Ike, Bradley, Churchill and Brooks

[30Mauser]

30Mauser, your pictures brought back some memories. My wife's father served in WWII and served with Patton is some manner. Her father was a field Medic assigned to a frontline unit (Tech 3?? Does that make sense, I am not familiar with this title) during the war. Anyways one of her first memories of hearing a swear come from her father's mouth was recounting Patton's personality!!!

Thanks for the good laugh our family shared remembering her father while looking at your photos!!!

What terrific memories for the family to share! Tech-3 was a technical specialty (like medic) equivalent in pay to a staff sergeant, but not in authority... the Tech ranks were temporarily used in WW2 for this purpose... you can read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_enlisted_rank_insignia_of_World_War_II

So nice to hear the family enjoyed a fond memory together due to these pictures... thank you!

-- Ted

 

[30Mauser]

Great photos. I really wish I could get a copy of a photo a reseller of mine has. In the picture he is standing with a buddy and another man in Vietnam. On his helmet there are 6 stars painted across the front. Thing is, the a third man is standing talking to them
is General Westmoreland. He tells me it was an "interesting" chat.

I bet it was, WB! Westmoreland's reputation was akin to Patton's... not sure we breed such larger-than-life generals anymore.

 

[30Mauser]

Had to add another picture I came across because the MPs' rifles caught my eye... are those Tommy guns?

 

[JuergenG]

Yep

 

[BerkshireHunter]

If that were Monty's Hancock, it might be worth a little bit. Very nice pic though, do you know where it was taken? I like how Monty's taken up the title of "Alemein," just like 'K of K' did (Kitchener of Khartoum.)

I'm loving these photos! Post more if you got 'em!

 

[30Mauser]

If that were Monty's Hancock, it might be worth a little bit. Very nice pic though, do you know where it was taken? I like how Monty's taken up the title of "Alemein," just like 'K of K' did (Kitchener of Khartoum.)

I'm loving these photos! Post more if you got 'em!

Glad you like the photos! My cousin and I spent some time at our grandmother's house last summer scanning in what we could fit on the 8.5x11 scanner. I also got a kick out of his self-use of the nom de guerre. Daddy-pop always did say that rumors of his ego weren't exaggerated, but also that he backed it up with results.

Not sure where it was taken... would have to find the family member to ended up in possession of the original and ask them to look at the back (originals of official US Army photos usually have a lot of info printed on the back). I would guess that it was either just before D-Day or shortly after, as Monty had command of all Allied ground forces for Operation Overlord and MG Brooks had command of the 2nd Armored Division, which landed on D-Day+3 as part of Bradley's 1st Army and led the charge into Belgium.

Guaranteed it's Monty's sig... here's a link to the scans we did of most of the pictures we cleared from the walls of my great-grandfather's office after he died in '78. It's cool seeing the level of camaraderie he had with these guys, with books and personal letters signed "Brad" (Bradley) and "Matt" Ridgway ...

http://photobucket.com/ehbrooks_portraits

I've got some more with folks like Sec'y Marshall and the like that I still have to clean up and post... and there's no telling what we might find next summer!

 

[30Mauser]

You know... given that they're in "office" uniforms, I'd bet this was taken in England before D-Day... There's no way he was wearing that "in theater".

 

[30Mauser]

I've added nine new portraits to this folder (they were larger than 8.5x11, so we had to wait until my cousin could get his big scanner up to NH) and re-ordered the portrait collection... roughly, it's now sorted: family, foreign dignitaries, civilian leadership, then general officers by rank, descending. These are all signed portraits that my great-grandfather had hanging on the walls of his home office following his retirement in 1953, following over 35 years of service.

There are titles on the photos, so maybe you history buffs will recognize some of the names/faces!