Welcome to the Resource Room!
References and informative resources are the key to identifying elements of historic photos.
Websites
WWI Photography and Militaria
- http://www.greatwarimages.com/ – The BEST place to find high quality WWI photography for sale on the web!
WWI Research
- WWI YMCA Roster Reference Book – http://bit.ly/1QtxJve
- Maine WWI Draft Card Index – https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1807269
General Interest
- http://www.pulpinternational.com/ – Pulp fiction fun!
- http://militarywritersguild.org/ – A group of dedicated military authors
- http://imageevent.com/okbueno/mopic – Great Selection of WWII Aviation Videos
- http://pixpast.com/ – Great Military Photography Forum
- http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ – Plane Crash Archaeology
- www.militaryindexes.com/worldwarone/ – Genealogical and Military Heritage Reference
- http://www.criticalpast.com/ – Great Original WWI and WWII Footage
- http://www.davidrumsey.com/ – Amazing Historic Mapping Site
- http://www.panzerwrecks.com/ – Great source for WWII German armor publications
- http://www.great-war-assoc.org/index.htm – Site dedicated to everything WWI!
- http://www.rivet-head.blogspot.com/ – Vintage clothing and fashion blo
- http://www.wc57.com – Great site dedicated to the Dodge WC series of vehicles
- http://througheagleseyes.wordpress.com/ – Fantastic blog dedicated to WWI Aviation Photography
- WWII Finnish Wartime Photography – http://sa-kuva.fi/neo?tem=webneoeng#
Photo Dating Sites
- http://www.playle.com/realphoto/photoa.php – Good site for dating Real Photo Postcards, showing variations of stamp boxes to help date photos.
- http://www.historicphotoarchive.com/f2/kodachrome.html – Reference site for dating color slides and color negatives.
Divisional Reference Sites
- http://www.69th-infantry-division.com/ – The Fighting 69th Division website
- http://bit.ly/1nvPSIh – WWI 42nd Rainbow Division Roster
- http://bit.ly/1evoIvE – WWI Yankee Division History
Anything on the 26div-104regiment 1stBatallion during WW2 – Lt Col Leon D Gladding
I served with a Leon Gladding at Fort Sheridan in 1949 and again at Fort Devens in the 1950′ He could do a standing flip. Is this possibly the same Gladding. An outstanding soldier. I would like to hear anything else you have about him.
Don Treadwell
Don,
Looks Like Leon D. Gladding Jr. passed away (crashed fighter jet) in 1957 and is buried in Arlington. His father was a major in the 104th Infantry Regiment during WWII and personally led an assault on a German bunker complex, knocking out the main gun and capturing the officer and 19 soldiers inside.
DON, HOPE ALL IS WELL- THIS IS THE SAME PERSON- MY G/F COL LD GLADDING PASSED IN 1965 – HE WAS AN AWSOME PERSON/ATHLETE – I HAVE POSTED SOME PICS OF HIM GOING BACK TO CAMP SHERIDAN- IF YOU HAVE ANY PHOTOS PLEASE SHARE- MY UNCLE LD JR A FIGHTER PILOT DIED IN AN AIR ACCIDENT
Awesome Pierre, thanks so much for providing these resources to all of us interested in military history and photo memorabilia.
Great layout for your blog. Good choice with the full width for your images.
How do we find an address to email Hal Olsen? If you could email me that would be great. Thanks
Very nice site. Here is a good site to put in your reference section:
http://www.wc57.com It is a photograph resource guide to the Dodge WC-56,57 and 58 command car. It has over 200 WWII period photos depicting command cars in all theaters of war.
Steve,
Thanks for sending along this link. I’ve added it to the resource room page. Appreciate your comment – have a great day!
Brennan,
I was looking for pictures of former Ambassador Philip Manhard over the internet and found some of his photos from your blog. You mentioned having purchased 5000 35-mm slides from him and gave them to a friend of his family. So where are the slides now?
We are currently working on a documentary on the Chinese POWs during the Korean War. Philip was a political officer at US Consulate in Pusan during the war, and talked to many captured Chinese inside the POW camps in and around Pusan in the capacity of a correspondent. I am confident he must have taken a lot of pictures of either the Chinese captives and the camps. If you or I could find some of them in those 35mm slides, it would be a big help to us.
Can you help me trace down those slides? Or at least you could give me the name and contact info of the person to whom you gave those slides? Can I count on your help?
Many thanks?
Lin Du
Voice of America
202-382-5633(o)
703-901-8709 (cell)
Lin Du,
I will look through the slides to see what I can find. I do have MANY other slides from the Korean War that show Chinese POW’s. I would be more than happy to share these with you as well. Do you have a tight deadline?
Brennan
I have a photo of Company D, 8th Infantry that’s about 38 inches wide x about 8 inches tall from my husband’s grandfather. It’s in poor condition and wonder whether you have advice on preserving it. Thanks for your excellent site!
Hello Elizabeth,
Thanks for visiting my site. I have a good number of “yardlong” or panoramic photos from both WWI and WWII. Are you looking for advice on conserving it, or do you want to display it?
I assume it’s rolled up? The best way to keep it in good condition is to keep it in a safe place. Store it in a relatively dry and stable place. A dark closet is the best place. Make sure it will remain at a relatively stable temperature. Keep it away from direct sunlight if you can. High humidity is bad.
If you’re really worried about it, try putting it in a shoe box with a little packet of silica gel (often found in shoeboxes) to keep out the moisture. If you have some cash to throw around, try buying an archival quality box. Here’s a good site I’ve used for some of my collection: http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com/archival-boxes/
Hope this helps, please respond if you have any additional questions 🙂
Brennan
Hi,
I have E Company 1/ 115 29 Infantry Division large photo how do i send you a copy. I also Have pictures of my grandfather in the trenches, discharges and a few other items. He was gassed and injured and we have no records of the hospital.
Send me your email address?
some vermont doughboy surveys with photos can be found at this link…http://www.cslib.org/ww1.asp
Hi
I have some negatives that are scratched and seems to be dry or something, it’s making a white layer on the negative, do you maybe have any advice on cleaning them and scanning them. I can’t find an acceptable way of scanning them.
interisting site.
Hello,
Thanks for finding my site and I’m glad you’re interested in digitizing your negative collection. Sounds like you have some issues with your cellulose nitrate film offgassing. Since I’m not a registered conservationist, I will attach a National Park Service (NPS) conservation brief that should give you some good tips on how to handle your negatives.
Click to access 14-08.pdf
Do you have a negative scanner? If not, I would suggest purchasing one or finding a local company who may be able to scan the negatives. Good luck and let me know how it goes!
Brennan
Glad to have found your site. We have a question? We have came a cross a photo panoramic photo. It says at the bottom of the photo it says the following “A Grateful Nation Thanks The heroic 1st Division 26th Inf. At US Capital Washington D.C. Sept 17, 1919” Any help would be appreciated.
Interesting. Sounds like a great shot. I imagine it was a group photo taken by a local studio. Lots of guys would order copies to remember their war experiences. Nice find! 1st Division material is popular with WWI collectors
Hi Brennan, you have some fantastic photos, was wondering if you would allow me permission to restore and colourise a select few of your collection. We have just started a facebook page http://www.facebook.com/50shadesofcolour if you would like to check out our current work. Look forward to hearing from you 🙂
Georgie
Please contact me regards PFC Harold Edward Manners KIA France 29 Sept 1918, in The Great War. I have family letters etc Would like to correspond with you about him. Thank you. Joe C
How can I help you?
I also have a 3ft panoramic of a lot of soldiers and two dogs in front of a tent camp. One man holds a sign that says Demonstration Battalion. That’s all the sign says. Written on the photo is Fletcher Photo Neg #5071, 7.2-9-N.W. Wash. D.C. I wish I knew what Infantry and/or Division. The more I research the more confused I get. Any ideas? Thank You
Hello and thank you for preserving history. I have a question hopefully you can answer. I have a photo of marines vma-542 with harrier jet signed auto of each of the attack squadron 542 and there “call” names. it was a gift to one of the pilots that also signed it. total of 21 autographs all around plane. it is framed and matted and a special piece. thank u
Interested in your contact with the 196th Signal Photo Company. Co-author Julie Whitman Jones and I published her late stepfather’s posthumous memoir of his service in the 196th and we’ve been in contact with quite a few of the surviving members, now in their 90s. Our author web site http://www.thelastfarewell.net has a collection of photos taken by the 196th and the 3131st Signal Service Co. which preceded it. the 163rd SPC also served in Italy before being reassigned to cover the invasion of Southern France. We have a unit roster of the 196th and would appreciate any new info on the print and newsreel cameramen of this unit. Thanks. Tom Sullivan – tomsull27@yahoo.com
FYI, in the photo from France right after WWI in 1919 of the 29th Div, the gentleman in front center sitting directly behind the sign identifying the unit as Co. H, 115th Inf is my grandfather. He is 2nd Lt. Patrick Regan. If you check out his story, you will find that was awarded the MOH. I had never seen this photo before. Thank you for posting it.
Hi –
I would like to use one of your photos in a not-for-profit article I’m writing on the 758th Tank Bn.
Please advise me of whether or not this can be done.
Thanks
Which shot are you interested in?
Hi –
Thanks for your response. In the series on the 82nd Abn Div, it is the 10th photo down from the top. It has the crew of an M-46 Patton tank; the left side (as you look at it) are the unit markings for the 758th Tank Bn – 758 Tank and a triangle
Thanks. I will give you credit in the article. If u want to check out a website, look for asmic.org – that’s who I write for and I edit The Trading Post.
BTW – the photo in the series showing the 82nd Abn troopers and the WAC? trying to use a bazooka? is amusing.
Dave K
I just noted that in your WW II individual portraits, you have a black GI incorrectly ID’d to the 100th Infantry Div. He was in the 99th, one of the Volunteer Infantry Replacements (VIRs). Black GIs volunteered in high numbers to fill in as infantry replacements, and usually formed the “5th Platoon” with white units.
I take it that it’s a no to using the pic to illustrate my article.
Please feel free to use the photo with a credit line.
Could you please email it to me without the watermark?
Thanks!
My father was a pilot in VMF(N) 542. original squadron I have tried posting, or comment would like to contribute to your blog / pictures / and other material goes unanswered? Thank you.
I’d like a copy of the Bellerose B-18 Bolo crash. Several of us are writing a book on the history of Bellerose (both Queens and Nassau sides.) Can you help us with this request?
— Jim Trent
Jim,
Sure thing. The only stipulation is that I always ask for a copy of the book once it comes out. Glad to help! Will this be an Arcadia publishing book?
We’d love to send you a copy of the book. No, this will not be an Arcadia book, but will be privately published. The photo of the two damaged houses is the one we’re interested in and haven’t seen anything like it anywhere else. Also provide exactly how you want the photo credited. Thanks.
— Jim Trent
Sounds like a deal. Give me a few days to dig out the original from my storage space and scan it. Glad to help.
Thanks so much. Here’s an e-mail address you can send it to:
jtrent8830@aol.com
I just saw the letters written by my grandfather Clarence Everett hall very interesting. If anyone has more information I would like to here from you
Jeffhallmarine@gmail.com
Were you able to find the Bellerose photo?
The Major would be the one. He was in WW II. I have a friend that was an Army Brat there at the time and I’ll try to contact him…. he is probably the age of Junior and might remember him,
Brennan,
I do have a deadline to meet. About two weeks ago, we finished producing the 1st episode of Chinese POWs during Korean War. You can see it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9EkfJcnisk
Although the 50-minute documentary is in Chinese, you still can tell what it says through the videos and photos we dug out from National Archive.
Now I’ve finished writing the script of the 2nd episode. It is about their lives on Koje-do and Cheju-do and Pusan. If you can look through your slides and find something for me, it would be great! They don’t have to come from those you purchased from the Ambassador. Anything will do.
So you still have those slides you purchased, do you? If so, I will be willing to go out to where you are and take a look. We are a federal agency, and I do need to have the trip approved. So would you please send some photos showing those Chinese to me through the email? Where do you live?
Stay in touch please.
Lin
Brennan,
I happened upon your website today and was really surprised to see my wife’s uncle, Walter A.Huff, the Marine aviator who flew the SBD dive bombers out of Midway Island during the war. Is it at all possible to obtain copy’s of the pictures of him that you have on file, because her family does not have more than a couple pictures of him during the war years. Unfortunately Uncle Walter passed away a few years ago and had no children of his own, a fact that he contributed to flying, i remember him saying, because his fellow pilots were also childless. I do have more stories about his experiences that i would love to share. The family would love to pass his legacy on to future generations Thank you, William Holl
William,
Would love to hear more! I apologize for the late response to your message of 12/9/15. I’ve been away from my blog and came back to a flurry of messages. I have many more slides of Walter and can certainly send some shots along. Would love to hear some of his experiences if you have any. Very exciting!
Brennan
Just discovered your interesting blog. I am researching my grandfather’s service in WWI. The only record I have of his time is the application when he died in 1956 for a veteran tombstone and photos of the tombstone. According to that info, he was with the 32nd Division. My problem is the form shows his discharge date as 1 Feb. 1918. Which would indicate that he saw no actual battles with the 32nd, since they didn’t engage the enemy in France until 5 Feb. 1918. This doesn’t jive with family lore of his being injured in France. His military records were destroyed in the 1973 fire so I have no way of knowing if the discharge date of 1918 is in error and should have been 1919. If you have any ideas on direction for my research, I’d greatly appreciate it. Thanks loads.
Love the site!
Hi,
Do you accept others photos? I have a great one of my great-uncle, an Italian immigrant to the US who served in the 305th infantry of the 77th Division in France, was mustard gassed and came home to the US and gained accelerated citizenship due to his honorable service. Thank you
I do! I will email you directly.
I wanted to thank you for the quality and amount of research you put into your posts. Your collection highlights some really impressive and rare images, which any collector would be proud to own. This website has really inspired me further collect WW1 photography, and to now post many of my own images for others to view. I have started a project to attempt and post an original WW1 image from my collection for every day of US involvement during the centenary. You’re welcome to view/join at any time. It is a Facebook group entitled “585 Images of the First World War.” Thank you for what you do. (Also, what do you use and recommend for scanning images?)
Thanks for all this work. I have a shirt tail relative, Captain James Paul Lynch, who was a submarine exec officer. While on one patrol, his sub picked up a downed Corsair pilot, named Robert “Windy” Hill. Captain Lynch told me Hill stayed on the sub for several days, and the entire sub crew loved him. He had a great sense of humor, but he also went to work doing crew duties while he was on board. I would love to tell that story to his survivors — children, etc. Any hope of finding them? Thanks, MIKE GILLICK michaelhgillick@gmail.com
I would love to help! Shoot me an email brennangauthier1986@gmail.com
COL. LD GLADDING-WW2 104TH INFANTRY REGIMENT/FT. DEVENS CHIEF OF STAFF 50’S/60’S
DURING THE KOREAN WAR HE WAS ASSIGNED TO THAT CONFLICT BUT THE ARMY HAS VERY LIMITED INFORMATION- ANYONE SERVE IN KOREA WITH HIM? OR HAVE INFO.
Hello,
I have just found my grandfather’s helmet from WWI. His name is Walter Smith Davidson Sr. All I have ever heard was that he was a conductor on a train that took supplies to the front lines and returned with dead and wounded. This was in France.
He grew up in the Tennessee/Virginia area. He was a conductor for the Santa Fe out of Temple, Texas for many years.
The information on the helmet is as follows: Rolling 31 ENGR’s Anjou Division World War 1914-18. Vende E Division Also, ETAT and P&O There are some pictures painted on also, and som lettering which is no longer legible.
I would be interested in information and/or pictures you may have. Or, could you direct me to a site with information?
Thank you,
Susan Skinner
Susan,
Wow – very cool! Could you send a shot of the helmet? I may have some resources to help you.
Brennan – brennangauthier1986@gmail.com
Trying to find the artist on a portrait of my father during WWII. I think I see the “Vansigaul” in the corner of the portrait. Can anyone help me with information?
Can you send a shot of the signature?
Contact us — We want to interview you for our podcast & newsletter.
Chris Isleib
Public Affairs Director
U.S. WWI Centennial Commission
chris.isleib@worldward1centennial.org
My great grandfather was in 42nd infantry 542nd F.A. Donyou happen to have pictures of that battalion?