be difficult to see, even in book reproduction.
As before, the library contains the collections of many significant authors, including famous names from the past such as Chaz Bowyer, Philip Moyes, Norman Franks, Mike Bailey and Chris Ellis. These collections were unique and are now available for all to study and download.
These famous collections often included material other than WWII aviation so we’ve decided to include this material as well in this much expanded site. We are particularly proud to have saved two important collections of WWI and Royal Navy photos. Both of these collections had been the ‘life’s-work’ of a group of gentlemen who were very keen for us to keep the collection intact, at least in digital form. This we managed to do, at least partly, before they all passed away.
Access to the full Archive is for members only. Membership is open to all via our simple sign-up form and we encourage members to share their knowledge by adding comments to the caption information if they wish to. All photos have basic captions, usually taken from the back of the photos, but our members are more than welcome to supply more information if they can.
All membership fees go towards the running of the site and the purchase of new collections. In the past 12 months, Wingleader has invested over £30,000 in buying new collections at auctions, these new images will be added over the coming months.