WWII vintage found negatives

B

Brad Buszard

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My wife discovered a bunch of old nitrate 35mm at an estate sale a while back. We were shocked to find that the family had no interest in them, so we took them with us. I'm only now scanning some in. I thought I'd put a few up here to let others have a look at them and comment. Lots of pictures of sailors, etc. back from overseas, a picture of Memphis downtown (complete with streetcars), and what looks to me like a military barracks. Other than a bit of a contrast curve, the photos are unaltered and full frame.

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Rogier said:
Screw all the new the film, camera's, lenses etc. This stuff looks great!
What size are these negatives?
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Just 35mm. I have no idea what type; they just say "Nitrate film" by the sprocket holes. There's some nice swirl in whatever lens this man used, and from the skies I think he must have had a yellow filter on it at least some of the time.
 
My 90 year old father died a few few months back and, while cleaning out the basement of his condo, we found several boxes of B&W negatives from the 1930's and 1940's in all formats. Talk about a treasure trove of old pictures, most which I had never seen before. Even found some rare WW2 combat pictures he took while stationed in the South Pacific. Absolutely incredible stuff.

Jim B.
 
Mackinaw said:
My 90 year old father died a few few months back and, while cleaning out the basement of his condo, we found several boxes of B&W negatives from the 1930's and 1940's in all formats. Talk about a treasure trove of old pictures, most which I had never seen before. Even found some rare WW2 combat pictures he took while stationed in the South Pacific. Absolutely incredible stuff.

Jim B.
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Would love to see some of them if you can.
 
I see US Army uniforms and US Navy uniforms. The area with the two water towers did not look to me like a military area at first. However, in WWII, many areas were set up quickly or areas were taken over. It could be a headquarters area next to a parade field.

The thing that puzzled me was the totem pole. If there aren't or weren't totem poles in the Memphis area, I would wonder it the photographer's unit wasn't sent to Alaska or Canada. There wouldn't have been native totem poles as that would not have fit any USA native indians of the lower 48. The photo of the lady would fit for someone working as a secretary or receptionist for the military. Spartan looking as it was.

The two lieutenants were infantry. I don't know what infantry would have been there, or if those are all taken in the Memphis area. But the Navy used to have a large presence there so soldiers and sailors could have easily been in that area together.
 
Oh early M1941 'Parsons' field jackets with the pocket flaps! Shame I can't make out the Distinctive Unit Insignias on any of them. Definitely 1941-42 ish.

The Navy man feeding the doves is an Aviation Machinest's Mate by the look of it.

Absolutely fantastic pictures Brad, thanks for sharing them!


Mackinaw, I'm with oftheherd, I would love to see those photos.
 
From wikipedia:

During the Second World War, the War Department constructed large supply depots in Memphis for the Army and the Army Air Force. The Memphis Army Depot also served as a prisoner of war camp, housing 800 Axis prisoners. ... in 1942, the US Navy built the Millington Naval Air Station (now the Naval Support Activity Mid-South) in Millington, Tennessee, just north of Memphis. This 3,500-acre (14 km2) facility provided pilot training during World War II, and later became the major naval air technical training center for enlisted personnel aviation speciality training. It is currently used as a naval personnel center and Headquarters for the US Army Corps of Engineers Finance Center.
 
oftheherd said:
Would love to see some of them if you can.
Click to expand...


Here are a few action photos, both of Bougainville in the Solomon Islands taken late 1943, early 1944.

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For the jeep pic, note the Japanese prisoners in the back seat. The second pic is of an airfield (foreground) being built. Note the active volcano, which I think is the Balgana volcano.

Jim B.
 
Very cool. Great find/get.

I'm not an archivist, but I believe that nitrate negatives can present some storage problems. They can spontaneously combust. I have no idea if you need to do anything about this but I thought I would mention it.
 
Brad Buszard - what incredible photos! Can you tell the date on the newspaper? That is a wonderfully historical photo. So are the others as well. Everything from combat to families at Easter and daily military life. Fantastic. Are there more?
 
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