This wartime photograph, handwritten-captioned 'Rabaul, 7 Nov 43, 1350,' documents a low-level bombing and strafing attack on Rabaul, New Britain -- one of the most heavily defended Japanese bases in the South Pacific. Throughout late 1943, Fifth Air Force bomber and attack groups, including units associated with the 312th Bomb Group, carried out repeated low-altitude raids against Rabaul's airfields, shipping, and port facilities using parachute-retarded fragmentation bombs, visible here as the streaking smoke trails converging on the target below. These sustained attacks helped neutralize Rabaul as a Japanese stronghold without the need for a costly ground invasion. Project: 218561