From the moment we landed, we were advised to keep a low profile and set up our lab quickly. We were situated in a farm area, in an Army compound formerly used by the French and the Germans. Our vehicles were parked a distance away after we unloaded. We blacked out all the windows. Our labs were set up in the basement and completely invisible from the outside.
After a long and tedious journey, to get into spacious accommodations and into the final thrust into Germany, we were exhilarated. The lab setup was done quickly and the reconnaissance work was waiting for us. We worked double shifts and mostly at night. Film was brought to us via courier, shot by planes flown by the Fighter Wing outfit of the 7th Army. We would be working on them at night and deliver finished prints in the early morning to the Generals. While we were working through the night, we would hear the engine noise of airplanes circling overhead. “Midnight Charlie, overhead”, our catch phrase to the describe German aircraft.
Our 7th Army was joined with the French in the drive through Southern France and into Germany from the South. It was named “Operation Anvil”. The troops coming from the West and the Russians from the East surrounded The Nazis and crushed them. Germany surrendered totally on May 7th, 1945.
Our unit was overjoyed by being a part of this achievement and also very proud when we received the commendations from Le General d’Armee de Latrede Tassigny sent to our Capitaine A. Wayshak. We also received commemdations from Wade H. Haislip, Lt. General, 7th Army H’qtrs. and from Glenn O. Barcus, Brigagier General, USA, Tactical Air Command.
irv roth said
I’m making a personal comment. Reflecting on the past, the above happened 64 yrs, ago. How things have changed. The entire photography field is Kaput. It is now called Imaging (not Photography). Gone are all film, special photo paper, chemicals,even the darkroom. All the work is done with digital cameras that record images as pixels. This term was created by the use of Picture Elements, thus Pixels. So, the past description of our Photo Unit , it’s work and the movement of personnel and airplanes has been eliminated. Modern warfare now uses drones to capture images and send them directly to a monitor for immediate interpretation by the military. Even space exploration is possible by the transmission of images from Outer-space vehicles. How things have changed. Makes me feel obsolete. Irv. . . .