This is a black-and-white photograph of a naked pilot inside a plane.
WWII: Rescue at Rabaul ‘PBY Blister Gunner’

1944/printed 1990s

Signed in pencil, verso

Gelatin silver print

10 x 8 inches, sheet
7.625 x 7.625 inches, image

Sold.

This young crewman of a US Navy “Dumbo” PBY rescue mission has just jumped into the water of Rabaul Harbor to rescue a badly burned Marine pilot who was shot down while bombing the Japanese-held fortress of Rabaul. Since Japanese coastal defense guns were firing at the plane while it was in the water during take-off, this brave young man, after rescuing the pilot, has manned his position as machine gunner without taking time to put on his clothes.

Work by Horace Bristol (1908-1997)