HMS Nelson - Algiers Harbor - May 1943

In the photograph below, Army photographer Sgt. Burke O’Connell follows General Dwight D. Eisenhower and British Admiral Cunningham while they inspect and review a British Royal Marine honour guard  onboard the battleship HMS Nelson in Algiers harbor.

How this photo came to be taken and by whom isn't known, but the where now has. According to the Mary T. Johnson, whose late father was a Royal Marine onboard the HMS Nelson, and who can be seen below: "A Royal Marine Stands Tall" , the unique configuration of the battleship HMS Nelson created a special vantage point for the photographer working above to photograph O'Connell as he trailed behind General Eisenhower during this photo assignment.

"Your picture has to have been taken from one of the decks of the superstructure or by someone sitting on one of the three triple 16" gun turrets - I cannot tell which. I think you would need to be a photographer who understood the ships structure and the possible angle's to work it out for certain." - Mary T. Johnson

O'Connell, holding his camera, walks walking inboard towards the second gun turret along the starboard side of the bow of the HMS Nelson as General Eisenhower and British Admiral Cunningham walk between the ranks of Royal Marines in formation.

Royal Marines Stand Tall

Mary T. Johnson, the daughter of a Royal Marine who was in the front row in that same Royal Marine Guard of Honour wrote the co-authors to share her father's photos of the occasion. It was a proud moment for him too.

UPDATED: (3/19/2012) - Since the receipt of Mary's two photos, the son of another Royal Marine, Alan Cottage has come forward with another interesting anecdote and signed our guestbook. If you look closely at the white rifles, especially the one to the left of Gen. Eisenhower's left foot, you'll notice one  rifle but slightly behind the others.

"My father is the third Royal Marine from the right in the front rank, the one whose rifle butt is slightly behind the others. He told my brother that he knew of his error and didn’t know whether to move his feet or the rifle. Anyhow, he got away with it." Alan Cottage

The battleship HMS Nelson was an unusual design with three 16-inch gun batteries forward of the bridge.  Click on the drawing at left to view a diagram of the main deck of the HMS Nelson which helps illustrate how our photo of Edmund Burke O'Connell's trailing behind General Eisenhower during open ranks personnel inspection may have been taken.

"The second turret (the higher one you can see is in the middle one of the three. It made it relatively easy for me to work out where Edmund Burke O'Connell is standing. He's roughly in the center of the ship, standing at the back of the Royal Marines - as we know from your photo to the right of that lower turret. Another clue from your picture. If you notice a group of sailors standing in a block to the right. There is a low metal structure on the deck behind them. That structure is also replicated on the diagram, and it tells us they are on the Port side of the ship."

Learn more about the

Army Signal Corps Photo Companies of World War II

When Allied Forces landed on the beach on D-Day, Hollywood was there — in a Signal Corps uniform. Photographic functions were established as part of the Signal Corps as early as 1894. By the time World War II began, there were three separate facilities for film and still-photo processing: the photographic laboratory at the Army War College in Washington, D.C., and two motion-picture production facilities, one at Fort Monmouth, N.J., and one at Wright Field in Ohio. Photographic training took place at the Signal Corps training center at Fort Monmouth.

The 1942 national war plans called for a Signal Photographic Company (SPC) for each American Field Army. Four such companies were formed including the 161st, 162d, 163d, and 164th Signal Companies. Each SPC was divided into teams of one lieutenant and six enlisted men, including still and motion photographers, drivers and one clerk. By mid-1943, the original signal photo companies companies had been increased with the addition of the 165th and 196th Signal Companies. It still was not enough. The number of campaigns multiplied, and so did the need for photographers and technicians. Expanded responsibilities meant the force grew to supply the services.

• U.S. Army Signal Center, Fort Gordon, GA - The mission of the U.S. Army Signal Corps Museum and Fort Gordon is to function as a permanent historical and educational institution at Fort Gordon, providing training and education to the soldiers, military dependents at Fort Gordon and to the general public on all aspects of the history of the Signal Corps, the development of Fort Gordon and vicinity, and the U.S. Army.

• Army Communicator - Photographers Document wartime Army. When Allied Forces landed on the beach on D-day, Hollywood was there — in a Signal Corps uniform. Photographic functions were established as part of the Signal Corps as early as 1894. By the time World War II began, there were three separate facilities for film and still-photo processing: the photographic laboratory at the Army War College in Washington, D.C., and two motion-picture production facilities, one at Fort Monmouth, N.J., and one at Wright Field in Ohio. Photographic training took place at the Signal Corps training center at Fort Monmouth.

• Army Pictorial Center - Signal Corps Photographic Center (SCPC) -  At the start of World War II, the U. S. Army acquired a defunct motion picture studio at 35th Avenue and 35th Street in Astoria, Long Island City, Queens, New York, taking over  in February 1942.  The studio became the Signal Corps Photographic Center, later Army Pictorial Center, home to filmmakers and still photographers who covered the war and who produced countless training films.

• 752nd Tank Battalion in World War II - Thanks to Bob Holt for identifying photos taken by Burke O'Connell and Donald Wiedenmayer at the Nauders, Switzerland crossroads in May 1945. (Links to photos - under construction)

• Skylighters - Website of the 225th AAA Searchlight Battalion - Links to the World War II Photo of the Day. Millions of photos were taken during WW II.

• Edmund Burke O'Connell Tribute Page - Military.com

• 196th Signal Photo Company - Yahoo Groups

• In Search of John T. Mason - Rootsweb - The co-authors continue to look for surviving relatives of Army still photographer John T. Mason who served with the author Edmund Burke O'Connell during both the North African and Italian Campaigns. Mason was assigned to a new photo team in early 1945 when O'Connell was paired with Donald Wiedenmayer.