CusterMen MENU Italian Campaign At The Front Books Armies Maps 85th Division GI Biographies Websites

 Dated:  November 6, 2008
 
Photos
from the
Italian Front

A View of the Soldier's Life
at the Front


This page contains photos of American soldiers from the Italian Front.   The purpose is to provide a picture of what the war in Italy was like and a glimpse of the life of the common GI during the hardships of war.

Return to At The Front

Photo at right was taken of the 36th 'Texas' Division
early in the war in Italy.

Lady kissing a GI

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Click to go to - German Death Cards


 
 

    My website began with a simple page of photos that my father took
  with a captured German camera.  Since then I've had many veterans
  and families contact me and donate photos from their collection. 
 
Some photos were purchased and some are news photos that were
 
sent to the States for publishing.


 CONTENTS:   These photos are very general subjects and you will not find anything rresembling a real combat photo. Why? The Army censors excluded many subjects that you were allowed to photograph.  If you photographed a subject that was not authorized, they would confiscate the negatives during development. You could not take photos of US troops or equipment for security reasons. That went also for enemy equipment. You could not take photos of enemy prisoners or dead, as it was against Geneva Convention to use that for publicity.
    So, what subjects were allowed?   Photos of GI's eating chow or taking baths.  A silly pose with a chicken on your head.  A display of captured German souvenirs.  Sightseeing in The Eternal City.  A GI holding a doll found in rubble of a building.  A shot of a German artillery gun with a note that a dead German was lying 10 feet behind the gun.

  QUALITY:   Sgt. Cole's camera used large 120mm format film, but during the war the photos were developed in small 2.5 X 2.5-inch paper. Since most of the negatives didn't survive, I had to scan these images from the small, 50-year old photos. Therefore, the quality isn't as good as it could be.  This is true for many of the photos found in veteran's scrapbooks.  The large, high resolution photos are usually photos taken by the US Army Signal Corps and stored in the archives.

  



Photo Menu
This website began on the AOL server.  These pages have been moved
over to this new CUSTERMEN.COM site.   Some links may not work
.


  Group Photos:

Battery B, 328th FA   -  A group photo of Battery B, taken at Fort Dix, NJ just prior to departure for North Africa on December 24, 1943.
HeadQuarters Battery, 328th FA A group photo of Battery HQ, taken at Fort Dix, NJ.  The officers are wearing combat fatigues and helmets.  Provided by Bonnie Cheeseman, daughter of PFC Clarence Mills.
HeadQuarters Battery, 328th FA A group photo of Battery HQ, taken at Fort Dix, NJ.  The officers are wearing combat fatigues and helmets.  Provided by Bonnie Cheeseman, daughter of PFC Clarence Mills.
Company C, 310th Engineers - A group photo of a company of Combat Engineers taken at Camp Shelby, MS in February 1943.   Provided by Al McCloud.
Company D, 377th Infantry Regiment - A group photo of Company D, 377th  Regiment taken in Belluno, Italy after the end of the war.  Provided by William Sarokin.




FO on Mt Porchia 
Forward Observers on Mount Porchia, south of Cassino.
Note field phone to the right and sand-bagged observation post.


Chow time in Italy

Chow time for the 328th Field Artillery Battalion.
Near Lucca in November or December 1944.


Return to 328th Field Artillery   or  At the Front main menu.

Death Cards  are rememberance cards of German soldiers killed in Italy.

Return to 85th Division history main menu.



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