Over the Front - original aircraft footage (b&w, silent)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- It features original footage of aircraft from the First World War being prepared for take off and in flight. This was used as reference material for the video produced by Peter Jackson for the film, light and sound show for the Over the Front exhibit at the Australian War Memorial.
The following footage is a compilation of the following collection search/accession numbers:
F00035
F00140
F00170
F00172
F06925
These can be searched on the Australian War Memorial Website here: www.awm.gov.au...
For further information see:
www.awm.gov.au...
The average lifespan of an Allied pilot on the Western front in WWI was only 11 days. The engines only lasted 18 hours before a rebuild was needed.
Film of a war from 100 years ago. Astounding!
Silent film was shot at around 16fps, sound film is 24 frames a second for the sound, so silent film shown on modern projectors will be too fast. That's why everything appears jerky and speeded up.
Wonderful! What a priceless record. I have no problem with the film speed.
Many thanks to all concerned.
WHAT AN ERA!
I wish there was a way to tell all those people who appeared on camera that we are grateful to be able to see their faces and efforts 100 years in the future.
That they are NOT forgotten!
Anton Allen → *AGREED.*
Amazing quality. One rarely sees film this old so sharp and clear. Were these digitally edited or were they just well preserved?
In the earliest days, they used to drop bricks on other aircraft .
Sometimes, they dropped big darts.
This was in order to split their canvas covering, or to break their wooden frame,
the aircraft would simply break up and fall to the ground.
@safetychoice Our aim is to preserve and archive items in their original condition. This film has been preservation copied from the original (good quality) 35mm film via a telecine process, to a digital format with no digital editing.
In the early part of the war,
they used to drop bricks or large darts on each other in order to split their canvas or smash the airframe of these flimsy planes, true!
@tspnyc in Memorial’s collection there is no WW! aerial combat footage. Some aerial , non-combative film but none shot by fighter pilots or crew. IWM, RAF Museum, National Museum of the USAF also have brief ground-based footage and occasional aerial shots with the same limitations.
Bulky equipment, camera operators, small film mags & fixed lens systems placed very limits on possibilities. Training, non-operational flights and post-war movies appear to be the source of all the ‘action’ material.
This footage is amazing.
First we see mostly the fast Bristol 2 Seaters which had a rear gunner, a sting in the tail of the 'Brisfits', the first successful fighter/bomber combo, a deadly aircraft when used correctly, then we see some unknown types (to me) followed by some SE5 fighters 1917-18 models. Anyone else recognise the types of aircraft this footage shows so well? Please do tell. The cheeky Albatros D5 landing near a 'kill' wd undoubtedly have been filmed by German ground crew.
14,166 pilots died during ww1 half of that total died during training such was the difficulty in controlling these flimsy craft made of skin, canvas and wood, rest in peace men.
Yes, the Dutch Fokker Aircraft company did make some nice machines for Germany and the first timer for a machine gun to shoot in between the propellor.
Great footage.
Do you know that parachutes were available for pilots, but in the RFC they weren't allowed them for fear they might get cold turkey and jump from their plane in fear!
Aeroplanes were too expensive to lose.
"poor lads".
And i mean that.
Only 100 years ago, look at what we have now! Imagine how we are going to be in another 100 or even 200 years from now! Amazing!
I read alot about WW1 flyers when i was a kid ,never heard anything about the australians
Thank you very much for the upload, that was fantastic footage and you really got a feel for life in the skies back then.
While I have no proof, it appears that the majority of ground footage of Allied aircraft are featuring the Australian Flying Corps squadrons in 1918. This is likely to be newsreel footage by official film crews. No.1 Sqn AFC on a dusty airfield in Palestine had a mixture of F2B Bristol Fighters and Martinsyde G100 (single-seat) bombers. They had some RE.8 reconaissance two-seaters also; No.2 Sqn AFC in France operated SE.5a single-seat fighters throughout 1918; No.3 Sqn AFC in France flew RE.8 two-seaters; No.4 Sqn AFC in France started the year with Sopwith Camels as seen with boomerang emblems. A month before the war ended, the unit re-equipped with Sopwith Snipes.
Some were from either 60 or 74 squadron. I recognized Keith "Grid" Caldwell. (25 Kills)
Thank you for posting. An outstanding piece of history. Well done editing. Just love it and a favorite for sure.
Look at how small those little bombs they carried were. By comparison, the "small" general purpose bombs carried by the USAF today are about 7 feet long, almost a foot in diameter, and weigh 500 lbs.
Thanks for uploading this! Fantastic
I think the Albatros at the end is a D-3, not a D-5
Thank YOU for Posting. I am an Artist/Woodworker this film will make my Work easier when it comes to detail! );})
nice clear footage... great video
Great footage! Wow! The British RE 8 recon plane is shown a lot--it's the ugliest airplane of the war, was built and designed by bureaucrats and was dangerous to fly. The worst plane of the war. It's the one with the two smokestacks sticking up and the 4 bladed prop.
+gallantrycross x
how many RE8s have you flown again?
The local air museum is getting in a Spad XIII, built from scratch, took 20,000 man hours to build. I have a personally autographed copy of Eddie Rickenbacker's "Fighting the Flying Circus".
thats not my question.you said RE8s are hard to fly
if that was true,then the Australian 3rd squadron re8 that landed by itself with both of the crew dead,must not have happened.planes that are hard to fly,don't land by themselves.Clearly,they weren't hard to fly,just different than the be2
I got my info from "Aces High", a book by Alan Clark, 1973, pgs. 135 to 138. The plane was designed as a "hands off" aircraft so that the crew could do its recon job without worrying about the plane. The plane was a deathtrap. The plane embodied every design fault known. Pilots would deliberately try to crack up the planes so they didn't have to fly them. The plane was hated by pilots. It's the fault of Mervyn O'Gorman of the Royal Aircraft Factory, who was superintendent at Farnsworth.
oops! typo "could do" its recon job.
if you like this video, try ace academy black flight for Android. It's a very good ww1 flying game
Fantastic footage. Great to see close ups of the pilots goofing to the camera. Does anyone know if there's any footage of Albert Ball? I'd love to see moving footage as he was my grandads cousin.
Udet survived a parachute jump after a collision so parachutes were feasible. It's just the Allied commanders (those Donkeys) thought that pilots and gunners would simply bale out before ever reaching the enemy as they assumed everyone was a coward (probably reflecting their own cowardice - 25 miles behind the front!)
Horses Don't Fly: A Memoir of World war 1, an Autobiography of Frederick Libby, the first American to become an ace, while flying for the RFC
Is it me or the balloon crew is using parachutes?
great footage
I am under the impression that there is no real combat footage shot in the air, that the stuff that keeps showing up spliced with the real WWI stuff was all shot for films like Wings and Hells Angels, piloted by real WWI vets, but not shot during the actual war. If anyone can cite or link to definitive proof that the footage showing opposing aircraft in real combat, that would be very helpful.
Yes, William Avery Bishop and some mates from 60 squadron RFC. Recent evidence suggests that Bishop claimed several victories that were unverifiable including shooting up the German aerodrome in his Nieuport 17 which garnered him a Victoria Cross. Britain needed good news around that time.
It seems to be running at the correct speed when I view it. It's possible a problem with the player or the connection. Sometimes if the connection has a bit of glitch the player can run faster to try to catch up.
There is also a chance it is just the way the footage looks. Back then the cameras were generally hand cranked which leads to speed variations in the film. When translated to modern film processing methods the speed fluctuations remain.
@MrPippify If the cameraman cranks faster the film will appear slow motion when played back at normal speed.
BeeryUSA. The film didn't run at 6x the normal speed.When this was filmed ,film going thru the camera was at a much slower speed than it was in later years
Bf1 looks amazing
The F22 Propeller Raptor was a really good plane back in the day.
(Flying Intensified)
Good footage of the German planes. I recognised the Fokker D.VII, Fokker Dr.1, DFW C.V, Gotha G.IV, Albatros D.III and I think an Albatros C.III.
Im researching ww1 aviation for my History Assignment it was hard to concentrate then i realised o wait i will just watch a video so THANKYOU FOR KEEPING ME SANE!
@greendaylover12345
flying time?
I don't think every avarage pilot would die the first day they flew.
cool!
Amazing how far we've come.
Too far.
In a sense, yes.
Great film of Martinsydes and Bristol F2B's
Awesome Upload...-but what is that plane 3:28
thx: DS
+diamonddog257 R.E.8 observation aircraft.
its the re8
Best film for learning.
yes they were generally young red baron was 25 when he was killed werner voss 19 the u.s. changed its age requirement from 25 to 271/2 to allow eddie rickonbacker to fly,. frank luke and rickonbacker would be great material for a movie.
+charles lalonde My 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Bath, was a friend of Rickenbacker's and read to us from his autobiography every day. The parts about the war enthralled me and led me to read everything I could find about the subject. I don't know why they haven't made a movie about him.
When I was seven or eight I read about Frank Luke the "balloon buster" and that was the start of my fascination with war, and the 1911, of course.
What has any of that got to do with this film (which is about the _Australian_ Flying Corps)?
+TheThird, How do we know this film is about the Australian Flying Corps? It has German fighters and bombers! Nothing in this film says anything about "Hurrah Australia!" If it was ORIGINALLY about the Australia Flying Corps, it was edited SO IT IS FAIR GAME to post all they HAVE POSTED!!!
+Luis Ramos Because if you look at the bottom right corner you will see the logo for the Australian War Memorial. Americans did not use the Martinsyde G.100 or the R.E.8. They never used the Bristol F.2B in action either. The "German" footage is a mock up, just using German helmets but in RFC or AFC aircraft. Then ask yourself this: why would the AWM put up pictures of Rickenbacker? They had nothing to do with each other.
aircraft at 5.52 is German the pilot has a rubber rim and crown on the helmet
just added information
+Beryl Price I think you are right; the machine gun in use by the back-seater seems to be a German model and I believe the attacking aircraft is a DH2. (Although possibly an FE2b).
BATTLEFIELD 1
Clear pictures. I recognize Billy Bishop in a group shot. He had 72 victories in WW I, and later became an air vice marshall in the Canadian Air Force in WW II. Suring WW I, he attacked a German air field alone. A stunning feat of bravery and skill.
Bill
Great video.
Great Footage!
Excellent
I wonder if the air balloon catching fire was a drill or not.
This documentary film is top quality. I am not sure how they filmed some close ups. Maybe they had telephoto lenses.
Australia had one of the first and the finest movie 'industries' - such as it was - back then. And it has gone through many phases where this capability has shone brightly. It could have something to do with the availability of a lot of space to shoot in.
Thanks
Great men
'Unknown' aircraft near beginning .... and briefly at the end ...... are, I think Martinsydes ..... fairly unsuccessful, I believe, big, possibly, single seaters, so interesting to see film of them. Thanks for the film ...... chilling to see planes going down in flames in conjunction with the parchute from the ballooon. That 17.5 hours survival could have been higher ...... though how much did parachutes weigh then? That might have been a factor against their use for aircrew,
you know it amazes me how then they needed like 50-100 feet to take off and now we need like 10 miles of runway for civilian aircraft or some shit the Sikorsky illya muromets was a civilian/Heavy bomber in the war and after it didn't need that much runway