Secret footage of US troops practising D-Day invasion found

Footage, unearthed in an archive in Baltimore, shows British and American troops practising amphibious landings in North Devon in preparation for the invasion of Normandy beaches during World War II -- D-Day.

The secret D-Day footage, which have not been seen since World War II, also shows Winston Churchill and future US president Dwight Eisenhower visiting the troops in 1944, a few weeks before they were sent to Normandy.

The collection of 10-minute reels have lain forgotten in a National Archive in Baltimore since the end of the war.

They are to go on show in Britain for the first time after being unearthed by a former BBC technician. Tony Koorlander made the discovery while researching the wartime connections of his hometown of Bideford, in Devon.

The plans

The footage shot between October 1943 and June 1944 on Woolacombe beach and Braunton Burrows was originally intended to be shown to US troops as a training video on amphibious landings.

But some of the images of troops practising manoeuvres in Devon were later used in US wartime propaganda films to portray battle scenes in Normandy. Real footage from the invasion was considered too harrowing.

Said Koorlander, 'Some of these reels have never been seen by anyone, they have just lain in a can forgotten.'

He said the Devon beaches were very similar to those designated to the US forces in Normandy. 'The beaches have the same sand quality, beach gradient and tidal range and the lessons they learnt here were vital to the success in Normandy,' Koorlander added.

The training exercises themselves were not without casualties. Live ammunition was used and dozens of soldiers were killed when machine guns sank into the sand, firing directly at troops instead of over their heads. Many drowned when landing craft overturned.

There is also film footage of Russian military visitors at Putsborough beach in February 1944.