WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 47 [Main Title]
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- Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 47 [Main Title]
- Film Number: WPN 47
- Other titles:
- Summary: Lines Of Communication.
- Description: 'LINES OF COMMUNICATION.' The commentary states "The world at war" over an image of a spinning globe. The commentary then goes on to stress that communications are the life blood of the Allied army over a bombardment by obsolescent cruisers of the Royal Navy (pre-war footage ?). A "vic" of three RAF Supermarine Spitfire (Mk V ?) fighters dive past an accompanying camera aircraft followed by camera gun footage of a Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109E fighter aircraft flying at low level receiving hits along its fuselage and port wing root. A British infantry detachment advances over rough ground during exercises supported by a Vickers Medium Tank Mk 1. Elsewhere, a naval lookout, using binoculars, scans the sky for enemy aircraft as the commentary outlines the lines of communication from Britain to Murmansk, the Middle East, India and Australia. Merchant shipping is shown in convoy to an undisclosed location. Scores of British soft-skinned vehicles drive in convoy across North African scrub land. Elsewhere, at a British tank construction factory Crusader Mk 1 tank turrets are being constructed. Male factory operatives weld additional armoured plate to the turrets using oxy-acetylene torches. Completed turret mounting rings are stacked carefully on the factory floor. Tank tracks are linked together on a production line by hand and then completed links are stacked by a factory worker using an electrical winch. Male factory workers assemble tank gear-boxes at machine benches. Gear cogs are assembled and crank-cases bolted together. Fully assembled tank engines are transported along the production line by mean of small wheeled carts on rails. The commentary stresses that the production lines supplying Russia are working to full capacity over scenes of Matilda II tanks rolling out of a factory without their main armament which will presumably be fitted later. Scores of Valentine tanks (Mk I ?) drive past a reviewing podium followed by Bren gun carriers, Daimler Mk II scout cars and various soft-skinned vehicles. The commentary stresses that in supplying Russia with tanks, British ships run the gauntlet of bombs and torpedoes for the whole route. Valentine tanks are parked on flatbed train carriages having been transported from their place of manufacture to dock embarkation points. An officer of the Merchant Navy chalks the legend "For Uncle Joe" on the turret of a Valentine tank. Deep sea transportation crates are loaded by crane onto the deck of a large merchant cargo vessel. Merchant Navy seamen watch a winch operator lower a Valentine tank with its turret turned to the rear into the capacious hold of a cargo vessel. An Illustrious Class aircraft carrier and a County Class cruiser are visible on the horizon , presumably escorting a merchant convoy along one of the sea lanes that make up an "artery of war". A Fleet Air Arm Fairey Fulmar fighter (fuselage code 6B) takes off from the deck of an unidentified Royal Navy aircraft carrier, followed by stock shot and camera gun footage (CGF) of aerial combat. Luftwaffe Dornier Do 17Z bombers at height, followed by stock shots of three RAF Supermarine Spitfire (Mk Is ?) fighters flying in formation. CGF shows a Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 bomber receiving hits from machine gun fire on its rear fuselage, a Junkers Ju 87 B dive bomber trails smoke and decreases altitude. A Messerschmitt 110 fighter trails smoke from its port engine following aerial combat. Fleet Air Arm Fairey Fulmar fighters land on the deck of an aircraft carrier having returned from a mission. The commentary stresses that the "World's greatest arsenal and producer of raw materials, America, has pledged herself to a colossal output of planes and tanks." A map of the United States is displayed highlighting production and raw material locations. A small fishing harbour is displayed, with small coastal fishing craft at anchor, followed by views of a United States Navy sea-plane tender winching aboard a Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat. A map shows the lines of supply connecting the United States with Europe, followed by views of a merchant convoy at sea. A deep sea container is unloaded at a dockside in South Africa as South African Air Force (SAAF) men uncrate the fuselage of a Miles Martinet aircraft from a crate using motorised cranes. A Miles Master aircraft has is undercarriage lowered externally while it is still suspended from a winch. The aircraft are then pushed into a hangar for storage by SAAF ground crew. Elsewhere, a convoy protected by ships of the United States Navy, is attacked by Axis aircraft and flak fills the sky. The commentary highlights the fact that Allied lines of communication converge on the Middle East and that it might be described as the "jugular of the Allied war effort". A large vehicle park containing Ford artillery tractors and CMP Chevrolet trucks (No 12 Cab) are displayed stressing the build up of Allied supplies and equipment to the Middle East. Foodstuffs are moved along a conveyor belt as Egyptians load grain onto a train. Greens and other supplies are loaded onto soft-skinned vehicles which are next seen negotiating a desert track on their way to the front line. Internal views of the original steel foundry are followed by an aerial view of a merchant convoy at sea.
- Alternative Title:
- Colour: B&W
- Digitised: Yes
- Object_Number: WPN 47
- Sound: Sound
- Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
- Featured Period: 1939-1945
- Production Date: 1942-03-23
- Production Country: GB
- Production Details: Ministry of Information, Middle East (Production sponsor) War Pictorial News (Production company) Martin, Charles (Production individual) Keating, Rex1910-02-142005-01British newsreel commentator, WW2 period (Production individual)
- Personalities, Units and Organisations:
- Keywords: supplies, Allied, movement [RA] - food (object name) supplies, Allied, movement [RA] - misc (object name) industry, British - vehicles (object name) combat [simulated], British air (object name) combat [simulated], British naval (object name) South Africa (geography)
- Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: English Subtitle language: French & Arabic
- Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 933 ft; Running time: 10 mins
- HD Media:Yes
- Link to IWM Collections page:
- Related IWM Collections Objects: