D-Day Filming: For Real. A Comparison of 'Truth' and 'Reality' in "Saving Private Ryan" and
Combat Film by the British Army's Film and Photographic Unit
Author(s): Toby Haggith
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Film History, Vol. 14, No. 3/4, War and Militarism (2002), pp. 332-353
Published by: Indiana University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3815436 .
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Film History, Volume 14, pp. 332-353, 2002. Copyright ? John Libbey
ISSN: 0892-2160. Printed in Malaysia
D-Day
A
Filming
For
comparison
of
in
'reality'
Ryan
the
-
and
British
Real.
'truth'
and
saving
combat
film
by
Army's
Film
and
Private
Photographic
unit
Toby Haggith
teven Spielberg's Saving PrivateRyan (1998) is
acclaimed for its realistic battle sequences. In
part Spielberg achieved this realism by mimicking the style of combat film shot by Allied
cameramen. But how does this representation compare with the real thing, taken by men under fire using
basic, cumbersome cameras? The purpose of this
article is to explore these differences and evaluate
how these two different cinematic approaches contribute to our understanding of the Normandy campaign and warfare in general.
The release of Saving PrivateRyan is regarded
as a landmark in the history of war films, because of
the visceral power and brutalrealism of its treatment
of combat, particularly in the opening 26 minutes
which covers the landing of US soldiers on the
'Omaha' sector of the Normandy beachhead. For
film archivists and historians privileged with an intimate knowledge of the film and photographs taken
by official cameramen serving with the soldiers at
Normandy, the hyperbole surrounding the release of
Saving PrivateRyan offered a fascinating opportunity
to compare the feature film version with the 'real
footage'.1 Not only was this an interesting exercise
in itself but it provided a context in which to screen
this extraordinaryofficialfilm in its unedited and mute
state. Most members of the general public are
S
scarcely aware that cameramen filmed at D-Day and
their only opportunity to view this film would have
been when it was incorporated in wartime newsreels
or, more likely, in short and oft-repeated sequences
used in television documentaries. The public was
given this opportunity at two lectures I presented on
behalf of the ImperialWar Museum, at the Museum
of the Moving Image and the ImperialWar Museum,
entitled 'D-Day Filming- for Real'. 2
These lectures involved screening the first 26
minutes of Saving Private Ryan, followed by sequences of official combat film taken by American
and British cameramen, concentrating on the reels
shot by the Britishcameramen of the Army Film and
Photographic Unit (AFPU)who landed on the Sword
and Juno sectors of the Normandy beachhead. As
with the lectures, this paper will begin with a discus-
Toby Haggith works at the Film and Video Archive
of the Imperial War Museum, where he is the head
of Public Services (non-commercial access) and
programmes the cinema. He studied for his PhD at
the Centre for Social History, University of Warwick
and is currently writing a book for IBTauris on British
films about slum clearance and town planning,
1918-1951.
Correspondence to: [email protected]
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333
D-Day Filming- For Real
sion of the characteristicsof the scenes on Omaha
Beach in SavingPrivateRyan,whichwillbe followed
by a briefcomparisonwithsome of the filmSpielberg
viewed when researchingfor his film.The rest and
majorpartof the paperwillcompareSpielberg'sfilm
treatmentof the fightingat Normandywiththe film
shot by the AFPUcameramen.
Some have arguedthatthis is not a faircomparison, as Spielberg's film is set on the Omaha
beach, a positionoverlookedbywell-defended100ft
cliffsand thus a much moredifficultand dangerous
positionforthe Americansoldiersto assaultthanthe
Gold, Sword and Juno beaches, where the British
and Canadianslandedand wherethe AFPUfilmwas
taken.3Althoughthe situationat Omahawas deadly
for the incomingsoldiers, it was also verytough on
the other beaches.4 Thereforethe context in which
the film was shot is not vastly differentfrom the
situationat Omaha. Itis also a more similarexperience thanthatof the Americansoldiersfightinginthe
Italianmountainsor on the atoll of Tarawa,as they
appeared inthe filmsTheBattleof San Pietro(1945)
and Withthe Marinesat Tarawa(1944), which so
influencedSpielbergduringthe makingof his film.
The Americanpartin the Normandyinvasion
was comprehensivelycovered in officialfilm. Accordingto one historiantwenty-threecine cameramen were assigned to cover the invasion,including
twowho landedwiththe soldiers.Aroundfifty35mm
cameras were also mountedon landingbarges and
tanks, forty-seven of which were subsequently
smashed duringthe invasion.5However,most of the
film shot of the landings was lost when the ship
carryingthe footage back to Britainwas sunk.6As a
consequence, althoughthere is plentyof footage of
Omahabeach some days afterD-Day,there is very
littleof the landingson 6 June. Allthat exists in the
Britisharchivesis a tantalisingly
briefsequence inthe
AllieddocumentaryTrueGlory(1945);certainlynot
enough on whichto conducta thoroughstudy.However, the ImperialWarMuseumis the custodianof a
large amount of film of the Britishlandings, taken
fromat least eightdifferentcamerapositions.As this
film was shot in black and white, using cameras
similarto those carriedby US cameramen,itclosely
approximatesto the filmshot at Omaha.7
thatveteranscould recognise and be moved by. In
conversationswithveterans,Spielbergwas struckby
the factthattheyuniversallydismissed the cinematic
recreationof war:'Theyallsaid, thereweretwowars
fought,therewas ourwarandtherewas Hollywood's
war'.8Inorderto makea filmthatwas faithfulto their
experience,he realisedthathe had to do morethan
simply reject Hollywoodconventions for the 'war
film',he had to breaknew and possibly dangerous
ground:'Idid notwantto shoot the picturein a way
thatcouldseem likea Hollywoodproductioncoming
to, you know, a simulationof Omaha Beach, and
makinga gung-ho Rambo-kindof extravaganza.I
wantedthisfilmto be in a way uneasy foraudiences
to bear through'.9Althoughhis otheraims are dramatic and ethical and thus do not directlyaddress
our concerns about truthand reality,we need to
mentionthem here. Firstlyand paradoxically,Spielberg did not want the story to be 'waris hell', he
wanted to find a moment of decency in that hell.
Secondly, we must underlinethat for Spielberg DDayis the historicalturningpointintwentiethcentury
history.He sees it as the startof the Alliedcrusade
that saved the worldfromtyrannyand secured democracy.
Reception of the film
As can be seen fromthe reviewswrittenat the time
of the release of Saving PrivateRyan, Spielberg
seems to have been successful in creatinga high
degree of realism.Geoff Brownwritingin the Times
notedthatSpielbergfoughtthe war'witha degree of
harddetailunprecedentedinfictionalcinema'.10Significantly,and what must have been most gratifying
for Spielberg,was the fact that the filmwas widely
endorsed by US veterans. Even servicemenof the
currentgenerationwere struckby the realismand
even truthof the battlescenes in the film.
An RAFveteranof the GulfWar,writingin the Sun,
felt that the film portrayedthe battle on D-Dayso
thatit had a universalapplication:'Butnext
truthfully
time Clintondecides to loose off a barrageof missiles he should watch this film. Because Saving
PrivateRyanopens one's eyes to the fact thatwars
are not about governments,they are about people.
Waris notglamorousand safe, justbrutal,crueland
- and people die.'11So successfully
bloodyterrifying
What did Spielberg set out to
were the battle scenes and especially the Omaha
achieve in the film?
beach scenes recreated,thatthe RoyalMarineswho
By depictingthe horrorand brutalityof waras truth- wereextrasinthe filmfoundthe filmingbroughtback
fullyas possible, Spielbergwanted to make a film memories of their experiences in the Falklands
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334
334
...
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a -Tobv
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-T-
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randomnessand rapiditythatgives no respite.Moreover, the bulkof the dead are Americans;this is no
'Rambo'or John Waynefilm,whereeveryAmerican
death is repaidwitha harvestof enemy casualties.
Neitheris death clean and instant:for many it is
painfuland slow; gaping wounds spill internalorgans withthe graphicdetailone mightexpect to see
in an operatingtheatreor a medicaltrainingfilm.
Another important Hollywood convention,
even cliche, of warfilmsand disaster movies is that
the audience is given time to become acquainted
with the characters before they die. Spielberg rejected thisestablisheddramatictechnique,because
he was less interestedin the audience developinga
relationshipwithhis charactersthanwith'buildinga
kinship'withall the soldiers at Omahabeach.15
Inorderto recreatethe experienceof the fightat
ing Normandy,Spielbergand his colleagues went
to great lengthsto makethe battles lookand sound
historicallyauthentic.He consulted militaryand historicaladvisors16and helpedthe actors 'get intorole'
by makingthem undergoten days of basic military
Mostof the extraswere servingsoldiersor
training.17
ex-soldierswho were not onlyfamiliarwithweapons
and combat exercises, but could help to choreographthe beach assault, the skirmishingand other
aspects of the fighting in Normandy.In a rather
Fig.1. Saving War.12EvenNeilAschersonin a not uncriticalreview macabre
fidelityto truth,Spielberg recruitedreal
Private
Ryan inthe Observer,conceded aboutthe Omahascene:
for the soldiers who became wounded.
amputees
(Dreamworks'Atthe end, almost anyone must feel, Yes, that is
importantand powerful
Pictures,
1998). what it must have been like'.13Accordingto some The sound is a particularly
of this film and there was a great effortto
aspect
reviewers,Spielbergwas also successful in achievensureauthenticity.Forexample,the sound-mendid
ing one of his otheraims, of abandoninghis famed more than
just use the correct ammunitionand
sentimentalityand manipulativestyle: 'he has come
when recordinggun fire,theywrappedhalf
weapons
of age as an artist',wroteJohn Wrathallin Sight &
a dead cow in a militaryuniformand recordedthe
Sound.14
sound of bulletspenetratingthe carcass.
These effortsto recreatethe look and sound
How does Saving Private Ryan differ
of combat authenticallywere admirablythorough
in its depiction of battle from other
and widely praised when the film was released;
war films?
however,there is nothingnovel in this approachto
close
aim
was
to
the
audience
as
filmingwar.18As far back as the 1920s and 1930s
Spielberg's
bring
as possible to the experience of being in combat, filmmakerssuch as KingVidorwhen makingTheBig
even ifhe riskedalienatingmembersof his audience Parade (1925) and LewisMilestoneduringthe proin doing so. In order to do this he broke some duction of All Quiet on the WesternFront(1930)19
importantconventions in Hollywood'sdepiction of went to similarlengths to recreate the look of the
warfare.The amountof blood and gore is not new in battlefieldsof the FirstWorldWar.20Directorssuch
cinema,certainlynot infantasyorscience fiction,but as Abel Gance, KingVidor,Jean Renoirand Bruce
it is unprecedentedin a Hollywoodtreatmentof a Woolfalso realisedthe value of employingveterans
realisticor historicalsubject.The numberof casual- and serving soldiers as actors, extras and military
ties is bewilderingfor the audience: whereverthey advisors.21Thistraditioncontinuedafter1945, most
look men are being hit by projectilesand with a notablywhen DarylF.Zanuckwas makinghis epic
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335
D-Day Filming - For Real
about D-Day, The Longest Day (1962).22 In order to
recreate the battle of Arnhem authentically, for Theirs
is the Glory (1945), Brian Desmond Hurst probably
went further than Milestone, Zanuck and the rest,
when filming at the original locations, a year or so
after the campaign had ended and with all the roles
performed by veterans of the battle!23
But the most interesting of the techniques
adopted by Spielberg to recreate the look of battle
was his attempt to produce a pastiche of combat
film. Although previous filmmakers such as Asquith,
Milestone and Stuart Cooper had followed this practise, none had done so with the thoroughness and
technological sophistication with which Spielberg
approached the problem.24
Presumably because of the shortage of film
taken at 'Omaha', Spielberg researched widely when
developing his version of combat film. For the look
of the film, he wanted to 'duplicate' the blurred and
atmospheric photographs taken by Robert Capa at
Omaha.25 The camerawork itself was influenced by
the cine film shot by the US combat cameramen, in
particularin The Battle for San Pietro (1945) and With
the MarinesAt Tarawa(1944). The Battle of San Pietro
covered the American battle in December 1943, to
dislodge the Germans from the mountainous Lieri
valley 40 miles south east of Rome.26 Withthe Marines at Tarawashowed the American attack in November 1943 on the Japanese-held Tarawa atol in
the Gilbert Islands.
Spielberg noticed that in these two films the
cameramen, quite wisely, kept very close to the
ground. He also noticed that the camera wobbled
and shook from the blast of the shells.
Spielberg realised that by mimicking the verite
style of the combat cameraman he could cut the
distance between the camera and the audience:
'Hopefully if we've played our cards right and done
our jobs, the audience will think, 'We were there".27
In other words, he could help the audience to 'feel
like' a soldier or cameraman at Normandy. In order
to do this he shot all the scenes with a hand held
camera and used a 'shaker lens' to recreate the
wobbles and vibrations created by the blast of shells
and gun-fire. This technique was also used for dramatic reasons. As Spielberg explained, the constant
movement: 'made the film nervous to look at, which
is exactly the kind of feeling that the soldiers were
feeling themselves'.28
He was also quite prepared to let production
values drop in order to recreate the immediacy and
rawness of the combat footage. During interviews
Spielberg stressed that he had not edited out the
mistakes that occurred during shooting. Spielberg
did not pioneer this technique, it was John Ford,
when making the Battle of Midway (1942), who decided to retain a short sequence of the film thrown
off the camera gate and out of frame by a shell blast,
because he realised that it brought a powerful sense
of verisimilitude to the film.29
As well as including and even artificiallycreating camera movement, the Saving PrivateRyan cameramen let water and blood fall onto the lens. Indoing
so the cameramen were committing the cardinal sin
of making the audience aware of the camera. Even
in the reflexive field of documentary, this particular
technique could only appear in the most humourous
and satirical films, but in commercial cinema such
mistakes would be unacceptable.
In addition to this innovative camera style,
Spielberg and his chief cinematographer Janusz
Kaminski, introduced some technical changes so
that the film stock itself had the appearance of combat film. They used less saturated film to make it
seem like 1940s colour stock, and then applied a
process to stretch the colours still further. Camera
lenses produced during the war did not have a
protective coating to reduce glare, so the lens coatings were removed which created flaring on the film.
To furtherenhance a sense of realism, the degree of
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the
Fig. 2. With
Marines
at
Tarawa
(US
Marine
Corps,
1944).
Toby Haggith
336
pography and fighting at the Atoll were not applicable to Normandy.31
As we have seen, Capa's dramatic photographs at Omaha were of great influence in the look
and film technique which Spielberg developed for
the beach scenes. He was struck by the blurred,
distorted images of the soldiers close to shore, a
result, he thought, of Capa's agitation and movement under fire. In fact the reason for the blurred
images was a mistake by the film developer who
'cooked' the negatives. There should have been no
reason for camera shake to spoil the images at
Omaha because Capa used a Contax, a camera with
a very fast shutter. Although as Capa ironicallynoted,
caption writers at the time turned this error into a
virtue by explaining that the cameraman's hands had
been shaking badly.32
The AFPU
Now let us compare the two film versions of the
Fig. 3.
Canadians
at
disembarking
Junobeachvia
therampinthe
bowsofan
assaultlanding
craft.The
sequencewas
filmedbyan
automatic
camera
fixedina boat
steeredbyRoyal
Navalcoxswain
James
Herbert
Peach.
War
[Imperial
IWM
Museum:
FLM
2510.]
shutterwas changed from180 to 45 degrees, which
D-Daylandingsand see whetherSavingPrivateRyan
still stands up to the claims of truthand realitymade
for it. But first I will provide some background to the
between Pietro,
Comparisons
Britishfilming on D-Day, including brief details about
Tarawa and Ryan
the cameramen, their training and the equipment
Thereis not space here, nor is it the purpose of the they carried.
Seven cameramen of the No.5 Section of the
essay, to makea detailedcomparisonof these films;
however,it is necessary to make some general ob- AFPU were given the job of going in with the first
servations.30On closer examinationit is clear that troops to assault the beaches at around 7.30 a.m.
Spielbergwas unwiseto base his versionof combat on 6 June. They were Captain Lesley Evans and
filmso closely on these two films. Manyfilmhistor- sergeants Desmond O'Neill, William Greenhalgh,
ians have questionedthe authenticityof a numberof Norman Clague, lan Grant and George Laws. Bethe dramaticscenes of combat portrayedin John cause of the danger, the cameramen to go in with
Huston's The Battle of San Pietro. Jerome Kuehl the firsttroops were asked to volunteer. Slightly later,
recalledthatone cataloguerironicallydescribedthe Sergeants Ernest Walterand Richard Leatherbarrow
landed at Nan-Red sector of the Juno beach near the
filmas being 'entirelyauthenticexcept for the sections of reconstruction'.The suspicion is confirmed village of St. Aubin-sur-Mer, about 30-45 minutes
by the shot sheets of the out-takesof the filmingat after the first wave of Canadian troops.
In line with the selection policy set up for No.
San Pietro,manyof whichreferto scenes of combat
that were re-enacted.3?aInthe case of Withthe Ma- 5 Section, all the cameramen at D-Day had been
rines at Tarawathe authenticityof the scenes por- serving soldiers before their training at Pinewood
trayed has never been in doubt. The strikingthing and some like lan Grant and Jimmy Mapham had
about Tarawais the scope of the filming,which been in the thick of the action, at Dunkirkand North
includes a numberof scenes showing the US Ma- Africa respectively. The other criterionwas for film or
rines firingtheirweapons and, in the same image, photographic experience. Billy Greenhalgh had
the target of theirfiring,includingone unique mo- been a professional cameraman in civilianlife, LeathmentinwhichJapanese soldierscan be seen fleeing erbarrow an apprentice portrait photographer and
a bunkersurroundedby Marines.The point is that O'Neill had been a trainee press photographer. Althe kindof close combatfilmedat Tarawa,illustrated though film and photographic experience was desirbythe scene describedabove, was rarelyduplicated able, it was clearly not essential, as some of the
outside the Pacifictheatre,suggesting that the to- cameramen who were accepted and successfully
made the film crisper and more staccato.
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337
D-Day Filming - For Real
inductedintothe AFPUhad no professionalexperience of camerawork.For example Ernest Walter
could onlydescribe himselfas a keen amateurphotographer.It should also be noted that few of the
cameramenat D-Dayhad any experiencewithcinecameras beforetheirtrainingat Pinewood.
The AFPUtrainingcourse at Pinewoodlasted
for three months and involvedboth still and cine
photography.The recruitsweretaughthowto set up
quickly(focussingand settingthe lens aperture)and
to speed load in halfa minute.Theywere also given
instructionon camera aesthetics relatingto shotcompositionand to considerthe roleof the editorby
abiding by basic cinematicconventionsabout 'not
crossing the line'or alteringthe eye-line.Theywere
taughtto shoot insuch a waythatthe picturescould
be used in a newsreel.Thereforethey were shown
how to develop a simple story and use a logical
structureof shots - long establishingshot, mid-shot
for interestand close-ups fordetail.
Naturallythey could not anticipateaction on
the battlefield,butto ensurenothingwas missed and
to keep an eye out fordanger,the cameramenwere
taughtto filmwith both eyes open. Theywere also
shown how to edit in the camera, a techniquethat
encouraged carefulshot selection as well as being
importantforcameramenworkinginthe
particularly
field withan uncertainsupply of filmstock. A good
example of both these techniquescame on D-Day,
whenSergeantGrantspotteda landingcraftthathad
been hit and was on fire: he stopped filmingand
re-framedthe cameraon to the newsubjectandthen
startedrunningthe film.33
Mostof the cameramenwere issued withthe
De Vrycamera, but some were given the new British-made Vinten Normandy.Both cameras were
machines that took loose
heavy, clockwork-driven
spools of 35mmfilm(see previousarticleinthisissue
by KayGladstone).34Inadditionto the cine camera,
the AFPUmen on D-Daycarrieda VoigtlanderBessa
stillscamera,ten 100ftcans of film,a book of Dope
Sheets to note down the contents of every roll, a
smallchalkboardto 'slate'each sequence and a .38
Webleyrevolver.Allthis was in additionto the army
pack.Cameramenwere issued witha rimlesshelmet
forease of focussing.
Therewere no rules about what to shoot or
what to exclude. The only instructionswere to stay
withthe unitto whichthey had been assigned, secure a comprehensiverecordof its activitiesand to
get as close to the fightingas possible.
D-Day
The cameramenjoinedtheirunitsa couple of weeks
before D-Day.This gave them the chance to get to
knowthe mentheywouldbe filmingand most importantlythe officerin command.Ingeneralthe officers
were sympatheticto the cameramenand gave them
a great deal of assistance. Lord Lovat and Pip
Roberts, the officers in command of the units to
which Grantwas attached in Normandy,were in
favourof filmingand instructedall theirofficersto
give Granteveryassistance. The fact thatthe cameramen were members of the Armyand had seen
action probably helped overcome suspicion. On
passing out at Pinewood,allcameramenweregiven
the rank of sergeant, which while hardlyexalted,
gave them some superiorityover most of the soldiers. Butmost preferredto negotiatewiththe occasional soldieror officerwho was obstructive,and if
theirpowersof persuasionfailedtheycouldshowthe
SHAEFpass signed by Eisenhower,whichthey all
carried.Whilewaiting for D-Day, the cameramen
filmedsome valuableand atmosphericscenes inthe
holdingcamps on the southcoast; these includeda
sports day to help the men relievethe boredomand
tension. They also received detailed instructionon
the topographyof the beaches where they were to
land.35
Allthe scenes shot by the AFPUcameramen
and discussed inthis essay, took place eitherat the
Sword Sector of the Normandybeachhead where
unitsof the British3rdDivisionand the Commandos
landed,or at Juno beach wherethe Canadianswent
in first.Swordwas at the Easternend of the Normandy beachhead. The landingsat Omaha beach
where SavingPrivateRyanis set, took place to the
west of the Britishand Canadiansectors.
The cameramenembarkedwiththeirunitson
the nightof 5 June. The seas were very rough,and
this combinedwithgeneral nervousness,the smell
of diesel, and other men being sick was extremely
unpleasant.The smell droveGrantout of the holdof
his landingcraftonto the deck. Duringthe crossing
the cameramen filmed scenes on board, of men
eatingtheirrations,preparingtheirweapons, and of
the otherboats in the armada.Grantrecalledtrying
to build up sequences of the armadaas they had
been trainedat Pinewood,tiltingup fromthe wash of
the boat to the convoy, to aircraftflyingoverhead,
etc.36
Whatfollows is an account of the filmingof
three of the cameramenat Normandy,whichcom-
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Tob Hacith
338
a
Fig. 4. Loading
freshrolloffilm
intoa DeVry
camera.
War
[Imperial
Museum:
HU
37998.]
bines a description of the action portrayed in the
films held in the Imperial War Museum and the
cameramen's own recollections of D-Day.
Sergeant Desmond O'Neill crossed with the
13th/18th Hussars and landed at Roche de Lion,
about eight miles from Caen. As his boat approached the shore he filmed a vehicle on the beach
blazing fiercely and a 'wading tank' close by. The first
thing he noticed, apart from the well-raked beach,
was a headless infantrymanand then other dead and
wounded soldiers in the sand hills near the top of the
beach. Once out of his half-track,O'Neillfilmed other
troops coming ashore and moving towards the
beach exits, a fully-laden 'landing craft tank' on fire,
and was luckyto get a dramatic, classic propaganda
pose of two Britishsoldiers with a German prisoner.
The beach then came under shellfire from artillery
inland, and rifle and automatic fire from the beach
defenders. O'Neill filmed a tank on fire untilwarned
off, because of the danger of an explosion. He then
tried to get off the beach, which was very difficultas
it was mined and the exit blocked by a 'flailtank' that
had been hit. As the beach was becoming more
congested by troops and vehicles coming ashore,
O'Neill linked up with some other troops tryingto find
a way off. Shortly after, O'Neill came under fire from
a machine gun and was wounded in the elbow. (The
soldier alongside him was killed.) The wound forced
him to returnto England.37
Sergeant lan Grant landed on the beaches at
Ouistreheam with Lord Lovat's Royal Marine Commandos. As they approached the beaches he was
overwhelmed by the noise of the battle, the rockets,
machine-gun fire and the guns from the Allied shipping. Although he was scared, the air of aggressive
confidence possessed by the commandos was reassuring. He also found that the qualityof the training
he had received at Pinewood helped him to concentrate on his role when in the thick of the action.
Grant's unit came in on an LCT,which meant that the
commandos had to disembark via two narrow
ramps, fixed to the corners of the craft. One got
swept away and Grant had to slide down on his
bottom. On the beach he found that he had run out
of film and had to find a shaded spot behind a
knocked-out tank to reload. He carried on filming
scenes on the beach until Lord Lovat's commandos
moved off for their main objective, Benouville
bridge.38
Sergeant George Laws was with the commandos of No. 4 Brigade and No.1 Special Brigade,
which embarked at Southampton and landed at
Ouistreham. Seven miles from the French coast and
in heavy seas, the men in his boat transferred to
assault craft via scrambling nets, a procedure new
to Laws. Approaching the shore he filmed the Norwegian destroyer Svenner, which had been hit and
was sinking. He placed his camera in the waterproof
bag and when he dropped into the water near the
beach, it came up to his legs. Unfortunatelyhe found
that the camera had turned itself on during the landing, and 30 feet of the film had wound through. They
were under constant heavy fire; in fact the leader of
his commando unit was shot in the head and leg,
right next to Laws. At the top of the beach the men
re-grouped and Laws had time to re-load with a new
film, a difficultprocedure withwet, sandy fingers. The
spring on the camera broke, after he had shot only
about 400 feet of film and until he could get it fixed
he had to use his stills camera. He then went off with
the commandos to cover the attack on the gun
battery.39
Common
characteristics
As this brief narrative shows, although there are
differences between the films taken by the various
cameramen, they do possess a remarkably similar
structure. As the boats approached the shore, they
took shots of their own landing craft, with mid-shots
and close-ups of the soldiers preparing to face action and sequences of the approaching beaches and
other landing craft. None of the cameramen filmed
the actual landing, although Sergeant Grant did
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- For Real
D-Day Filming
-
339
f 1C;5,.
somehow manage to take a sequence fromthe top
of the landingcraftof the commandos clambering
downthe rampson to the beach. Once ashore, most
cameramentook shots of men disembarkingfrom
other landingcraftand/oradvancingup the beach.
Typicallythe nextsequence was taken at the top of
the beach as the men re-groupedbefore moving
throughthe exits and inland. Subsequent scenes
varied depending on the objectives to which their
unitswere assigned.
The difficultiesof filmingat D-Day severely
limitedthe kindof shots the cameramencould film.
Because of the danger of droppingthe camera or
gettingitwet, theycould notriskfilmingthe dramatic
momentsas the landingcraftbeached and the men
went ashore. Instead they carefullystowed their
cameras in the waterproofbags providedfor this
purpose. By chance, the design of the landingcraft
carryingthe majorityof the AFPU cameramen at
Normandy,necessitated the men disembarkingvia
a precipitousrampfixedto the top of the craft,rather
thanchargingout of a rampinthe bows of the boat.
Infactonlythe officialfilmshot on the beaches where
the Canadianslanded,shows the mendisembarking
as inSavingPrivateRyan,and thatwas possible only
because the landingcraft had been fittedwith an
automaticcamera.40Those responsibleforoverseeing the filminganticipatedthe difficulties,so cameras were mountedinthe aftend of aroundsix of the
Britishlandingcraft,whichwere to be operated by
the coxswainvia a buttonat his side.41Laws,who
was on this kind of craft, knownas 'landingcraft
assault'thoughtitwas too crowdedto filmthe actual
landing;althoughhe did manage to take a powerful
sequence of the otherthirtyor so men inthe boat as
it approachedthe shore.
Once ashore, the cameramenwere anxious
not to lose touch withthe men of theirunits,which
gave themverylittletimeto get a rangeof shots and
set-ups. There was also no chance of asking the
soldiers to pose or re-stage some action. Being
underfirealso constrainedand limitedtheirfilming
options. Sergeant ErnestWalterhad to take shelter
behinda seawall almostas soon as he came ashore,
because of the mortarand machinegun firecoming
fromthe Germanpositions,and got no coverage of
the beaches untilhe returnedlaterin the day when
things were quieter.Equipmentproblemsfor Laws
and Grant,meantthatthey lost precioustimereloading and windingtheircameras.Thetime Lawslost in
re-windinghis camera came at a criticalmoment
and, as a consequence, he was unable to get the
key shot of commandos disembarkingfrom other
boats.
Forallthese reasons, shots of the 'action'and
'drama'at Sword and Juno, seem rathermuted,
especially in comparison with the action-packed
scenes in SavingPrivateRyan.Infact, one must not
be surprisedif some membersof an audience find
the rollsof AFPUfilmdisappointing,even dull,particularlywhen they have just been exposed to the
Normandylandingsas presented in SavingPrivate
Ryan, as has happened duringthe lectures that I
have given.Apartfromthe admirationthatthe viewer
feels forthe camerameninmanagingto filmanything
under such extremeconditions,it is difficultnot to
reflectthatthe Spielbergversionof D-Dayis a more
this is
impressiveaccountof the event. Interestingly,
not just a view held by the uninitiatedcinema-goer:
afterD-Daythe actualcombat footage selected for
a film of the invasionto be screened to General
Eisenhowerand his staff was not considered dramatic enough, and so the editorat the publicrelationssection of SHAEFenliveneditwithfootage shot
in Englandof the pre-invasionexercises.42However,
we cannot just leave the matterthere;we need to
explain why these two versions are so different.
Moreover,in doing so, the viewercan gain a greater
appreciationof the subtlequalitiesof the rawcombat
filmand of its valueto our understandingof warfare.
The simplestway to pointout the differences
between the AFPUcombat filmand SavingPrivate
Ryanis to ask thequestion:Howcan we telltheAFPU
combatfilmis real?
Colour and sound
Allthe combat filmtaken by the AFPUwas shot on
black and white stock. This does not of itself mark
out its authenticity.Itwas a common misconception
that the Second WorldWarwas filmed in monochrome,at least untilrecenttelevisionprogrammes
such as WorldWarTwoin Colour.Colourfilmwas
used widelyby amateurcinematographersand in a
handful of Britishmade feature films. However,
largelybecause of cost, it was rarelyused by the
Britishmilitaryand usually only for trainingor for
weapons trials.Americancombatcameramenused
16mmand sometimes 35mm Kodachromestock in
a small numberof campaigns and it appeared in
some of the most importantofficialdocumentaries,
the firstbeing TheBattleof Midway(1942), directed
by John Ford.43At Normandy,cameramenwiththe
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Toby Haggith
340
Camera
Fig. 5(upper).A stillfrom US Coast Guard did shoot some colour footfilmshotbyGeorgeLawsat age, but the only colour film shot on the
Swordbeach,demonstrating
beaches was filmed privately by the Hollythe necessityof filmingfrom
wood director George Stevens, using a new
a lowanglewhenin combat.
WarMuseum:16mm Kodak film, and some days after D[Imperial
MH2346.] Day.
The fact that the AFPU film is silent
Fig. 6(lower).O'Neill'sdoes not of course tell us it was real or
shotof a depicted real events; there were plenty of
luckypropaganda
German
at reconstruction's or faked battle scenes shot
prisoner
captured
Swordbeach.Theonlyother
was
statein whichcameramenby combat cameramen where the sound
All
film
had
to
be
shot
combat
post-synched.
encountered
the enemywas
whentheywerewounded
or mute because sound recording equipment
dead.[Imperial
War was so cumbersome. However, as I will disIWMFLM3527.] cuss later, an absence of sound does make
Museum:
this a very inadequate representation of the
truth of battle.
position
The position of the cameramen in relation to the
action is a much more telling indication of the authenticity of combat film. If it is 'real' or shot live, the
cameraman generally takes shelter and keeps low,
out of the line of fire. As Sergeant Laws succinctly
put it, 'Inbattle you don't get much elevation, I mean
its not very sensible'.43a Sergeant Walter remarked
that he always liked to be next to a wall or a tank
because he felt safer. The AFPU back in Britain
complimented him for the interesting low angles he
achieved as a result of this technique, born out of a
sense of self-preservation.44 During the Omaha
beach scenes in Saving Private Ryan, the camera
generally films from a low position, accurately copying the soldiers and combat cameramen. However,
this is not always the case, especially when Spielberg wants to reveal a German position or show the
sweep of the beach. For example, the audience is
given a number of views of the Americans on the
beach through the slit of a German machine gun
post. This scene breaks the whole illusion that Spielberg has so effectively created up to this point. The
camera can no longer be in the mode of 'point of
view' or, if it is, the 'point of view' has now switched
to that of the beach defenders. Back on the beach
itself the camera frequently views the Americans
away from the 'cover' of the beach obstacles and
from 'dangerously' elevated positions. The most inconsistent sequence in PrivateRyan occurs when the
camera looks back at Tom Hanks, as he uses a
mirrorattached to his bayonet to see around a pillbox at an elevated machine-gun position.45
For similar reasons cameramen do not, or
rarely and usually only by accident, get in front of or
between the action. Because of the confusion of
battle and the mobilityand commitment of the AFPU
cameramen, they did occasionally lose touch with
their units and found themselves effectively in noman's land, but in such circumstances filming was
of low priority.As a result, in AFPU combat film, the
enemy is never seen fighting - only as a corpse or
as a prisoner. But towards the end of Spielberg's
version of the Omaha landings, once the Americans
have got to the top of the cliffs, there is a long
sequence of Americans weeding the defenders out
of their pill-boxes. During these scenes the camera
alternates between 'ducking' behind cover with the
US Rangers, to filming in no-man's land; at one point
taking up a position directly in the line of fire of some
riflemen, and in another filming at the end of a trench
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D-Day Filming - For Real
along which some Germansoldiers are rushingto
escape a machinegun.
Technical
quality
Thetechnicalqualityorproductionvalueof filmtaken
by the AFPUis not consistent. Lightscould not be
taken into battle, let alone used or powered. As a
resultthe cameramenhad to relyon the vagariesof
naturallight.ForAFPUcameramenthe slowfilmthey
used meantthatfilmingin poor lightwas practically
impossible. This, combined with the fact that all
adjustmentsto the exposure had to be based on
judgement, led to occasional mistakes. The dope
sheets inthe ImperialWarMuseum'sFilmand Video
Archiveinclude many remarksby cameramen lamentingthe fact that images were partlyor totally
invisibledue to exposure problems. Moreover,although the AFPUcamera equipmentwas quite robust, itdiddevelopfaultswhichaffectedthe image.46
Even though Spielberg proudlyboasted of leaving
the productionerrorsin, the exposure of the image
inSavingPrivateRyanis alwayseven and the picture
details are clearlyseen.
Cameramen serving with the AFPU were
equipped witha tripod,but due to its poor design
and the impracticalityof setting it up in the field,
practicallyall the action scenes were filmed handheld. They were taughtto hold the camera steady
when filmingand would brace themselves where
possible against a firmobject. Althoughthe viewer
is awareof the occasionalwobbleor shake because
of a tankrumbleorshell explosion,thereare remarkablyfew. The camerainSavingPrivateRyan,shakes
fartoo much.Italso moves too much,swoopingand
'spraying'aroundin a style thatfilmarchivistshave
come to associate with the poorlyskilled amateur
cinematographer.AFPUcameramenweretaughtto
framecarefullyand pan judiciouslyin orderto save
film and ensure that the images were of a high
enough standardto do justiceto the soldierswhose
actions they were recording.Ironically,in tryingto
mimicthe perceivedlow-production
values of combat cameramen,Spielbergactuallymisunderstood
theirwhole approach,whichwas to maintaina high
standardof filmingdespite the terribleconditions.It
should also be noted thatthe cameramenhad their
own professionalaspirations:at the least they could
hope thattheirfilmmightbe incorporatedina newsreel and at best be used in a prestigious official
productionsuch as DesertVictory.
341
Lack of action: the pressures
against faking
The spectacle of the Normandyinvasion made a
greatimpressionon the cameramen.SergeantGrant
recalledthe scene on the Englishsouthcoast on the
afternoonof 5 Juneas epic inscale: 'evenHollywood
could never have planned it or laid it on by script,
such a departure'.47However, they were frustrated
by the difficultiesof tryingto do justiceto the event.
Not only were they constrainedby the problemsof
filmingunderlivefireand the technicallimitationsof
theircameraequipment,theyalso reliedso muchon
luck.Ifit is a truismthat lifeis unpredictable,this is
probably even more so during battle. Although
thingsweregoing on allaroundthem,theycould not
anticipate'action'.Sergeant Lawscomplainedhow
everythinghappenedtoo quicklyto catchon film.For
example, both the sergeant major and the commanderof his unitwere shot rightnextto him, dramaticmomentsina battlewhichhe wouldhave liked
to have recorded.He also missed an excitingshot of
the beach being strafedby a Germanplane.To film
an explosionwas veryunusual.Theonlywayto have
recordedsuch randomevents was to keep the camera running,somethingLawsknewhe could not do
because of his limitedfilmstock.TheBritishcameramen couldonlycarry10 minutesof filmat D-Dayand
they had no idea whentheirsupplywouldbe replenished. By contrast Spielberg's battle scenes are
carefully choreographed and rehearsed so that
everyframeis jam-packedwithaction.
To overcome this intrinsicproblemof filming
live action, AFPUcameramenmighthave adopted
the techniques of the featurefilmmaker,by reconstructingscenes of action. Duringthe FirstWorld
War, official cameramen had occasionally reconstructed scenes of combat to give audiences at
home a full impressionof the natureof trenchwarfare. Thispractisecontinuedintothe Second World
War,particularly
duringthe NorthAfricancampaign
where newsreel cameramen became notoriousfor
fakingmanysequences of combatto makenewsreel
and propagandafilms more dramaticand exciting.
Whilea validargumentcan be made forsuch faking
- or as film historianshave more respectfullypreferred to call it 'improving'or 'reconstructing',at
D-Daythings were simplymovingtoo fast and the
situationtoo dangerousto re-stage such scenes. It
would have been impossiblefor the cameramento
have persuaded the soldiers to take time out for
acting;bothWalterand Lawscommentedhowalone
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342
342
--
.T
.~
-'~
-'?
..
obt-
Toby Haggith
H_aggith.l,mma
cameramen'ssense of honourand obligationto the
ethos of the unit.The pressuresagainst 'faking'also
came from outside the AFPU.When Grantwas in
Divisionwho
France,some men of the 7thArmoured
had served inthe Deserttook himaside and warned
him not to tryfakingwhen filmingtheirunit;as they
put it 'we'vebeen toldthatyou are frontlinecameramen, ok you come alongside us and proveit!'52
ForSergeantWalter,the simulatedbattleconditions under which he had trained at Pinewood,
bore littlerelationto the realitiesof tryingto filmthe
realbattlehe encounteredin Normandy:
Fig.7. Men they felt once they got ashore and the soldiers
a restat rushedoffto do theirjobs and leftthemto undertake
taking
thetopofSword theirs.48Moreover,the ethos of No. 5 Section of the
beachand
AFPU, as propounded by Colonel Hugh Stewart,
demonstrating
O'Neill's discouragedthe re-stagingof action.Stewartdisapthat provedof the 'faking'that had been so widelypracobservation
'were
the tised by newsreel cameramen in the Desert and
soldiers
camera wouldnot let itcreep intothe workof his unit.He also
biggest
hogsever'. believedthat 'faking'was bad forthe cameraman's
War morale:'because iftheythoughttheycould get away
[Imperial
IWM
Museum:
with shooting phoney material,what incentivewas
FLM
3526.]
thereforthemto go out and get the realthing,which
is what they are there for?'49Thereforecameramen
trainedat Pinewoodwere specificallytoldto indicate
inthe dope sheets iftheyeverre-stageda sequence.
Grantsuggested that this insistence that cameramen filmedliveactionwouldhelpto explainthe high
numberof casualties sustained by the unit.50This
rule seems to have been so well absorbed that
reconstructionsare rarelyif ever mentionedin the
dope sheets of the A700 filmseries (whichcovers
the filmingof the campaign in NorthWest Europe).
SergeantPalmerwas even carefulto add a humourous note inhis dope sheet of 4 August,to ensurethat
the viewer was not misled by a dramaticmoment
which befell a solider leading his platoon along a
wooded road in Normandy:'(PS:The death scene
was laid on by an over-enthusiasticsubject)'.The
unfortunateman had turned roundto address his
men and at that moment had put his foot in a hole
on the roadsideand fallenover,a piece of accidental
slapstickthat mightbe confused for a more serious
Thisadherenceto
cause such as a sniper'sbullet.51
the guidelineson fakingis also an indicationof the
Infact, when we got intothe realbattleconditions you foundthat it was almost impossible
to shoot battle. Battle is two sides involved
normally.And you thinkin terms of one man
shooting one way and another shooting the
otherway. Howcan you photographthat?It's
impossible.Whatyou can shoot is the build-up
to the battle,the troops advancingintobattle,
the artilleryfiringto support them or tanks
movingup at dusk or dawn or things likethat.
That'sall wonderfulstuff to photograph.But
that reallyisn'tbattle,it's only partof battle.53
Behaviour of soldiers
Themost intriguing
differencebetweentheAFPUfilm
of the Normandycampaignandthatof SavingPrivate
Ryan,and indeed a characteristicthatdistinguishes
combatfilmfromanyfeaturefilm,is the behaviourof
the men towardsthe camera. Mencannothelp looking at the camera,whereas actors make everyeffort
to appear unaware of its presence. Even though
before D-Day the cameramen had specificallyinstructedthe soldiersto ignorethe camera,theycould
not help glancingand smilingat the lens. Sergeant
O'Neill,found this quite a problem:'Andof course
all the soldiers wanted to be photographed.They
were the biggest camera hogs ever!'54Unless, however, they were verypreoccupiedor in extremesituations;and men who arewoundedorexhaustedand
traumatisedby combat are usuallyobliviousof the
camera. On such occasions, soldiers can even be
hostile to cameramen.Sergeants Walterand Peter
Handfordcame across a group of soldiers in a
front-linepositionwho had been underfireforsome
timeand theygot veryangryat the prospectof being
filmedand photographed.55
O'Neillexplainedtheirgenerallysympathetic
attitudeto the camera in these terms:
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- For Real
Filming
D-Day
Flilming
-??~-?rr~-~r~__cuIas~?s~
^Realr?"I
~
a
343
343
Oh they likedit. Firstof all they'd never seen
one before.Secondly,itwas a greatdivertissement [sic], you know,the Mrsis going to see
me back inWigan,allthis kindof thing.Oh no,
Ithinkitwas a welcome diversion.Indeedwe
found itwithall the unitswe went to.56
Beingfilmedwas valued by men as a chance
fortheirloved ones to see them aftera long separation.Furthermore,
as authorGeoffDyerperceptively
observed in relationto the FirstWorldWar,for most
young men waris the climacticmomentof theirlife:
'Thiswas the event when historycould happen to
you'.57 This may offer another explanation for sol-
dier's obsession with the lens: men stare at the
camera in orderto ensure thatthey have secured a
place for themselves in the historicalrecord.A film
or photographicrecord of their presence on the
battlefieldassures them status in theirlifeaftermiliwas an importantcomponent of the commandos'
taryservice and intothe future.
esprit de corps, the presence of the camera has
prompteda dramaticperformancefrom the men.
Heroic stances
This is in strikingcontrastto the same scenes in the
The men in the Normandyinvasionwere participat- assault craftin SavingPrivateRyan,where most of
ing in an event of international
importance.Perhaps the men look extremelynervous and a couple of
itwas forthis reasonthatthe commandos and other them actuallyvomit. Itis hardto believe that a real
soldiersadopted such brave,set expressions,when soldier would allow himselfto be filmed 'throwing
being filmedin the landingcraftcrossing the Chan- up'. Not only does this observationraise questions
nel. They look tough, even nonchalantas they ap- about the role or status of the camera in Saving
proachthe beaches. They are clearlyaware of the PrivateRyan,to which I willreturnlater, but it also
camera,butforonce they pretendnotto noticeitand raises a question about acting and performance.If
strikea powerfulpose of confidentaggression.Their real soldiers act in frontof the camera, how should
demeanourmade a great impressionon Sergeant actors portrayreality?
Grant,helping to reassure him, but he was also
aware of the dramaticpower of theirperformance. What does the Unedited AFPU
Whencommentingon the scenes he filmedon his footage bring to our understanding
landingcrafton the afternoonof 5 June he reflected of war?
that:
Combat film is a visual document that gives the
viewera powerfulsense of immediacyand connecEverybodywas a naturalactor.As allthe men tion to the
past. Since the release of Battleof the
on board were my fellow Commandos from
Somme (1916), actualityfilms of war have had a
the camp at Southampton,they knewme, and
thrilling,movingand occasionallytraumaticimpact
they had been told to ignore the camera as on
audiences, akinto the experienceof readingthe
much as possible. Theywere just naturalacof a soldier.Some even suggest that actuality
diary
tors, they were acting out their own private film
is morevaluableto the historianthan first-hand
thoughtsor privatehells or whateverwas go- writtenaccounts because it is an un-mediatedview
ing on intheirminds.58
of the past.
The respect and awe which many people acSome soldiers on Grant's boat may have
looked nervous,but not the men who fell underthe cordto AFPUfilm,even duringthe frequentuneventgaze of his cameraas the landingcraftapproached ful passages between action, arises because the
the beaches. Althoughsuch an attitudeno doubt viewerknowsthat he/she is watchingreal soldiers,
helpedthe mento preparethemselves forbattleand men who were under threat and with whom the
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Fig.8. Lord
Lovat's
Royal
Marine
Commandos
on
lanGrant's
boat,
self-consciously
a tough
adopt
anddetermined
forthe
expression
camera.
War
[Imperial
Museum:
IWM
FLM
3520.]
344
344
Haggithlnrra
~
Toby
Toby Haggith
orI r
Fig.9. Oneof viewermay even have a personalconnection.This
the'longeurs'
or characteristicof combatfilmstimulatesourimaginascenesof tion and helps us to empathise with the men at
in-action
that
and makesense of the abstracthistorical
occur Normandy
frequently
incombat
film. details of the battle,notablythe casualtyfigures.
Indramatised'warfilms'the audience spends
even
However,
thissceneis time with the characters and watches their lives
valuable
tothe develop, but along lines prescribedby the filmmakhistorian
as it ers. Bycontrast,inactualitywe onlymeet individuals
showsthe fleetingly.This prompts importantand disturbing
which
traffic-jam
builtuponthe questions: 'Whatdid this man do before the war?
beaches
during Howwas he feeling when the filmwas being shot?
as Whathappened to this man?'
D-Day
vehicles
Because of the powerand influenceof feature
unloaded
could films,audiences have become used to, and come to
notbemoved expect, images of warwithhigh productionvalues.
the As well as the
through
image qualityitself,the battlefieldin
blocked
beach
feature
films
has
a compositionand artisticquality
exits.Notethe
inthe which is theatricaland intrinsicallypleasing - the
soldiers
foregroundfilmmakershave an unconsciousdesireto 'dressthe
around
to set'. We are even aware of this tendency in Saving
looking
stareatthe PrivateRyan, where the filmmakersmade a concamera. scious effortnotto glamourisewar.Thebattle'fields'
War
[Imperial
a
exhibition
IWM have the appearance of well-arranged
Museum:
are
coherent
and
case
or
set:
visually
they
stage
FLM
3515.]
attractive.The artificiallookof the sets is particularly
strikingwhen compared to the mess of the Normandy beaches in the AFPUfilm, which one observerhas aptlydescribed as sometimes having'all
the appearanceof a poorlyorganisedand fairlydull
Thetendencyof featurefilmsto aesbeach party'.59
theticisethe battlefieldhas made itdifficultforcivilian
audiences to grasp the ugliness and brutalityof
combat.TheAFPUcombatfilmprovidesa welcome
antidoterevealingas it does a chaotic, unpalatable
reality,and thus offeringmoretruthfuland instructive
understandingof war.
Combatfilmis oftenshot inhaste and exposed
in an uncontrolledenvironment,which means that
errorscan occurand, on occasion, importanthistorical epsiodes havegone unrecorded.However,these
mistakes do occasionallyimparta powerfulfeeling
of verisimilitudeto the images. Forexample two of
the rolls shot by Sergeant O'Neillat Sword beach
were filmedwithincorrectaperture,are out of focus
and at odd angles. For one ImperialWarMuseum
cataloguerthey succeeded because of these problems, bringingan 'excellentimpressionisticrecordof
the atmosphere of organised chaos which was a
featureof the invasionbeaches'.60
In SavingPrivateRyanthe camera alternates
betweenviewingthe worldfromthe 'pointof view'of
an Americansoldier to that of the audience. The
uneditedAFPUcombat filmon the other hand, always operates fromthe participant's'pointof view':
the audience is effectivelytrappedinthe perspective
of the cameraman.Anyviolentor powerfulevents for
whichthe cameramanis unprepared,orcannotcontrol, are instantlyshared by the audience. In the
AFPU footage, the most obvious example of this
being the violentjoltof the image as O'Neillis shot
inthe armand the filmends. Bycontrastthe perfectly
composed view of the featurefilmseems occasionally to be like lookingthroughdouble-glazingat a
storm:it is dramaticbut unthreatening.Oursense of
presence on the battlefieldis reinforcedby the soldiers' response to the camera, as he engages with
us via the lens, smilingand invitingus to join him.
Thiscan be enjoyablebut it can also be disconcerting, as the AFPUfilmexposes the audience to the
horrorsand indignitiesof war.A featurefilmallows
an audienceto indulgeinthe horrorsand excitement
of war voyeuristically.Not so with the AFPUfilm,
where the soldier knows that we are watching:and
the audience knows the soldier is aware of being
watched.
Featurefilmsgive the impressionthatsoldiers
are constantlyin combat. Infact this is farfromthe
case, as the AFPUfilmaccuratelyreflects,recording
exhaustivelyallthe aspects of a soldier'sexperience
of war:eating, marching,washing, buildingfortifications,diggingtrenches,fixingand cleaningweapons
and endless periods of waiting.The officialfilmremindsus thatmuchof soldieringis justhardphysical
labour.TheAFPUfilmin particularis egalitarian:not
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Filming - For
For Real
Real
D-Day
Filming
D~BIIPB~IStT~-Da
-
only does it look at all aspects of a front-linesoldier's
experience, but at the contribution of the other support units who supply, feed, provide communications and even entertain the front-line soldier. It is
also invaluable to the historian as it provides a visual
glossary of equipment and activities on the battlefield.
Military historians and filmmakers describe
battles with hindsight and tend to present them from
the perspective of the generals. The AFPU film
shares the limited horizon and localised view of the
battle experienced by the ordinary soldier. Not only
a low horizon topographically, in terms of hedgerow,
slit trench and forest, but in terms of the perspective
of the battle. Combat film contains none of the great
strategic sweeps and grand views of the feature film
that help the audience to understand the battle as a
whole. Similarly, AFPU combat footage generally
moves at the pace of the foot soldier.
Perhaps the best tribute one can give to the
work of the AFPU cameramen is that Second World
War veterans who visit the Museum become utterly
absorbed by the combat film and are struck by its
authenticity and the faithfulrecord it provides of their
experience.
But is the AFPU footage a more truthful account than Spielberg's
version of the Normandy landings?
Audio
The AFPU cameramen were struck by the terrific
noise that built into a crescendo as they hit the
beaches on D-Day. There was the naval bombardment from the Allied fleet and the returningfire from
the German defences. Grant even heard Colonel
Lovat's personal piper, Bill Millin,playing his bagpipes. Sound not only creates atmosphere, but it
also picks out the action and makes sense of the
details on a film. For example, on close examination
of O'Neill's film, sniper shells can be seen kicking up
the sand on the beach around the feet of the advancing soldiers; similarlyin Greenhalgh's reels, a mortar
shell explodes in the background. Sound is part of
the language that enables an audience to make
sense of actualite filming, particularlyin such an alien
world as the beaches on D-Day. Because their
movement was restricted and they did not possess
zoom lenses, itwas difficultfor cameramen to direct
the attention of the viewer to any detail of the scene
they were filming. Sergeant William Lawrie of the
345-r
AFPU, who was not at D-Day but filmed later in
Normandy, described how difficult it could be to
convey the true nature of a battle situation:
Troops crossing the river in an evening dusk
situation, on the screen must have looked
exactly as if they have been going out for a
picnic, but it wasn't a picnic. You couldn't, in
a silent, black and white film, you don't see or
hear the bullets, you don't get the atmosphere,
it was just some troops stepping into a boat
and pushing across the river.61
Similarly Dope Sheets, oral transcripts and
other documents are often needed to make sense of
the story provided by AFPU film. Ryan does this for
us with the script and sound effects.
Dead and wounded
Incontrast with Saving PrivateRyan, in Britishcombat
film there is an absence of dead and seriously
wounded. Inthe AFPU filmwe are shown the 'walking
wounded', men bearing 'cosmetic' arm and head
bandages, or on stretchers, conscious with their
thumbs up and grinning at the camera. But there are
very few views of the dead and none of the Allied
dead. In interviews with the cameramen they have
been adamant that they were not given rules on this.
Colonel Stewart, who was in command of No.5 Section in Normandy and set up the training course at
Pinewood, denies issuing guidelines or rules on the
filmingof the dead and wounded. This practice arose
from a combination of self-censorship and a practical approach to filming.
AFPU cameramen saw plenty of Allied dead
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345
Fig. 10. Astill
froma rare
sequencein
British
combat
filminginwhich
Allieddead
appear,even
thoughthisview
of Canadian
corpsesfilmedby
Richard
Leatherbarrow
is
so discretethat
thebodiescould
be easilymissed.
War
[Imperial
M.H.
Museum:
2329.]
346
346
Toby
Toby Haggith
Haggith
When Sergeant O'Neillcame across dead British
soldiers in the sand hillsat the top of the beach, he
instinctivelymade the same decision: 'No, no, because I suppose the old instinctscame back. You
photographmaterialwhichcould be used, and they
would not use picturesof dead bodies. Used pictures of dead Germans but not pictures of dead
Thecameramenpractisedthisself-censorBritish'.62
ship throughouttheirservicewiththe AFPU.Richard
Leatherbarrow'srecollectionof his experience of
coming across dead Canadiansat Juno is informative:
-
... to see a body, a most bizarre,gruesome
formthatIever saw at any partof the war,with
the head blownoff in a sittingup positionwith
the movementsof the arms stilltakingplace.
NowifIcould have stopped.. .allof us we were
making a dash to get under some sort of
cover, thatwas somethingIjust couldn'tstop
to film, ... I couldn't see the purpose of it ...
goodness me I filmed enough dead, mainly
Germansand civiliansafterthat, but that one
isolated instance was something that ... if I
had all the time in the worldto filmit, I would
have rejectedit because the whole thingwas
beyond. Wellwho would have wantedthatfor
photographic records and what purpose
would it have served? ... what would have
been the real justification- except for the
voyeurtype. Itcould nothave gone on a newsreel.63
Thisself-censorshipof the AFPUcameramen
was as muchto do withtheirstatus as Armycameraandfilmed men as to do withtheirawarenessof officialattitudes
found
bya pillbox
corpses
Fig.11(upper).Acloseupofoneoftwoenemy
withhislens
ofdeath
thatclose-examination
Walter.
Walter
cametobelieve
byErnest
himfromdanger. to the portrayalof Britishlosses on screen. Theywere
would
somehow
protect
FLM
Museum:
3530.] notprofessionaljournalistsorneutralobservers;they
War
[IWM
Imperial
Laws
ofa burnt
outGerman had been servingsoldiers before being transferred
froma sequence
shotbyGeorge
Fig.12(lower).Aframe
Mostofthesequence to the AFPUand it upset them to see dead comareaofNormandy.
which
hecameacrossintheFalaise
half-track
whilea close-up
ofthecharred rades. Sergeant Laws:'As we startedto go inland,
ofBritish
newsreel
considered
thesensitivities
editors,
inBritain
ofthe then I came across dead Britishsoldiers and that
toremind
officials
ofthedriver
wasdesigned
remains
(notshown)
IWM
FLM
War
Museum:
3521.] made
horrors
ofwar.[Imperial
you think,and then when you came across a
duringthe Normandycampaign. Sergeants Walter dead Germansoldier it liftedyou up, it gave you a
and Leatherbarrow
were surprisedand shocked by realfillip.Youwere pleased to see it.'64As a consethe amountof carnage on the beaches where they quence of this policy,dead Britishor AlliedUS servlanded. But they recallthat they did not filmthese iceman only appear by chance or very fleetinglyin
scenes because theykneworsuspected thatthe film AFPUfilmof the Normandycampaign. Intriguingly,
did
would be rejected.Theirtraininghad impressed on althoughhe did not rememberit, Leatherbarrow
themthattheyshouldonlyfilmmaterialthatcould be filmthe dead Canadianson the beach at Juno and
used. On D-Day, where film was particularlypre- he recorded it in his dope sheet. The corpse of a
cious, such shots would have been a waste of film. soldier of the North Shore Regiment appears in
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D-Day Filming - For Real
:S'i,i,4://r:,,i,;'..,':/:i
'0S":i
#.15,,,,,,i
mid-shot in the foregroundof a 25ft pan fromthe
shore to the seawallwhichLeatherbarrow
was sheldoes not dwellon the
teringbehind. Leatherbarrow
body,and the framingand distancefromthe subject
meanthatthe manis notidentifiableand couldeasily
be lost among the rest of the debris.65Nonetheless,
this is an importantand rareexample of a tradition
since the FirstWorldWar of combat cameramen
filmingscenes for historicalrecord that gave an
indicationof the horrorsof war.A practisethey have
carried out despite, or perhaps because of, the
officialattitudeof the Britishmilitary
and propaganda
authorities.
ThispartlyexplainsSergeantWalter'sdecision
in
early his campaign, to filma scene of two dead
German soldiers by a pillbox. Superstitionalso
played a role:
Britishsensibilitiesabout the depictionof corpses,
and shot the sequence so that there was plentyof
choice forthe newsreeleditors.
The coverage in Britishnewsreelsand official
filmsof the destructionof the German7thArmyis a
good example of the restraintshown towards the
depictionof the horrorsof war.Inadditionto George
Laws'filmof the burntout half-track,thereare three
reels coveringthe wreckageof the 7thArmy,shot by
RAF cameramen driving through the roads in
Falaise.69Includedamong the views of burntand
wreckedtanks,trucksand othervehiclesweresome
gruesome close-ups of dead horses and the maggot-infestedcorpses of Germansoldiers.The newsreels coveringthis importantalliedvictory- those for
consumptionbythe generalpublic- justshowed the
vehicles and prisoners,while the issue of the Gen
for
to RAFpersonnelincluded
... somethinghappened shortlyafterthe land- newsreel, screening
the morerespectfulmid-shotsof the corpses without
ing on the beach which ...I don't think very
the close-ups of the putrefaction.70
manypeople have admittedit, certainlynot in
InAmericaattitudesweredifferent.US combat
my presence ... one became used to seeing
once they were given access to the
cameramen,
violent death, bloody bodies ... And whereas
didnotfeel constrainedaboutfilmingtheir
battlefield,
one [had] reacted with horror,very shortlyI
own dead. Forexample, scenes of dead American
personallywantedto get close withmy close
soldiers appear in the Battleof San Pietro,Withthe
lens and photographevery littledetailof that
Marinesat Tarawaand filmtaken of the fightingat
dead body or bodies. Andit became a sortof
Iwo Jima and Pelilieu.71This is not to say that US
defence mechanism in a way ... Ithought that
and civilianauthoritiesdid not exercise conmilitary
by some miracleif I photographedthat and
trolover whatwas seen by the public.Forexample
sent that back to England,maybe it wouldn't
they cut some of the moregraphicscenes fromThe
happento me.66
Battleof San Pietroand insistedthatdead American
Cameramenalso covered such scenes out of soldierswereonlyshownfromthe rearso theycould
a sense of obligationto the soldiers they were with notbe identified.Thisfilmwas notreleaseduntilnear
as Walterrecalls:'I knewthat it would be shown at the end of the war so that it would not have a
least once. And that would be at rushes viewing detrimentalaffect on recruitingor public morale.72
somewhere in Londonor in England.And I thought Butin contrastto Britain,the US governmenttook a
morerobustattitudeto the sensibilitiesof the Amerisomebody's going to see itand theyaregoing to see
what we are seeing. And I wanted somebody to can public and were willingto let comparatively
share thatwithme'.67SergeantLawsfilmeda grue- explicitevidence of US fatalitiesbe shown on the
some sequence of a charredGermancorpse at the cinema screens. Forexample, one of the newsreel
wheel of a half-trackforexactlythe same purpose:
issues coveringD-Daythat was distributedto cinemas inthe USAincludeda sequence of a man in his
Thiswas a deliberateattemptto shock people,
death throes.73
or people at Pinewood,as to actualhorrorsof
war. I shot this general scene of the German
Conclusion
burnt,then Ishot thisclose up of the individual
Duringthe Omaha beach scenes in SavingPrivate
rightup,full-face. I didn'tthinkit would hurt
the camera assumes on a numberof different
Ryan
people sittingintheircomfortablearmchairsat
roles:firstly,it is the 'pointof view' (the US Rangers
Pinewood to see what some of the horrors
and the defenders); secondly, it is the 'all seeing
were.68
eye'; thirdly,it views the beach scenes throughthe
ButLawswas carefulto take into accountthe eyes of Captain Miller(Tom Hanks); and lastly
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347
348
Toby Haggith
I
throughthose of an anonymous Ranger,who runs
up the beach afterMiller,audiblypantingand groaning. Thisis perplexing:if Spielbergwas simplystriving to mimiccombat film,he has failed. Even if we
compare these scenes with the film shot by the
MarineCorps on Tarawaor Pelilieu,which provide
the most encompassing views of combat, only a
suicidalcameramanflyingaroundthe battlefieldin
an armouredmicro-lightcould have covered the
battleat Omahaas comprehensivelyas Spielberg's
camera-team. And in comparison with the highly
constrainedviews of the AFPUmen at Normandy,
there is no similarity.But the camera technique
adopted forthe Omahascenes is also inconsistent
withthe assumptionsof conventionalcinema: logicallyifthe lens is the audience's omnipresenteye, it
should be unaffectedby the battleand certainlynot
become smeared with'blood'and water.
It may seem unfairto apply such rigidcinematic theoryto the film. However,in doing so we
have highlightedthe artificialand manipulativefilmmakingtechnique with which the battle has been
recreated.Forallthe hypeaboutrealismand authenticity,Spielberghas done no morethanborrowsome
stylisticelements characteristicof combat filmingto
enhance the dramaticpower of the scenes. Close
examinationof the Omaha scenes in comparison
witha consistent'pointof view'perspective(i.e. that
of the AFPU cameramen) shows that Spielberg's
visualrepresentationof the battleis conventional.
Itwould be wrongto be too criticalof Steven
Spielberg, because of the laudable intentionsthat
motivatedhim duringthe makingof the filmwhich
were to encourage more respect for the men who
fought in Normandy.Inorderto do this, he had to
find a cinematicmethod that would 'buildkinship'
between the audience and the men who fought at
Omaha.He has been successful inthis regard,and
it was reportedthatfollowingthe release of the film
the numberof people visitingthe Americancemetery
at St. Laurentto paytheirrespects rose significantly.
Moreover,by marshallingsuch a powerfulsound
track,alongwithhis unswervingdeterminationnotto
shy awayfromthe horrorsof war,he has come close
to representingthe truthand ugliness of war,as so
manyveteranshave attested.
At the startof this essay, I argue that all the
techniques(includingmimickingcombat
filmmaking
film) adopted by Spielberg to recreate a truthful
account of the fightingat Omaha, had been used
before.The honourableaims whichled Spielbergto
tryto createsuch a realisticvisionof warwereshared
with his predecessors. The only slight difference
being that he was tryingto honourhis father'sgeneration,whilethe commitmentto realismof previous
filmmakersof this genre stemmed from having
fought in the war themselves and having lost so
manyclose friends.Theirsense of obligationto the
memory of these men has led filmmakersof the
genre to pursue the 'truthful'
pictureof war by expendinggreatresourcesand utilisingthe latestcinematictechniquesto replicatethe battlefield.As Neal
Ascherson points out, it is debateable whetherthis
obsession with realism - what he terms 'sheer
- has broughtus closer to the
massed authenticity'
'truthof war'thanhavethe effortsof artistswho have
explored more abstract and satirical methods.74
However,this preoccupationwith realism has undoubtedlyhelped to ensure commercialand critical
success, as each generationof audiences and reviewershave greeted battlerecreationsin the latest
war film with enthusiasm, claiming that unprecedented levelsof realismhave been achieved.75From
this we conclude that althoughSavingPrivateRyan
may seem, from our perspective, to be groundbreaking,it is likelythat futurefilmmakerswillproduce films about warthat make Spielberg'sefforts
seem artificialand cliched. Moreover,these new
treatments, even when undertaken by directors
workingin the traditionof Milestone, Renoirand
Spielberg,will never attainthe truthabout war recorded in the rolls of film shot by the sergeant
cameramenof the AFPU.A perspectivewhose very
limitationsare so revealingof the dangers of battle,
and which document so eloquentlythe laborious,
unglamorousand nastywarof the soldier.
Acknowledgements: Thispaperis dedicatedto the
cameramen of the BritishArmyFilmand Photographic
Unit.
Iam especially gratefulto my colleagues inthe technical
team of the Filmand Video Archivefor preparingand
projectingthe filmssequences shown duringthe lecture
at the Museum. I am also gratefulto them for pointing
out various elements of theatricalityand inconsistency
in combat filmresearched forthis study. They are Brian
Mongini,Tom Adams, LynnChapman, Steven Lovesay
and George Smith.
Thankyou to Roger Smitherfor reading a draftof this
paper and making some very helpful historical and
bibliographicalsuggestions. Thanks also to Jerome
Kuehlforsharinghis knowledgeaboutAmericancombat
filmingand to DeirdreO'Dayand Nicole Proiaforreading
through the draft and helping to make the text more
comprehensible to the general reader.
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aIFilmin
R
Real
D-Day
Filming- For
of the AFPU
Appendix: Biographies
cameramen
Sergeant Desmond O'Neill was fromManchester.Hisfatherwas an optician.O'Neillwas interested
inphotographyand atthe age of 8 tooka photograph
of Feniansmarchingin the city.At 14 he joinedthe
DailyExpressin Manchesteras a messenger forthe
photo department.He laterworkedas a messenger
withFox photos. He was called up at 18 and joined
the LancashireFusiliers,where he served untilMay
1943 when he transferredto the AFPU.Atthe end of
his trainingat Pinewood he was sent for infantry
trainingwiththe IrishGuards.As one of the youngest
in the Unitand fit,he was asked to volunteerto film
the firstwave at D-Day.Afterthe war he workedin
the photographicsection of Soldiermagazine and
then became a freelancerworkingfor Harpersand
Queen, Tatlerand Vogue.
Sergeant William A. Greenhalgh had been a
foremanbakerin Blackburn,Lancashirebeforethe
war. He was wounded shortlyafter landingat the
Queen Red sector of Swordbeach. Buthe did manage to filmfourminutesof excellentfootage before
being concussed by a piece of shrapnel from a
mortarshell. As a resultof his wound he was sent
back to England and after medical treatmentto
Pinewood,where he workedwiththe AFPUuntilthe
end of the war.
Sergeant lan Grant was a Scot who served with
the RoyalScots and saw actionat Dunkirk
beforehe
joinedthe AFPU.His fatherhad been a reconnaissance photographerwiththe RFCduringthe First
WorldWarand set up a professionalstudioafterthe
war, where lan Grantworkedwhen he left school.
However,Grantwanted to be a cine cameraman.
Afterthe warhe workedas a cameramanon the Rank
ThisModemAge documentaryseries and then for
GranadaTV.Ian Grant'spublished account of his
career withthe AFPUis CameramenAt War(Cambridge:PatrickStephens, 1980).
Sergeant Norman Clague filmedat D-Day,where
he was attached to the No.1 Special Service Commandos, landingon the Swordbeaches near Ouistreham. He was killedon a night assault on 12/13
June at Brevilleand was the first death of No. 5
349
349
we knowlittle
Companyof the AFPU.Unfortunately
moreabout NormanClague.
Sergeant George Laws had been a photo engraverand amateursports photographerbeforethe
War,with a special interest in motorcycleracing.
Whenthe war startedhe joinedthe RoyalCorps of
Signals as a motorcycledispatch rider.In March
1943 he appliedto jointhe AFPU.AfterD-DayLaws
was attached to the ArmouredDivision,filmingthe
tankbattleoperation'Goodwood'and the upsetting
scenes of Frenchwomen havingtheirheads shaved
for 'horizontalcollaboration'.Laterhe filmedthe liberation of Antwerpand OperationMarketGarden
and in Berlinat the end of the war.He was awarded
a BritishEmpireMedalfor his cameraworkwiththe
AFPU.Despite this commendation,he decided not
to go into professionalcinematographyas he had
recentlymarriedand did not want to spend long
periodsawayfromhome. Hereturnedto his previous
careeras a photoengraver,workingat the Mirror
until
he retiredin 1981.
Sergeant Richard Leatherbarrow was an apprenticeportraitphotographerbefore the war and
servedwiththe territorials
inthe Dukeof Wellington's
regiment,whichbecame theTankDeliverySquadron
of the RoyalArmouredCorpsat the startof the war.
He joined the AFPUin the summer of 1943. After
D-Dayand Normandyhe spent a day or so at Bergen-Belsen,wherehe joinedthe cameramencovering the workof the BritishArmyto help the surviving
inmatesof the camp. He also filmedthe ceremony
at L0neburgHeath where the Germanhigh command surrenderedto Montgomery.Afterthe warhe
workedin the featurefilmindustry.
Sergeant Ernest Walter was from Barry,South
Glamorganand his father was a shipwright.His
fatherencouragedhimto go intoaccountancyat the
age of 14. Walterwas called up in 1939whenhe was
twentyand joined the Welsh Regiment.His father
had been a good amateurphotographer,and Walter
wantedto be an aerialphotographer.He latertransferredto the AFPU.Afterthe war Walterbecame a
featurefilmeditorand ended up teachingeditingat
the NationalFilmSchool.
I
Notes
1.
Duringa trailerfora programmeaboutthe film(War
Stories. MarkCousins Talksto Steven Spielberg), the
BBCtelevision continuityannouncer said: 'Therewas
a time when we could only imaginewar. InSaving
Private Ryan Steven Spielberg recreates history',
BBC1,7 September1998.
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Toby
Toby Haggith
Haggith
350
350
2.
3.
4.
The firstillustratedlecture 'D-Day Filming- For Real',
was held in the cinema of the Museum of the Moving
Image, on the 19 May 1999. A slightlydifferentversion
of the lecture, this time including sequences from
The Battle of San Pietro and film of the battle of
Tarawa, took place in the cinema of the ImperialWar
Museum on the 6 June 2001. l am particularlygrateful
on both occasions to the projectionists who helped
me to prepare and screen these complicated programmes of film.
The formidable German defences at Omaha comprised '8 concrete bunkers with guns of 75mm or
larger calibre; 35 pillboxes with artillerypieces of
various sizes and/or automatic weapons; four batteries of artillery;18 anti-tank guns; six mortar pits;
35 rocket-launching sites, each with 4x38mm rocket
tubes; and no less than 85 machine gun posts'.
Quoted in Cornelius Ryan, The Longest Day: June 6,
1944 (London: Gollancz, 1961).
Between the landings of the first wave of American
soldiers at 6.30am and nightfall on 6 June, 34,250
troops had landed at Omaha Beach at a cost of 4,649
casualties, of which 3,000 were killed. On Sword
beach 28,845 men were landed at Gold 24,970 and
Juno 21,400. The cost incasualties on these beaches
was undoubtedly lighter, approximately 3,000 in total.
5.
Thomas Doherty, Projections of War: Hollywood,
American Culture, and WorldWarII(New York:Columbia UniversityPress, 1993), 242.
6.
Mythanks to Jerome Kuehl and Thomas Doherty for
this information.
7.
American combat cameramen mainly used the Bell
and Howell 35mm Eyemo, a camera with three turret
lenses designed to be hand-held. The British designed 'Vinten Normandy', was supposed to be
modelled on the Eyemo, but was inferior in most
respects as was the American made De Vrycamera,
most widely used by Britishcameramen. However,
the features and design of the staple British and
American combat cameras were the same: 35mm,
loaded with a loose spool, clock-work driven and
carryingthe same amount of film (100 feet). In addition to the Eyemo, American cameramen also used
a magazine loaded Kodak Cine-Special and the Bell
and Howell 16mm Filmo, but not at Normandy.
8.
Quoted in an interviewwith MarkCousins on BBC2
in a programme titled WarStories. MarkCousins talks
to Steven Spielberg, broadcast on BBC2 on 13 September 1998.
9.
Steven Spielberg discussing the filmwhile on the set
in a programme called Retum to Normandy, broadcast on BBC1 on 7 September 1998.
10.
GeoffBrown,TheTimes,10 September1998, p.37.
11.
Fit. Lt. Jon Nichol, 'It's The Brutal Truth', Sun, 11
September 1998, p. 30.
12.
Nick Hopkins, 'Wrong number lands navy expert in
Spielberg's war'. In this article Hopkins quotes Sgt.
MajorKen Murgatroyd,a Royal Marinesveteran who
helped recreate the beach scenes: 'The lads who
fought in the Falklands war said the filming brought
back Bomb Alley'. Guardian,6 August 1998, p. 5.
13.
Neal Ascherson, 'Missing in Action', in the Observer,
6 September 1998, p. 7.
14.
John Wrathall, 'On the beach', Sight and Sound 9
(September 1998): 34-35.
15.
Quoted from the interviewwith MarkCousins in War
Stories. Mark Cousins Talks to Steven Spielberg,
broadcast on BBC2 on 13 September 1998.
16.
Notably Stephen Ambrose, who has written one of
the authoritative accounts of D-Day. Stephen E.
Ambrose, D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle
of WorldWarII(New York:Simon Schuster, 1994).
17.
This training was apparently similar to the kind that
would have been experienced by US soldiers during
the war, and was supervised by the US MarineCorps
veteran Captain Dale Dyer. Publicitynotes for Saving
Private Ryan (London: UIP, Paramount, 1998), pp.
7-8.
18.
Stephen E. Ambrose claimed in the publicity for the
film that 'The film catches what happened exactly. It
is, without question the most accurate and realistic
depiction of war on screen that I have ever seen, not
only in terms of the action, but the actors look, act,
talk, walk, bitch, argue and love one another exactly
as the GIs they are pretending to be did in 1944'.
Publicitynotes for Saving PrivateRyan (London: UIP,
Paramount, 1998), p. 15. Similar comments were
made by the Englishman C. Berry Cavory who had
been a member of General Eisenhower's staff: 'He
(Spielberg) has faced up to facts, I think he was the
only producer that I have seen make a wartime film
who was really prepared to show the public what
took place and that, to my mind, was the most
cardinal effort in Saving Private Ryan. It is a factual
film with the horrors of war clearly and fearlessly
explained'. Quoted from an interview in the programme Return to Normandy, broadcast on BBC1
on 7 September 1998.
19.
Much of the escalating budget of All Quiet on the
WesternFront(1930), can be attributedto Milestone's
desire for realism, which led him to reconstruct a First
WorldWarbattlefieldinCaliforniaand purchase large
numbers of original uniforms from Europe, as well
as armouries of surplus militaryequipment, rifles,
machine guns and even artillerypieces. See Andrew
Kelly,Cinema andthe GreatWar(London:Routledge,
1997), 45. See also John Whiteclay Chambers, 'All
Quiet on the Western Front:The anti-warfilmand the
image of Modern War', in Whiteclay Chambers and
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351
D-Day Filming - For Real
perspective, he worked closely with the ImperialWar
Museum to try to recreate the combat film shot by
AFPUcameraman. Infact many of Spielberg's predecessors in this field, notably Milestone and Zukor,
had been very familiarwith this genre as their own
war service had been as cameramen, editors or
producers with official militaryfilm agencies.
David Culbert (eds.) WorldWarII,Film, and History
(New York:OUP, 1996), 18.
20.
21.
22.
AnthonyAsquith's filmTellEngland (1930), about the
campaign at Galipolli, although not on the scale of
The Big Parade or AllQuiet on the WesternFront,had
remarkably realistic trench scenes for the time and
received assistance from the Admiraltyin the form
of the loan of ships and extras which helped to create
realism.
Abel Gance's film J'Accuse (1919), included 2,000
French soldiers, who were provided by the army
during a period of leave from the fighting at Verdun.
Duringthe production of The Big Parade (1925), King
Vidorwas advised by veterans who had served with
the US ExpeditionaryForce in France as well as being
lent 4,000 soldiers and 200 trucks by the US Army
forthe battle scenes. When making LaGrandeIllusion
(1938), Jean Renoir was assisted by a number of
veterans of the First WorldWar. A number of members of the production team on TellEngland also had
direct experience of the First World War, including
the dialogue writerA.P.Herbert, who had fought at
Galipolli.
In order to achieve historical accuracy and authenticity and to help him rehearse the army of real
soldiers he had at his disposal, Zanuck called on the
expertise of thirty-seven high-rankingveterans of the
German and Allied forces to advise him on the battle
in Normandy. As part of his strategy to achieve
authenticity, all the actors were required to speak in
the original languages of the combatants. He even
went as far as to arrange for a Horsa glider to be built
from the originaldesigns, forthe scenes of the attack
by Britishparachutists on Pegasus Bridge. Stephen
Ambrose, 'The Longest Day (US, 1962) 'Blockbuster
History', in John Whiteclay Chambers IIand David
Culbert (eds.) WorldWar1, in Film,and History(New
York:OUP, 1996), 99-103.
23.
Location filming for Theirs is the Glory began in
Arnhem in August 1945, approximately a year after
the real battle had begun on 17 September 1944. As
an indicationof how littlethe landscape had changed
since the battle itself, the parachutists performing in
the film had to clear some of the locations of mines
before filming could begin. The site was still so
undisturbed, that the Graves Registration Unit had
only just begun removing bodies from the battlefield
graves and transferringthem to the Airbornecemetery at Oosterbeek. See TrevorPopple, viewing notes
for Theirsis the Glory(London:Afterthe Battle, 1987).
24.
The camera work in the Gallipoli landing scene in
TellEngland (1931) contains a number of sequences
simulating cinema-verite, including a striking 'handheld' point of view sequence on the beach which
seems to anticipate the Omaha beach scene from
Saving PrivateRyan. When Stuart Cooper was making Overlord (1974) about D-Day from the British
25.
Steven Spielberg duringan interviewwithMarkCousins on a BBC2 programme entitled, WarStories. Mark
Cousins Talksto Steven Spielberg, broadcast on 13
September 1998.
26.
The Battle of San Pietro (1945), IWMfilm catalogue
no. MGH3664.
27.
Steven Spielberg discussing the filmwhile on the set
in a television programme entitled Return to Normandy, broadcast on BBC1 on 7 September 1998.
28.
Steven Spielberg duringan interviewwithMarkCousins, in the programme entitled War Stories. Mark
Cousins Talks to Steven Spielberg, broadcast on
BBC on 13 September 1998.
29.
Thomas Doherty, Projections of War: Hollywood,
American Culture,and WorldWarII(Chichester: Columbia UniversityPress, 1993), 253-254.
30.
I plan to returnto this topic in another essay, which
will concentrate on the differences between American and British combat filming during the Second
WorldWar.
30a.
The shot sheets of these out-takes are reproduced
in Volume III,Part 2, of David Culbert (ed.) Filmand
propaganda in America:A documentary history (New
York: Greenwood Press, 1990: e.g. Document 82
ADC 906 February 1944, Captain John Huston's
Team, coverage: Re-enacted footage. V.S. troops
fire riflesfrom behind rock. Troops move across field
towards farmhouse; two men fall as if hit. L.S. American soldiers move up mountainside as white phosphorous shells explode near them.
31.
Infilmingthese remarkablescenes at Tarawathe US
Marinecameramen put themselves in great danger
(two were killed and one was wounded), however
the filmingwas not as suicidal as it may seem. Firstly,
the fighting on Tarawa lent itself to combat filming
as the action took place over a highly compressed
area. Secondly, the cameraman's depth of field was
greater than normal on a battlefield because the
Japanese defenders had cut the undergrowth back
on the beaches. One should also stress that the
majorityof the filmingsuggests the cameramen took
all the normal precautions that one would expect of
men filming under fire:they keep very low out of the
line of fire and remain a safe distance behind the
advancing soldiers. The scenes in which the viewer
is shown simultaneously the Marinesfiringtheir rifles
and flamethrowers and the target of their firing(bunkers, dugouts, trees, etc.), were filmed when the
Japanese defenders were sheltering in underground
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Toby3T
Haggith
Hagg
352
bunkersor fortsand not actuallyengaging the Marines.
32.
Outof 106 picturesshot by Capa at the 'EasyRed'
section of Omahabeach, onlyeightweresalvaged.
Apparentlythe excited darkroomassistant had
turnedthe heat on too muchwhendryingthe negatives and the emulsionshad melted. RobertCapa,
SlightlyOutof Focus (NewYork:HenryHolt,1947),
151.
33.
Sergeant lan A. Grant,AFPUcameraman,in a recordedinterviewheld inthe Imperial
WarMuseum's
SoundArchive,accession no. 3865/19, reel 10.
34.
Thecapacityof the De Vrywas 100feet of film,which
runsfor approximatelyone minuteand seven seconds. One windingof the clockworkmechanism
wouldadvance the film40-55 feet. TheVintenNormandy could take 200 foot spools. The filmwas
KodakPan Xfilm,and the exposurewas veryslow.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
accession no. 4579/06, reel 3. We do not know if
HerbertPeach's landingcraftwas one of the boats
cited by Colonel Stewart.However,most of the
automaticcameras did not producefilm,probably
because thecoxswainsforgottoturnonthecameras'
as theywereso preoccupiedwithensuringthattheir
men were landedsafely.
James Barker,'D-Day:Factof Fiction?',Foca/International13 (Autumn1994):6.
43.
OtherofficialUS filmsreleased in colourare Atthe
FrontinNorthAfrica(1943),producedbytheUSArmy
Signal Corps and supervised and partlyshot by
F.Zanuck;TheMemphisBelle(1944)andmost
Darryl
of the filmsof the Pacificcampaign.
43a
SergeantGeorge Laws,AFPUcameramanin a recordedinterviewheld inthe Imperial
WarMuseum's
SoundArchive,accession no. 14839/13,reel3.
44.
Coverageof the commandos'sportsday inSwaythlingon 29 May1944, can be foundin the IWMFilm
Archive(reelno. A7021), filmedby sergeantsWalter
andLeatherbarrow.
Scenes ofthe 1st battalionSouth 45.
LancashireregimentreceivingFrenchmoney and
examininga model and picturesof the Normandy
beaches are on the same reel and were shot by
SergeantO'Neill.
Sergeant lan A. Grant,AFPUcameramanin a re- 46.
corded interviewin the ImperialWar Museum's
SoundArchive,accession no. 3865/19, reel 10.
SergeantErnestWalter,AFPUcameramanin a recordedinterviewheld inthe Imperial
WarMuseum's
SoundArchive,accession no. 8299/07, reel 3.
ImperialWarMuseumfilmcatalogue numberA70
29-30, (Rolls1-2).
ImperialWarMuseumfilmcatalogue numberA70
31-32 (Roll2).
ImperialWarMuseumfilmcatalogue numberA70
31-32 (Roll3).
HerbertJames Peach served withthe RoyalNavy
duringthe Second WorldWarand was a coxswain
withthe CombinedForces duringthe D-DayLandings. Mr. Peach carriedCanadiansoldiers in his
landingcraftand put them ashore at St. Aubinon
Juno beach. As well as steeringthe craftto shore,
he was responsible for turningon the automatic
cameraviaa smallbuttonat his side. Thesequence
takenin his craftappears in the filmTheTrueGlory
(1945).Weare gratefulto the late Mr.Peach and his
son PhilipPeach,forwritingto the Museumwiththis
information.
ColonelHughStewartexplainedina recordedinterview 'Arrangementswere made that half a dozen
cameraswouldbe mountedintheaftend ofa landing
craft'as it was realisedthat a steady camera shot
could not have been takenwith'an ordinaryhandheld camera'withthe rampgoing downand allthe
soldiersjumpingout. LieutenantColonelHughStewart,MBE,ImperialWarMuseum'sSoundArchive,
Therearemanyotherexamples,such as the moment
when the rampdrops on the landingcraftand the
cameratakes the positionin the lineof fire,in front
of the Rangerswho are being shot by a machine
gun.
SergeantW. Greenhalgh'sotherwiseexcellentcoverage of the landingson Swordbeach was marred
in a couple of rolls by an unidentifiedblurwhich
appeared at the bottom of each frame, possibly
caused by an obstructionin the lens. See Imperial
WarMuseumfilmcatalogue no. A70 36-1.
47.
Sergeant lan A. Grant,AFPUcameraman,in a recordedinterviewheld inthe Imperial
WarMuseum's
SoundArchive,accession no. 3865/19, reel 10.
48.
Sergeant Ernest Walter,AFPU cameraman, in a
recorded interviewheld in the ImperialWar Museum's SoundArchive,accession no. 8299/07, reel
3.
49.
Lt.ColonelHughStewart,AFPU,ina recordedinterview held in the ImperialWar Museum's Sound
Archive,accession no. 4579/06:reel 1.
50.
membersof the AFPUwere killedin the
Twenty-five
war.SergeantIanA. Grant,AFPUcameraman,in a
recorded interviewin the ImperialWar Museum's
SoundArchive,accession no. 3865/19, reel 6.
51.
SergeantPalmer'sDopeSheetA700113/1,4August
1944. Showingvariousshots of the 15th Scottish
DivisionEastof Beny-Bocage.
SergeantlanGrant,AFPUcameraman,ina recorded
interviewin the ImperialWarMuseum'sSound Archive,accession no. 3865/19, reel6.
52.
53.
Sergeant Ernest Walter,AFPU cameraman, in a
recorded interviewheld in the ImperialWar Mu-
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
n
;
353
For
Real
D-Day
5:;g <
_~ t - SZn4dr:
-Filming
,:).
:;;,<)
X:
i73S;
V;;n<AtSF::
t)<j.$n:Xc
n
: S;d
seum's Sound Archive, accession no. 8299/07, reel
6.
54.
55.
56.
Sergeant Desmond O'Neill, AFPU cameraman, in a
recorded interview held in the Imperial War Museum's Sound Archive, accession no. 3971/04, reel
1.
Sergeant Ernest Walter, AFPU cameraman, in a
recorded interview held in the Imperial War Museum's Sound Archive, accession no. 8299/07, reel
6.
Sergeant Desmond O'Neill, AFPU cameraman, in a
recorded interview held in the Imperial War Museum's Sound Archive, accession no. 3971/04, reel
2.
57.
Geoff Dyer is the author of The Missing of the Somme
(London: Hamish Hamilton,1994). This quote comes
from an interviewwith Dyer in a television programme
about the film Regeneration (1998), entitled Regeneration-Historyand Culture, broadcast on BBC2 on
27 March 1998.
58.
Sergeant lan A. Grant, AFPU cameraman, in a recorded interview in the Imperial War Museum's
Sound Archive, accession no. 3865/19, reel 10.
59.
James Barker, 'D-Day, Fact or Fiction?' FOCALInternational No.13 (Autumn 1994): 6.
60.
James Borken in 1977. ImperialWar Museum catalogue notes A70 29/1-2.
61.
Sergeant William Lawrie, AFPU cameraman, in a
recorded interview held in the Imperial War Museum's Sound Archive, accession no. 7481/03, reel
1.
62.
Sergeant Desmond O'Neill, AFPU cameraman, in a
recorded interview held in the Imperial War Museum's Sound Archive, accession no. 3971/04, reel
3.
63.
Sergeant Richard Leatherbarrow, AFPU cameraman, in a recorded interviewheld in the ImperialWar
Museum's Sound Archive, accession No. 8253/3,
reel 1.
64.
Sergeant George Laws, AFPU cameraman, in a
recorded interview held in the Imperial War Museum's Sound Archive, accession no. 14839/13, reel
5.
65.
'M/s shot 3. Canadians of North Shore Regiment
killedby mortarand mg fireon initiallanding. Blazing
landing craft in background'. Sergeant Richard
Leatherbarrow'sDope Sheet no. A700 37/1. Filmand
Video Archive, ImperialWar Museum.
66.
Sergeant Ernest Walter, AFPU cameraman, in a
recorded interview held in the Imperial War Museum's Sound Archive, accession no. 8299/07, reel
7.
67.
Sergeant Ernest Walter, AFPU cameraman, in a
recorded interview held in the Imperial War Museum's Sound Archive, accession no. 8299/07, reel
7.
68.
Sergeant George Laws, AFPU cameraman, in a
recorded interview held in the Imperial War Museum's Sound Archive,accession no. 14839/13, reel
5.
69.
'The Road of Death', 24 August 1944. RAFFilmUnit,
cameramen Sgt. Hick and Sgt. Baker. ImperialWar
Museum film catalogue numbers: ACB 143, ACB
144-146.
70.
WarPictorialNews No. 174 (4 September 1944) ImperialWarMuseum catalogue no. WPW174, and the
Gen No. 9-The Voice of the Service. 'Gen Special'
-RAF Warfront:The Battle of Normandy (September
1944) ImperialWar Museum catalogue no. GEN 9;
Movietone News -'Alliesapply squeeze to the Falaise
Gap' (17 August 1944), ImperialWar Museum film
catalogue no. NMV793A. This footage was also not
used in an item on the destruction of the German 7th
Army at Falaise in BritishMovietone News No. 795,
released on 28 August 1944. ImperialWar Museum
catalogue number NMV795.
71.
Peter Neushul and Second Lieutenant James
D.Neushul, 'Withthe Marines at Tarawa', Proceedings (April1999): 74-79.
72.
James and Sara Combs, Film Propaganda and
AmericanPolitics:AnAnalysisand Filmography(London: Garland Publishing, 1994), 78.
73.
A soldier on the beach is shot, struggles to get up
again and finally falls back into the sea. This sequence is described in Thomas Doherty,Projections
of War:Hollywood, American Culture,and WorldWar
II(Chichester: Columbia UniversityPress, 1993), 244.
74.
Neal Ascherson, 'Missing in Action', in the Observer,
6 September 1998, p. 7.
75.
Critics widely commended All Quiet on the Western
Front for its realism. Sydney Carroll in the Sunday
Times said 'Realism reaches its zenith in this picture.
It made me shudder with horror.It brought the war
back to me as nothing has ever done before since
1918'. Quoted inAndrew Kelly,Cinema andthe Great
War(London: Routledge, 1997), 50. The Big Parade
also received praise for the realism of its battle
scenes; in Life Robert Sherwood called it 'spectacular, harsh, raw-meaty ... I could not detect a single
flaw ... nor one error of taste or authenticity', also
quoted in Andrew Kelly, p. 35. The Longest Day had
mixed reviews, but at least one reviewer was struck
by its 'documentary' style. See Stephen E. Ambrose,
'The Longest Day: Blockbuster History',in Whiteclay
and Chambers (eds.) WorldWarII,Film,and History
(New York:OUP, 1996), 104.
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