96 loose gelatin silver photographs ca. 11.5 x 6.5 cm (4 ½ x 2 ½ in). 27 images with period ink or pencil captions on verso. Five images with period ink captions on recto. a couple of photos very mildly faded or with minor creasing, but overall a very good collection of strong interesting photos.

A well-preserved collection of 96 gelatin silver photographs showing France Field and Cristóbal in the Panama Canal Zone, as well as Colón, in 1945. The collection was likely compiled by a US Army Air Force officer stationed at France Field at that time. Later renamed France Field Air Force Base in 1948, and then deactivated in 1949 and turned into a civil airport. It is still in use as of 2025 as Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport.

Over 45 photographs are of France Field. They show lines of fighter planes parked on the tarmac; exteriors of base headquarters, base chapel, bachelors’ quarters, the “GI Club,” “France Field Exchange” with restaurant and barber shop, and the dispensary; a bus stop with one bus reading “Naval Air Station, Cristobal, No. 50”; the interior of officers’ barracks and leisure area; and the compiler’s “favourite speed boat,” as well as other snapshots around the base. There are also group portraits, showing officers posing with a Nazi flag, in front of planes, outside a shack labelled “Radio,” with women, and playing with puppies. Several individual portraits show officers posing before a plane, with a bomb, or in the cockpit. One photograph is captioned “Some of our San Blas mess boys going out to play baseball.”

Also included are over 40 photographs of Panamanian cities, including Colón and Cristóbal. Over ten are of Colón, showing Balboa Boulevard, boats in a harbour, Washington Hotel and its pool, the Municipal Palace of Colón (burned down 1966), the Columbus Monument in central Colón, and several street scenes, including lottery tickets being sold. Seven photographs show Cristóbal (now part of the city of Colón, but then part of the Canal Zone), including Cristobal High School, Cristobal Fire Station, Union Church, and Christ Church by the Sea. The other photographs show street scenes with signs reading “Club Florida,” “Cafe America,” “Hotel Tres Hermanos,” etc.; a building identified as the “US Consul” in the caption; and a large group of people betting on horse races.

Overall, a lively and well-preserved collection of photographs showing France Field Air Force Base and the nearby cities of Colón and Cristóbal, during the end of World War II.