Combat Film
A combat film is a movie made by military cameramen, shot during real war fightings. During the World War II, United States Army built up several small units, their duty was to follow combat units on the first line in order to document the military actions without exceptions, shooting even the bloodiest clashes. Only a smaller part of the shootings have been shown in newsreels during the war period, as the american audience was not ready to experience the horrors of war.
The battle for Cornuda, happened on the afternoon of april 30th, 1945, had been shot by the american cameramen. This combat film gives a valuable proof of how the fightings evolved during the first part of the battle for Cornuda. It is a very precious document.
A document I collected during my research, kindly granted by Bob Holt, is the official description of a photo shot in Cornuda on that day.
note on the photograph by Mulcahy
This document has been written by the photographer Mulcahy, 196th signal and photo company, kept at the National Archives. It gives confirmation of the units involved in the liberation of Cornuda, the 88th infantry division and the 752nd tank battalion.
It is possible that the combat film has been shot by the same unit that archived this document..
I recently obtained a copy of the original combat film, directly given by the Us National Archives di Washington D.C., film code 111 ADC 123.
I composed a movie adding still pictures showing Cornuda during the Liberation day and at present time to the original shootings.