Anecdotes

On the first day of the invasion, he used up all his film. He managed to make his way through the American lines and was returned to England. But the most amazing thing about this episode is. When the film was screened, he had to leave the room. He didn't have a high enough clearance to view the film he had shot.

His jump into France saw him connecting with the French resistance, who hid him for a few days. And saw to it that he was at the beaches in Normandy the day before Operation Overload. He spent the morning of the invasion behind the beaches photographing the action. All of the known American film of the first day of the invasion from the German perspective was shot by him.

He also photographed the Buchenwald concentration camp.

He parachuted into France and later into Germany. He took pictures of bridges, roads, rivers, railroads, and many other sites important to the war.

After the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941, he enlisted in the military.

Once in the military, he became a combat photographer, with the OSS. And was involved in the invasion of Africa and the eventual defeat of the Germans there, before he went on to take part in the invasion of Sicily. And from there to the fight, up the "boot" of Italy.

After the war, he went to work for McDonald Douglas.

His mother was Norwegian and his father was Danish.

The family emigrated to the United States in 1924 and settled in California.

As roles became fewer and harder to get, he became interested in becoming a cameraman.

Brother of Rolf Ernest and Alice Ernest.