Whenever I see stock footage (typically WW2), I frequently wonder: what happened to the people I am seeing? Examples include: the various 101st paratroopers Eisenhower visited before D-Day, the three guys coming ashore on Omaha and the guy on the far left falling (you see the bullet impacts around him
), or the landing craft full of Commonwealth soldiers about to land on Gold, where one guy is being patted on the back by his friend just before the door/ramp opens. I don't even really need to try to describe this scenes beyond this bare information, as I'm sure they're scenes we've all seen innumerable times, before.
When I
do know what happened, it's usually not for the better. An example of this would be the B-24 (viewed from 1030 high) being hit near the root of the port wing by either flak or possible ordinance dropped by a bomber higher up in the formation, the wing buckling, and the Liberator falling to earth. I heard no one got out. Another example would be footage of a Tiger rolling around among hedgerows. I recognized Michael Wittmann as the commander, and thus realized this was likely from a newsreel crowing about he and his crew's achievements of 13 June '44 at Villers-Bocage. I know at the very least Wittmann would be dead inside of two months, though I know some of his crew from the Villers-Bocage action were reassigned before he was killed.
So, what are some ways to find out what happened? Do any of you know anything?
EDIT: subject line - there should be a hyphen between footage and photos
Why can't we change this ourselves?