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Statement In July of 1944, several weeks after D-Day, XIIIth Corp Artillery sailed to England on the "Queen Elizabeth", then being used as a troop ship. We remained there until late Fall before sailing to France to follow-up the invasion and finally move into combat positions in Holland, Belgium and Germany. My role was a non-table of organization liaison photographer nominally assigned to photograph enemy gun positions from a low-flying Piper Cub. But in actuality, little use was ever made of such efforts and I found myself relatively free to roam and photograph amid the chaos . As a photographer, I'd probably have been more useful to "Stars and Stripes" (the European Theater combat newspaper), or, as I sometimes fantasized, "Life Magazine". I had a few harrowing experiences, some farcical ones and many sobering and challenging episodes which lent a maturity which I probably would not have enjoyed had I remained in college in Colorado. Had I not thus "seen Paree". However, some guilt remains that others in front-line fighting units were dying while I was - although I didn't realize it - developing my art. So, I dedicate these photos to all who fought in whatever capacity during the War and especially hope some of my friends in the XIIIth Corps Artillery Headquarters Battery might see them - particularly, Charles Jeffers, my fellow photographer. (Is anyone still alive out there?) Perhaps also the de la Roi family in Hoensbroek, Holland; Elizabeth Bartels, in Gifhorn, Germany; and villagers in Immendorf, Germany, will encounter this collection with interest. If you do, I'd like to hear from you. See E-mail to the right. - jack bice |
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