Camera at War World War Two photographs by Thomas J. Austin, Combat Photographer, U.S. Army
Part One: The Home Front 1941-1943 Edited by Geoff Liebrandt, Jennifer Brownlee-Parrott and Mark Arlinghaus
Tom Austin in Europe, 1945
Introduction Thomas J. Austin was born on April 28, 1918, along the banks of the Ohio River, in Newport, KY. The town sits in the shadow of Cincinnati, OH, and today is a vibrant waterfront community with many new businesses, restaurants and tourist attractions. During Tom's childhood, Newport was a collection of aging riverboat docks and dilapidated warehouses, swinging night clubs that catered to a rough Cincinnati clientele, and a community of lower and middle class workers. Tom, along with two brothers and a sister, grew up in this aging riverfront community and saw the relative prosperity of the Roaring Twenties give way to the Great Depression. Despite hard times for his family during the depression, Tom entered Newport High School in 1933 and graduated in the spring of 1937. After graduating from high school, Tom was offered a job across the river with Ken Rarich, a photographer who operated a studio in downtown Cincinnati. Tom worked as Mr. Rarich's assistant, carrying equipment on photo shoots, and doing odd jobs around the studio. They got along well, and Tom began to develop an interest in photography. In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland and Camera at War
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war broke out in Europe. There was a strong anti-war sentiment in the United States, but President Franklin Roosevelt and many Congressional leaders feared that America might eventually be forced into the war. The American military was woefully unprepared for war, so in September 1940, Congress passed the Selective Service Act which required men between the ages of 21 and 35 to register for the draft. This was the first peacetime draft in American history. The Act called for 900,000 men to be selected by lottery for 12 months of military training. The goal was to increase America's military readiness by training a pool of men that could be called upon in case America was drawn into the war in Europe. Tom decided to join the Army shortly after New Year's, 1941. He was sworn in at Fort Thomas, KY, on February 28, 1941, and was ordered to report to Ft. Lewis, Washington, for training with the Third US Infantry Division. Within a few days, Tom boarded a train at the Newport, KY, depot and headed west to become a soldier.
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Home Front
A U.S. Navy K Class airship on patrol along the coast of Washington state sometime during 1941. These patrol airships were built by the Goodyear company in Akron, Ohio, and hundreds of these airships patrolled the coasts of the United States during World War Two.
While training at Ft. Lewis Tom had a camera and took photos during his time in basic training. Tom's photos cover many aspects of life at Ft. Lewis. We see some of the post buildings, temporary tent cities for new trainees, field maneuvers, and soldiers at play. We see the army experimenting with landing soldiers by small boats months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Lessons learned from these peacetime experiments would eventually lead to the specialized landing craft that were so important at D-Day, Iwo Jima, and countless other invasion landings during the Second World War. We also see the soldiers wearing old surplus equipment from World War One. It reminds us of how ill-prepared the United States was in 1941 to fight the rapidly approaching war with Germany and Japan.
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Tom and a buddy in field uniform, 1941. Most of the equipment seen here is almost 25 yrs old surplus gear left over from World War One.
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Tom’s barracks building at Ft. Lewis. While Tom was training there, Ft. Lewis was undergoing a huge expansion. Floods of new draftees were arriving as the country prepared for the possibility of war. New wooden barracks buildings like this were quickly erected to house the trainees. Notice that these wooden buildings weren’t painted. Even with the rush to build these structures, Ft. Lewis couldn’t keep up with the demand for housing.
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The Army activated a second division at Ft. Lewis in the fall of 1940, the 41st Infantry Division. Ft. Lewis didn’t have enough barracks for the men of this division, so winterized tents with wooden floors and portable stoves were set up for them. The photograph at left is one of the 41st Division’s camps.
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Ft. Lewis was established in1917 to train soldiers to fight in World War One. After the war the Army was downsized and Ft. Lewis became a virtual ghost camp with just a few hundred personnel. In the 1920’s the Army assigned the headquarters of the Third Infantry Division to Ft. Lewis, and the post slowly began to rebuild. These brick barracks pictured here were built between 1927-1939 to house the permanent garrison of the fort. The Ft. Lewis post chapel. This large brick structure was built between 1927-1930. 10
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Tom and his buddy’s field gear on display for inspection outside their barracks. One of the drills soldiers had to learn was setting out their gear in a certain, prescribed order. Rifles, helmets, packs, and other gear had to be put in specific positions in order to pass inspection.
Rifle inspection! Every recruit was expected to keep his rifle clean and in good operating condition. Here an officer is taking the rifle of Private Art Russler to inspect it. According to Tom, Private Russler rose through the ranks during World War Two, and ended the war as a captain with the Third Infantry Division. He saw action in all the division’s battles.
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“Butch”. It seemed like American soldiers were always adopting stray dogs during World War Two. Here, Butch is on the job at Ft. Lewis, complete with an Army fatigue hat!
Next page: Tom’s company (Company K, 7th Infantry Regiment) at rest during a field maneuver. This photo was most likely taken during one of the warm months in mid 1941. Everyone is in shirt sleeves, no jackets are visible, and they are all resting in the shade during their break. 12
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In this photo Tom is eating a cold meal during another field maneuver. This day was cooler and wetter, as Tom is wearing an army raincoat buttoned up over his wool jacket.
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More soldiers in rain gear. Most of the men also have their hands tucked inside pockets, so it appears to have been a cold day. According to a note on the back of this photo, the soldier second from the left committed suicide the day after this photo was taken.
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One of Tom’s buddies asleep on a large tree trunk during field maneuvers. What makes this photo unusual is the uniform the soldier is wearing. During the 1930’s soldiers were issued a “work” uniform made of dark blue denim material - like today’s blue jeans. This soldier is wearing his denim uniform on this field exercise.
Some of Tom’s buddies taking shelter from the rain under a huge tree trunk.
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A Catholic Army chaplain setting up for Mass in the field. In the coming war, many military chaplains would serve with distinction under enemy fire and gain deep respect and honor from the soldiers, sailors and marines they ministered to.
Off-duty soldiers taking a swim in a river. Tom doesn’t remember exactly where this was taken.
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Army whaleboats cruising in Pudget Sound, WA in the fall of 1941. The Third Division conducted amphibious training exercises with these small craft. During some of the maneuvers, the troops landed on public beaches amidst hundreds of amused civilian beachgoers! Nobody could forsee that only 12 months after Tom took these photos, American forces would be making their first amphibious combat landing of the war against the Japanese-held island of Guadalcanal.
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Soldiers from Tom’s squad during the maneuvers on Pudget Sound. Once again the old surplus World War One helmets and gear are evident in the photo. The new WW2 style M-1 helmet would begin being issued to the army just a few months after this photo was taken. Camera at War
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Here Tom found some time to relax and get some sun during a field maneuver.
Tom taking a swim, summer 1941.
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Most Americans forget that the Great Depression still had its grip on the United States when World War Two began. At the Klamath Falls Railroad Depot near Ft. Lewis, a young boy is selling a box of food - probably a mix of fruit and baked goods) to railroad passengers. The money that this boy brought home helped to support his family during the economic hard times.
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A soldier mails a letter from the Klamath Falls train depot near Ft. Lewis.
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Fort Knox, 1941-43 Tom transferred to the Photo Section at the new Armored Center Headquarters at Ft. Knox, KY, in November, 1941. The Army had just retired the last of its horse cavalry. One task given to the Armored Center HQ was to experiment with different types of vehicles to determine how best to make the Army more mobile. Here a motorcycle is being field tested.
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As late as 1941-early 1942, the Army experimented with replacing horse cavalry with motorcycles. In the photo at right cavalry troops are field testing motorcycles with sidecars. Below, a cavalry trooper tests the maneuverability of a motorcycle over rough terrain. While the US Army was retiring its horses and thinking about motorcycles, fast and powerful German tank forces had swept across France, western Russia, and North Africa. The US Army eventually relegated the role of motorcycles to courier duties.
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The Army eventually chose to develop armored cars and “half track” vehicles to transport infantry soldiers quickly, and for use with scout and reconnaissance troops. In the photo at right troops are training with an M3 armored scout car built by the White Motor Company of Cleveland, OH. Below right - M2 half tracks on field maneuvers at Ft. Knox. Armored cars and half tracks were fast and maneuverable in open terrain, and provided some protection against rifle fire. However, their light armor offered little protection against enemy machine gun or tank fire, and the vehicles were hard to get out of when under attack. Combat soldiers came to call these vehicles “Purple Heart boxes” because so many soldiers were wounded while riding in them.
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An M2 half track on display at Ft. Knox with a typical load of weapons and ammunition that could be carried in the vehicle. Seen here are three machine guns with their tripod mounts, folded belts of machine gun ammunition, two rifles, and a Thompson submachine gun with round drum magazines of ammunition.
In the photo at right, soldiers are examining a mortar that has been mounted on the back of a half track. While making the heavy mortar easier to move, soldiers still had to expose themselves to enemy fire to load and fire this weapon.
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A nicely posed photo of a soldier manning a machine gun on a half track or armored car. The old World War One style helmet dates this photo to around the end of 1941 or the early months of 1942.
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Soldiers undergoing gas training at Ft. Knox. Because poison gas was widely used in World War I, learning how to survive and fight during a gas attack was an important part of military training.
Soldiers being taught how to use a .30 caliber machine gun.
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An M1 75mm pack howitzer being readied for a firing demonstration. This small howitzer was designed to be taken apart into several pieces that could be transported over difficult terrain by mules or pack animals. They could also be towed by light vehicles such as jeeps.
A battery of M1 75mm pack howitzers on the firing range at Fort Knox.
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A 57mm anti-tank gun crew posing with their weapon. When Tom took this photo in 1942, the 57 mm gun was already becoming obsolete. The shell wasn’t powerful enough to penetrate the heavy armor of German tanks.
Troops from Ft. Knox practice river assault crossings in the hills of western Kentucky.
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The commander of the Armor Center reviews troops from one of the center’s armored scout cars - this is probably summer or early fall of 1942.
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This is a line of M2A1 medium tanks. Less than one hundred of these tanks were built in 1941, and eighteen of them can be seen in this photo. They were considered obsolete by the time they were delivered to the Army - German tank technology had already far surpassed them. These served a short time as training vehicles. Their biggest contribution to the war effort was that the M3 Stuart and M4 Sherman tanks, and the M7 selfpropelled 105mm artillery family of armored vehicles evolved from the M2 design. The soldiers are wearing leather helmets based on a design created by General George S. Patton.
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An M3 light Stuart tank, motorcyclists, and a new Willys Jeep on maneuvers through a waterfall near Ft. Knox. At this point, the M3 Stuart tank was the best tank the US Army could field. It was already completely outclassed by German tanks with heavier protective armor and more powerful cannons. However, the Stuart was used in combat in every theater of the war. It served well as a light scouting vehicle, but was a death trap when confronted by powerful enemy antitank guns.
An M3 Stuart tank crosses a shallow river during maneuvers in Kentucky.
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An M7 self-propelled 105mm howitzer. This was a very successful vehicle during World War Two. It provided the U.S. Army with heavy firepower that could move and fire quickly against enemy targets. Notice that in 1942 this armored vehicle didn’t have a radio. The vehicle commander had to communicate by waving signal flags!
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The M4 Sherman tank on field maneuvers at Fort Knox. The M4 Sherman became the standard American tank of World War Two. Shermans did not match up very well against heavier armed and armored German tanks, but M4 Shermans were faster, more reliable mechanically, and easier to build. The American and British armies eventually overwhelmed the Germans with thousands of these tanks. The M4 Shermans also proved to be very effective against German infantry.
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Sherman tanks negotiate muddy roads during testing and field maneuvers at Ft. Knox
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Sherman tanks churn through a pit of mud during field trials
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During tank field maneuvers, Tom shot this series of photos of the recovery of a crippled tank. Left: The Sherman tank has thrown or broken its left side track in deep mud. A crewman is examining the problem.
A tank recovery vehicle is called and a large steel cable is pulled back to the disabled tank.
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The cable is attached to the front of the tank so that it can be pulled out of the mud and repaired.
With the steel tow cable attached, the tank is slowly pulled free from the mud. You can see the driver’s head sticking out of his hatch as he uses his tank’s engine and remaining track to help get the vehicle unstuck.
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Winter maneuvers. Although Fort Knox was primarily involved with armor testing and training, it also conducted some training exercises with ski equipped troops. In 1940 the War Department ordered the establishment and training of small ski patrol units in a number of regiments and divisions throughout the Army. This policy would eventually see the opening of the Mountain Warfare Center in 1942, and the establishment of the 10th Mountain Division in 1944. Specialized winter troops would fight against the Japanese in the Aleutian Islands and against the Germans in northern Italy.
Bottom right: Ski troops with an armored half track. You can clearly see the Armor patch on the breast of the soldier on the right.
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President Roosevelt visited the Armor Force Center at Fort Knox in 1942. Tom took this photo of the presidential limousine pulling into a parade ground. Sitting with President Roosevelt in the car is Kentucky Governor Keen Johnson (governor from 1939-43) and Lieutenant General Jacob Devers, commander of the Armor Force at Ft. Knox from 1941-43.
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President Roosevelt and Governor Keen examining a model of a Sherman tank. Tom remembers that this model was scratch-built by a sergeant at the Armor Force HQ, and presented as a gift to the president on his visit. 42
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The presidential party watches a tank-firing demonstration while secret service keep a protective watch.
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A specially-selected group of NCO’s also ran through a demonstration during President Roosevelt’s visit. Here the soldiers are negotiating fence and barrel crawl obstacles. All of the NCO’s in this demonstration carried Thompson sub-machine guns.
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A nicely posed action shot of a soldier in action with full combat gear. Probably taken in the spring of 1942 based on the flowers blooming to the left of the soldier and the old-style helmet still being worn.
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A group of armor soldiers at inspection with sidearms. It’s interesting that they are carrying revolvers rather than the famous 1911 Colt pistol. The men appear to be tank crewmen they are all wearing overalls that were common issue to tank crews.
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Coming next Part Two: Battle for Europe 1944-1945 Photo: Looking down on one of the D-Day beaches from a German defensive position Normandy, France, June 1944.
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