A 'dusty' Grumman TBM Avenger aircraft undergoing maintenance. Aviation ordnance men service the .50 caliber machine guns including the plane?s turret gun, circa 1944-45. GLOBAL: THE HEROIC actions of the brave allied airmen who risked their lives in WW2 have been brought to life in stunning colour. Absorbing 80-year-old photos show the brutal reality that many pilots and their crew faced day to day in startling clarity. Striking images include a mechanic loading huge 500-pound bombs on an American bomber; tense paratroopers with the RAF bracing themselves in the fuselage of an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley aircraft; and a wounded US gunner being hauled from an aircraft after suffering serious injuries mid-flight. Another incredible photo shows a concerned crowd gathering around the wreckage of a Spitfire. Mediadrumimages/@colourisedpieceofjake