12-24-44 Vapor Trails ...

[Mark Allen M]

Vapor trails from Allied Aircraft fill the skies over Belgium after the weather cleared during the Battle of the Bulge - December 24, 1944.
LIFE Magazine Archives - George Silk Photographer

[RyanShort1]

Darn, chemtrail warfare all the way back then? How evil of Uncle Sam.

[RyanShort1]

That must've been quite amazing. Can you imagine the sounds as hundreds of radial and inline high-performance engines strained in combat??? A few Merlins or a B-17 passing by at an airshow is cool enough. But entire formations of them is hard to imagine now.

[K5DH]

Amazing set of photos, Mark, as always!

In the last black & white photo, in the lower left quadrant, is that a single-engine airplane going down trailing smoke from one wing? Doesn't look like a contrail.

[p51]

Can you imagine the sounds as hundreds of radial and inline high-performance engines strained in combat???

A 91st BG vet told me that one time he was on the ground and a large formation went over and it drowned out conversations on the ground for almost half an hour.