The first ever documentary of the D-Day landings
Four reels, discovered by researchers at the Eisenhower Library in 2014, were found to contain the first ever documentary of the D-Day landings. Intended as an initial report and produced in only days, the film was screened for military leadership and is mentioned in OSS reports as having been viewed by Winston Churchill, with copies ‘flown to President Roosevelt and Mr. Stalin.’
Apparently forgotten in the climactic weeks and months that followed, the film was cataloged as separate, non-sequential reels rather than a single production. The film, lost and forgotten for decades, was digitized by the US National Archives and I have done my best to restore and enhance the footage.