Cameraman v. General

One day last week, reporters and cameramen swarmed outside the headquarters of the U.S. Ninth Division, near Cherbourg. Inside, the surrender of Cherbourg was taking place.

Punctiliously the Ninth's commander, Major General Manton S. Eddy, had extended every military courtesy--including brandy and a talk about the battle--to the city's captured defenders: German Lieut. General Karl Wilhelm Dietrich von Schlieben and Rear Admiral Walther Hennecke. As he accompanied his prisoners to the door, camera bulbs flashed. A grump from the Germans brought a tactful explanation: the U.S. press is free; General Eddy could not and would not forbid the photographers to take pictures. General von Schlieben snarled that he was bored with the whole idea of a free press.

Said LIFE'S Robert Capa, in German: "And I am bored with photographing defeated generals."

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