WWII Soldier's Sketchbooks: Victor Lundy's War in 59 Drawings

In 1944 a young American infantryman named Victor Lundy carried small spiral-bound sketchbooks through training camp, across the Atlantic and into France. He had been studying architecture in New York before the war, and he drew almost everything he saw: tired men in hammocks, crowded troop ships, ruined hangars at Cherbourg, Norman churches and, in the end, the body of a German soldier killed on patrol.

Lundy later became a celebrated modernist architect, and he lived to 101. In 2009 he gave his surviving wartime sketchbooks to the Library of Congress, which has digitised them so that anyone can browse the pages online. Eight of the small books survived, holding 158 pencil drawings made between May and November 1944.

The 59 drawings below follow his journey roughly in order: infantry training in South Carolina, the troop train and New York Harbor, the convoy to France, the landing at Cherbourg and the march east toward the front. Lundy dated most pages and wrote short notes on them, and those notes, quoted in the titles, give the collection the feel of a diary. The original numbering is kept for each drawing.

Who Victor Lundy was

Victor Alfred Lundy was born in New York City on 1 February 1923. He was studying architecture at New York University when he joined the Army Specialized Training Program, which sent promising recruits to college for technical courses. When the programme was cut back in 1944, he was transferred to the infantry and arrived at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, on 10 May 1944. He served with the 104th Infantry Regiment of the 26th Infantry Division, part of General Patton's Third Army.

His unit sailed from New York at the end of August and landed at Cherbourg on 7 September 1944. On 12 November 1944, in Lorraine north-east of Nancy, German tanks surrounded his battalion and Lundy was wounded in the left arm and shoulder by a tank shell. He remained in the army until October 1945.

His architecture training had taught him to sketch quickly to capture the essence of a building, and he used the same habit to make sense of the war. "When I think thoughts, I draw thoughts," he once said. He made nearly two dozen little notebooks; only eight survived.

Training at Fort Jackson, May to July 1944

#15 "Shep" with helmet and pack, 10 May 1944

Dated 10 May 1944, the day Lundy arrived at Fort Jackson, this is one of the earliest drawings in the series. His friend Bill Shepard, "Shep", sits cross-legged in helmet and knapsack, seen from behind. The loose lines show Lundy working fast, catching a pose before the man moved.

#20 The post auditorium, 11 May 1944

A wide view of the auditorium at Fort Jackson, with rows of soldiers facing a large stage. As an architecture student, Lundy was drawn to big interior spaces, and he gets the perspective of the hall right in a few strokes.

#46 First aid lecture, 12 May 1944

A helmeted soldier sits among others listening to a first aid lecture. Basic medical training was essential for infantrymen, who often had to treat wounded comrades before a medic could reach them.

#59 First aid demonstration

Soldiers sit among tall pines watching an instructor demonstrate first aid on a platform. The open-air classroom was typical of training camps, where thousands of recruits passed through each month.

#29 Joe Fisch, "casually practicing first aid"

Lundy's ironic note describes his comrade Joe Fisch practising first aid on another soldier. The tangle of arms and bandages is drawn in quick, nervous lines that capture the clumsiness of beginners.

#10 Sunday, 14 May 1944

On his first Sunday at camp, a soldier sits on the edge of his bunk in the barracks, uniforms hanging behind him. Sunday was usually the one quiet day of the training week, and Lundy used it to draw.

#50 Company street, 14 May 1944

Wooden barracks line a sandy "company street" with a church spire in the distance. Fort Jackson, near Columbia, was one of the largest army training centres in the United States during the war, and rows of identical huts like these housed whole companies.

#25 "Bombs", 16 May 1944

A darkened auditorium full of soldiers watches a lecturer on stage beneath a projected image. Lundy labelled the scene simply "Bombs", the subject of the day's class.

#51 Bomb lecture, 16 May 1944

The same day, Lundy turned from the stage to the men around him, drawing the back of a soldier's head and shoulders up close. It is the kind of view any student has in a crowded lecture hall.

#38 "Home": a tent in the woods, 21 May 1944

A pup tent sits under pine trees during field exercises. Lundy's one-word caption, "Home", is gently ironic, and the drawing shows how quickly recruits got used to sleeping outdoors.

#3 "Home Sweet Home", 1 June 1944

A soldier stretches out in a hammock slung between trees, other men resting on the ground behind him. The South Carolina summer was hot, and a hammock in the shade was the best spot in camp.

#12 Shooting craps for cigarettes before pay day, 1 June 1944

A group of soldiers crouch over a dice game. With pay day still to come, they gambled for cigarettes, which served as a kind of currency in the army and were later issued in soldiers' rations.

#22 Helmet liner, 1 June 1944

A simple study of a helmet liner lying in the grass. The liner was the lightweight inner shell of the American M1 helmet and was often worn alone around camp. Lundy treats it almost like a piece of sculpture.

#33 Herman in a hammock, 2 June 1944

A soldier named Herman sits upright in a hammock, wearing his helmet liner and boots. The strong lines of the hammock ropes give the drawing an architectural structure.

#9 Bill Shepard, 6 June 1944

Shep's helmet, pack and gear lie on the ground in a still life. The date is striking: 6 June 1944 was D-Day, when Allied troops landed in Normandy, the region Lundy himself would reach three months later.

#39 Demonstration, 6 June 1944

Also drawn on D-Day, helmeted soldiers crouch in a field watching a demonstration of infantry tactics. News of the landings in France would have reached the camp that day.

#53 "The Brass", 6 June 1944

Rows of soldiers sit on a grassy slope while officers, "the brass", gather at the top. Lundy drew the men from behind, placing the viewer among the ranks.

#23 Waiting to move, a night sketch, 10 June 1944

Dark silhouettes of trees under a hazy moon, drawn while the company waited at night to move off. The heavy shading shows Lundy experimenting with light and darkness rather than people.

#52 Sketch at night

A soldier sits on the ground in the dark during night exercises. Lundy scribbled the label across the corner of the page, as if drawing almost blind.

#36 The PX beer garden, 14 June 1944

The beer garden at the post exchange (PX), the camp shop, stands among pines and telephone poles. It was one of the few places where trainees could relax with a drink after a day in the field.

#40 "Big Attack", 17 June 1944

An exhausted soldier lies back with his eyes closed after a large training exercise that Lundy called the "Big Attack". The sketch is a reminder that training could be almost as physically draining as combat.

#47 Planning a platoon attack: Sgt. Jaffe, 19 June 1944

Sergeant Jaffe stands with his hands on his hips while explaining how a platoon should attack a position. Sergeants were the backbone of infantry training, and Lundy draws him firmly planted, in charge.

#26 Attack on a fortified position, 5 July 1944

Soldiers with packs crowd forward during a training exercise on attacking a fortified position. Such drills prepared men for the German bunkers and fieldworks they would meet in France.

#54 Dooley, 7 July 1944

A soldier named Dooley sleeps on the ground with his gear piled around him. Rest was taken wherever it could be found.

The troop train and New York Harbor, August 1944

#19 Troop train, 25 August 1944

Soldiers crowd into a train carriage with their rifles and kit, bound for New York. Troop trains carried millions of servicemen across the country during the war, usually without telling them their destination.

#55 Troop train, a second view

The same troop-train drawing appears again in the archive's sequence. The tangle of limbs, rifles and luggage gives a sense of how cramped these journeys were.

#27 "Goodbye Broadway, Hello France!", 25 August 1944

A soldier in a helmet sits on a boat in New York Harbor, rifle between his knees. Lundy's caption borrows the title of a popular song from the First World War, when American soldiers had made the same journey.

#16 On deck at 6 p.m., 26 August 1944

Soldiers walk along the deck of a ship moored in New York Harbor, lifeboats overhead. The strong lines of the deck and rails show Lundy's eye for structure.

#17 A line dropped to a tugboat, 26 August 1944

A tugboat waits beside the high bow of the troopship as a line is passed down. Tugs guided the huge transports in and out of the crowded harbour.

#34 Soldiers at the ship's rail, 26 August 1944

Men stand at the rail among masts and rigging, looking out at the harbour. For many, it would be the last look at home for a year or more.

#5 On deck at night, 26 August 1944

A dark, almost abstract drawing of a ship's mast and cables lit by a single light. The bold contrast hints at the dramatic modern forms Lundy would later use in his buildings.

#21 Barges at the ship's side, 27 August 1944

Barges loaded with crates sit beside the ship while cranes lift cargo. A convoy needed enormous quantities of supplies, and every transport was packed with equipment as well as men.

#24 An outburst on deck, 27 August 1944

Four soldiers stand on a raised platform looking out from the deck. Lundy's note records the blunt expletive they all said at the sight before them, which he later remembered clearly. It is one of the few drawings where he wrote down actual words.

#43 Ferry ride

Soldiers stand on the open deck of a ferry in New York Harbor, which carried troops from the railhead out to their ships. Lundy captures the scene with only a few lines.

Crossing the Atlantic

#6 Sunset, first night out, 27 August 1944

On the first evening at sea, the sun sets behind other ships in the convoy. Lundy's unit sailed in a large convoy, the standard protection against German submarines.

#30 Soldiers looking at a ship in the distance, 27 August 1944

Two helmeted heads in the foreground look out at another troopship on the horizon. The framing, with the deck above, makes the viewer one of the passengers.

#14 View from my bunk, 28 August 1944

Lundy drew the tight stack of canvas bunks from where he lay. Troopships were packed several bunks high, with barely enough room to turn over.

#28 Night watch, 28 August 1944

A soldier mans an anti-aircraft gun on a raised platform during the night watch. Ships in convoy kept guns crewed around the clock against attack.

#37 "Cold as hell", 28 August 1944

A huddle of soldiers in heavy coats stands together on deck. Even in late summer, the North Atlantic wind was bitter, and Lundy's caption sums up the mood.

#41 Two soldiers looking out to sea, 28 August 1944

Two men seen from behind gaze at the flat sea and distant ships. Long days with nothing to do were typical of the crossing.

#56 Monday night on deck, 28 August 1944

Dark figures crowd the deck under rigging and a large round shape, possibly a ventilator or barrage balloon. Lundy dated it "Monday night"; 28 August 1944 was indeed a Monday.

#4 Promenade deck, 2 September 1944

Helmeted soldiers sit in a row on the promenade deck, their backs to the viewer. The name suggests the troopship had been a passenger liner before the war, as many were.

#31 Promenade deck, afternoon, 2 September 1944

Later the same day, men stand under the heavy booms and rigging. Lundy shades the scene darkly, perhaps under a grey Atlantic sky.

Landing at Cherbourg and the Normandy camps, September 1944

#48 Approaching Cherbourg, 7 September 1944

Soldiers look through an opening toward the coast of France at 11:00 a.m. Cherbourg had been captured by the Allies in late June 1944 and was the main port for bringing troops ashore.

#35 "Home is far away now!", 7 September 1944

Men walk down a gangplank from the ship onto French soil. Lundy's note captures the sudden realisation of how far from home they were.

#42 Thursday, 7 September 1944

A soldier sits aboard a landing craft in Cherbourg harbour, with other vessels flying flags behind. Troops often transferred from big transports into smaller craft to reach the shore.

#45 "Ready to go", 7 September 1944

A landing craft crowded with helmeted soldiers waits to head for the quay. The men had trained for months; now they were in the war zone.

#58 Seaplane hangar wrecked at Cherbourg, 7 September 1944

The broken curved roof of a seaplane hangar lies in ruins. German forces wrecked much of the port before surrendering it, and Lundy, the architecture student, could not resist drawing the twisted structure.

#57 Loading onto LCTs, 8 September 1944

Soldiers wait beside landing craft tanks (LCTs), flat-bottomed vessels designed to carry vehicles and troops onto beaches. Lundy wrote the label at the top of the page.

#44 Our first camp in Normandy, 8 September 1944

Tents sit among hedgerows and trees at the unit's first camp near the village of Saint-Martin-d'Audouville in the Cotentin peninsula. The calm landscape gives little hint of the fighting that had swept through the area that summer.

#11 A village church, 13 September 1944

A stone church with a squat bell tower stands among graves and crosses in the Manche area. Lundy's careful drawing of the roofs and walls shows the architect at work.

#18 Lestre church and war memorial, 14 September 1944

In the village of Lestre, a First World War memorial with a soldier's statue stands before the gable of the church. Like thousands of French villages, Lestre had lost men in that earlier war, and now another one had come.

#2 The house of the roast chicken and cognac, 16 September 1944

Lundy noted that this was the farmhouse where he and his friend Kane were given roast chicken and cognac. Norman families often welcomed the Americans with what food and drink they had.

#8 Air raid over Germany seen on a morning hike, 18 September 1944

Formations of bombers fly east overhead. Lundy wrote that they were heading to attack Germany's Siegfried Line, the chain of border defences the Allies were then approaching.

#13 The café at Quinéville, 19 September 1944

A café in Quinéville, near Utah Beach, where two French girls bought the soldiers four bottles of cider. Cider is the traditional drink of Normandy, and the detail adds a warm, human note to the sketchbooks. Lundy also saw the German Atlantic Wall defences along this coast.

#32 Roadside cross, 22 September 1944

A tall stone column topped with a cross stands by the road, probably in the Manche area. Wayside crosses are common in Normandy, and Lundy drew it with an architect's attention to proportion.

Toward the front, autumn 1944

#49 On reconnaissance, 31 October 1944

Lundy noted that he was waiting for a company commander at Captain Trescott's observation post. The tangled hedges and bare ground show the front line in Lorraine, where the 26th Division had moved in October.

#1 One of a four-man German patrol that didn't get back, 1 November 1944

A German soldier lies dead in the grass, with a touch of red marking his wound. It is one of the few colour accents in the sketchbooks and the starkest reminder of what the drawings were leading toward. Lundy himself was wounded less than two weeks later.

#7 Election Day, 7 November 1944

Soldiers in helmets sit packed into a truck, waiting in the rain. Lundy's note marks the date as Election Day: back home, Americans were re-electing Franklin D. Roosevelt for a fourth term. Five days later, Lundy's battalion was surrounded and he was wounded.

After the war: Victor Lundy the architect

After recovering, Lundy studied at Harvard under teachers from the Bauhaus tradition and moved to Sarasota, Florida, where he became one of the leading figures of the Sarasota School of Architecture. His buildings there, such as the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce with its pagoda-like roof (1956) and the Warm Mineral Springs Motel (1958), used dramatic curved and folded roofs.

He went on to design the First Unitarian Church in Westport, Connecticut, inflatable "bubble" pavilions for the 1964–65 New York World's Fair, the US Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and the US Tax Court building in Washington, D.C., completed in 1974. He was honoured by the Smithsonian on his 90th birthday and died in Bellaire, Texas, on 4 November 2024, aged 101.

The sketchbooks show where that career began: a young man who looked at ships, hangars and village churches with a builder's eye, even in the middle of a war. They are also one of the most personal records of an ordinary American infantryman's 1944, from boredom and card games to the first dead enemy soldier he saw. You can browse all of them on the Library of Congress website.

Sources: all drawings by Victor Lundy, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division (LOT 14007); Wikipedia: Victor Lundy; HistoryNet: an artist's sketches of war; Observer (Sarasota): Victor Lundy dies at 101 (2024); first shared by My Modern Met and Bored Panda.