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Tech/4 Edward A. Norbuth

 

Stills Photographer
165th Signal Photo Company, 1st/3rd Army

 

     Born the youngest of three children in 1918, Edward Andrew Norbuth grew up in a working-class family on the streets of Chicago. Both of his parents were immigrants from Lithuania and worked hard as janitors to support the family. Over the years his two siblings moved out of the house while Edward continued going to school and living with his parents. When Edward reached high school, he decided to drop out after his first year to pursue work as a truck driver for a local company. In the spring of 1942, Edward married his wife, Florence, and soon after was called to the service when his name came up in the draft.

     Officially enlisting in November 1942, Norbuth went through basic training and was eventually assigned to the 165th Signal Photo Company (SPC). The Army’s new Signal Photo Companies were starting to take shape, each one pioneering the idea of embedding small teams of combat photographers within various units to document and release photos of actions overseas. In training, SPCs found that the best organization of each small team consisted of 1-2 stills photographers, another 1-2 motion picture photographers, and 1-2 jeep drivers to quickly maneuver the team and its equipment between subjects and stories–basically an Army news crew. With Norbuth’s experience in civilian life as a truck driver, he was initially assigned to the 165th SPC as a jeep driver. In training, however, he quickly became acquainted with the photographers who taught him how to take still photos. He discovered he had a knack for photography and demonstrated his skill with a camera, then took up the role of a stills photographer in the company.


     After training in basic photography, film development, camera maintenance, and other specialized topics, the 165th SPC went overseas to England in late 1943. The company was assigned to the 1st Army and headquartered in Chipping Sodbury. All the photographers continued physical training and took part in maneuvers in preparation for the upcoming invasion of France. Edward was first attached to the 30th Infantry Division (ID) for maneuvers in March and April of 1944, taking photos of their rigorous training. The 165th SPC continued to prepare for the invasion until the day finally came on June 6, 1944. While Norbuth didn’t land in the initial waves, he stepped foot on Omaha Beach just six days later while hard-fighting Allied troops were just starting to link together the various beachheads. 

     In his first few months, Edward took photos of smaller units behind the front lines. Many of his early subjects were evacuation hospitals, showing what life was like for wounded men who were pulled from the line. He also joined other photographers in his unit to meet and photograph the Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, when he visited troops in France in July. In the following months, Norbuth’s team–Detachment “H”–jumped between divisions to photograph them in combat in France and into Belgium. In August he took pictures of the 29th ID during their assault on Brest, the 79th ID in Charmes and across the Moselle River, and the 83rd ID for their brutal assault on Le Stromberg Hill. After some experience as a photographer in the harsh combat of Northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, Edward returned to the company headquarters and was promoted to Technician Fifth Grade (T/5) in November 1944.


     As the Battle of the Bulge began with the German offensive in December, the 82nd Airborne (AB) was pulled from reserve and deployed towards the north of the advance. The 165th SPC sent a team to photograph the division, in which Norbuth was chosen as a stills photographer. Although the division initially saw some success, the massive German force greatly outnumbered the 82nd AB and forced them to withdraw. Norbuth and the photographers had little time to take photos as they retreated in bitter cold, with the 2nd and 9th SS Panzer Divisions in hot pursuit. When the 2nd SS Panzer Division was rerouted to Bastogne, the 82nd AB was able to hold the line against the offensive.

     In the northern face of the Bulge near Trois Ponts, Edward photographed ruthless fighting as the Germans continued to send reinforcements in an attempt to break the line and continue their advance. Many of his photos focused on the individual soldier, showing the dugouts, machine gun nests, POWs, and typical sights of the troopers who tried to stay warm between skirmishes with the Germans. Constantly working to defrost the camera lens and stay in cover when the fighting did break out, Norbuth and the photographer team saw some of their harshest conditions yet. When the new year arrived a few weeks later, it finally became clear that the German advance had ultimately failed, and the 82nd AB began a counterattack.


     In early January, Norbuth continued to follow the division, which was tasked with taking out the 9th SS Panzer Division and 62nd Volksgrenadiers–two units that had continuously attempted to break its lines throughout the Bulge. Although it came with high casualties and more hard fighting, the 82nd AB was successful after several days. The photographers then moved to follow the 30th ID, the very first unit that Norbuth had been tasked with photographing when he arrived in England almost a year prior. With his old outfit, he followed them on a large counterattack south towards St. Vith. Again Edward chose to photograph the individual soldiers, such as 30th ID men crawling through open terrain, carrying a wounded German to an aid station, and digging in a machine gun nest. With the Germans now in retreat towards the end of January 1945, the brutal winter war had come to an end.

     On the advance to Germany, Norbuth and the team once again joined a different division in the area. The 1st ID, a battle-hardened unit that had been in combat for over two years, became the subject of his photos for the remainder of the war. He followed the division through the Siegfried Line, across the Ruhr River, and across the Remagen Bridge over the Rhine. At this point, Norbuth was photographing a broken Germany whose troops continuously defended further and further into their homeland. A particularly surprising encounter happened in St. Andreasburg, where he found himself in the middle of the action. After a stiff resistance in April 1945, the 1st ID took the town and began to settle in. Standing in the middle of the road, Norbuth ducked for cover when German snipers broke the silence. A Sherman immediately moved into the street to provide cover as infantrymen from the 16th Infantry Regiment (IR) moved cautiously behind the tank to find the source. Jumping from cover to cover between sniper shots to get various angles of the encounter, Norbuth snapped a few good photos before the men of the 16th IR cleared out the remaining defenders.


     Later the same month on April 21st, Norbuth and the 26th IR made a disturbing discovery in the woods near Braunlage, Germany. Lying on the forest floor were the bodies of ten Russian, Italian, and French prisoners who, upon closer inspection, had all been shot in the head by retreating Germans. They all laid sprawled along the ground in various positions, still wearing their striped uniforms, executed by their desperate captors that only saw them as a burden. Mortified, but knowing the importance of the discovery, Norbuth quickly pulled out his camera to photograph the evidence of the incident. Although the images likely stuck with him regardless, the photos and Norbuth’s testimony were used after the war to convict those responsible for the executions of war crimes.

     On 8 May 1945, the unconditional surrender of Germany was officially accepted and a ceasefire was enacted. Edward spent the day with the 1st ID’s artillery, taking photos of them spreading covers over their howitzers to signal the end of the war in Europe. He stayed in Germany for a few months afterwards, taking photos of ceremonies and award presentations, as well as the many celebrations from troops. While in occupation he also brushed shoulders with many generals whom he was assigned to photograph, occasionally even finding General George S. Patton in front of his lens. However, as many photographers did in occupation, he found significantly less stories to photograph and simply enjoyed the much-needed months in peace. 
 

     In late 1945 Edward finally returned home to Chicago, welcomed home by his wife, Florence. Back to civilian life, he went back to the trucking industry and found work as a rate clerk. The day-to-day life was a drastic change of pace from what he experienced and saw through his lens over the past three years, but ultimately he was able to settle down. In 1948 his family welcomed a daughter, and later a son in 1952. He lived a relatively quiet life in the busy city after the war, but always kept the photography skills he learned while in the Army–taking photos as a hobby. He and his wife lived happily married until she passed in 1991, with Edward joining her just a few years later in 1994.

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