World War 2 Color Archives

One of the world's largest private collections of color photography from World War 2 to the present

Welcome to the Jeffrey L. Ethell photo archives, specializing in providing very high quality images for publication, up to and including 4000 dpi. Less than half of the color images and none of the 20,000 black and white images have been posted. We also offer prints for sale directly or through partner museums and gifts shops. Please see our pricing page for information on photo usage and research fees.

The collection was amassed by Jeffrey L. Ethell, aviation writer and historian, who died in 1997. It is the desire of the Jeffrey L. Ethell collection to preserve the legacy of the Second World War and honor those who gave their lives defending freedom.

The collection primarily focuses on World War II aviation, but there are many examples of infantry, naval and other forces as well as civilian settings from Europe, the Pacific and the Homefront.

Please note that the data contained in the database is often inaccurate and constantly undergoing revision. Our primary goal at the moment is putting the photos online. We have graciously received much help in data entry, but sometimes the information entered is not accurate. If you have more accurate information on an entry please feel free to use the Record Notes feature to add comments to a particular photograph. Over time the information will be checked and corrected, but our primary goal at the moment is bringing all 20,000 images online as rapidly as we can. Thanks for your understanding.

If you have 35mm slides that you would scanned please visit this site for information about high quality scanning of your slides for personal or professional use. He handles all the slide scanning services for ww2color.com.

We'd like to give our thanks to the following people for their invaluable aid in identifying images:

Larry Wilson, Technical Information Specialist, Smithsonian Institution NASM

Many others who regularly post through the notes feature