ROYAL ENGINEERS CONSTRUCTING A RIVER FORD; CROSSING THE FRONTIER OF ALGERIA AND TUNISIA; BRITISH NCOs TRAINING FRENCH RECRUITS [Allocated Title]
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- Title: ROYAL ENGINEERS CONSTRUCTING A RIVER FORD; CROSSING THE FRONTIER OF ALGERIA AND TUNISIA; BRITISH NCOs TRAINING FRENCH RECRUITS [Allocated Title]
- Film Number: AYY 334/1
- Other titles: BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
- Summary: The 256 Company, Royal Engineers building a ford at Beja, Tunisia to by-pass a single track permanent bridge on a dangerous bend. General scenes in Tunisia filmed while Sergeant Weber waited for the final stage of the ford construction. French recruits in training at Tabarka.
- Description: A Bren carrier conveying the Signals section of the 11th Infantry Brigade rounding the bend on the Beja-Medjez El Bab road. Sappers digging a new ramp to the ford with the bridge in the background. A bulldozer pushing earth into the river for the construction of a temporary dam. The view from below the bridge showing military police signalling traffic to pass over the bridge. An armoured car comes around a sharp bend to cross the bridge. Laying drainage pipes to the ford. A view of the permanent bridge through a drainage pipe. Sappers breaking stones for road foundation, spreading small pieces and bringing up a fresh supply in a barrow. A sentry by the viaduct near Beja. A milestone reading Tunisia and a board marked Frontier. A heavy lorry travelling east. The lorry moving downhill. The Tunisian plain with the village of Ghardimaou in the distance. The Medjerda valley. A farm on a hill top near Medjez El Bab. Sappers manning a hand drainage pump. Another digs a trench. A spade loading stones into a barrow. A concrete mixer being filled and turning. The first barrow load of concrete being emptied into the trench. The spaces between the pipes are filled with concrete. A farm. Camouflaged anti-aircraft guns on a lorry in a quarry. Old narrow gauge rails are laid as reinforcement. The final layer is put on. A bulldozer scraping the riverbed in preparation for the bursting of the dam. Digging a hole in the dam. Gelignite and amminol is inserted. The charge in the dam explodes and water rushes through the gap. Water rushing on the ford construction. The finished section of the ford. The bay of Tabarka and the fort in the town. A British lorry and French sentry at the entrance to the fort. Recruits coming out of the fort. An old cannon. 17 January. Captain Cornillon with the Number 3 French Volunteer Commandos arriving at the fort. A French squad at bayonet drill under Sergeant E P Murphy of the London Irish Rifles, 2nd Battalion, 6th Armoured Division. Sergeant Murphy instructing the squad. A French squad under Sergeant Jackson of the 2nd Battalion Paratroop Regiment marching off for rifle drill. Sergeant Jackson instructing. Corporal Boyd of the Rifle Brigade, 6th Armoured Division, demonstrating loading. Sergeant Jackson with his interpreter Corporal M Bokanowski. Corporal Greenhill of the 2nd Battalion, London Irish Rifles instructing a group including Sergeant Herrons and Lieutenant Rosenthal on the Number 18 wireless set. French recruits at the rifle range overlooking Tabarka harbour. Sergeant R Service of the 5th Battalion, the Buffs, instructing riflemen in the firing bay. Two Bren gunners with instructors ready for firing. Corporal Roberts of the 2nd Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers instructing Bren gunners. Tabarka harbour with French recruits waiting behind the firing bay in the background. Corporal Boyd chatting with French soldiers with the lighthouse in the background. Tabarka bay from the fort. A mortar detachment under instruction from Corporal C Meyer of the 6th Battalion, Inniskilling Fusiliers. The mortar detachment firing with a wooden bomb. Corporal Meyer walks up to demonstrate the sight of the gun. Corporal Meyer correcting the deflection dial. A group of recruits is shown the Thompson sub-machine gun by Sergeant F W Hart of the 5th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment. Red, white and blue flashes are visible on the sleeve of one of the recruits. Sergeant Hart demonstrates the Tommy gun to the Company Commander, Captain Cornillon. Recruits under Sergeant F G Mallet of the 6th Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kents, 36th Infantry Brigade, setting up a Boys anti-tank rifle. Tabarka bay and harbour. A recruit firing the Tommy gun as Corporal White of the 2nd Battalion, London Irish Rifles, stands behind. Corporal White fires the gun. Recruits loading magazines. Sergeant F Hall of the 1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, 11th Infantry Brigade is assisted by Corporal Meyer in giving a blackboard lecture to a French mortar detachment. The detachment firing smoke bombs. Smoke spreading. Onlookers. Recruits leaving the fort. 24 January. Final stages of the ford construction at Beja. A Royal Signals officer, two privates of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and an Arab recruit in British uniform out on patrol with a Number 21 wireless set. The set is carried by a pack mule.
- Alternative Title: BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
- Colour: B&W
- Digitised:
- Object_Number: AYY 334/1
- Sound: Silent
- Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
- Featured Period: 1939-1945
- Production Date: 1942-12-24
- Production Country: GB
- Production Details: War Office Film Unit (Production company) Weber, V (Production individual)
- Personalities, Units and Organisations: British Army, 11th Infantry Brigade (regiment/service) British Army, London Regiment, 18th Battalion (regiment/service) British Army, 6th Armoured Division (regiment/service) British Army, Parachute Regiment, 2nd Battalion (regiment/service) British Army, Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) (regiment/service) British Army, Royal East Kent Regiment (regiment/service) British Army, Lancashire Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion (regiment/service) British Army, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 6th Battalion (regiment/service) British Army, Northamptonshire Regiment, 5th Battalion (regiment/service) British Army, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, 6th Battalion (regiment/service) British Army, East Surrey Regiment, 1st Battalion (regiment/service) British Army, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (regiment/service)
- Keywords: Medjez el Bab, Tunisia (geography) Béja, Tunisia (geography) Tabarka, Tunisia (geography) Ghardimaou, Tunisia (geography) Tunisia 1942-1943, North Africa, Second World War (event) North Africa 1939-1945 (theme)
- Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
- Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 1000 ft; Running time: 11 mins
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