Colour footage of WW2 glider take offs ... ?

The aerial shot at 1minute 20 looks like this aerial photo of Tarrant Rushton.

 

content included in this DVD. another worthwhile contrbution

BFI Screenonline: Undefeated, The (1950)

 

Wooly,

Keen eye - I think you have it! I'll throw up a comparison still from the video. Not the the best but the number and line up of planes and gliders compare nicely. Good one!

Would Tarrant Rushton coincide with some of Chick's findings? Ted's observations on equipment colouring and clothing worn were quite interesting. He also had me running sideways looking for the RAF Hemswell documentary ... I did find a clip and it is quite impressive.

Matchbox you lost me on that. Are you saying the footage is from Victory in Europe?

Later ...

 

Bl**dy marvelous stuff Cee! I've only just had chance to watch it as my iPad wouldn't play the link, I especially liked to see the Hamilcar - looks incredible.

Can you let me have the Youtube title so I can link the clip to Chalk's blogsite please?

Cheers

Matt

 

My immediate thought on seeing the aerial shot of the airfield was Tarrant Rushton. That was the home of the Hamilcar.

Steve W.

 

Matt,

It's called "Glider Assault" and can be picked up on YouTube here:

Glider Assault - YouTube

I even made a YouTube account to see if I could get some info out of the poster. Matt on your site I was delighted by the British Path video, "Landing Craft - Gliders" you linked to. Bits and pieces I had seen before, but not in its entirety. You and Steve always have interesting Glider related material to ponder.

Ok ...

 

It looks as though the Tarrant Rushton footage might have been taken on 6th June 1944…

From “WWII 644 Squadron: Through The Eyes OF A Canadian” by “Sandy" Barr:

Tuesday, June 6th, 1944 - Early morning

….. two surprises were in store for the crews who had not previously participated in the night operations. The first being, our aircraft which we had assembled on 01 runway the previous evening with gliders hitched up, now had three bold white strips on each wing, and the same markings on the fuselage. My first thought was Boy, that should make us conspicuous to the Enemy. After due consideration, I realized that we were being made conspicuous to our own invasion forces. The second surprise was seeing hundreds of ships of various sizes, in the English Channel, as we made our way towards France. But I’m getting ahead of the story.

Marshalled on the runway were 30 Halifax-Hamilcar and two Halifax-Horsa combinations. They were assembled with the gliders on the runway, and the tugs on the grass on both sides. The two Horsas were in front, and one aircraft of 644 piloted by Vince Blake was to lead off the 644 Squadron’s aircraft, in 9U-F-Freddie.

Milling about on the runway in nervous anticipation, we met the other crews. I noticed the Tiger moth, which I knew was flown by Clapperton, flying about and since he had a War Ministry photographer on board, I checked to see exactly where my 2P-Q-Queen was parked in the line. Two spare Hamilcars, one at the front end of the line to one side, and one at the rear , were on standby. The glider pilots of our Hamilcar came over to meet us, and we wished them good luck.

644 Squadron tugs on far side. Barr’s aircraft is on the far side of the runway, and fifth from front. Two Horsa gliders in front followed by 34 Hamilcars. 298 Squadron tugs on near side.
We had no idea that this operation, Mallard, would be the largest glider operation ever achieved, with a total of 256 combinations taking part, not all of them towing the mighty-tank-filled Hamilcars.

[Photo – caption: Tarrant - Rushton Airfield Runway 01. 644 Squadron tugs on far side, 298 Squadron tugs on near side. The aerial footage at 1:21 seems to show the same scene.]

644 crews that were involved, and their aircraft in the approx. order they took off follows; the lead aircraft was a 298 Squadron Kite and second off was a 644 aircraft then 298 and so on.

RCAF V. J. Blake and crew were 2nd off in 9U-F-Freddie
RAF R.A. Hobbs and crew were 4th off in 2P-V-Victor
RAF F. Rymills and crew were 6th off in 2P-F-Freddie
RAF V.A. Pope and crew were 8th off in 9U-V-Victor
RCAF H.W. ”Sandy” Barr and crew were 10th off in 2P-Q-Queen
RAF J.R. Fisher and crew were I2th off in 9U-C-Charley
RNZAF B.J.F. Bretherton and crew were 14th off in 9U-Y-York
RAF W.W. Archibald and crew were 16th off in 9U-Z-Zebra
RAF V.R. Oliver and crew 18th off in 2P-M-Mother
RCAF W.H. Nickel and crew were 20th off in 9U-Q-Queen
RAAF K. O’Dea and crew were 2222nd off in 9U-M-Mother
RAF A.G. Norman and crew were 24th off in 9U-T-Tare
RAF A.G. Egerton and crew were 26th off in 9U-R-Roger
RAF L.E.J. Ussell and crew 28th off in 2P-0-Oboe
RAF S.O. Woodward and crew 30th off in 9U-L-Love
RAF J.A. Herman and crew 32nd (last off) in 2P-H-How



I don’t know if the 644 Squadron Halifax at 0:59 is coded 2P-C (not listed above), or if what looks like the character ‘C’ is something else, hopefully someone here will be able to clarify this.

With grateful thanks to “Sandy” Barr.

Geoff

 

Great stuff Geoff, that seems to confirm a lot of what has been largely speculation up to this point.

 

Geoff,

Ok, you just blew me away ... . Never would I have thought the line ups at RAF Tarrant Rushton would have been recorded so thoroughly in a memoir. Interesting too that we have a mention of the plane that carried the photographer overhead. Likewise many thanks to "Sandy" Barr.

Now can we link the lifts offs at the beginning of the video with Operation Mallard. One thing that could be checked is when did Chatterton go in by glider on D-Day. I can't place it at the moment but I dimly recall he may have been on the 3rd Wave early June 6th (3:30 AM).

Wonderful information ...

 

Wooly,

Keen eye - I think you have it! I'll throw up a comparison still from the video. Not the the best but the number and line up of planes and gliders compare nicely. Good one!

Would Tarrant Rushton coincide with some of Chick's findings? Ted's observations on equipment colouring and clothing worn were quite interesting. He also had me running sideways looking for the RAF Hemswell documentary ... I did find a clip and it is quite impressive.

Matchbox you lost me on that. Are you saying the footage is from Victory in Europe?

Later ...

answer perhaps a tad abbreviated. yes, the footage is included in the DVD Victory in Europe.

 

matchbox,

Aaah, I see. I was wondering when someone was going to come through with a source. Some of the mystery has suddenly lost its allure. At the same time it's good to know there is a better quality version available. Was there any narrative accompanying that segment? With a lot of these documentaries they edit together clips more for visual appeal than historical accuracy.

Still it would good to know more about the glider lift portion of the video. I suspect the para part will be harder to pin down.

Thanks

 

Matt,

It's called "Glider Assault" and can be picked up on YouTube here:

Glider Assault - YouTube

I even made a YouTube account to see if I could get some info out of the poster. Matt on your site I was delighted by the British Path video, "Landing Craft - Gliders" you linked to. Bits and pieces I had seen before, but not in its entirety. You and Steve always have interesting Glider related material to ponder.

Ok ...

Many thanks mate, I'll get it linked!

I try to find as much random material related to GPR as I can, there really is plenty out there if one has the time to look, which I sometimes do... although I really should be working!

 

You can buy "Victory in Europe" for a moderate sum on Amazon. It's also available on Love TV for viewing.

Victory in Europe (VE Day In Colour)[DVD]

Of course the true source for the footage lies elsewhere, perhaps the IWM? The film's credits may point to it. If the information on the box is to be believed only scenes shot with true colour film were used. Once again thanks to matchbox for pointing that out.

Also Chatterton's book, Wings of Pegasus may reveal his movements on D-Day.

Later ...

 

obviously the scenes have come from different shoots, no Stirlings at TR. there are shots from Varsity. credits show many different archives so there must be more film stock in existance. nice visuals of Polish armoured personnel. footage of B-17's on Operation Manna. the narration is general, widely interspersed with quotes from participants letters , diaries etc. one can only imagine what it was like to go through. kids of today, eh !

 

given that it has been announced that scientists have found the Higgs boson particle, does it matter ? then what about the propagation of errors. with regard to the Tarrant Rushton Operation Mallard photograph (Sandy Barr website ) and statistics , the information is incorrect. a comprehensive list of chalk numbers, Halifax squadron codes / serial numbers, tug pilots and glider pilots is in my possession together with a good quality original print of the scene. it can clearly be made out that the first Halifax and lead aircraft is 9U-F, LL402, 644 Sqn.F/O Blake towing Horsa C/No.250B, glider pilots Capt.Murdoch / Sgt. Page. (these glider pilots were on Operation Tonga but cast off over Worthy Down, returned to TR and allocated a chalk for Mallard.) it can also be seen that the tugs nearest to the camera are a mixture of 298 and 644 Squadrons. minutae or nit-picking, does it matter ?

 

matchbox,

Are you saying because of Higg bosun parallel universes are now a reality ...

I'll let you guys sort out the squadron and chalk/glider side of the business. We are probably dealing with a mishmash of clips thrown together by a film editor more for effect than accuracy. I was looking at the use of invasion stripes for Operation Varsity and got thoroughly confused in the process.

Interesting points though and thanks for the previous run down on DVD content.

Cheers ...

 

personally, at this moment I don't know if parallel universes are a reality, but I will let you know tomorrow after I have spoken to myself. there was a distinct lack of invasion stripes on Operation Varsity aircraft,

toodle pip...

 

Invasion Stripes

Yeah, that was the distinct impression I got, but then I would stumble on the odd clip that threw a spanner in the works and thought is this another case of mix and match.

Later ...

 

Here are a couple of videos from the Romano Archives that might explain the paratrooper jump portion. The first is described as follows:

"1945. Amateur footage of US paratroopers jumping off a plane over German territory in the last days of WW2."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzF2AfaZvpo


The second jump is reversed and said to be over Arnhem:

"Holland, September 17, 1944. British airborne forces over Arnhem starting unlucky Operation Market Garden."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLJgvOrjaJc


The Romano Archives has a considerable collection of WW2 colour videos that may be of interest. You can access their YouTube channels from here:

UNKNOWN WW2 IN COLOR - ROMANO-ARCHIVES

 

Hi Cee,

Thanks will have to check my Stirling file to see what I can find...

Cheers
Tom