Arthur J. Mainzer diary

Arthur J. Mainzer was born in 1923 in Illinois to William and Rose Mainzer and had three siblings, Bill, Willie and Merle. Arthur enlisted in the Air Force in 1942 and became a cameraman in the 4th Combat Camera Unit of the 9th Air Force. The Combat Camera Unit was tasked with creating Air Force training films at Hal Roach Studios. After completing training at the Air Force Photo Technical School in Denver, Colorado and the First Motion Picture Unit in Culver City, California, he was deployed to Europe in 1944. Arthur was filming bomb damage by the Allied Air Forces with Captain Ellis Carter when they received information about the liberation of Buchenwald. They drove to Buchenwald on April 13, 1945 and filmed conditions of the camp. The footage was sent to headquarters in London.