U.S. Army Signal Corps Photographs
The photographs below are copies of official U.S. Army Signal Corps photographs of the 3rd Armored Division in World War II. These photos were retrieved from the National Archives by WWII veteran Jim Cullen.
Field Chow - Kitchen truck distributes rations to members of the 36th Armored Infantry Regiment.
A girl throws flowers to the crew of a 3rd Armored Division tank somehwere in France. Note the chalk markings on the side of the tank -- French citizens would often write their names, or the name of their town in chalk on the side of the vehicles as they passed through. Also notice that the censor has blacked out the shoulder sleeve insignia of the soldier on foot at the right of the photo.
River Crossing - Half-tracks of E Company, 36th Armored Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Armored Division cross a river on a pontoon bridge. Although hard to see in this scan of the photo, the lead half-track bears the bumper number E-21 signifying E Company, 2nd Platoon, 1st Squad. Some of the half-tracks in the background do not appear to have the ammunition racks and .50 caliber machine gun in the "pulpit" mount as seen on the first two halftracks. The black marks on the photo were there when it was retrieved from the National Archives. They could be editor's marks - calling for that portion of the photo to be cropped prior to publication, or they could be censor's marks indicating the background should be blacked out prior to publication.
Members of the 36th Armored Infantry Regiment test fire thier weapons at a quarry in Germany. Note the variation in uniforms and equipment.
Infantrymen of the 36th Armored Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored Division enter the city of Cologne, Germany.
