Title:DEFENCE OF CHASSART-TEFFAHA AND ATTACK ON LONGSTOP HILL, TUNISIA; 1ST ARMY IN NORTH WEST AFRICA [Allocated Title]
Film Number:AYY 296/1
Other titles:BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
Summary: 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards, 1st Division USA troops and French Senegalese troops defending an area near Medjez El Baba, Tunisia. A gun crew eating Christmas dinner.
Description: I. 25 December. Sherman tanks manoeuvring to take up position in the vicinity of Chassart-Teffaha, Tunisia. Fire falling from American 25 pounder guns on the hillside. Bren and mortar carriers taking up ammunition. Officers in jeeps studying the positions. Long shot of an American 155mm Howitzer gun firing at German positions on Longstop Hill (Djebel Ahmera). Men loading and firing the gun. The Coldstream Guards with Bren guns and rifles taking up new positions. Bursts of fire and smoke indicate the German positions in the hills. Sherman tanks and Allied troops under heavy fire. A wounded American soldier being placed in an ambulance at the Beja Casualty Clearing Station.
II. 25 December. Men moving up bent double to make a smaller target. Three German prisoners being brought in. Sherman tanks arriving in an attempt to stem the enemy counter attack. Bren carriers taking up munitions to the troops past retreating men on a very muddy road. A British long range 25 pounder shell blasting out German positions on the side of the hill. Fierce fighting as the Coldstream Guards force the Germans down the hill. Stretcher bearers. One German prisoner walks with his hands on his head. He is brought in by Sergeant Sharpley. Mortar carriers moving up to position near the front. A Ju88 after a hit by a Bofors anti-aircraft shell over Medjez. Mortar carrier "Hazebrook" moving into position. Men from the Coldstream Guards moving along the top of the hill to overtake American troops.
III. 21 December. The 194 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artillery with mobile anti-aircraft guns in an olive grove north of Medjez El Bab. Some of the crew build an emplacement around the gun for protection against shelling. The detachment cook sharpens his knife to carve a pig bought for Christmas dinner. He places the pig's head in front of the oven. The men waiting for the pig to cook with mess tins ready.
Alternative Title:BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
Production Details: War Office Film Unit (Production company)
West, J A (Production individual)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: United States Army (regiment/service)
Free French Army (regiment/service)
British Army, Coldstream Guards (regiment/service)
British Army, Royal Artillery (regiment/service)
British Army, Royal Artillery, 194th Anti-Aircraft Battery (regiment/service)
Keywords: Béja, Tunisia (geography)
Djebel Ahmera, Tunisia (geography)
Medjez el Bab, Tunisia (geography)
Tunisia 1942-1943, North Africa, Second World War (event)
North Africa 1939-1945 (theme)
