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soldiers identity in famous D-day landings footage


ka bar
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Hello to you all.

 

There is a small piece of black and white footage of the D-day landings which I have seen on 2 documentaries..."The War" by Ken Burns and "The World at War" narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier

 

You may have seen it.

 

There are about 5 or six soldiers running up the beach.

 

One soldier is killed instantly and drops just as he leaves the water.

 

There is another soldier who appears to be wounded and is struggling to stand, he seems to get up slightly but then falls onto his knees again.

 

I have seen this footage on various media

 

Does anyone have any idea who these soldiers may be?

 

It has intrigued me for years.

 

Regards, Ben.

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Not sure about their identity Ben, but I think that may be footage taken by Coast Guard photographers. Potential clue for you. Please keep us posted. You may already know this, but I would be very surprised if the photographers found documented that information. Their film clappers were often the only info saved for each reel when they shot combat footage. However, you never know...

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Thanks, good start capa.

 

I will search coast guard photographers/Normandy landings

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1m 05 secs in. It's an often shown clip. I'd have thought the chances of IDing those poor guys are pretty slim.

 

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Got the footage on YouTube, a few messages are asking the same thing as me.

 

No one seems to know who he was.

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0Y4UgLWTGI

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Yeah, that's the footage sabrejet....

 

Better than my attempt at a link!

 

If/ when you want to add a live-link, click on the small BBCode icon in the reply tool-bar above (blue-green square) Then, select "media" from the drop down menu and paste your link's URL into the box and "ok". ( You might need to delete the words "media" which will bracket the link....media]https:// etc.....[media )

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Thanks jet.....

 

Now, how in-the-HECK would I go about finding out the identity of those fallen soldiers?

 

Apparently, they are unidentified....

 

Very sad.

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Thanks jet.....

 

Now, how in-the-HECK would I go about finding out the identity of those fallen soldiers?

 

Apparently, they are unidentified....

 

Very sad.

 

Sadly, they are just two casualties out of thousands on the day. Given the chaos and confusion that reigned in the early stages of the landings, probably the best that could be done is to maybe ID the unit...29th or BRO...and even that would be a long shot (no pun intended!)

 

Curiously though, there are several other well-known D-Day landing clips...both British / Commonwealth and US, where full faces are visible and the men...or their relatives...have subsequently come forward to identify themselves. Some have even been contested via multiple claims. The fog of war!

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Maybe finding their identity could be a life long journey for me.

 

This clip has been always ingrained in me for years

 

I don't know why, but it has....

 

I get very emotional when I see it

 

It is just so raw and real

 

Those beautiful, brave boys on D-day.

 

I will never, ever forget them and nor shall my 11 yr old son and 9 yr old daughter.

 

I may be an Aussie, but the yanks on that day owned the world

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Maybe finding their identity could be a life long journey for me.

 

This clip has been always ingrained in me for years

 

I don't know why, but it has....

 

I get very emotional when I see it

 

It is just so raw and real

 

Those beautiful, brave boys on D-day.

 

I will never, ever forget them and nor shall my 11 yr old son and 9 yr old daughter.

 

I may be an Aussie, but the yanks on that day owned the world

 

And the British....and the Canadians....and the French....etc.

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Most of this combat footage are just "rushes" -that is film with no sound. Most of these will have been shot with no follow up. It's highley likely that these particular casualties will ever be identified.

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Most of this combat footage are just "rushes" -that is film with no sound. Most of these will have been shot with no follow up. It's highley likely that these particular casualties will ever be identified.

 

Don't you mean unlikely Rich? ;)

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panzerbait

The photographer is believed to be from my home state of Minnesota. Walt Halloran is still living.

 

http://www.minnesotamonthly.com/media/Minnesota-Monthly/June-2014/Ripple-Effect-Photographing-Normandy-Beach-at-D-day/

I would have to second that opinion. He was a featured speaker at a Ft. Snelling WW2 History Roundtable event about 10 years ago. I believe he came from the Rochester, MN. area.

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willysmb44

Frankly, I've always wondered if these scenes are indeed from Normandy at all or if they were staged.

We've all seen the same incorrect scenes used in documentaries over the years, part of the 'greatest hits' reel that every archive hands over for popular subjects.

God alone knows whern/where that was taken, I'd think...

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Thank you USMF for your support

 

My posts may be better served using the term "Allies" where possible in the future.

 

I know that there are seasoned combat veterans who use this forum

 

My words will be better chosen in the future

 

To Willysmb44......

 

I never considered that footage to be staged

 

I don't know.....the way that soldier fell, just seems too real to me

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An awful lot of footage was staged. One of the fun things about watching the raw footage is seeing guys do a few retakes of some combat action, or one turning to the camera and being able to clearly read the lips saying " Was that Ok?"

 

There is no way of knowing how it was, and doubtful if it can ever be proven if it is real or staged.

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Lee, Jon:

 

No doubt, combat photographers have asked their subjects to repeat or create action on their behalf. Along the lines of "Hey Mac, I didn't get the shot of you chucking that grenade over the wall. Can you pitch one more for me?"

 

But are you suggesting that the long shot of the GI hustling up the beach and suddenly collapsing is a faked or staged shot? Perhaps not even in Normandy?

 

Rob L.

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If this film segment is "staged" then it is the best bit of acting I have ever seen. At frame 1:03 you can see bullets spraying on the water and the poor soldier in the far left is horribly cut in two at the legs. His legs are immediately folded forward in an unnatural position. It is terribly sad to watch, and has always upset me to watch the clip.

 

post-10825-0-51541700-1404829511.jpg

 

post-10825-0-11339500-1404829547.jpg

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If this film segment is "staged" then it is the best bit of acting I have ever seen. At frame 1:03 you can see bullets spraying on the water and the poor soldier in the far left is horribly cut in two at the legs. His legs are immediately folded forward in an unnatural position. It is terribly sad to watch, and has always upset me to watch the clip.

 

 

I see what you are talking about. I never noticed that before about the soldier's legs. It is very unnatural and disturbing.

 

....Kat

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You would think someone in the world must know someone who knew someone who was with him in the Landing Craft.

 

There are a few landmarks in the clip, fence line? Rocks in the water?

 

Now its starting to bug me again

 

Oh well, all I can say is God rest his brave soul

 

Maybe I should leave this alone now and let those soldiers who died there have a peaceful, well earned rest.

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But I guess if this was the first wave, then the attrition rate must have been enormous.

 

So, the numbers of the survivors in the early stages would be minimal

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willysmb44

I didn't say it was staged, only that we don't know for certain that it wasn't. And that, I still stand by.

I also suggested that we really have no idea if that scene was filmed at Normandy, and to me, that question is still unanswered. How do we know it wasn't filmed, say, in Italy, or anywhere else for that matter?

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