Clell Thorpe World War II Photographs
Collection
Identifier: 1971-003
The bulk of this collection dates from the years 1943 through 1945. The collection mainly contains black and white photographs taken by Clell Thorpe, as well as some 4x5" negatives, one letter, one manuscript, and some miscellaneous items.
The material is arranged in five series: Naval School of Photography, Marine Bombing Squadron (VMB-613), Pacific Atoll, Tarawa, and Miscellaneous.
Open for research.
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2.50 Linear Feet
Clell Thorpe served as a Marine Corps photographer documenting the activities of Marines in the South Pacific during World War II. During the period [1944?]-1945, he traveled to several islands that had been taken from Japanese in earlier battles, such as Tarawa (captured in November 1943) and Kwajalein (captured on February 1944).
In 1943, Thorpe trained as a Marine Corps photographer at the Naval School of Photography in Pensacola, FL (the Marine Corps is administratively part of the U.S. Navy).
One of Thorpe's assignments involved photographing the Marine Bombing Squadron (VMB-613). The squadron trained in Boca Chica, Florida and Newport, Arkansas during 1944, then went to the home base for the VMB-613 as the squadron participated in operations in the Marshall Island throughout the war.
Thorpe took many photographs on a Pacific atoll in the Marshall Islands, which was not identified due to wartime censorship.
Thorpe also photographed on Tarawa Island in 1945.
Thorpe is known to have lived in Houston, Texas during 1947, and probably other years.
This collection was donated to the UH Libraries by Clell Thorpe in 1971.
Marine Bombing Squadron (VMB-613) Photographs digital collection
https://digitalcollections.lib.uh.edu/collections/8336h278h
Part of the University of Houston Libraries Special Collections Repository