American paratroopers on a plane en route from Kairouan (Tunisia) to Sicily

“How much do you get paid for this?” - “A thousand a month”

On the night of the beginning of the Allied Operation Sicilian in July 1943, American photojournalist Robert Capa flew with the first paratroopers of the US Airborne Division to take photographs of the first American soldiers to set foot on Sicilian soil.

Capa recalled this flight in The Hidden Perspective:

There were 18 paratroopers on the plane. I wasnt going to jump with them, so I sat down in the bow so I wouldnt get in their way when it was time to disembark. The lights were off, but no one objected to using the flash.
We flew over the Mediterranean Sea itself. The plane was shaking mercilessly. It was dark and quiet inside. Most of the paratroopers slept or sat with their eyes closed.
I soon heard some strange noises. It was several soldiers who began to vomit terribly; it seems that they have begun to “think about their souls”. The guy sitting next to me asked me:
“Are you really a civilian?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Are you saying you wanted to come here yourself, but nobody forced you to come here?”
“Thats right.”
“So if you wanted to, could you fly to the States instead?”
“Probably yes.”
“How much do you get paid for this?”
“A thousand a month,” I lied...

Robert Capas photo: American paratroopers on a plane en route from Kairouan (Tunisia) to Sicily, the first minutes of the Sicilian operation.

We previously published an article Shelter on the London Underground.