Collection: The Philip Kaplan World War 2 Airfields Photo Collection

Description

This large collection comprises colour 35mm photographic slides, taken by Philip Kaplan between the 1960s and the 1990s. The images primarily show airfields in the UK that were used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) from the Second World War onwards. As well as slides of airfields, there are related objects, people, aircraft and memorials. Also included in the collection are images from Kaplan's wider research and publication interests such as German U-Boats and the Luftwaffe. There are an estimated 31,584 slides in 56 albums with the estimate based on a count of the slides in albums one to five. A handlist is available.

Kaplan had an early childhood interest in aircraft and aviation, and grew up during the Second World War in San Diego, at the time home to a large naval base and naval air station. This interest led to a desire to visit what remained of the wartime airfields in England, particularly those of the US Eighth Army Air Force. The collection is the result of more than twenty trips taken by Kaplan to explore and document over one hundred airfields and bases across the country. Many of the images were used to illustrate the book 'One Last Look', in which members of the US Eighth Army Air Force who served during the war recalled life on the air bases. Kaplan also authored 'Round the Clock : The Experience of the Allied Bomber Crews who Flew by Day and by Night from England in the Second World War'.

The collection is important in providing a detailed look at disused airfields from the Second World War, many of which have since been replaced by housing, industrial estates, and agriculture.

Archival History

The collection was acquired by the Historic England Archive in 2020.

Content

This Collection contains the following materials:

Photograph (35mm Slide): 31,584

Photograph Album: 56

Rights

© Historic England Archive (Philip Kaplan WW2 Airfield Collection)

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