Footage of US troops training for D-day uncovered

Unseen footage of American soldiers training for the D-day landings in North Devon during the Second World War has been unearthed by an amateur historian.

By Richard Savill

The 10-minute reels feature the wartime leaders Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe and future American president.

The clips show Churchill and Eisenhower visiting the 101st Airborne which was stationed in North Devon. There is also film footage of Russians at Putsborough beach.

The Russians can be seen with the American Army and is believed to be looking at plans for the Omaha landing during the Soviet military mission to observe western training.

The footage, which has been found by Tony Koorlander, a former technical co-ordinator for BBC TV news, has lain undiscovered in the National Archive in Baltimore since the end of the war.

Mr Koorlander, who believes he is the first person in 65 years to have seen the films, has been researching wartime connections in his hometown of Bideford, Devon.

He flew to America and found 38 reels of completely different film revealing American wartime activity at Braunton Burrows, Saunton Sands and Woolacombe beach.

Through links with the military academy in New York, Mr Koorlander was put in touch with Wes Ross, 88, a former 146 Engineer Combat Battalion soldier in America, who trained at Woolacombe and has written a book of his experiences.

Mr Koorlander said: "If it was not for the training at Braunton Burrows, we would not have won D-Day. Each picture and film has an amazing story to tell. I never dreamt it would be this big.

"It is like going back and living the experience. These people were unseen heroes and it has all been kept top secret for too long."

Mr Koorlander said he hoped to have film and photos available to buy within the next few weeks. All proceeds would go towards extending the project for the recovery of the 80 or so reels of film still to be acquired.

Mr Koorlander has been able to transform reels of historic film into high definition footage using a state-of-the-art digital film format.