Hugo Wilmar trained as a war photographer with the Signal Corps in 1945. The Signal Corps is a branch of the U.S. Marines.
USS Wakefield
On 30 December, the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline loom on the horizon. New York is just a stopover on the way to Camp Lejeune In North Carolina. This is where Hugo begins his officer training, under the auspices of the American Marines.
Camp Lejeune
It takes only a few days, before all spectacle wearers from training are assigned other duties. To his anger, he is demoted to kitchen duty. Bolstered by the experience during his escape from Europe to take matters into his own hands, Hugo manages, as the first Dutchman in history, to secure a place at the war photographer training course with the prestigious Signal Corps.
While waiting for his training, Hugo works on Dutch translations of US training films in February 1945, acting in small roles and voicing voice-overs. During his leave, Hugo travels, across America. Hugo discovers the unlimited opportunities America has to offer.
(…) Jan, America is in a word swell, so bloody swell, I will go back later and I have often thought about why you never joined me.”
Meanwhile, the war in Europe is nearing its end. During the bombing of Bezuidenhout on 3 March 1944, Wilmar’s parental home was hit. In this, Hugo’s family remains miraculously unharmed.
Signal Corps
n May 1945, the naturalist and amateur photographer returns to New York. Now that the Netherlands has been liberated, he can finally write down his journey in colours in a long letter to his parents. In New York, his training begins at the Signal Corps Photographic Center, the renowned institute of the US army
Hugo learns to photograph people with a Leica camera. Hugo prefers to photograph landscapes and sunsets, but his superiors are not interested in that. Instead, he has to make reports of returning war heroes, and take undetected photos of unsuspecting passers-by. If these people look into the lens, his mission has failed. During his training, he captures iconic events on big screen – the tickertape parade of General Wainwright, the hero of Bataan. Hugo’s photographs, together with the film accounts of these events, form a stunning portrait of the era.
During his training, Hugo stayed at the “Sutton Hotel”. At the time, Sutton Hotel was a simple lodging, with – probably – shared rooms. It is now a high-end hotel in Midtown East
After Japan’s surrender, Sukarno proclaimed the Dutch East Indies as the Republic of Indonesia on 17 August 1945. This ended the freedom Hugo Wilmar had found in America. Hugo Wilmar is sent to the Dutch East Indies with the first 2,000 Dutch marines on 17 November 1945.
(…) as free as a Petrel on the Atlantic Ocean”
– Letter to Jan van Eyk, 29 januari 1946