Spitfire!

Spitfires, of course, were of prime importance in WWII and especially the Battle of Britain... but really I'm not much of a military historian, so let's just focus on how striking they and these photographs are! (though it's interesting how much geographical variety there is-- truly a world war). 

For those who are into that stuff, the source links bring you to the photo's Imperial War Museum pages, which are captioned with the specific details of the planes and their squadrons; for simplicity, I'm leaving those details out here. 

Unless otherwise noted, photographs taken from 1939-1945, and of RAF aircraft. 

Spitfires in formation over England, 1938. Source

A Royal Australian Air Force Spitfire landing in Lincolnshire. Source

An armourer working on a Spitfire in Tunisia, 1939-1943. Source

Two accomplished Spitfire pilots of the RAF, c. 1943. Source

A taxiing Spitfire in Calcutta, India, c. 1942. Source

Spitfires in formation over Tunisia, 1943. Source

A pilot in his plane's cockpit pre-take-off, Normandy, 1944. Source

Spitfires over the Adriatic Sea. Source

A Spitfire in flight over England. Source

A Spitfire taking off, Gloucestershire. Source

Over England, 1944. Source

Unserviceable Spitfire fuselages lined up in Algeria, 1944. Source

A pilot in the cockpit of his Spitfire, Tunisia. Source

RAF personnel push a Spitfire from the mud of a waterlogged landing ground in Italy, with the squadron dog watching. Source

A Spitfire seen through a roll of mesh, the Netherlands, 1945. Source

M. Rook, known as the tallest RAF pilot at the time, with his Spitfire in Algeria. Source

Visitors around a Spitfire at an RAF display in Brussels, Belgium, 1945. Source

Pilots sit in front of fighter planes in Malta. Source

Three Hurricanes and a group of Spitfires in an aerial demonstration for factory workers, Cambridgeshire, 1940. Source

Two Chinese boys adopted by the RAF squadron at Kowloon, Hong Kong, explore a Spitfire, 1945-46. Source

Spitfires in Corsica, 1944. Source

A still from camera-gun film taken from a Spitfire during an engagement with German aircraft,. Source

A Spitfire making a mock- low level attack at a base in England. Source

A row of Spitfires in Italy, 1944. Source

A Spitfire is readied for a pre-dawn flight, Belgium, 1944-45. Source