Billy's WWII Photo Album

During WWII Daddy was the assistant G-4 in the Sixth Armored Division of Patton's Third Army; his area of expertise was logistics, an assignment he performed so well that, as a major, he was awarded the Silver Star. One issue of The Stars And Stripes, the army's weekly newspaper that covered the war, featured the story of his award for heroism and a photo of him on their front page.

I know this because Daddy created a scrapbook of his service with Patton in the late 1950's, filling it with snapshots he'd taken with his 35mm camera. As a boy I used to pore over this album for hours, fascinated by the photos and the brief handwritten descriptions beneath each one.

Included were at least two photos of General George Patton outside a tent in conversation with General Montgomery, the British equivalent of General Eisenhower; Daddy pointed out to me in the photos Patton's pair of revolvers which he kept holstered on his hips, western style. I know now that this meeting with Montgomery came at a real turning point for the Allies in 1944: Patton's Third Army had trained for combat in North Africa (the Sixth Armored's Tank Corps, to which Daddy was assigned in 1942, had trained at the Desert Training Center near Indio, California. before shipping out to England and, ultimately, France in '44). Montgomery informed Patton at this meeting that Patton was to take his men into France instead, which made Patton livid. As an officer Daddy was privy to their discussions. Daddy described the photos as having been taken after their meeting.

There were also photos of the vapor trails in the sky after aerial combat over France, looking as if someone had smeared the sky with an eraser. I asked Daddy why he hadn't taken photos of the dogfights themselves; he said it was against Army regulations.

There were other photos of Russian soldiers warily eyeing Daddy, captioned "The Russians did not trust us"; and of Daddy and other officers singing hymns in a French tavern while an officer played piano. Photos too of the interior of French taverns that had been decorated with paintings of naked women. Photos of Daddy's tank at the Battle of the Bulge, painted white to camouflage it in the snow (Daddy said that he never got warm again after the brutal winter there). Photos of churches and cathedrals they'd passed as they crossed France into Germany. Photos of brave soldiers everywhere.

The photos below are two that he'd taken in France: the sign adorned a captured German pillbox; the single cross marked the grave of his best friend, Hugh Johnston, who lost his life as the result of a suicide mission he was compelled to undertake in France.

Sign on German Pillbox


Hugh Johnston's Grave Marker

The day Hugh Johnston left to go on this mission he first stopped by Daddy's tent to say goodbye. Daddy asked him what was up. Johnston told Daddy that he'd been ordered to take a jeep and drive to the headquarters of another division and deliver some documents. As his division's logistics expert, Daddy told him that he knew that the only route he could take ran along a river; across the river was a line of German tanks. He'd be out in the open as he drove along the river in broad daylight, clearly visible to every tank on the opposite bank. Johnston said that he'd explained that to his superior, who angrily told him, "Soldier, I've given you an order, and I expect you to obey it!" Johnston told Daddy he had no choice. He knew he was a dead man and told Daddy, "Billy, I've come here to say goodbye."

I asked Daddy what happened next; he said later that afternoon as Johnston drove along the river bank, every tank on the opposite side opened fire on him.

That single cross is pasted on the inside back cover of Daddy's album with his name and rank and the year of his birth and the day that he died underneath. Beneath that Daddy had pasted in the words: Not all returned.

The first evening I was home this month for Tiz's funeral, I discussed with my sister Alicia the contact I'd made this year with Col. Jim Moncrief, who'd served with Daddy in the 6th Armored Division. Moncrief -- who's pictured with Daddy elsewhere in this blog -- was the division's G-1 throughout the war; Daddy was the assistant G-4. As Moncrief told me, the G-1 and the G-4 were bivouacked together throughout the war, so they saw a lot of each other and became close friends. I told Alicia that Moncrief had told me that he had a photo of himself and Daddy with General Gage, General Marshall, and General Patton. And that he would look for it and send me a copy.

Alicia's eyes lit up. "Willie," she said excitedly, "get him to send you the original! It's worth thousands!"

My heart sank. Alicia knew the value of original photos of Patton. And since she'd taken Daddy's WWII album many years ago from Tiz's house, I knew then that she had to know of the presence of Daddy's pictures of Patton and their value. And I knew too that -- desperate for money since she'd not worked in almost 20 years -- she had to have sold them and, quite possibly, the rest of the collection. I have no doubt.

Until that night I'd hoped to convince her to let me borrow the album to use as a resource for a documentary I'd been planning to make of Daddy's service with the 6th Armored Division. The documentary can never happen now. Alicia's sold numerous antiques Tiz had given her over the years, items that had been in our family for generations. Sentiment means nothing to her. It's all gone. The photos above -- duplicates of photos from his album -- I'd found earlier this month in a drawer at Tiz's home in Charleston during my search for documentation about her Will.

The portrait of Daddy below was taken in 1945 in Germany by a German soldier. It's my all-time favorite picture of him. He'd given it to his mother on his return in 1945, and she had it in her living room until her death in 1976. I let my relatives fight over her furniture and other property; I asked only for this one photo. The brave soldier at the end of the war.

Billy in Germany 1945