| United States Army Air Force Personnel attend outdoor Catholic Mass on Sunday. Note hymns posted on test post. The April 12, 1943, issue of LIFE Magazine reported, “When the first British and American fliers arrived in Algeria and Tunisia, they were forced to sleep on the ground under their planes. The weather was cold and the barren fields muddy. Today things are better, but living conditions are still crude. The men have shoveled for dugouts into streambeds and the sides of gullies. Old Roman ruins are frequently used as mess halls. Stoves are built of ammunition trays, fireplaces of gasoline cans, faucets of hydraulic control valves. Straw matting bought from Arabs serves as flooring and abandoned wing jacks often hold up dugout roofs. The most ingenious men, of course, have the most comfortable dugouts.” Radio Operator and Left Waist Gunner Technical Sergeant Richard G. Byers (June 5, 1917 – November 23, 1995), 513th Bomb Squadron, 376th Bomb Group, 9th Air Force, flying with “Little Richard” 42-40660, Consolidated B-24D Liberator in Tunisia, later wrote in his 1984 autobiography, “Mac [Co-Pilot Lieutenant John O. McDonald (February 4, 1921 – May 18, 1973)] and I went to Church this afternoon. Always glad to get a chance to go. Everything seems so peaceful while there. Believe me, there are no non-believers in combat.” With a lack of facilities – photographs from Algeria show notices that there would be “no movie tonight” for the men of the 12th Air Force after a mission briefing – church services could take on an extra emphasis for units with slacking morale. Bases were sometimes threatened by Axis counterattacks, and the need to dig foxholes under tents for protection led to dirty and unsanitary living conditions. A lack of water in the desert was also a constant problem. Chaplains worked constantly to keep up the men’s spirits. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2069.jpg |
| Image Size | 447.56 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2060 x 1587 |
| Photographer | Theodore Zell “Ted” Rickman Jr. |
| Photographer Title | 13th Signal Photo Company |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | February 5, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | Algiers |
| State or Province | Algiers |
| Country | Algeria |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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