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

a reply to: mlifeoutthere I can't remember the last time I saw such a cavalcade of ignorance. This footage is from the 1927 movie "Wings", directed by William A. Wellman. Google it. The soldiers are real American servicemen, hired for the occasion. The tanks are M1917s, copied under licence from the French Renault FT just before the end of WWI, but not in time to take part in any action. The film was believed lost, but a copy was digitally restored and reissued in 2012. This is probably footage that didn't make it into the final cut. All this amateur sleuthing is a waste of time. You can watch the movie in full on the internet, or buy it on DVD.

It isn't realistic, in that an advance supported by tanks would not have taken this form, but it is what the public expected it to look like. It isn't "fake", it's fiction. Why make it? To tell a story and make money, of course.

a reply to: Tankmanc

Never mind, nothing to see here.

Clickjacking attempt reported by my filter. Tch.

Unless there was a gentleman's agreement not to touch the cameraman then I'd say Propaganda. I remember reading somewhere the french staged mock battles for cameras. When men were men and lives were cheap.

Not sure where this was filmed. The tanks appera to be Renault FT-17 which were fielded from the spring of 1917. They were also supplied to the American expeditionary force. As for the regiments involved its to grainy to make out insignia etc however one of the crew assembling the vickers/ browning machine gun appears to be wearing a beret of one of the Scottish regiments