"The Real Story of John Ford's Navy on D-Day" Topic

"In his 1994 book about D-Day, historian Stephen Ambrose wrote that during the Normandy landings, Hollywood director John Ford led a team of cameramen on Omaha Beach whose job was to "take movies of everything." As the battle raged, Ford dashed about, placing his men behind obstacles to shield them from enemy fire. Their film—most of it in color—was then sent back to London for processing but was never seen by the public. "Apparently," said Ford, "the Government was afraid to show so many American casualties on the screen."

The Ford quotes came from a 1964 interview published in The American Legion Magazine. Ford went on to say he believed his footage had been preserved after the war. After the report appeared in Ambrose's book, historians began a decades-long hunt for the missing film. It has never been found. Now, recently discovered documents from the US National Archives shed new light on the lost film of D-Day.

In 1934, John Ford applied for an appointment as a lieutenant commander in the United States Naval Reserve. Though he was an experienced yachtsman, the forty-year-old filmmaker's greatest selling point for receiving a commission was his status in Hollywood. In addition to having made several successful features about the Navy, Ford stated he had "numerous influential friends" who could be "of real value to the Navy in time of peace and in time of war." Ironically, for a man who had mastered a visual medium, Ford's eyesight was poor and he flunked his physical. But the Navy wanted him, so he was granted a waiver and he received his commission…"

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Armand

Thanks for the link. This is a really great piece that should be read by anyone interested in D-Day and the photographers that filmed it (and in some cases didn't film it).

I've heard that almost all of the D-Day footage was lost, having been collected in one batch for transfer to a ship, then was lost when it was accidently dropped into the Channel during transfer…