Description:

U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS PHOTOGRAPHER''S EUROPEAN THEATER ALBUM
Excellent collection of 248 original 4"x 5" b/w photographs, all taken by U.S. Army Signal Corps photographer 1st Lt. Joseph Zinni during while accompanying American troops during their advance from the beaches of Normandy through Northern France and into Germany. The photographs are collected in a more recent leather-covered album, and are not arranged chronologically; however, the earliest images appear to have been taken during Zinni''s crossing of the English Channel in late June, 1944, shortly after the D-Day landings at Normandy. These images show soldiers relaxing and doing calisthenics aboard their transport, the other transports, landing craft and escorts in the convoy, allied fighters overhead, and the French coast. Subsequent images show landing craft unloading on the beach, ruined buildings in the French village of Carentan, destroyed German coastal bunkers and artillery, sabotaged German planes on a captured airfield (including an overturned Focke-Wulf Fw 190), American soldiers running communication lines past a German grave, and American soldiers advancing through ruined towns. Many photos appear to have been taken in the winter of 1944, and show captured and destroyed German artillery, flak guns and vehicles (including a Nebelwerfer rocket launcher and a StuG assault gun), American artillery firing at night, an American machine gun position exchanging fire with German forces, medics treating a wounded soldier American soldiers guarding a work crew of captured Germans, and more, all in deep snow. Several images also depict Army observation pilots maintaining their aircraft, with a selection of aerial shots presumably taken from these planes, depicting burning towns and a snowbound airfield. The collection also includes a number of images taken in a field hospital, as part of a series on Purple Heart recipients, and many images of American soldiers happily talking and dancing with German women in traditional Bavarian clothing, presumably taken at or after the end of the war. At least two images show American soldiers meeting their Russian counterparts, with two images showing Zinni himself with camera in hand. Most images are affixed to the album pages, but several that are loose bear black ink inscriptions by Zinni, often giving the location and date of the scene. Some images show yellowing from age, else very good. A very extensive and interesting archive, should be seen. SOLD WITH: "The History of the 26th Yankee Division", (Salem Yankee Division Veterans Association), 1955, 260pp. 4to., with presentation to Joseph Zinni, listing his unit as the 166th Photo Company, the photographic unit of George S. Patton''s Third Army. Zinni likely accompanied this division on its advance through Europe, and it is possible that some of his uncredited images appear in this heavily-illustrated unit history. Two pieces.

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September 13, 2017 11:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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