The Clinton chronicle. (Clinton, S.C.) 1901-current, November 26, 1970, Image 7
DeGaulle Photo Brings Back
Memories Of Secret Mission
THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, S. C„ Nov. 26, 1970—1-B
EENVILLE PIE
Fallen French Leader At Sum
Clintonian
Has Photos
Of Meeting Based Wires of The Associated Press and United
BY LEN LEDFORD 32 RA q ES GREENVILLE, S. C, TUESDAY AFTERNOON, NOVEMBE
After 27 years, the storv
can be tolcL
A front page picture of the
Tuesday, Nov. 10, edition of
The Greenville Piedmont made
me suddenly exclaim, “I have
that very picture."
And, almost instantly, a
search was begun for the
picture. Minutes grew into
hours as I looked through my
"trunk-full" of photographic
evidence of a world at war--
the battles won, the personali
ties involved.
The picture in question was
of France’s General Charles
DeGaulle “who led France back
from the humiliation of World
War n defeat and saved it again
from chaos in 1958."
The general and former
president of France, who died
Monday, Nov. 9, was pictured
with some other gentlemen of
note.
So, now, here was I, suc
cess in hand, and with the manila
envelope, 1 settled myself com
fortably into retrospection of
the year 1943--and, perhaps, to
a few years before it when the
world, as we knew it, was at
peace--not a shooting war at
least.
I turned back the years to
that day when I was driven
from Los Angeles’ Union Sta
tion to 1708 Talmadge Avenue
and the east end of Hollywood
Boulevard--and found myself
within the hallowed walls of
Warner Brother Vitagraph
Studios.
For me, it was a new
beginning. This was head
quarters for the Air Force
First Motion Picture Unit. Our
job was to organize--to recruit
the best from the major studios
so the Air Force could have the
finest technical and training
films available.
Later, we moved to a new
"home* <xi West Washington
Boulevard, Culver City, Calif.,
next door to Selznik Inter
national where "Tara" still
stood from filming of “Gone
With the Wind".
Our ‘Air Force First Mo
tion Picture Unit’ sign re
placed the giant “Hal Roach
Studios" sign. But even with
this tremendous job of produce
myrid films for the Air Force
you could not forget that here
at Hal Roach--they filmed “One
Million B. C." with Victor Ma-
PARIS Former French PrcMCiont Charles <.!
G.mlle died Monday of a heart attack, a source a:
The French presidential palace >aid. He was 79. H*
is shown at left In center. De Gaulle is shown .«
hire and Spanky’s “Our Gang"
the “Topper" series. Some of
the sets were still there to re
mind you of some of the finest
entertainment you could re
member.
For our job, from the major
studios, we had gathered the
best writers, directors,
cameramen, “grips", “juic
ers’, make-up men, sound
effects men, actors and, oh yes,
still photographers. That’s what
this story is all about.
It was January, 1943, and
California’s rainy season was
no myth. The half-mile wide
Los Angeles River you could
step across in summer was
stretched ‘till its sides hurt
from LonJt -W-tank. Slush and
rock slides came down the
mesquite - covered mountain
sides and its tenacles of de
struction took millions of dol
lars worth of homes with it.
A PHONE CALL
It was on a morning in Janu
ary, 1943, that a telephone call
came from the Pentagon. It
seemed casual enough at first
but it soon dried out the soil
of the flat country to the south
of the “Hollywood Hills’.
At first it seemed simple
enough. All the War Depart
ment wanted was four or five
of our best still photograpliers
to go to Washington and photo
graph some VIPs. To clarify
matters at the time of the
telephone call, we asked if tele
type orders would be coming in
“tomorrow."
“Hell, no! --these are the
orders, NOW," said the voice
Yarborough's
Chapel Has
Anniversary
Yarborough’s Chapel United
Methodist Church, Cross An
chor, will observe one
hundredth and twenty-fifth an
niversary of the church in con
junction with the South Caro
line Tricentennial on Novem
ber 29 at 7:30 o’clock.
There will be an "Id fas
hioned evening worship
service. The public is invited.'
Reverend M.B. Lee will be
guest speaker.
Reverend JohnP. Rnquemore
is pastor.
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LIVING
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PORTRAIT
SUMMIT MEETING
A summit meeting was taking
place. It became known as the
summit meeting at Casablanca.
So, our still photographers were
there to record history in its
making.
The summit meeting was a
strategy session of Prime
Minister Winston Churchill
of England and Franklin D.
Roosevelt, President of the
United States. Also in atten
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AT SLMMIT—This picture taken at the World
War II summit meeting in Casablanca is amonjt
Len Ledford’s collection of photographs. Gen
eral Henri Giraud, French commander in North
Africa, left, is shown shaking hands with Gen.
Charles DeGaulle. Also shown are U.S. Presi
dent Franklin Roosevelt and Great Britain Prime
Minister Winston Churchill.
tin* Casablanca summit m
allied leaders. From left
French commander in N
Franklin D Roosevelt: De
from the Pentagon. As diplo
matically as we could sound,
and as cooperatively as we
could extend ourselves, we
casually said, “Then these men
should be on their way some
time tomorrow?"
This time the voice of the
War Department seemed to have
a bit more urgency in their re
quest. “No, have these men on a
plane at Mines Field in two
hours--they have to be in
Washington on a schedule
already set up."
Our simple problem then was
to round up these men, tell
them the details as we knew
them, let them go home to pack
some clothes, tell their wives
they were going to Washington
and then return to the AAF
First Motion Unit.
It was hectic rounding them
up and getting them aboard the
plane to Washington but we did
it. They did land in Washington
but, no sooner had they embark
ed from the plane than they
were directed to another air
plane. This one was to take
them to destinations unknown--
to them. They landed in North
Africa.
dance was General Charles De
Gaulle and others.
Now this brings us back to
where the story began.
The photographers returned
to California and I fell heir
to some of the original pictures
of this summit meeting. These
photos were as “Top Secret”
as anything in the war to this
point. They were pictures of a
strategy meeting for the in
vasion of Europe via Sicily and
Italy, while “D-Day” took care
of the European invasion from
the west.
The photos I have in my pos
session today were securely
bound and mailed to my family
with instructions not to open
under any circumstances. And,
if I failed to come out of the
war alive, not to open until the
victory was won.
The photographs were cen
sored, eliminating all unit in
signias and flags s" that no one
could tell what divisions were
involved.
Fortunately that war is over.
I am alive and I have the pic
tures in question.
The picture in the Green
ville Piedmont shows General
Henri Giraud, French com
mander in NorthAfrica, Presi
dent Franklin D. Roosevelt,
General Charles DeGaulle and
Prime Minister Winston
Churchill. I do not have that
picture. The picture I have is
a companion picture, made just
before or just after. The Pied
mont picture is one shown in
several histories of World War
II.I have learned in later days
that it was a humiliating ex
perience for General DeGaulle
to shake hands with General
Giraud in North Africa.
I do have that picture, 27
years later.
my
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