Tag: archival footage

The Jet Fighter That Might Have Been

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Today’s film concerns the US Army Air Forces first jet fighter prototype, the XP-59 Bell Airacomet. The film shows four prototypes under active evaluation at Muroc Army Airfield in California, now Edwards Air Force Base. The prototype’s first flight was in October 1942. The XP-59 was frequently disguised on the tarmac by the ruse of attaching a fake propeller! The plane was under powered, floundering in head-to-head testing with contemporary Allied fighters, so no combat match ups with Axis fighters ever occurred. The prototype was never accepted for active service or full-production. It remained as a test bed and trainer for several years after the war. In total, 66 planes in 7 variants were produced. Six air frames survive today.

This reel, a film work print, has not been digitized by the National Archives, so this look at the Airacomet prototype is not widely available. I digitized from the work print using a camera pointed to the flatbed film viewer in the National Archives Research Room. The only detailed description of this film is also only available in the Research Room.

18-CS-7316 shotcardDownload

Content like this is accessible only by the efforts of professional media researchers such as myself. Hire a professional researcher for your next project, publication, or production!

Rediscovering WWII’s Forgotten Films: A Unique GI Adventure

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Happy 2026 to all!

Today’s film is a forgotten piece of fluff found in the “Combat Subjects” series of the US Army Air Forces in WWII. Basically, a few GI’s find a derelict Kubelwagen (aka “German Jeep”) and decide to get it running again! Volkswagen resurrected the design in the late 60’s as “The Thing”.

The story was a welcome diversion from the grim tales of war. The fact that it has sound makes it stand out. Only a handful of films with composite sound are found in this series. There were a few ways to record sound optically but field recording was a different thing from commercial film. In this case the recording was likely made on transcription discs, later converted to an optical sound track in a lab.

Films like this are under-described in the National Archives on-line catalog, and are usually unavailable digitally. This particular film was recorded off the flatbed film viewers in NARA’s research room, no other digital copy exists. A professional media researcher can navigate the resources available in the research room and add value to your next production!

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  • The Jet Fighter That Might Have Been

    Today’s film concerns the US Army Air Forces first jet fighter prototype, the XP-59 Bell Airacomet. The film shows four prototypes under active evaluation at Muroc Army Airfield in California, now Edwards Air Force Base. The prototype’s first flight was in October 1942. The XP-59 was frequently disguised on the tarmac by the ruse of…

  • Crawling From the Wreckage!

    Today’s reel offers a rare sound-on-film interview of a pilot that crawled from the wreckage of a captured Japanese aircraft. The pilot, Lt. Bernard D. Dyrlands, was apparently ferrying a captured Japanese Army “Nate” fighter for analysis by Technical Air Intelligence personnel. The plane developed fuel system problems and had to land immediately. He crashed…

  • America’s First Production Jet Fighter

    Meet the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, America’s first production jet fighter! The plane was designed and built in 143 days in 1943 and entered regular service in February 1945. Powered by a single British built Halford power plant, the plane could reach 503mph in level flight. The US Army Air Forces chose to keep the…

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Back in the USSR!

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Today’s film from the National Archives and Records Administration (“NARA”) illustrates a forgotten part of World War II, the titanic allied effort to arm and equip a future adversary: the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (“USSR”). A major import channel for these supplies was through the Persian Gulf by way of a network of ports and airbases in Iran and Iraq.

This roll, shot by the US Army Air Forces in 1943, opens with the American star livery on an aircraft being repainted red for the Russians. Hundreds of large crates and ships suggest this a large, port, probably in Basra, Iraq. Enlisted personnel move crated aircraft around, opening one to reveal a “factory-fresh” Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter plane. Russian and American officers inspect the shipments and greet each other. The attitude illustrated is very much “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”!

Films like these aren’t well described in NARA’s on-line catalog, truly accessible only by those willing to work in the physical research rooms with the background granted by years of experience. Hire a professional researcher for your next production or publication and add impact!

Casablanca!

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Today’s film, shot by US Army Air Forces photographers, presents no mysteries. Instead the reel is a gift that keeps on giving. Shot during President Roosevelt’s allied conference in early 1943, the film touches many bases. It opens with a segment of FDR meeting with Free French commander General Phillipe LeClerc and continues with a session showing FDR conferring with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (good closeups!) The roll concludes with an early sound film of Roosevelt conferring the Congressional Medal of Honor on Col. William Wilbur as Generals George Marshall and George Patton look on. The sound segment continues with interviews of African American service members.

This film is barely described in the National Archives’ Catalog by the title “PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT & [AND] CHURCHILL AT CASABLANCA”. No digital surrogate is available on the Catalog. This copy was made by pointing a digital camera toward a vintage film work print on the flatbed film viewers provided in the National Archives’ Moving Image and Sound Research Room. As the work product of US government photographers, the film is uncopyrighted and available for use.

Content like this is usually ONLY screenable in the National Archives Research Rooms. Professional archival researchers can unlock unique content like this for your presentation, publication or production.

The “Camp Activities” Mystery: Discovering Normandy Airfields

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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 planted 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!