Airmen of the 386th Bomb Squadron, 312th Bomb Group, gather around theater situation maps posted in their squadron mess tent, 10 October 1944. Maps tracking the Allied invasion front in Western Europe, the Italian campaign, and the Eastern (Russian) Front were commonly displayed at forward Pacific bases, allowing ground and air crews stationed thousands of miles away to follow the war's broader progress. Such improvised intelligence displays, built from bamboo and salvaged lumber, were a fixture of squadron life in New Guinea and the Philippines during the war against Japan. Project: 218275