Unit 1212 was one of the first two units to leave the company on assignment in the ETO. On September 14, 1944, the unit left from Versailles, France, on orders putting them with FIRST ARMY on ten days TD. The unit was made up of 1st Lt. Richard K. Sunderbruch, T/3 Roger H. Zachary, T/5 Ernest D. Dowling, T/4 Victor V. Sherman, and Pfc Delbert E. Davidson. The unit was to supplement other FIRST ARMY units in photographing the breaking of the Siegfried Line. Upon arriving at FIRST ARMY HEADQUARTERS the unit was designated to replace a unit that had recently been captured while covering the 1st Division's assault on Aachen. The unit traveled through channels and reported to VII Corps and then to an assignment with the 1st Division which at that time had it's CP at Hauset, Belgium. 1212 reported in at the 1st Division on 16 September 1944.

  The first few days were spent in getting acclimated to actual combat conditions and finding out where the division locations were. Photography during this first few days was very light, but as time went on and the unit became acquainted, the quantity of pictures increased. The major portion of the work was Photographing the part of the Siegfried line that had been pierced at this point and air views and OP views of the city of Aachen which was being surrounded and subjected to heavy artillery fire and aerial bombardment.

  During the early days of October, the 26th Regiment of the 1st Division Was assigned the task of taking Aachen while the other two Regiments, the 16th and 18th, were to surround and hold it. The unit worked closely with the 26th and during this time the regiment had many strong points to reduce. The unit worked with companies and platoons in attempting to get actual pictures of the reduction of these points with flamethrowers and explosives. On the 8th of October, Lt Sunderbruch, T/3 Zachary and T/5 Dowling were working with "L" Company of the 26th on the reduction of one of these strong points. The action didn't work out as expected and no photographs were in the offing so the three started back. In the return trip they came under enemy observation and drew mortar and small arms fire. Shortly after leaving the company CP Lt. Sunderbruch was wounded by small arms fire. A bullet went through his neck. Zachary gave first aid and assisted Lt. Sunderbruch to the vehicle while Dowling gathered up the equipment and protected the other two as they made the trip of about 1000 yards to the vehicle. They then delivered Lt. Sunderbruch to the aid station. For this achievement Zachary and Dowling received the Bronze Star Medal.

  Lt. Kenneth L. Young came in at this time to take over the unit while the 1st Division finished the job of taking Aachen. The unit took a great many pictures, both motion and still of this historic engagement.

  The unit was relieved from the 1st Division and given a few days rest and then sent down with the 8th Infantry division in Luxembourg The unit reported to the Division at Wiltz, Luxembcurg on the 23rd of October. The 8th had just been in on the taking of Brest and was in what was at that time a very quiet sector of the front. Pictures during this period were limited to feature type of material, such as rest camps, building shelters for the men on the line, etc. On 12 November Lt Sunderbruch returned to duty with the unit, after the usual tour of the hospitals, recovering from the neck wound.

  After a few weeks of comparative ease, the 8th Division Was called upon to relieve the 28th Infantry Division in the Hurtgen area. On the l9th of November, 1212 moved with the 8th to the new CP at Rott, Germany. Upon arrival in this area the 8th immediately launched attacks upon the well defended German positions in the Hurtgen forest. The woods were heavy, and well mined and the Germans thoroughly dug in and set on defending to the last man. These attacks resulted in some of the bitterest fighting in this war to date, and some of the experts say even worse than the Argonne forest of the last war. Weather conditions and the thick woods prevented much actual battle coverage but many pictures of the results of a campaign of this type were made such as the casualties, human, animal and vehicle, and the shell torn buildings and terrain.

  Hurtgen itself was taken on 29 November 1944 and the Zachary-Dowling team with Lt. Sunderbruch entered the town on the heels of the infantry and tanks, under constant artillery fire. After four hours in town only three pictures had been made because of-the intensity of enemy fire. The unit made a hasty retrograde movement leaving the town to the infantry. The next day conditions were very similar and another three pictures were made.

  About this time orders came through relieving the unit for a rest in Paris and the chance to see some of the work chat they had done so far. Most of the unit needed the change because they were a little "Nervous in the Service".

  Six days in Paris had the desired effect and the unit came back with the 8th Infantry Division just in time to move out into the field The CP Was moved up close to the line in order to have better control when the attack jumped off. Being well within mortar range the unit dug in and pitched a CP tent in a hole with logs and dirt for a foot. The quarters were cramped, but not too uncomfortable.

  The German breakthrough occurred before the attack could be launched and the CP moved back. On 27 December the Division CP was moved to Zweifall, Germany and the unit went back to living in houses and being fairly warm most of the time.

  Under these conditions the 8th Division went strictly on the defensive. This opened up many new fields for photography and the unit was very busy photographing our troops digging in, laying mines stringing wire and the many other things that go to make a defensive position.

  During this time Zachary had an accident and fractured a finger and Lt. Sunderbruch had to pinch hit in his place as one of the unit still men.

  During the time of the breakthrough the unit stayed with the 8th Division but changed higher headquarters very rapidly. From V Corps to VII Corps, then to XIX Corps under NINTH ARMY and TWENTY FIRST ARMY GROUP all in four days.

(To date, 6 January 1945)

   The 8th was on the north shoulder or the bulge. They went into a defensive position to keep the Germans from widening the breach in our lines. Many times during the battle German paratroops were dropped in our sector and caused a little trouble. During this time the Luftwaffe was up again and we were strafed and bombed several times. The anti-aircraft units attached to the 8th accounted for many planes during this period.

  After the battle of the bulge the 8th division went back to First Army and unit 1212 was recalled to Ninth Army HQ. From there the unit was sent back to Paris for another school session. The day school started word was received that the units were needed up front again so the school was called off and the units returned to Ninth Army.

  Unit 1212 was attached to the 30th division, which at that time was at Inden, Germany. Then Ninth Army was poised for attack across the Roer River. The unit joined the division on 9 Feb 45, and the attack was to take off in two days, but the Germans opened the sluice gates on the Roer river dams and the rise in the water level made it impossible to cross. This caused a two week delay during which the troops trained at night in order that the enemy might not observe too much movement. The Luftwaffe became active again and subjected all to bombing attacks several times.

  At last the water level receded and the attack was launched at 0330 on 23 Feb 45, after a 45 minute artillery preparation by eleven battalions of artillery in the division alone. Zachary and Dowling covered the crossing and Sherman and Davidson went across with the troops and shot the combat. Excellent coverage was obtained. Many of the pictures were radioed; Davidson received the Bronze star for his coverage and the photo coverage for the whole operation was rated superior in a telegram from SHAEF.

  After the initial crossing the pressure was kept up. The troops moved rapidly ahead and the division CP had to move every day in order to keen up with them. At the end of five days the division was pinched out and stopped while the rest of the army went to the Rhine. After a rest of three days the division was sent back to Holland on the Maas River. Here they started training for the Rhine crossing. Here unit 1212 started training a new unit from the 168th Signal Photo Co. Both units remained with the division while the new one was being broken in. After about twenty days of training and refitting the division moved up to the Rhine at Alpen, across from Wesel.

  Here the assault crossing of the Rhine was made at 0230 on 24 March 45 after 90 minutes preparation by artillery. Three regiments of the 30th division and two regiments of the 79th made the crossing assisted by the navy and the engineers. This was the largest river crossing operation ever made and ranked with some of the major beach landings for magnitude. 58 battalions of artillery, 14 battalions of anti-aircraft, 11 battalions of engineers, a lot of navy and many special vehicles and weapons that had been developed just for this operation, assisted the crossing. During the operation many photographers from other units were attached to the 30th for coverage. Each man had a specific job. Nineteen photogs and four officers worked in the 30th division alone and many more under corps control to insure complete coverage. The men in the division shot over 5,000 feet of movies and 150 stills the first day.

  During the operation Zachary and Dowling again proved themselves heroes by evacuating an infantry platoon leader who had been badly wounded in a counter-attack. Under heavy small arms, mortar, and tank fire they administered first aid and evacuated him to an aid station.

  On the fifth day of the operation the unit was relieved and returned to Company headquarters. After a two week period of refitting and rest the unit returned to Ninth Army and was attached to the 29th division. The 29th was Just about to start the operation of cleaning up after the armor that had dashed to the Elbe River. This operation started on 20 April 45. After a rapid advance and clean-up to the Elbe River the 29th took up military government duties in the territory.

  At this point the unit was pulled away from the 29th and sent with the XVIII Corps A/B for an operation with the British Second Army. This corps with the British 6th A/B Division, the 82nd A/B Division, 8th Infantry Division and the 7th Armored Division crossed the Elbe on 1 May 45. The corps went north to the Baltic and met the Russians first at Wismar where Zachary and Dowling working with the British air-borne division photographed the meeting of Montgomery and Rossokovsky. During this period the corps took 500,000 prisoners, which proved to be the end of the Wehrmacht in this area and a few days later came the official announcement of VE day.

  The unit stayed with Corps and photographed the work of military government and allied subjects after hostilities had ceased.

  On 22 May 45 the corps moved out and unit 1212 left to return to the company where they were alerted and began to pack equipment and mail the “loot” home in preparation for the trip back to the states.