The Army-Navy Screen Magazine 32 (1944)

The Army-Navy Screen Magazine Number 32, 1944 D Day: General McNarney introduces this short film about D-Day and the Normandy Invasion. The Army-Navy Screen Magazine was produced by the U.S. Army Signal Corps Pictorial Service, under the supervision of Col. Frank Capra, who came up with the idea. It was released twice a month and shown to military troops as a 20-minute newsreel. "By the end of the war, the Army-Navy Screen Magazine reached an enormous weekly audience of 4.2 million. It had become for American soldiers all over the world a communal experience that greatly influenced their perception of the war." It featured short documentary films, news from back home, and short training films like Dr. Seuss' Private Snafu cartoons. I've uploaded the entire Screen Magazine and also each segment as a separate file (some editions are comprised of 1 long film, though). Description at the National Archives: "On the Normandy invasion. Reel 1, Gen. McNarney outlines the operation. Troops board ships and read, eat, and relax. Gliders are loaded; paratroopers board transports. Planes take off and strafe Ger. coastal defenses. Shows Gen. Brereton. Reel 2, the invasion fleet nears the coast; naval guns fire; landing craft hits the beach. Shows dead, Ger. prisoners, and Gens. Bradley, Eisenhower, and Montgomery. Shows brief scenes of Ger. military trains leaving Rome, allied troops entering, and scenes in the city. Pope Pius XII greets U.S. troops."