William Courtenay (film maker)
William Courtenay (1896 – 1960) was a British soldier and war correspondent who created unprecedented color videos of various locales and events of World War II.
Career
Courtenay fought in a battalion of the Cheshire Regiment at Gallipoli in 1915 and Gaza in 1917 before becoming a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps that same year. He was also a founder-member of the Royal Air Force. After World War I he worked as a journalist and dabbled in politics as a prospective parliamentary candidate.
In 1941, the British government sent Courtenay on a lecture tour of the United States intended to boost American sympathies for the British war effort. He also worked for British newspapers including The Sunday Times. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Courtenay accompanied American reinforcements as they sailed to the Pacific as a war correspondent. Through his work he formed a close friendship with General Douglas MacArthur. [1]
Films and Legacy
Courtenay had purchased a 16mm cinema camera and a large stock of color film while in America. While a correspondent for the Sunday Times travelling with American forces through the Pacific, Courtenay took films of the events and locales he visited, including attacks on islands, the aftermath of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, and Emperor Hirohito's public addresses. After the war his films were shown to a wide variety of audiences including those in the British parliament and the White House. Today his films are considered among the best color images of World War II. In 2016 the Smithsonian television channel aired a special about Courtenay's travels and films called Fall of Japan: In Color. [2]
References
- ↑ "Janus: The Papers of William Courtenay". Janus.lib.cam.ac.uk. 1941-12-31. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
- ↑ "Fall of Japan: In Color". Smithsonian Channel. 2013-02-06. Retrieved 2016-01-14.