A PICTURE COMPILATION OF SOME OF THE ACTION THAT TOOK PLACE FROM D-DAY TO D+3 [Main Title]

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  • Title: A PICTURE COMPILATION OF SOME OF THE ACTION THAT TOOK PLACE FROM D-DAY TO D+3 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WOY 482
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: American commentated account of the Normandy landings.
  • Description: Reel 1. Troops and supplies move down towards the south coast ports of England where they are embarked. Meanwhile bombing of enemy's lines of communication continues round the clock, causing night blazes. On board the invasion craft Eisenhower's order of the day is read out. Back in Britain paratroops emplane and Dakotas take off in the dawn. Naval bombardment of enemy's defences begins. Glider troops emplane before take off. Off the coast of Normandy troops scramble down nets into landing craft. In the distance the destroyer USS Corry blazes before sinking. Reel 2. Air traffic, including glider-borne forces, cross the Channel as Martin B-26 Marauders bomb communications and fighters strafe airfields (camera-gun film). Naval bombardment continues as landing craft near shore and troops land within sight of seaside villas (beach seen from fixed camera on board landing craft, believed to be Courseulles). Reel 3. Eisenhower and Admiral Ramsay watch operations from ship, together with Montgomery. Strafing of airfields, roads and railway lines continues. Supplies are unloaded and more troops wade ashore. Offshore men leap off sinking ships into the water, while inland dispersed gliders recall the earlier airborne operation. Relentless advance continues, with troops crossing beaches, tanks advancing and firing in a village. Dead Germans lie beside Atlantic Wall blockhouses. Reel 4. German prisoners are marched along and some faces shown in close-up to substantiate remark that "German troops seem to come in all quantities". Others stand with their hands up near a beach and wounded lie on the ground, prior to transportation to Britain, where they come ashore and enter camps. Back in France view of station of Bernières. Defences are consolidated and beaches cleared by engineers using a Grant Tank Recovery Vehicle. Further supplies are brought ashore as American infantry and armour continue advance past dead German "towards Berlin".
  • Access Conditions: IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-06
  • Production Country: United States of America
  • Production Details: SHAEF Public Relations Division (Production sponsor) Office of Strategic Services (Production company)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Montgomery, Bernard Law (person) Eisenhower, Dwight David (person) Ramsay, Bertram Home (person) British Army, paratroops (regiment/service) Royal Air Force (regiment/service) Royal Navy (regiment/service) United States Army (regiment/service) United States Navy, USS CORRY, destroyer (1941) (regiment/service) German Army (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: aircraft, British - glider (object name) aircraft, United States - combat: Martin B-26 Marauder (object name) aircraft, United States - transport: Douglas C-47 Dakota (object name) casualties, German dead - battlefield (object name) combat, Allied - air raid (object name) combat, Allied - air strike (object name) operations, Allied military - movement (object name) operations, Allied military - preparation (object name) prisoners of war, German - movement (object name) ships, United States - destroyer: Corry & [damaged] (object name) supplies, British, movement [FA] - misc (object name) 01/5(4-16).1 (event) GB, England (geography) Bernières-sur-Mer, Calvados, France (geography) camera-gun (concept)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: English Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 4 Footage: 2969 ft; Running time: 33 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Notes: The idea for the fixed cameras - clockwork Eyemos, automatically triggered by the ramp going down - was apparently developed by Mark Armistead, an aide of John Ford's in the historical unit of the US Naval Reserve. See, John Ford by Andrew Sinclair pp 116-117 (George Allen & Unwin Ltd 1979)
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WOY 482

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