Today’s film from the National Archives and Records Administration was a creation of the US Army Air Forces in World War II. The Army’s description identifies the plane in the first segment as “an unidentified British light bomber”. Aviation nerds among you will easily identify the aircraft as a German Junkers Ju 88 two-engine bomber. This one appears in British livery, complete with a Royal Air Force squadron code “M”, used for flying schools and advanced training squadrons. The plane is chased by an American P-47 and a British Spitfire fighter. The most likely explanation? This represents an early example of “OPFOR” training. OPFOR (short for “opposition force”) matches fighter aircraft against their likely opponents, training pilots to counteract the enemy’s strengths and exploit their weaknesses.
The film itself was a copy of a 16mm Kodachrome original. The original daylight balanced film would have had a low light sensitivity rating of 25 ISO, which would be most appropriate for filming in bright sunlight. The jerkiness of the recorded material suggests heavy vibration from the chase plane the photographer was shooting from. Several other shots in this reel show the film struggling to find enough light to fully expose the film, resulting in dark scenes and difficulty nailing focus. Those issues made creating this digital copy, from a reversal film print displayed on the flatbed film viewer that NARA provides for screening purposes, challenging as well.
Later shots feature activities surrounding a B-17 squadron, including a few shots of Captain Clark Gable one of numerous Hollywood actors who enlisted, those shots suffer from the exposure and focus problems mentioned above.
Often there is more than meets the eye to the footage NARA makes available. Past records management failures often mean that scene descriptions were written without the notes of the photographer, so the full context of the film record is lost. An expert archival media researcher can often put the pieces of the puzzle back together, adding value for your production or publication. Hire an archival media researcher for your next project!
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