Today’s film presents a mystery. The given title of this Army Air Forces (“AAF”) film found at the National Archives and Records Administration (“NARA”) is simply “Camp Activities”. This is the first of four rolls showing the construction and early operation of an Advanced Landing Ground airstrip in Normandy about 10 days after D-Day, making this one of the earliest Allied airfields in liberated France.
The description provided by the AAF provides no location and the only clue is a brief shot of a local church or abbey at 1:25. It looks like the back half of the church tower is missing.
The strip was apparently setup in a farmer’s field. The camp for Army personnel looks like it was setup next to one of Normandy’s numerous canals, but apparently the soldiers and airmen also setup in nearby wrecked gliders, suggesting this was a glider landing ground on D-Day. The film includes numerous shots of WWII aircraft: P-47 fighters, Spitfires, C-47’s, Horsa gliders, and CG-4A gliders in action (and also as wrecks on the ground).
My suspicion is that this was the Carentan Army Airfield (Advanced Landing Ground A-10), which is today the site of the Normandy Victory Museum. These airfields provided life-saving landing alternatives for aircraft and crews in trouble. They were often used to evacuate casualties as well. I’m hopeful that Norman locals can chime in here to help conclusively identify the site!
UPDATE!
Many thanks to my good friend and colleague Tom Hogan who identifed the church as Saint-Côme-du-Mont near Carentan. Further information received from a Normand suggests this is landing strip A-6, aka Beuzeville/Ste. Mère Eglise airstrip, since it was closer to the glider landing ground that figures so prominently in this film.
Context is critical to gain the full impact of archival film for your production. An experienced archival media researcher can leverage the full power of archives for you!
Historicity Research Services 