Rebels to Reels

A biography of Combat Cameraman Daniel a. mcgovern USAF

The Companion Website

About the book

Welcome to the Rebels to Reels.com website. This is the companion site of the book ‘Rebels to Reels – A biography of Combat Cameraman Daniel A. McGovern USAF’ by author Joseph McCabe. This fascinating biography is available on Amazon.com/books in both print and eBook formats. Click the links above or below. The book is also available through bookstores worldwide.

Having witnessed the Irish War of Independence as a boy, Dan McGovern later became a designated Cameraman/Photographer to US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt before training the very first combat cameramen of WW2 for the then US Army Air Forces. McGovern himself filmed on perilous B-17 bombing missions in Europe and survived two crash-landings. Most significantly, he later lead the filming of the aftermath of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki but struggled for decades to save that historical footage of devastation and human suffering from US government suppression.

‘Rebels to Reels’ is also the story of McGovern’s involvement with the 1947 Roswell UFO Incident and of filming rocket test experiments with former Nazi scientist Wernher Von Braun. ‘Big Mack’ worked with some of the best known celebrities of his day including actors Ronald Reagan and Clarke Gable and Hollywood director William Wyler. Yet, Dan McGovern’s remarkable story has never been told – until now. It is a story that will enthral the reader to its very last page.

‘Rebels to Reels’ also tells in considerable detail the back stories of how Dan McGovern shot his remarkable film footage throughout his amazing career spanning over forty years. A selection of those films can be viewed on this website and additional material on Dan will also regularly appear here.

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Hiroshima - The Aftermath

A still grab from McGovern’s contrail footage taken on his first combat mission. Restored Image: ‘The Cold Blue’ courtesy of director Erik Nelson and US National Archives.
305th Bomb Group B-17 ‘Lallah V’ Photo: AFHRA
By then former 305th B-17 ‘Louisiana Purchase’ after it crashed in December 1943. Photo: AFHRA.
305th Bomb Group B-17 ‘Old Reliable’. Photo: AFHRA
305th Bomb Group B-17 ‘Nobody’s Baby’. Photo: AFHRA
A man treads carefully amid the rubble close to the domed Industrial Promotional Building in Hiroshima. A scene from ‘Effects of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki’. Image: US National Archives.
A Dan McGovern production slate used at the start of a scene shot in Hiroshima. Image: USSBS/US National Archives.
A Japanese woman and baby filmed by McGovern’s USSBS cameramen in the aftermath of the atomic bombs. Image: US National Archives.
A poignant image: A Japanese national flag lies discarded amongst the ruins of Nagasaki. Image: USSBS/US National Archives.
Eerie symmetry: The atomic shadow of a spiral staircase is seen here cast onto a bulk storage tank in Nagasaki. A scene from USSBS footage. Image: US National Archives.
The atomic shadow of a ladder cast onto a storage tank. A still from ‘Effects of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki’. Image: US National Archives.
The wasteland that was Hiroshima in the weeks after the atomic bomb fell on the city. A film grab from ‘Effects of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki’. Image: US National Archives.
A man walks towards a Torri gate amid the destruction of Hiroshima. A film grab from ‘Effects of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki’. Image: US National Archives.
The destroyed Industrial Promotional Building and its dome in Hiroshima. A scene from the Japanese ‘Effects’ documentary. Image: US National Archives.
A Harry Mimura production slate used during filming in Hiroshima. Image: USSBS/US National Archives.
Temporary housing in Hiroshima after the bomb. Image: USSBS/US National Archives.
Distillery Lane flanked by the convent grounds and looking towards Carrickmacross town centre. This is a short distance from the McGoverns' cottage which lay further down the lane. It was approximately at this spot that Dan McGovern's father, the RIC sergeant, accompanied by Dan Junior, saw the IRA detachment up ahead and near the top of the lane on the night of the RIC barracks attack. Photo: ©Joe McCabe
A box of gelignite. It was this commercial explosive which the IRA used mainly in its attacks against Carrickmacross and Ballytrain RIC stations. Photo: ©Joe McCabe
Now the Garda Síochána (Irish Police) barracks, this is the former Carrickmacross RIC station as it appears today. The adjoining building to the right once housed Daly Brothers Hardware and Ironmongery store. This building is now part of the police station. Photo ©Joe McCabe
The opening title of William Wyler’s acclaimed 1944 documentary. Image: US National Archives

launch night and plaque unveiling images