Lt Col. FC ‘Hap’ Chandler, a WWII B24 pilot navigator, wandered into Ellwood’s café in Ste Mere Eglise during the 2008 D-Day celebrations. This unmistakable ‘Georgia’ boy, with his rich Southern accent and old world charm stood beside the famous C47 tail piece and said in pretty audible tones, “You're gonna have to get me a ladder, 'cos the only place I’m gonna sign this thing is up there” pointing to the uppermost part of the tail, which had been signed by hundreds of veterans.
“I was up above them in WWII and I’m going to stay above them now.”
A ladder was duly provided and the 88 year old flyer deftly climbed the steps and wrote his signature and a short message at the very top.
After accepting a cold beer as recompense for his exertions, he turned to us, the roving film crew and said “ Ok boys, let’s do an interview." There followed, what can only be described as one of the most lucid, detailed and entertaining descriptions of service in WWII that we have ever had the privilege to film.
Hap has been a great friend to all of us and he makes an appearance in The Americans on Hell’s Highway This little film was made for him, as a tribute to his service.
At a time when WWII veterans are leaving us at an alarming rate and high school teachers struggle to engage students on historical topics, we at Livingbattlefield are determined that there is another way.
'No more dry historical lectures'
We create films with lively animated graphics, re-enactment, real location shooting, passionately underpinned by the testimony of the great men who actually did the fighting. With our films, we hope to signal a new dawn in education.
Along with the usual raft of historical documentation needed to prepare 'The American Road to Victory' series, WWII Playstation games were studied so younger gamers could see a scene in the film and think, "Oh, I fought the Germans there!"
Remote control armor, at 1/16th scale, was filmed against blue screen, then added to the real locations using Adobe After Effects. Smoke and pyrotechnics were liberally used together with an array of original WWII weapons and uniforms. (In the coming weeks we will be featuring some of the equipment and uniforms used in filming).
These films have now been screened nationally more than 500 times on PBS stations in the last 2 weeks.
Our presenter Ellwood von Seibold, who is certainly the most popular WWII battlefield guide in Europe, is a firm favorite with young American visitors. Here's what one young man, who had just taken Ellwood's tour, had to say on Youtube.
"Ellwood took my family and i on a 9 hour tour last summer in Normandy. I'm a sixteen year old. By far, one of the greatest experiences of my life. If anyone is considering a tour of Normandy, book Ellwood."
Cravings for good sushi sent us to Caen yesterday. The sushi place is across the street from a castle wall, part of the enormous Chateau de Cean complex, which was built by William the Conqueror around 1060. Like most of what used to be a lovely Medieval city, Caen was bombed heavily by the Allies on June 6, 1944, D-Day. It was a critical objective due to it's control of roads and rivers.
Interestingly, there were not that many Germans occupying the city at that time. But, after it was bombed, Caen became a defender's paradise. British General, George Montgomery, then had to fight the crack troops of the 21st Panzer Division first, later joined by the notorious 12th SS Hitler Youth.
In the future, we hope to bring you clips from our interview with Lothar Eiding of the 12th SS.
These were horrific, drawn out operations, causing massive British & Canadian casualties. All failed. Then, on July 7th, the Allies began Operation Charnwood, launched with 2,000 tons of bombs unloaded on the city. They attacked the following day. By the next day, July 9th, the 12th SS had withdrawn.
Whether by twist of fate or strategic plan, while the battles for Caen were occupying many of the elite German troops, American forces, including General George Patton's 3rd Army, were finally able to break out and begin the task of encircling the Germans.
'Omaha Beach,' the killing zone of D-Day, is overlooked by the magnificent American cemetery. None of the fallen, not even the unknown soldier pictured here, were overlooked on this Memorial Day weekend.
Though the reasons for the words on these graves of unknown soldiers are grim, we find the epataph comforting.
HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY
A COMRADE IN ARMS
KNOWN BUT TO GOD
Today, the tide was half in when we took this photo from from the German vantage point on high ground.
The Allies had to attack at low tide, to avoid mines and other obstacles that had been strategically placed by the Germans to destroy incoming craft.
Standing here, it's hard to imagine how the soldiers steeled themselves for what they had to do.
Earl Norwood, veteran landing craft pilot, featured in The American's on D-Day, shares this memory:
Today we pay tribute to Distinguished Service Cross recepient, Eric Fisher Wood, of Bedford, PA, who waged guerrilla warfare against the Germans in Belgium's freezing Ardennes forest.
This clip is from the film The Americans in the Bulge. We would also like to open our comment section for your Memorial Day tributes.
WWII hero and one of the stars of 'The Americans on D-Day',
buried with full military honors.
Sgt. Mike Fitch, World War II
Mike Fitch, from Conway S.C has passed away at the age of 92. He was a Sergeant in the 29th Infantry Division on D-Day. He came ashore on Omaha beach in full glare of the German machine gunners. His sector 'Charlie' was one of the murderous killing zones on that fateful morning. His harrowing testimony in The Americans on D-Day, sends chills down the spine. When the remnants of the 29th finally managed to get of the beach and on to the High ground, Mike came face to face with his first German and although stunned, he killed him. He averaged one kill a day for the remainder of the war.
Mike's Service Record.
Mr. Fitch was a decorated World War II veteran, who enlisted in the U.S. Army in August of 1941, and served primarily in the European Theater of Operations, rising to the rank of technical sergeant in an intelligence and reconnaissance platoon of the U.S. 5th Infantry Division’s 11th Infantry Regiment. In Operation Overlord, the 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy, France, he served in a two-man intelligence and reconnaissance team, which was attached to the U.S. 29th Infantry Division’s 116th Regimental Combat Team. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, he landed in the second assault wave on Charlie Sector of Omaha Beach, where American casualties were among the highest of D-Day. On “Bloody Omaha,” he and his recon team were instrumental in destroying WN-73, a deadly German artillery and machinegun installation overlooking the right flank of Omaha Beach.
Afterwards, he was engaged in the Normandy Campaign, the Battle of the Bulge and in the final Allied offensive against Nazi Germany, ending the war in Czechoslovakia. From the summer of 1944, through the duration of the war, he served in advance of American front lines in reconnaissance and intelligence operations and as a U.S. Army sniper, and was repeatedly engaged in combat. On several occasions, when the 11th Infantry Regiment was serving in the U.S. Third Army, he was detached as an intelligence operative to serve as a driver for General George Patton. A former civilian pilot, he was trained as a U.S. fighter pilot while posted to Iceland in 1943, and in late 1944, he briefly held a temporary duty assignment as a P-51 pilot until injured by enemy anti-aircraft fire.
For his services in World War II, Mr. Fitch was awarded the Sharpshooter Medal, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the French Croix de Guerre.
D-Day's success relied on surprise attack. After interviewing Knights Cross recipient and fallschirmjaeger (German paratrooper) Alexander Uhlig, we had to wonder what might have happened had the Allies waited for better weather before making the crossing.
Would love to hear your what if's . . .
In other news, we've been looking for a small chair to use our edit suite, and today found one that is just perfect to store beside the desk and pull out when we have visitors. It's a wooden, collapsible field chair, nice and sturdy. Well, we got it, folded it up, and found an eagle mark underneath, showing that is WWII era, German make. It would be terrific to find a photo of a chair like this in use from that time period.
