Posted on 05/31/2014 3:39:38 AM PDT by SuperSonic
The only known Allied colour footage of World War Two was uncovered in the attic of a Hollywood director by his son.
When the warship HMS Belfast fired the shot that launched the D-Day landings, it was carrying an unlikely passenger - Hollywood film director George Stevens.
With Allied forces set to storm the Normandy beaches of Nazi-occupied France, Stevens was on-board making a unique 16 millimetre colour film journal.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Well done.
The World Wars was unwatchable
There were a few good spots. A few. However, I got tired of cussing and muting/skipping the spots with McLame, Panetta and that phony Colin Powell.
Except the fact that it was not a “civil war” to begin with. No one tried to overthrow the federal goverment. That is yankee propaganda.
Ireland sat out the war, and Germany and Italy were allies against France. It is a marvel that a lot of the American military was composed of men of Irish, German, or Italian descent. American exceptionalism produced one hell of a fighting generation.
So yes, it was a civil war.
Remember that the Confederacy was never recognized by the U.S. as a separate country. They couldn't even get recognition from non-belligerents. For example, Jefferson Davis sent envoys over to Europe but they were snubbed because even Britain and France could see that their claims that they were their own nation were preposterous.
That doesn't square with this:
"On April 12, 1861, General P.G.T. Beauregard, in command of the Confederate forces around Charleston Harbor, opened fire on the Union garrison holding Fort Sumter. At 2:30pm on April 13 Major Robert Anderson, garrison commander, surrendered the fort and was evacuated the next day."
Diplomatic relations are only given to nations. Europe viewed this as a civil war, not a war of the Southern Nation against the Northern Nation.
If I remember correctly, there was lots of footage taken at D-Day. When someone was taking the reels back to the ship, he accidentally dropped the duffel bag with the film overboard and it was lost.
Love that footage of Patton yukking it up with the Brits while Montgomery is unable to conceal his loathing of Ol’ Blood n’ Guts. In return Patton saw Monty as a fuel thief who slowed the advance of his Third Army.
In 1964 I saw a `reunion’ on split screen TV of Eisenhower and Montgomery. Even as old men they still hated each other and spoke their pleasantries through clenched teeth. My Dad who went ashore on D-day plus 2 watched that awkward meeting and laughed out loud.
It’s amazing to see original WWII color footage & realize that this was seventy years ago and that nearly everyone shown in it has long since died of old age.
Heck, I can’t believe how old Vietnam veterans look these days (I’m one).
For later
The History Channel is advertising a new 2 hour program titled “D-Day in HD” that will air on June 6th.
Interesting to note, that the HMS Belfast is now a museum permanently moored on the River Thames, down near Tower Bridge.
My dad was in the South Pacific – US Army and fought in the 2nd Battle of Bougainville and in the Philippines, the liberation of Manila. There was for a time a reporter imbedded with them and I’ve been looking for photos or film clips with my dad in them but never have. My niece and nephew went to the Smithsonian a few years back and swear that one of the exhibits on WWII had a picture of my dad, but when I looked up the picture, while it resembled him, it wasn’t.
But I do have two cigar boxes full of B&W photos my dad took during the war with his Brownie camera, mostly taken in Manila.
Polish pilots in the RAF 303rd Squadron saved Britain during the Battle of Britain.
Then there was Monte Cassino.
The fact is, the Poles never stopped fighting the Germans, they never surrendered, even as the Germans and Soviets occupied their land.
Thanks for the link. It seems to be a complete production by George Stevens, Jr., son of the man who ran the film unit assigned to the ETO.
I was stationed in Britain in the early 1970s. ITN (the “Beeb’s” commercial competition, ran the “World at War” series, the same one that the History Channel is running today. I thought it was excellent at the time and still learn something new with each new episodes. That’s red meat for all WW II buffs. I have no memory of that cataclysmic event, as I was a toddler when it ended. Among my first memories is the boys on our street in SW Detroit returning home.
That’s a fascinating story. Maybe you should write a book about it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
