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Filmmaker seeking to document World War II Tennessee Maneuvers

Inspired by her grandmother’s memories of World War II training exercises in Middle Tennessee, filmmaker Kelly Magill is seeking out individuals with memories of what is known as the Tennessee Maneuvers.

“In 2017 I realized that no one had ever interviewed rural people about what this was like and no one had really interviewed the soldiers either,” Magill said.

Encompassing 21 counties in Tennessee, including Coffee County, the United States Military was active in preparing soldiers for battle beginning in June 1941.

“Manchester actually was a big deal in the maneuvers, particularly in 1941 because WSM kept a train car down there in Manchester and they would broadcast from the field, they would use that train car as their base of operations,” Magill said. “There is an amazing interview at the end of the June 1941 maneuvers with Patton in a train car in Manchester.”

Following June 1941, the maneuvers continued between September and November of 1942 and then again between March 1943 and March 19444.

While termed maneuvers, the exercises were essentially war games preparing soldiers for what they might encounter once they were shipped overseas to join the fight.

Conducted on private farms that farmers gave the military permission to use, the maneuvers were conducted in Tennessee due to its hilly terrain with abundant river crossings, similar to what soldiers might encounter in the European Theater.

Magill said to date, she has collected nearly 90 interviews for the film, titled “MANEUVERS: War Games on the Homefront.” Of those, 17 are accounts from the 850,000 soldiers who maneuvered in Tennessee during World War II.

“All but one of those soldiers has now died,” she said. “If we hadn’t done that work when we did, we would have nothing from the soldier perspective.”

Magill said that while she has sufficient material to complete the film and distribute it now, she would like to connect with even more individuals with memories of the World War II maneuvers in Middle Tennessee.

“I am very determined to try to interview every single person in Tennessee who is still alive, who still has memories,” she said.

In addition to individuals who lived in rural areas during the maneuvers, Magill is also seeking to speak with those that lived in both small and large cities during that time.

“Soldiers swarmed the towns on the weekends and that is something I don’t have a lot of,” Magill said. “Interviews from people who live in cities talking about what the city experience was.”

In addition to first person accounts, which would require individuals to be in their late 80s now, Magill is also seeking photographs and personal letters of the Tennessee maneuvers that might have been passed down in families.

Magill said she is shooting for a May 2025 air date for “MANEUVERS: War Games on the Homefront” to coincide with the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe, or V.E. Day.

“That day is directly tied to the training that happened in Tennessee because the soldiers who were trained in Tennessee, by in large, went into D-Day, were part of the Normandy Invasion, liberated France and then defeated the German Army,” she said.

Those interested in contributing to the film can visit the website wwiimaneuvers.com and fill out a form, or contact Magill directly by email at kelly@wwiimaneuvers.com.