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196th Signal Photo Company - Still Photo Gallery
Selected photos taken by members of the 3131st Signal Service Battalion and the 196th Signal Photo Company during the Italian Campaign of World War II. Photographs are identified by the first and last name of the photographer and Army Signal Corps serial number and obtained from the National Archives, private collections and the public domain.. Each caption is transcribed from the reverse side of its original Army Signal Corps photograph. (Click on each thumbnail photo for a larger view.)
VIEW INDEX TO STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS
Summary by last name of still photo coverage by members of the 3131st Signal Service Company from
September to December 1944 prior to re-designation to the 196th Signal Photo Company.
Baker, Charles C., 3131 Signal Service Company
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20 February 1945 - 5/MM-45-2794 - Fifth Army, Mount Belvedere Area, Italy A mortar man of the First Battalion, 85th Mountain Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, rests beside his 31mm mortar for a quick bite to eat. The 10th Mountain Division, stormed and took heavily defended Mount Belvedere, strategic height commanding Route 64 leading to the Bologna. Photo by Charles C. Baker, 3131 Signal Service Company NOTE: The 3131st Signal Service Company is re-designated the 196th Signal Photo Company during the week of Feb. 20-23, 1945. |
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23 February, 1945 - 5/MM-45-3112 - Fifth Army, Mount Belvedere Area, Italy Sherman medium tanks of the 751st Tank Battalion in position on the crest of Mount Belvedere which was taken by troops of the 10th Mountain Division after three days of bitter fighting. In the background is the Reno Valley and Route 64 which leads to Bologna. Photo by Charles C. Baker, 196th Signal Photo Company |
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4 March 1945 - 5/MM-45-3803 - Fifth Army, Sassomolare Area, Italy Wounded infantryman being evacuated in ambulance jeep during the advance of the 10th Mountain Division on German positions north of Route 64. Photo by Charles C. Baker, 196th Signal Photo Company
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4 March 1945 - 5/MM-45-3815 - Fifth Army, Sasomolare Area, Italy A Sherman tank of the 751st Tank Battalion in position to fire after the important road junction of Sassomolare was taken during the 10th Mountain Division's drive up the Poretta-Moderna Highway toward the Po Valley. Photo by Charles C. Baker, 196th Signal Photo Company |
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Field Censorship NOTE: Army censors carefully sliced out unit identifiers and place names from captions written by still photographers of the 196th Signal Photo Company prior to publication. Note the "Secret" classifications. Copies of original photos and captions on their reverse sides have been requested from the National Archives. These two photos shown below were submitted for publication by Stars and Stripes (S&S) in Naples. (Source: Historical Media 2007) |
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4 March 1945 - 5/MM-45-3815 - Fifth Army, Italy Tank destroyers in defilade behind a hill on the road, wait for blown bridge to be repaired, while heavy artillery and fighter-bombers plaster the village, in close support of the Division which is pushing forward a few thousand yards ahead. Photo by Charles C. Baker, 196th Signal Photo Company (Source: Historical Media 2007) |
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10 January 1945 - 5/MM-45-2015 - Fifth Army, Italy NOTE: The authors continue to find photos of African-American soldiers in combat by members of the 196th Signal Photo Company. Members of the famed 92nd 'Buffalo' Infantry Division were referred to as "colored" troops.
In the Spring offense, the 92nd Infantry Division entered La Spezia and Genoa on the 27 April, 1945 and liberated several towns along the Ligurian coast. Difficulties of mountain warfare is clearly shown by this picture of a wounded colored soldier, name withheld), being brought down a 45-degree mountain side on (censored) the Serchio Valley sector. This mountain attacked by colored troops rises 3,000 feet at this angle, making supplies and evacuation a nightmare of back-breaking labor. Photo by Charles C. Baker, 196th Signal Photo Company (Source: Historical Media 2007) |
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Bull, Marshall H., 196th Signal Photo Company
Marshall H. Bull, 86, died March 13, 2006 at Epoch Senior Health Care in Harwich, Mass. He was the husband of Marjorie Upson Bull and Elizabeth Bull, who died in 2004. Mr. Bull was born and raised in Oneonta, N.Y. He was a photographer in the 196th Signal Photo Company during World War II and took part in battles and campaigns in the Northern Appenines, Rome, Sicily, Naples, Foggia, Po Valley and Arno. He was awarded the American Defense Service, Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal and the European African Middle Eastern Service Award. After the war, he settled in Broohaven, N.Y. where he and his wife raised their family. He worked in the photography department at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y.
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24 September 1944 - Fifth Army, Firenzuoloa, Italy - 5/MM-44-3914 A tank dozer of the 752nd Tank Battalion clears debris from the road in Firenzuola. Photo by Pvt. Marshall H. Bull, 3131 Signal Service Company. |
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8 February 1945 - 5/MM-45-1868 - Fifth Army, Quercia, Italy 92nd Division offensive. An M-10 tank destroyer passes a destroyed church as it moves forward to a new position in support of the 92nd Infantry Division. Photo by Pvt. Marshall H. Bull, 3131 Signal Service Company. |
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24 September 1944 - Fifth Army, Firenzuoloa, Italy - 5/MM-44-3914 The 19th Engineers construct a bypass through remains of a bridge dstroyed by enemy demolition five miles north of Firenzuola. Photo by Pvt. Marshall H. Bull, 3131 Signal Service Company |
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| Photo by Pvt. Marshall H. Bull, 3131 Signal Service Company | |
Staff Sgt. Edwards, Robert G., 3131 Signal Service Company
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20 February 1945 - 5/MM-45-2833 - Fifth Army, Corona Area, Italy Men of the 87th Mountain Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, took the battered village of Corona which lies just below the crest of Mount Belvedere on the night of February 19-20, 1945. Photo by S/Sgt. Robert G. Edwards, 3131 Signal Service Company |
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20 April 1945 - 5/MM-45-7253 - Fifth Army, Riale, Italy Men of the 2nd Platoon, H Company, 337th Infantry Regiment, move up a dusty side road in the Po Valley. Their mission is to capture the bridge at Cassellechio di Reno. (Photo by S/Sgt. Robert G. Edwards, 3131 Signal Service Company) |
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17 April 1945 - 5/MM-45-6873 - Fifth Army, Mt. Ravicchio, Italy New light tanks of the F Troop, 81st Reconnaissance Sqdn., move up a steep narrow trail. Mt. Ravicchio was taken on April 17, 1945. It stands high in the background. (Photo by S/Sgt. Robert G. Edwards, 3131 Signal Service Company) |
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Saul Elson, 196th Signal Photo Company
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17 March 1944- MM-5-44-3029, Sepino Area, Italy The reverse side of this Signal Corps photograph reads 'Secret until declassified or censored." Maybe the mules were sworn to secrecy. A mule train moving over mountainous terrain. No. 1 Mule leader is Sgt Alfred Pieren San Francisco Calif. No. 2 Mule leader is Staff Sgt. Robert Galaher North Andover, Mass. and No. 3 Mule leader is Staff Sgt. Gordon Wren Steamboat Springs Colorado. (Photo by Saul Elson, 196th Signal Photo Company |
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196th Signal Photo Company Photographers - Selected Photos
These special tribute pages features some of the significant still photography of five Army Signal Corps photographers who served in the 196th Signal Photo Company. They include:
/ Cecil "Max"Campbell / John Mason / Donald Wiedenmayer / Jerry KosseffIndex to 196th Signal Photo Company - Still Photo Gallery
Known Army Signal Corps photographs attributed by Signal Corps serial number to individual members of the 3131st Signal Service Company and the 196th Signal Photo Company, Italian Campaign, 1944-1945. These photos were obtained from the National Archives and the public domain.
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Historical Resources
O'Connell's Equipment: Bell & Howell 35mm Eyemo Camera
Captain Melvin Gillette / Architect of the Army Pictorial Service
Selected Reference Materials (Orders and Official Documents) / Army Pictorial Service - North Africa
196th SPC - Awards and Decorations
/ 196th SPC Roll of Honor / 196th SPC - Unit History/ 196th SPC - Campaign for Sicily / 196th SPC - Motion Picture Coverage / 196th - Still Photo Coverage
Bibliography / Veteran's History Project / Nauders Crossroads - 1945
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© The Last Farewell - A journey of the heart
By Edmund Burke O'Connell and co-authors Julie Whitman Jones and Thomas J. Sullivan, Jr.
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