WWII D-Day: Holbrook Bradley and the 29th Division
Sun research librarian Paul McCardell writes about photographer and foreign war correspondent Holbrook Bradley, who was embedded with the 29th Infantry Division during World War II. Bradley followed the 29th Division from its training days and across Europe until Germany’s surrender. Here’s a look at some of Bradley’s photographs from 1943-1945.
- Holbrook Bradley during his stint as a war correspondent during WWII. (Holbrook Bradley)
- The 29th Division arrived in England in 1943 and spent months practicing marksmanship and military tactics in preparation for the invasion. (Holbrook Bradley/Baltimore Sun)
- The 29th Division arrived in England in 1943 and spent months practicing marksmanship and military tactics in preparation for the invasion. (Holbrook Bradley/Baltimore Sun)
- Men of the 29th Infantry Division, which was known as the Blue and Gray Division for its origins in the Maryland-Virginia region, watch as the French coastline draws nearer on D-Day landing at Normandy. (Holbrook Bradley/Baltimore Sun)
- The Allied convoy approaching coast Normandy during early stage invasion on June 6. The 29th Division was an elite unite, selected to make the opening assault on Omaha Beach during the D-Day invasion. (Holbrook Bradley/Baltimore Sun)
- Troops with the 29th Infantry Division aboard the transport en route to Normandy on D-Day. (Holbrook Bradley/Baltimore Sun)
- Here the division sets up a command post in a quarry after fighting its way off Omaha Beach. (Holbrook Bradley/Baltimore Sun)
- Scene on beach near Vierville on June 8, 1944 when support troops landed. Four men facing camera center of picture are left to right: Capt. Henry Hubbard, Farmville, Va., Lieut. Paul Clapper, Cumberland, Maj. Thomas Dukehart, Baltimore, and Capt. Artnold Ellis, Richmond, Va. (Holbrook Bradley/Baltimore Sun)
- One of the big naval guns captured by the 29th division at Le Conquet on June 6, 1944. (Holbrook Bradley/Baltimore Sun)
- Major General Charles H. Gerhardt, blue and grey commander, accepts surrender of German Colonel who commended Le Conquet fortifications and big naval guns on June 6, 1944. (Holbrook Bradley/Baltimore Sun)
- Inside the citadel of Jülich, doughboys run about searching for Germans, not all of whom have been killed or captured by the first unit in April 1945. (Holbrook Bradley/Baltimore Sun)
- The doughboy lifts his feet with reason: there is lead flying around. The puff of smoke at the right center was made by German fire. The enemy is behind the thick old wall. (Holbrook Bradley/Baltimore Sun)
- Scene from citadel of Jülich during final stages of the assault. The tank has been firing and the doughboys appearing at the right are about to charge across the open ground to the wall April 1945. (Holbrook Bradley/Baltimore Sun)
- Prisoners in Germany, 1945. (Holbrook Bradley/Baltimore Sun)
- A wounded man is carried out on a stretcher to a jeep. Published April 8, 1945. (Holbrook Bradley/Baltimore Sun)
- Alligators used by the 115 Infantry in crossing a flooded Roer River near Broich – taken by second battalion command Maj. Al Warfield, Earl Court Apartments April 1945. (Holbrook Bradley/Baltimore Sun)
- Germans surrender and shown leaving doorway under guard Blue and Grey riflemen who captured them April 1945. (Holbrook Bradley/Baltimore Sun)
“We landed today on a war-torn stretch of the French Channel coast, which only a few hours back was a raging battle area. Although the frontal positions have advanced several miles inland, there is still a grim pall from the recent heavy fighting about the beach. Although we arrived off the beachhead at midafternoon of D-day, conditions ashore prevented our landing with other elements of our division, and it wasn’t until yesterday noon that our commander was given orders to proceed to within a mile of the sands preparatory to unloading…” detailed Baltimore Sun foreign correspondent Holbrook Bradley in a cabled dispatch that was delayed. Bradley was embedded in the 29th Infantry Division in June 1945.
June 6 marks the 72nd anniversary of D-Day, when Allied forces invaded German-occupied France to fend for their countries against the plight of Nazi Germany. A vast armada of more than 5,000 ships backed by thousands of planes and over 150,000 men ascended on the beaches of Normandy coast.
The Sun had several war correspondents covering the war. Mark Watson wrote about military affairs before embedding with the Army in France. Thomas M. O’Neill was chief of the London bureau, reporting on news there, while Lee McCardell covered the war from the air over beaches during the D-Day invasion, before joining troops in the foxholes.
While both Bradley and McCardell took photos during the war, Bradley snapped photos as 29th Division troops landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day plus 1. Bradley had covered the training of the 29th Division, composed mostly of men from Maryland and Virginia. In 1943, he went overseas with the division, covering their continued training in England, then followed them to Omaha Beach and throughout Europe until Germany surrendered.
In a 2005 interview with Sun reporter Jonathan Pitts, Bradley was asked “What comes to mind about D-Day?”
“What I remember most is the tremendous number of ships – battleships, cruisers, whatever-all firing at the shoreline,” Bradley said. “Then the first load of wounded that came back to my boat. … It didn’t become personal till I started to see guys I knew who’d been hit.”
Bradley arrived on Omaha Beach on D-Day plus 1, because his editor ordered him not to go the first day of the Allied invasion. When asked what it was like on the beach, he described the scene — the fighting had eased but bodies were floating around in the water.
“It was amazing we’d gotten through. … The Sun had given me a camera … when my boat ramp dropped, I fell to one knee to take a picture of the landing. The guy behind me booted me in the rear, thinking I wasn’t going to get off the ship! I took a flying leap in the water and wondered whether the camera would ever work. It did.”
I got to know Bradley, who was The Sun’s last living correspondent from World War II, when he wrote his memoir “War Correspondent From D-Day to The Elbe.” He had a very strong voice, very good memory and was very gracious. Bradley, died at the age of 93 in 2010.
Related reading:
U.S. Army: Photos from the Front
Baltimore Sun: Holbrook Bradley dies at age 93
Keith Stuart
Jun 06, 2013 @ 10:22:51
Check caption on photograph #15. Stretcher ‘impoverished’ on jeep? Otherwise, great series by Mr. Bradley.
Stokely Baksh
Jun 09, 2013 @ 11:17:20
Thanks Keith for your message. The caption has been corrected.
WWII D-Day: Holbrook Bradley and the 29th Division
Jun 06, 2012 @ 17:06:39
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