Incredible WW1 Footage - Holy *** is this real?

mlifeoutthere
First of all i had no idea where to put this, it has nothing to do with ww3 or war on terror or ufos or other topics nor is it general chit chat, so ive put it here.

I came across this footage, supposedly showing ww1 footage in action, a mass charge/ bayonet fight/ the people falling etc ..

I count thousands of soldiers marching into battle, i highly doubt this is staged propeganda.

The footage is also from the military archives.

This has to be the most fascinating historical footage i have ever seen, if real. Im not interested in gore or stuff like that, its more about the historical aspect that i am interested in this. Plus its in black and white so you it isnt graphic in a violence sense.

Here it is, (cant tell you how many times ive replayed it)

The M1917 6-ton light tank was an American license-production copy of the highly successful French-designed Renault "char leg...


This i believe is the tank in the video.
Originally a french design copied by the USA.

P.S what does it for me is at 12 seconds the guy at the very bottom left hand corner with a rifle and bayonet in panick swipes his musket at an enemy, sees that the enemy has backup and runs back.. that is excactly the kind of real life spur of the moment reaction you would have with a ton of people charging you down, and not rehearsed acting from a cheesey movie script

PPS anyone notice how the officer is always the first to run away

(look for guy with pistol)

edit on 8-11-2013 by mlifeoutthere because: (no reason given)

reply to post by Aazadan


When I was in my last year at school I got myself expelled. At the time my Dad was working permanent night shifts and he used to get out of bed round about lunchtime and he would take me to the local pub for a couple of hours. I would play darts and pool with him and a couple of his mates and generally just have a bit of craic.
It was the start of my 'real' education in life.

One of the old timers who got in the pub at lunchtime was an old guy called Fred who my Dad was quite friendly with.
Over a period of time I got to know Fred quite well and he would tell me stories from years ago.
Fred had joined up to fight in The Great War when he was 14 years old. He was found out but he was desperate to do 'his duty' and serve his country and as a result he ended up being a Captain's batman, (I think the official term was soldier-servant at the time).
Fred told me many a story of his life as a batman and his time at the front - some horrific stories detailing the real horrors of war along with some hilarious tales as well, (most of which I could never repeat here on ATS due to T&C), which I myself have retold on numerous occasions.
Over the next few years Fred used to laugh like hell at me as I seemed to fall from one scrape into another, (usually involving drink, fighting, girls etc - sure you know the story, it's by no means unique) and he'd always say to me "every generation thinks it invented sex and are the first and best at fighting. Son, it's happened that way since the day we crawled out the trees".

I became very friendly with Fred and I was devastated when he eventually passed away - a true Gentleman and very wise.
His stories about the war helped shape my personal viewpoint about war etc - his views were very much in line with those of Harry Patch which I posted earlier in the thread - and also about life in general.
I feel honoured that I got to know him and was able to consider him a friend.

Eventually to my point; I got to hear from someone who not only witnessed WWI but was an active part of the horrific carnage and it had a lasting impact on me. It's something that would benefit every young person just setting out to make their own way in the world. Sadly it seems to be something that is becoming increasingly rare in society today. Old people seem to be as something of an inconvenience and even a burden and very few people have the opportunity to learn and benefit from their experiences - perhaps it's always been that way and that's one of the reasons we have a tendency to repeat mistakes.

I'll raise a glass in remembrance of Fred over the weekend.

Apologies if I've strayed slightly off-topic.

Awesome Find !! S&F
Watched it several times and it looks real to me...

Thanks for posting

Neat movie.

Its Scary to see men putting other men down because they're not like the brave soldier's in this video. Time's have changed, war's are no longer fought so brutally - Why slag off your fellow man? You should be happy that you'll neevr have to endure what these men had to.



There is a life size picture of this ^^ in the Leeds Museum. What i find most powerful about it is the fact that as you walk upstairs and arrive on the 2nd floor, its not until your turn around you're almost engulfed by this scene of utter destruction and despair.

We have remembrance day not to glorify war but to remember every soul we wasted in pointless conflicts. No man in his right mind would opt to spending year's abroad in a foreign country, killing foreign men for the financial interest of war profiteers.

I hope the human race never has to endure such stupidity ever again.

It looks real enough for me so I believe it is actual footage from WW1. The fighting was nasty and often hand to hand combat. It was still very early on in the modernization of the global armed forces.

11-11 on Monday.

Lest we forget.

I think its fake, why is the camera fixed? The guy is just standing there with a fixed camera?

From what I have read of the first world war, when the Allies attacked, the Germans let the machine gun nests (from 3 to 5 guns) mow down the ranks until the Allies were actually in the German trenches, and the Germans could gauge the center of the attack, so that the Allies could be attacked from either side by fresh German troops, very little fighting took place between Allies and German in 'no mans land' apart from trench raids to gather prisoners for intelligence. Plus, whenever possible German trench systems were always on the top of ridges and hills, for observation and drainage, whereas Allied troops trenches were in valleys, guess what happened when it rained? also, after weeks of artillery barrages, it always rained, miniature climate change?

reply to post by mlifeoutthere




Notice that the Germans do not retreat but stand and wait to be shot. Retreat would have been met with a bullet and the shame of a cowards death. If real this is pretty horrific video!

AthlonSavage
reply to post by mlifeoutthere

 

im saying that these guys finding were tough and brave, you think the new age feminised men of today could last 5 second in that situation, hand to hand combat with tanks rolling towards them and mortars going off 10 feet away, no way not unless its on x box.

the camera may be set up in a bunker. The film is obviously very old and if it was faked it looks more realistic than modern war movie recreations.

edit on 8-11-2013 by AthlonSavage because: (no reason given)

It's curious that the measure of a man could be perverted into a gauge of how well they handle mechanical death machines and fabricated violence. Seems to me there are better ways to determine toughness and bravery than the evaluation of how well men navigate an antiquated system of eliminating lives for the purposes of preserving antiquated boundary lines and institutionalized power structure.

This is footage from the 1927 film Wings filmed in Antonio, Texas, US.

Its a Howard Hughs movie.


Edit:
Here's the HD version for those of you interested

Ya back then men's balls clanked when they walked.....

reply to post by mlifeoutthere


Nvm seems to be a film

reply to post by mlifeoutthere


Nice trip, pig.

Interesting video. It seems pretty legit to me.

But I find it funny how people are saying that these people are glorious and brave for partaking in a full scale war. Yeah, because going out and fighting a war is something to be proud of. Lets go out and cause as much death and destruction as possible until the other side submits.

Why would you complain that people MAY be more pacified today? That would actually be a good thing. Mankind has been fighting senseless wars for centuries, even thousands of years. I'd hope that people would eventually realize nothing good comes from war, and want to stop doing it. If we keep this up, we'll probably just blast each other into the stone age.

Shiloh7
In WW1 my Grandfather drove a horse and cart up to the lines with supplies. That's all the family could ever get out of him but the nightmares were terrible. God knows what he saw, he did get wounded but made no fuss about it. He came back a changed man.

Regarding the planes, I seem to remember reading that initially the pilots used hand guns to shoot at each other and people on the ground, until the planes were fitted with cannon or guns.

People were so different in those days and made to be so aware of their place.

We might have modern tech today, but what gets me every time about all these wars is they shed blood and its a waste.

Around the 1915's, there was an art or cultural belief called Futurism. They saw war as the ultimate achievement of technology, and that's why there was probably more support back then. Smart uniforms, latest technology, fighting for the country and civilisation. It would have seemed the right thing to do.

en.wikipedia.org...

In World War I the average life-span of a biplane pilot was only 17 minutes. They really didn't know how to take advantage of flying, and the materials that planes were built from (wooden spars and fabric) weren't exactly battleproof. Pilots didn't have any targeting systems, so they just to fly low and slow.

After the first attempts of mounting a machine gun above the engine of the plane, it would very quickly realized that the firing mechanism had to be synchronized to the rotation of the propellor The other problem was that the firing mechanism was so close to the pilot, it would lead to a broken nose.

It is a terrible waste. Every church and school in the UK has a list of people who died during World War I and II. Large wooden plaques with names in gold leaf as well as military graves. There are some in Europe too. The French have stone gravestones in the shape of a sword stuck in the ground to indicate they died in war and not in peace.

Wow Great Find. As to your question whether it's authentic actual battle? Did they have Helicopters during WW1? I don't know if they did or didn't but around 40 sec. or somewhere in that area, I seen a few helicopters fly by on top of the screen. So maybe that can help determine the question. Unless Helicopters were used at that time. Then it don't help at all. LOL

NotSoAnonymous
Wow Great Find. As to your question whether it's authentic actual battle? Did they have Helicopters during WW1? I don't know if they did or didn't but around 40 sec. or somewhere in that area, I seen a few helicopters fly by on top of the screen. So maybe that can help determine the question. Unless Helicopters were used at that time. Then it don't help at all. LOL [/quote


Anyone know when auto gyros made their appearance? That might be what was at the top of the screen.

Cannot be auto gyros, they did not fly until 1923, just read on Wikipedia.