Lockheed P-38 Lightning "fork-tailed devil" - World War 2 Pilot Flight Training Film 1943 - CharlieDeanArchives . CharlieDeanArchives - Archive footage from the 20th century making history come alive!
Note the startup of the port engine at 3:18; the port engine was started earlier and rotated clockwise as viewed from the front. The engines are counter-rotating to cancel torque steer. The Lightning was one of the few twin-engined combat aircraft with this feature; I believe the Mosquito also had it. This meant that they needed two different Allison engines to power it which IIRC complicated restoration of Glacier Girl.
Needing two engines that spin opposite ways is not as hard as you fear. The Allison V-1710 engines could be converted to either rotation with a little work in the engine shop on the base-- it's not like you need to send them back to the factory for a rebuild to turn the other direction.
