Here are two live action films of AEF anti-aircraft operations during the war. They appear, for the most part, to have been filmed on the front lines and do not seem posed in any way.
Reel 1 features a great selection of details about the operations and equipment for a unit as it prepares ammunition, spots enemy aircraft (the planes look really tiny), spots the direction and distance of the enemy and fires away with both French 75cm artillery pieces or various models of machine guns. Overlapping with Reel 2 are segments showing an assortment of German aircraft brought down by the gunners.
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| U.S. Anti-Aircraft Battery |
Reel 2 focuses on German aircraft that have been brought down, showing the damage to the planes from the AA fire. The concluding segment is a fascinating case study of how destroyed enemy aircraft were surveyed and then dismantled by the gunners and engineers. In the last scene, happy Doughboys are shown departing the now vacant crash site with their souvenir pieces of the aircraft.
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| Dismantling a Damaged German Fighter |
Exceptional find...thank you for posting. Very interesting images of the American antiaircraft units firing.
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