Combat Unit 124

On 19 September 1944, CU 124 of the 167th Signal Photographic Co., consisting of 2d Lt. Seymour Winston, S/Sgt Gene Coogan, Sgt Herb Lightman, T/4 Walter MacDonald, and Pvt Stanley Slevin, left the company headquarters at Verdun, and started upon their first assignment, which was to provide the Was Department with a pictorial record in 35mm motion pictures of “G-5 in Action”. This was probably the first attempt by a combat photo unit to make a production story, using only T/E equipment.
The unit first went to the G-5 section of THIRD Army, which was located near Jarny, France. It was there that they gained information as to what civil affairs unit they would be attached, what the workings of G-5 consisted, et cetera.
The next move was to the town of Thionville, France, located on the banks of the Moselle River, where they were to be attached to civil affairs team B1C2 of Co. “H”, 1 st ECA Regt. Enroute to their destination they spent their first night with a civil affairs team in the town of Hayange, France a town which had been liberated just a few days previous. This town was in the throes of unsettlement as the people believed a German counter attack imminent.
CU 124 arrived at Thionville the next day and after being quartered, made pans for their story. For the information of the reader, the town of Thionville, is divided in half by the Moselle River; the tactical situation being: - U.S. troops on the west bank of the river and German troops on the east bank. There was constant night patrolling by both sides. Artillery and mortars were active on both sides. It was in Thionville that preliminary movie work was done with the story, office scenes were taken, other sequences made, all in preparation for the entry into Metz, the city which would provide the nucleus of the story. While preparing the G-5 story, CU 124 also did combat photography by providing an engineer unit with bridge reconnaissance photos. These were taken by Slevin and Coogan. MacDonald made some shots of a TD unit located near by and Lightman shot some combat footage of our troops pounding a pill box with bazookas. These shots were for use in the G-5 story.
It was believed that Metz was going to fall early so the team moved to Vionville, which is on the main highway a short distance from Metz. However, it became evident that fierce enemy resistance within the fortress city would prevent its fall for some weeks, so the unit set off for Paris to film montage sequences for the beginning of the film.
Weeks later the unit moved to Algrange where the civil affairs team was still awaiting the fall of Metz. Here, Sgt Coogan left the unit and became first sergeant of the company. T/5 Donald Perrine became the new member of CU 124.
A matter of hours after Metz fell, CU 124 entered the city with the civil affairs team, Here the nucleus of the G-5 story was shot; Lightman and Perrine ground out thousands of feet of film on the activities of G-5. Scenes were taken which can only be filmed once—when a city falls. Sgt John Withers joined the unit as an electrician, for the movie photogs were constantly hammered by lack of sunlight, and an unforeseen number of interior sequences had developed.
Approximately 20,000 feet of film was shot on the story, utilizing doll and boom shots, follow-iocus, montage and various other production techniques. Upon completion, the unit returned to the company the day before Christmas, 1944. Sgt Lightman was sent to London, APS, to assemble and cut the picture.
The German counter-offensive “Battle of the Salient”, was then in full swing; CU125 went to the 11 th Armored Division, THIRD Army, to help provide photographic coverage in the area of the famous city of Bastogne. Upon completion of this mission came a week of motion picture school in Paris, but the week was cut short and the unit rushed to NINTH Army Headquarters and was assigned to 5th Armored Division near Hoensbrack, Holland. The division moved to Bach, Germany for the crossing of the Roer River. T/5 Slevin had a field day shooting excellent aerial news photographs from an L-5 of the crossing and set a record, having 19 of his photos radioed to the United States in one day.
The 168th Signal Photo Co. arrived at Ninth Army to take over so CU 124 was relieved and returned to company headquarters, still at Verdun, 7 March 1945. Several days were spent reorganizing both equipment and personnel of the unit. The changes made were replacing T/4 MacDonald and T/3 Hedgecock with Pfc LaMond and Sgt Gilmore. The unit was all set once again and orders were received placing it on TD with FIFTEENTH U.S. Army.
Arriving at Dinant, Belgium, the unit serviced Fifteenth Army Headquarters under the guidance of Capt Farrell, former CO of the 167th.
After the 198th Signal Photo Co. arrived in Fifteenth Army the unit returned to company headquarters and was assigned to First Army with two new members Pfc Donald Johnson, and Pfc Robert Lindgren, replacing Perrine and LaMond. With First Army the unit operated the VII Corps photo office for a short period and then went to the 4 th Cavalry Group. While covering the 4 th Cavalry Slevin was seriously wounded while on a recon mission.
Later the unit was ordered to Third Army on duty with the 97th Division. On the assignment the unit spent some time in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia. VE Day found CU 124 at Regensberg, Germany, and a few days later the unit returned to Wiesbaden, company headquarters.
Unit 124!!!
T/5 Stanley Slevin, left T/4 Walter MacDonald, front, S/Sgt Gene B. Coogan, rear left, Sgt Herbert Lightman, and Lt Seymour Winston at Vionville, France, waiting to go into Metz when it falls. The unit was doing a documentary production on the Civil Affairs Team B1C2.
All information on this page is from the National Archives. Courtesy, Peter Maslowski, author of Armed With Cameraswho sent us his original scans of this information.