J Malan Heslop (18 June 1923 in Taylor, Weber County, Utah – 29 July 2011

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

) was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

combat photographer War photography involves photographing armed conflict and its effects on people and places. Photographers who participate in this genre may find themselves placed in harm's way, and are sometimes killed trying to get their pictures out of the war ...

with Arnold E. Samuelson's Combat Assignment Unit #123 of the 167th Signal Photographic Company who documented evidence of Nazi war crimes. He later served as editor of the ''

Church News The ''Church News'' (or ''LDS Church News'') is a weekly tabloid-sized supplement to the ''Deseret News'' and the ''MormonTimes'', a Salt Lake City, Utah newspaper owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It is t ...

'' and managing editor of the ''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

''. Heslop served as a freelance photographer in his native

and was employed at the

Ogden Standard Examiner The ''Standard-Examiner'' is a daily morning newspaper published in Ogden, Utah, United States. With roughly 30,000 subscribers on Sunday and 25,000 daily, it is the third largest daily newspaper in terms of circulation in Utah, after ''The Sal ...

before setting off to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, where he studied the craft at

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campu ...

Early life

J Malan Heslop was born on June 18, 1923, in

Taylor, Utah Taylor is an unincorporated community in western Weber County, Utah, United States, located approximately west of Ogden. The community is part of the Weber School District Weber School District () is a public school district located in We ...

. He was the oldest of three children of Jesse and Zella Malan Heslop. His family relocated to a farm in

West Weber, Utah West Weber ( ) is a township and unincorporated community in western Weber County, Utah, United States. Description The community is located west and northwest of Ogden. West Weber was reportedly organized as a ward in 1877, when it had a popu ...

when he was three years old. Jesse Heslop encouraged and inspired J Malan Heslop's photography career. Using his father's camera, Heslop practiced taking photos and developing prints. He attended

Weber High School Weber High School is a Utah secondary school located in Pleasant View, Utah, about five miles north of Ogden. It serves the residents of Pleasant View, North Ogden, Harrisville, Huntsville, Eden, and Liberty. It is part of the Weber School ...

where he participated in track and field, played trombone in the school band, and was a member of the Photography Club. He took photos for the school yearbook. His first camera was a 35 mm Argus C-3 with a f3.5 lens and a flash. He graduated from Weber High School on May 17, 1941. He then enrolled at

Weber College Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History Weber State University was founded ...

in the fall of 1941. His first photography job was with the ''Ogden Standard Examiner''. His photos of an airport fire made the front page of the ''Examiner''. He studied photography at

. He enlisted in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 20 ...

in October 1942. In November, he started studying at Paramount Studios with the Signal Corps Photographers School. He was part of the 167 Signal Photographic Company.

World War II

J Malan Heslop completed his basic training in

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metropoli ...

, where he took his first official army photographs. He received the rank of Technician 5th grade, T/5, which is the equivalent of a

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

. He was sent to Europe on July 23, 1944, on the ''Mauritania''. He served for nine months during the end of World War II in the European Theater from September 1944 to May 1945. He served in Austria, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and Germany. He documented significant people, organizations, and events during World War II, among these: the

Counterintelligence Corps The Counter Intelligence Corps (Army CIC) was a World War II and early Cold War intelligence agency within the United States Army consisting of highly trained special agents. Its role was taken over by the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps in 1961 and ...

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Governm ...

and

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

in Paris, and the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

. In May 1945, he photographed the liberation of the

Ebensee concentration camp Ebensee was a subcamp of Mauthausen concentration camp established by the SS to build tunnels for armaments storage near the town of Ebensee, Austria, in 1943. The camp held a total of 27,278 male inmates from 1943 until 1945. Between 8,500 and ...

, a subcamp of the

Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern German ...

in Austria. He was one of the first American photographers to document evidence of Nazi crimes and the prisoners at Ebensee.

Deseret News

After the war, he graduated from Utah State Agricultural College (now

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah ...

) in

Logan, Utah Logan is a city in Cache County, Utah, United States. The 2020 census recorded the population was 52,778. Logan is the county seat of Cache County and the principal city of the Logan metropolitan area, which includes Cache County and Franklin ...

(June, 1948) with a degree in agriculture. He joined the ''

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, t ...

. Shortly after joining the ''Deseret News'' staff he was made chief photographer, a position he held for the next 20 years. From 1968 to 1976 he served as editor of the ''

'', which is distributed both as an insert in the ''Deseret News'' and through mail distribution to areas outside the Deseret News's base readership area. In 1976, Heslop became the managing editor of ''Church News'', a position he held from then until 1981 and again from 1983 until 1988.

LDS Church

Heslop was a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

. Among the positions he held in the church were

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

of the Salt Lake 26th

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

, counselor in the stake presidency of the Salt Lake Pioneer Stake, president of the Salt Lake Stake, member of the YMMIA General Board, regional representative,

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the Chicago North

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

, and stake patriarch. Heslop also wrote several books and plays with Dell Van Orden. He was involved in the formation of the group that eventually became the

Mormon Historic Sites Foundation The Ensign Peak Foundation (formerly the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation) is an independent organization that seeks to contribute to the memorialization of sites important to the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The o ...

Family

J Malan Heslop married Fae Stokes on May 1, 1944, in the

Salt Lake Temple The Salt Lake Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At , it is the largest Latter-day Saint temple by floor area. Dedicated in 1893, it is the sixth templ ...

just before he went to Europe during World War II. They later became the parents of five children Paul, Lyn, Scott, Ann, and Don. The Heslops also wrote an autobiography ''Doubletree Adventure: Autobiography of J Malan and Eleanor Fae Stokes Heslop''.

Legacy

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

through its ''Saints at War Project'' headed by Robert C. Freeman has digitized and made available on-line more than 1,000 of Heslop's war photos from

. The

United States National Archives The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

and the National Holocaust Museum (United States) also have collections of Heslop's World War II era photos.

Publications

*''From the Shadow of Death: Stories of POWs'' (with Dell R. Van Orden) Deseret Book, 1973. *'' Joseph Fielding Smith: A Prophet Among the People''. Deseret Book, 1971. *''How to Compile Your Family History''. Bookcraft, 1978.

References

External links

167th Signal Photographic Company - A WWII Reenacting group in the USA

WWII Photographs by J Malan Heslop
digitized collection at

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gran ...

J Malan Heslop photographs and other material
MSS P 661,

L. Tom Perry Special Collections Library The L. Tom Perry Special Collections is the special collections department of Brigham Young University (BYU)'s Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1957 with 1,000 books and 50 manuscript collections, as of 2016 the Library's special ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heslop, J. Malan 1923 births 20th-century Mormon missionaries American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints United States Army personnel of World War II Deseret News people Regional representatives of the Twelve Patriarchs (LDS Church) American photographers Los Angeles City College alumni Editors of Latter Day Saint publications Holocaust photographers Mission presidents (LDS Church) United States Army soldiers Utah State University alumni World War II photographers People from Weber County, Utah 2011 deaths Young Men (organization) people American Mormon missionaries in the United States Latter Day Saints from Utah Latter Day Saints from California Harold B. Lee Library-related photography articles