Unloading an LCT, 1943
This is part of a British Pathé newsreel video of British troops unloading supplies in barrels from an LCT (Landing Craft Tank) ship in 1943. The location was not given, but looking at the soldiers, I'm guessing it was in the warm waters of the South Pacific for one of the World War II battles to regain islands held by the Japanese.
Why are the troops naked? Well, why not? As I've noted before, there's no place for modesty among soldiers at war, and this way, they're not getting their uniforms wet.
10 comments:
Having lived in the tropics, and having (inadvertently) gotten wet while clothed, I can tell you that the "drying process" is excruciating. I ended up with a miserable case of crotch rot (jock itch in extremis). I was not socially in a position to strip. So yeah, boys, let 'em hang.
Did British Pathé film these completely nude soldiers for a newsreel intended for public audiences, or was it filmed for some other reason (e.g., training film for other soldiers)? Either way, it's a great piece of history to see these young guys unloading the supply ship....especially that they're unashamedly naked.
I am totally surprised that a Pathe film showed frontal nudity. It would be so interesting to know where this was shown. Of course, I fully approve!
Larry, you mentioned once that wet uniforms make it more difficult to work in.
@Anon and @Gerald - This is from the British Pathe archive, https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/92847/
The accompanying data says it was "unissued/unused", so it was presumably never actually included in a Pathe newsreel shown to the public.
At 40sec they show nice fine asses... The one on the left is eatable... Well was eatable in that time..
Wet clothes are definitely the worst...
Thank you for answering this.
Bigger question: what was in the barrels? beer or wine? :-)
In fairness, none of the footage provides a real glimpse of their aparatus between legs so not exactly much of an infasion of privacy. In the link you provided for the original, there is one section where a naked man is on beach walking towards site and it cuts to divveerent view as soon as he gets close enough that the aparatus between legs would be more than just a couple of fuzzy pixels.
I wonder how many of these "unused" films exist. I mean, these filmmakers had access to thousands of young healthy males, filming them as they worked in the nude, while they were nude for physicals, in the showers, and other situations when the uniforms were not being worn. I have a hunch there were a lot of home movies out there starring butt-naked soldiers.
PS: I've seen still photos of soldiers (marines, I believe) getting their induction head shaves while completely nude. The barbers appeared to be non-military, brought in specifically to shave the recruits. Any film available showing these nude induction head shaves?
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