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| On this page, you'll find pictures contributed by various former members of the 225th that chronicle various aspects of returning home following the end of the war: train trips from Germany to France, boarding ships in Le Havre, scenes of life aboard the Victory Ships that returned men to the U. S., etc. Technical note: If your browser supports JavaScript, you can view a larger version of each photo by clicking on the "Enlarge the Photo" button; otherwise, just click on the smaller image to load a larger one. Any former members who can add to the captions are invited to send information to the Webmaster. |
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Members of the 225th pose with a "40 and 8" boxcar, so-named because its capacity was "40 hommes et 8 chevaux" (40 men or eight horses).
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22K JPEG (398 pixels wide by 256 pixels high). |
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| Photo reprinted courtesy Frank Dorsey, Battery A. | |
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Members of the 225th pose in front of a boxcar door. Note the hometowns chalked on the wood: Brooklyn, Chicago, Chelsea, Mass., St. Louis, Malden, Mass., and Oswego, NY.
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20K JPEG (397 pixels wide by 267 pixels high). |
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| Photo reprinted courtesy Frank Dorsey, Battery A. | |
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This boxcar is labeled Car No. 3 and looks to be the temporary home of the "last of the bastards of the IXth Air Defense Command."
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18K JPEG (407 pixels wide by 257 pixels high). |
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| Photo reprinted courtesy Frank Dorsey, Battery A. | |
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Slightly forward of the car depicted above we see the label "56th AAA Brigade" (to which the 225th was attached) and the legend "the bastardly sad sacks of Air Defense Command." At right, we can see the train's previous stops on the way to Le Havre: Augsburg, 15 Nov 45; Saarebourg, 16 Nov 45; Chalons-sur-Marne, 17 Nov 45; and Rouen, 18 Nov 45.
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20K JPEG (397 pixels wide by 231 pixels high). |
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| Photo reprinted courtesy Frank Dorsey, Battery A. | |
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Waiting around on the way back home. Soldiers waiting around a railroad siding somewhere on the route from Germany to Le Havre.
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13K JPEG (321 pixels wide by 205 pixels high). |
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| Photo reprinted courtesy Frank Dorsey, Battery A. | |
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Camp Lucky Strike, one of the famous "cigarette camps" on the outskirts of Le Havre, pictured sometime in 1944-45. U. S. troops stayed here during the war after arriving in the ETO prior to shipping out to the front, and, after the war, they waited here for transportation home.
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12K JPEG (341 pixels wide by 235 pixels high). |
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| Photo reprinted courtesy The Ohio Historical Society. | |
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Storm damage at Camp Lucky Strike, sometime during 1944-45.
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17K JPEG (337 pixels wide by 276 pixels high). |
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| Photo reprinted courtesy The Ohio Historical Society. | |
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The American Red Cross' "Java Junction," Camp Lucky Strike, 1944-45.
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12K JPEG (338 pixels wide by 225 pixels high). |
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| Photo reprinted courtesy The Ohio Historical Society. | |
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The chow line at Camp Lucky Strike, circa 1944-45.
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12K JPEG (335 pixels wide by 228 pixels high). |
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| Photo reprinted courtesy The Ohio Historical Society. | |
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LeHavre in August 1944 was a shambles. Relentless Allied ground attacks against a stubborn German defense, coupled with USAAF saturation bombing of the city, left the Allies with a major reclamation project: to rehabilitate the harbor facilities and shorten the supply lines for their advance into the Low Countries.
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18K JPEG (395 pixels wide by 227 pixels high). |
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| Photo from the Webmaster's Collection. | |
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After the vicious struggle to capture LeHavre ended, piles of rubble were cleared and moved outside the city. Evidence of the brutal seige remained well into 1945, and Americans arriving to wait for shipment home encountered many such landscapes throughout the area where the "cigarette camps" were located.
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14K JPEG (337 pixels wide by 229 pixels high). |
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| Photo reprinted courtesy The Ohio Historical Society. | |
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Victory ships docked at LeHavre waiting for their GI cargo.
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13K JPEG (362 pixels wide by 262 pixels high). |
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| Photo from the Webmaster's Collection. | |
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A view of Le Havre from the Bay of the Seine. This was the first look at France for many men arriving in the ETO in 1944-45. After the war, this was the last view they got as Victory ships pulled away from the harbor and entered the English Channel for the voyage home.
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9K JPEG (332 pixels wide by 223 pixels high). |
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| Photo reprinted courtesy The Ohio Historical Society. | |
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While some of the 225th returned to the U. S. on the SS Marshall Victory and the SS Chanute Victory, still others returned on the SS Norway Victory, sailing from Le Havre, France in December 1945. Shown is a life preserver bearing the ship's name.
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15K JPEG (393 pixels wide by 237 pixels high). |
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| Photo reprinted courtesy Frank Dorsey, Battery A. | |
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Members of the batallion lounge on the deck of the Norway Victory.
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17K JPEG (360 pixels wide by 263 pixels high). |
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| Photo reprinted courtesy Frank Dorsey, Battery A. | |
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A group of 225th veterans are all smiles aboard the Norway Victory as she begins her 12-day crossing of the Atlantic.
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14K JPEG (418 pixels wide by 291 pixels high). |
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| Photo reprinted courtesy Frank Dorsey, Battery A. | |
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Three of the 225th's complement pose for the camera on the Norway Victory's crowded deck.
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22K JPEG (398 pixels wide by 291 pixels high). |
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| Photo reprinted courtesy Frank Dorsey, Battery A. | |
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