Taken from within the cockpit of an aircraft, this snapshot looks out across a windswept, palm-fringed tropical beach — a scene typical of the island airfields and coastal bases that dotted the Pacific during the Second World War. A dark shape resting on the sand in the distance may be another aircraft or small craft. Photographs like this one, informal and often imperfectly exposed, were taken by servicemen such as Edward P. McAleer to capture everyday moments of life and duty far from home. Project: 218138