WWII docos where they get it wrong

[Lang]

Diana,

I am sorry if you took my comment as a personal remark - it was not intended as such.

If you look back through MLU and other military site threads you will see people becoming quite enraged over errors in movies, books and docos.

Anyhow keep watching, as I said it is quite entertaining spotting the faults.

If you want to look at a very interesting doco there is one below. Unfortunately it has got lots of complete drivel in it for the spotters. The story of a Pan Am China Clipper caught out 7 Dec 1941 and flying back to USA from NZ the long way. All they did was follow the every day Imperial Airways flying boat route through all the established standard refueling and mooring stops. One of their "top secret" engines blew up and they miraculously found a DC3 engine (which the Japanese operated as well) to fit. Great propaganda for the time and hardly one of the leading heroic escapes of WW2 but despite the high drama very interesting and good entertainment. The public needed a morale boost in the weeks after Pearl Harbour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms84WfJwalI

Lang

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Lang

If you want to look at a very interesting doco there is one below. Unfortunately it has got lots of complete drivel in it for the spotters. The story of a Pan Am China Clipper caught out 7 Dec 1941 and flying back to USA from NZ the long way. All they did was follow the every day Imperial Airways flying boat route through all the established standard refueling and mooring stops. One of their "top secret" engines blew up and they miraculously found a DC3 engine (which the Japanese operated as well) to fit. Great propaganda for the time and hardly one of the leading heroic escapes of WW2 but despite the high drama very interesting and good entertainment. The public needed a morale boost in the weeks after Pearl Harbour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms84WfJwalI

Lang,

Sounds like the sort of trip you do every now and then with two fingers up your nose, eh?

Hanno

[Ed Landstrom]

The comment about Canadians at Juno beach being used to represent any landing reminded me of an interview I heard a few years ago. A Canadian WW II combat photographer (whose name and title I unfortunately can't remember) claimed that the Canadians were the only ones who took the time to set up camera tripods. (Possibly the only ones crazy enough to stand still long enough?)
He said that everyone else used hand-held cameras, resulting in footage that was often so jumpy as to be unwatchable. He further claimed that most of the WWII footage used in documentaries is Canadian, often desperately edited to make it look more generic.
Does anyone have any information on the accuracy of this claim?

[Ed Storey]

Yes, the cine film cameramen in the Canadian Army Film and Photo unit shot their footage from tripods which provided a superior product over hand-held techniques.