As part of an extended look back at D-Day for the 82nd anniversary of the assault on Hitler’s Europe, today’s film looks at PT boat operations in the English Channel.
Regular readers of this blog know that written descriptions found at NARA are often misleading, incomplete, incorrect, or missing all together. In this case the shot card for the film, shot by the US Navy and the Office of Strategic Services (“OSS”), identifies this as having been shot on August 11, 1944. That description may apply to the first part of the compiled reel, but the second half of the film includes the following slate:
We know from related research that Lt. Marcus Armistead was filming aboard PT boats in the channel on June 5th and 6th. Specifically, he was tagging along on missions by PT Boat Squadron 2(2). Commanded by Cmdr. John Bulkely, this small squadron of 3-4 “Higgins” PT boats was tasked with supporting special operations in the Channel, and running messages as needed.
Armistead was a veteran of “John Ford’s Navy”, a member of the veteran Hollywood director’s navy reserve unit which evolved into the “Field Photographic Branch” of the OSS. He was responsible for the testing and mounting of the fixed cameras installed on dozens of D-Day landing craft. He later moved onto several other projects for the OSS and the US Navy through the Korean War.
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