Photographed by U.S. Coast Guard cameramen with additional scenes provided by the U.S. Navy and Army Air Forces, United States Coast Guard Report No. 4 is a short war film that shows the work of the USCG during the Allied invasion of Normandy as part of Operation Overlord. The film opens with footage of “D Day +3,” showing viewers destroyed or damaged tanks, trucks, and landing craft on the beaches of Normandy. The film then cuts to January 1944 where Coast Guard men train moving from ship to shore in Chesapeake Bay (01:22). A month later, men wait on transport ships as they make their way across the Atlantic; men crowd into the bunks on ship (02:11). Some write letters while others sew repairs to kill time. In March, Navy and Coast Guard barges practice landings along the British coast (02:48). LST and LCIs practice maneuvers required for beach landings (03:24). Trucks drive off one of the LSTs. Aerial footage shows viewers Allied planes as they bomb Nazi targets in France (03:55). A jeep is loaded onto a ship in preparation for the invasion (04:18); K-rations are moved aboard as well. On “D Day -3,” troops climb into LCVPs and leave the English town for the Navy transport ships (05:20). On 5 June, men wait on the LCIs to depart, waving to the crowd of British civilians (06:10). Troops sit for a church service at a port of embarkation (06:52). A Coast Guard officer briefs his men (07:23). LSTs and Transports move out into the English Channel. Warships move ahead (08:07), and a Coast Guard flotilla of LCIs leave the British coast. Men aboard the Coast Guard Transport Chase replenish the ammunition in their rifles. The film shows scenes of the fleet sailing to France; men rest on decks while officers study maps of Normandy’s beaches. Planes take off from a carrier (09:58). Paratroopers jump out of Allied planes behind German lines. Soldiers climb down rope ladders into LCVPs (10:50). Allied warships fire at Nazi positions. Landing barges are stopped by metal and concrete barriers, forcing the troops to wade to shore (12:00). Larger craft slowly make their way to shore. Aboard the LCIs, troops prepare for landing, then quickly move onto the beach (13:05). A bulldozer moves on the beach (13:34). More troops are shuttled to shore; U.S. Rhino barges ferry tanks to shore. Trucks and tanks move onto the beach (14:48). Surrendered German soldiers quietly wait for orders. The film shows a hospital ship waiting to take on wounded (15:27) and a crippled Coast Guard LCI as its wounded are removed on stretchers. The beach and waters are safely in Allied hands as the landscape is dominated by Allied ships, machines, and men (16:33). Allied soldiers march inland (17:23). LSTs land their cargo (tanks) on the beach. Men unload supplies from beached barges. During the night, German planes take to the sky and fire on Allied forces (18:25). Rough weather sends waves crashing into and over Allied ships and the makeshift harbor at Normandy. The film concludes with a shot of landing barges moving into the English Channel, loaded with German POWs; the captured Germans sit in Coast Guard ships as they are taken away from Normandy.
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
