Tag: history

Aftermath of Battle: Pointe du Hoc

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Today we’re continuing our memory visit to Normandy’s Omaha Beach and specifically, the promontory at Pointe du Hoc. If you read our previous post, you know that the coastal artillery battery sited on this high ground was a primary objective for June 6th, the first day of the D-Day assault.

This battery sat atop a 100 foot high cliff and loomed large in Allied planning. The Ranger groups training in the United Kingdom spent months preparing for numerous cliff assault scenarios. The objective was assigned to the 2nd Ranger battalion. Thanks to their training and expert naval gunfire, they achieved their objectives. On reaching the summit, they discovered that a few weeks before D-Day, the captured French artillery making up this battery had been relocated to a nearby orchard. The Rangers found these large guns and disabled them with thermite grenades.

The “featured film” today, from the US Navy motion picture film material at the National Archives and Records Administration, is perhaps the earliest film of the aftermath of the Rangers’ assault. WARNING! This film shows dead casualties of the assault.

The film (identified by my sharp-eyed colleague, Thomas Hogan) opens with a scene of wounded being ferried back to the ships in the English Channel. The action quickly moves to a landing party that appears to be surveying the battlefield. Shell holes and abandoned equipment are all around the tide line. The camera quickly pans the high cliffs from below and settles on a precarious rope ladder. The landing party climbs the ladder, and the following shot scans a scene of desolation. The German strong points have all been demolished, if not by the Rangers, then by naval gunfire support. The party then climbs down the rope ladder, as the camera pans down, recording that the naval gunfire (falling short) had effectively pock marked the tidal zone with large craters. The following shots are heavily overexposed, and depicts a USO show taking place on the USS Texas.

The only available written description for these film is this (from the National Archives catalog): “This unedited film shows coastal gun batteries, dead German soldiers, and wounded US military personnel as they were moved from landing craft to the USS Texas (BB-35).” The film unmistakably depicts the scaling ladder used by the Rangers at Pointe du Hoc. The inadequate description, combined with the unremarkable title given: “Coastal Gun Batteries: Dead Germans” suggests that the initial catalogers may have not had access to any of the written documentation that should have accompanied the film. The film may have been taken by a Chief Photographer or Photographer’s mate from the USS Texas as part of the landing party. The state of the battlefield, with bodies un-recovered, suggest this may have been only a day or two after the Rangers’ assault. Because the invasion was planned for mid-tide, with an incoming tide, the fact that in the film the tide was low, suggests that this could have been shot on the afternoon of June 6th at the earliest.

U.S. Navy still photograph shows the rope ladder used by the Rangers at Pointe du Hoc

Inadequately described film materials are “par for the course” in government film archives and in many other contexts. The practiced, critical eye of a professional media researcher can ensure that your production, article or publication has the content you need to make a high-impact presentation.

Home Front Newsreels of World War I

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This moving image clip was created by the U.S. Government’s “Committee for Public Information”, the centralized public communication entity responsible for spreading the Allied viewpoint during World War I. The “Official War Review” newsreel was created by the U.S. Government, and distributed by U.S. Pathe. While the National Archives has the textual records created by the Committee, it appears the original film was not accessioned and preserved. The footage itself exists in many other forms, including the footage collection created by the U.S. Army Signal Corps. What is unique is the presentation, edited for screening to home-front audiences. As often happens in film of this vintage, the author has yet to locate the original film elements of these newsreels. Because of the age of the film, the lack of any “after-market” for newsreel content at the time, and the flammable nature of the nitro-cellulose film stock used in the U.S. up until 1950, the original media may no longer exist, something common to many films from the silent era. This particular clip shows evidence of nitrate decomposition, although the print I copied was a safety film copy. It is likely that the film print reached the end of its distribution window and was abandoned once it was out of date. Prints like this show dirt and scratches from a hard life circulating at local cinemas.

As far as I can tell, only six of these newsreel releases exist at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (“NARA”), and another two at the Library of Congress. The six at NARA only exist because they were donated to the U.S. Government by the University of Colorado Medical School. How it came to be at that institution is a mystery, but the University may have been involved in training doctors for military service. According to a published Report from the House of Representatives from 1940, 62 other films from this collection (including 12 of these newsreel releases) were recommended for disposal due to advanced nitrate decomposition. The Archivist of the United States at the time also remarked “that said records have no permanent value or historical interest to the National Archives.” It may be that other releases in this series exist at other repositories.

Films like these aren’t available from the National Archives on-line Catalog and are accessible only to researchers able to visit the National Archives facilities and copy for themselves. Professional researchers add value to your production or publication. Ask me how!

Aftermath of the Battle of Aachen

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This reel is taken from a work print, a film element intended for editing purposes, and shows evidence of its age and a hard life. The film is one of hundreds of thousands at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) that remain unavailable digitally. For this particular roll, all that exists in the National Archives Catalog is a scan of an Army Signal Corps shot card. I shot this film from a flatbed film viewer in the public research room using a mirror-less digital camera.

The footage, dating from October 1944, shows the destruction wrought on the city of Aachen after many days of air and artillery bombardment followed by house-to-house street fighting. Civilian refugees struggle with their handful of possessions in suitcases through devastated streets. Sadly, such scenes of urban devastation seem very relevant today.

Only a professional researcher can provide timely access to such unseen archival footage and stills, adding impact to your production or publication.

Women at Work!

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Women’s Army Corps mechanics service a vehicle in the only U.S. Army motor pool operated by women in Australia. From the original Army Signal Corps negative taken September 23, 1943.

Digitization via digital camera is quicker and offers higher quality than all but the most expensive dedicated film scanners. Capture this quality for your next publication or production. Ask me how!

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