Jackel Loc: California

Upon arrival in Germany in April of '46, I was stationed with a group in Patton's 3rd Army in Weinheim, in the Mannheim-Heidelberg area. Shortly thereafter, the unit was then converted to the 15th U.S. Constabulary during the Occupation of Germany.

Infrastructurally speaking, Heidelberg was largely untouched by Allied bombing. But, Mannheim was still a mass of rubble when a military duty trip took me there in early 1946.

Military vehicle travel on the Autobahn was still dangerous. Our jeeps were equipped with wirecutters, a device installed at the front of the jeep and reaching above the windshield so it could sever wires that had been stretched tautly across the Autobahn intended to sever the heads of military jeep riders.

Papacliff Loc: West Lafayette, Indiana

Thanks for starting this thread and thank you to Erich Brunner for his recent pictures, they stirred some wonderful memories - as great pictures tend to do.
Was in the 348 Ordnance Ballistics & Technical Service Detachment in Illesheim, 1953-54. Our small group provided technical services for artillery units. Illesheim is between Wurzburg, Ansbach and Rothenburg, not far from Nuremburg. The beauty there caused me to buy my first 35mm film cam, a Voightlander Vito II.
Still have that little folding marvel and have been digitizing my color slides. Went digital with Konika Minolta, have a P900 on order.
I do enjoy UHH. Great resource. Regards to all of you.

RichardQ Loc: Colorado

I was stationed in Occupied Germany from mid-Dec.. 1945 to mid-Oct. 1947 in the Army Air Force, then was hired for a year as an artist and photographer in the Graphic Arts Section of the Adjutant General Office for a year, in Höchst (near Frankfurt). I returned to the Zone of the Interior (Army speak for the USA) in Nov. 1948.

While in the AAF my duty posts were in the Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base, Hq & Hq Set., 128th Repl. Bn., AAF, Troop Information & Education Section until it was disbanded in Oct., 1946, when I re-enlisted as Regular Army for a year and was assigned to Erding Air Base, 10th Air Sup. Sq., 43d AD, AAF. At "Fursty", we received all incoming AAF personnel (many, like me, came in by train from the "cigarette camps" in France), briefed them on what to expect in war-torn Germany (the occupation was less than 8 months old), and then shipped them to their various assigned posts. I created training aids, gave occasional lectures, and began learning German. I also jumped into photography, bouncing from a roll-film folding camera ro a twin-lens roll-film Voigtlander Brillant, and finally a 1938 Automatic Rolleiflex. One of my colleagues was Sgt. Peter Gowland, who later gained fame as a pin-up photographer and camera designer (Gowland-Flex).

I'm in the middle, with one of my training aid posters - Fursty 1946


Junked Nazi fighter - 1946 on Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base

SmittyOne Loc: California

Dammit, misspelled Tempelhof, spelled it Temelhof. Bummer. Got to practice my German more. Especially the writing. Ha.

AlColter Loc: Michigan

Served in 24th ID Munich 65-68 met a French girl and brought her home with me. Went back 72-76 3rd Armored Div. Illisheim. 77-80 2nd ACR Bamberg. The French girl is still with me.

Don Craig Loc: Saranac, NY

My father was stationed in Worms in 1960 with a mounted infantry unit, don't remember the exact designation. I finished my senior year at Mannhein American High School. For our class trip, we took a night train from Frankfurt to West Berlin, travelling through the East German corridor. The Berlin Wall had not yet been built, we took a bus tour into East Berlin. Very cool. At that time, I was using my father's Kodak Retina IIa, great little 35mm camera.

I loved Germany, wished I'd stayed a little longer. Later in 1960 I enlisted in the US Army in Frankfurt, rotated to the states for basic.

pdsdville Loc: Midlothian, Tx

Frankfurt 67 thru 69, 503 Admin Co. 3d Armored Div., Drake Edwards Kasern. I handled the pay records for the 401 Infantry. Only place I carried a weapon was for pay complaints in the field. First took an interest in photography while there. First camera was a $19 Argus then graduated to the big time with a $39 Hanimex Practica SLR. Could sometimes be found standing in the Necar river in Heidelberg taking photos of the illumination of the castle. Thought they were fantastic then but looking back now they were crap. Lots of beer and German food. Wouldn't trade that time for anything.

RichardQ Loc: Colorado

I forgot to add that I had the unique experience of being in Germany for both the Berlin Airlift (1948) and the erection of the Berlin Wall (1961), as well as the Marshall Plan and the introduction of the Allied Occupation Marks followed by the Deutsche Marks (DM). I had accepted a job as a TV art director with a large ad agency in Frankfurt in 1960 and moved my family (my wife was a German war bride) back to Germany until 1963. So all in all, I spent six years in Germany.

Ken91311 Loc: Chatsworth, CA

USAF in Etain France in '58, until DeGaulle kicked us out, then to Spandahlem Germany. (Mein Knabe ist in Bitburg geboren (or something like that)). Bought my first SLR from a Canadian PX in France and was known as the guy with the little car (Simca) and big camera (Exacta Varex IIa). Took zillions of pictures. I'd go back in an instant! I'm 81 now. Thank's for the trip down memory lane.

(Download)

William J Renard

You wern"t far from Verdun. I left in 64, I was part of
the 256'th Signal Co. We did a lot of assignments photographing for the MP's and the Provost marshall, plus OIO