WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 85 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 85 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 85
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: An edition of the British official newsreel "War Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.
  • Description: I. 'WHERE NEXT MUSSOLINI ? ' This caption is superimposed over views of Mussolini giving an animated speech from a podium. The plains of Cyrenaica are described by the commentary as being the last graveyard of Mussolini's Roman Empire. British soft-skinned vehicles drive in convoy along winding roads in a mountainous region of Cyrenaica. An overview of the Axis retreat is given stressing the rapidity of the British pursuit. A British military policeman directs the driver of a Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) 20-ton 6x4 Federal 604 tank transporter carrying a Crusader tank over a particularly narrow stretch of mountain road. An Eighth Army M4 General Sherman Mk I tank (three piece nose) negotiates the same section of narrow track. The commentary outlines the speed and efficiency of all branches of the Royal Air Force (RAF) in overcoming the substantial logistical problems arising from rapid relocations from one captured Axis airfield to another. A Hawker Hurricane Mk IIC fighter aircraft (Vokes filter) of 30 Squadron RAF lands at an a newly liberated airfield in Libya. The aircraft taxies to a halt, its jettisonable 44-gallon long range fuel tanks evident under its wings. The newly arrived Hurricane pilots are met by the station commander, who uses a Willys Jeep as his preferred means of transport. The fuselage shells of burnt-out Savoia-Marchetti SM 79 bomber aircraft of the Regia Aeronautica are evident on the perimeter of the airfield. The RAF ground support services (armourers, mechanics, administration, medics etc) soft-skinned vehicles and petrol bowsers arrive at the airfield and are directed to parking areas by the station commander who stands on his Jeep for better visibility. RAF ground crew fuel a Hurricane Mk IIC from a petrol bowser as armourers remove wing access panels and replenish 20mm cannon ammunition. The commentary highlights the work of the RAF ground crews and states that due to their ceaseless and expert devotion to duty a non-stop aerial offensive has been achieved. An RAF pilot runs to his Hurricane IIC (Hawker-built seventh production batch HL 585) during a squadron scramble. The commentary suggests that in the Middle East, the RAF have built up a reputation for organisation that is as great as their reputation for fighting. II. 'FIRST PICTURES OF NORTH AFRICA LANDING.' Merchantmen sail in convoy on calm seas, forming part of the Anglo-American invasion force for the landings in Vichy French North Africa (Morocco and Algeria). United States (US) infantry indulge in physical training exercises on the deck of an unidentified troop ship. The commentary outlines the extent of the Allied invasion force which includes over three hundred and fifty warships and five hundred transports. A Royal Navy motor gun boat (MGB) moves through rising seas, forming part of the forward defensive screen of warships protecting the Allied invasion force as it moves into the Mediterranean Sea. US infantry wave to camera from a landing craft (XM 71) as it heads away from its mother ship. Ship to shore views show a small whitewashed Algerian town. US troops attend to a Browning .50-in heavy machine gun, an air-cooled Browning .30-in and a water-cooled Browning .30-in medium machine gun in the bows of a landing craft. A Landing Craft Mechanised (LCM 102 XM 84) disgorges US troops onto the beach of an unidentified Algerian coastal town (Oran ?) A White scout car drives through shallow water on its way from a landing craft to the beach. The commentary states that the North African venture will not be successfully ended without some more hard fighting, but that it will end in eventual victory for the Allied cause.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 85
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1942-12-21
  • 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:Mussolini, Benito Amilcare Andrea (person)
  • Keywords: operations, British air - movement (object name) operations, British air - preparation (object name) operations, Allied military - movement: ship (object name) Second World War, North African Campaign & Operation Torch & 7/11/1942 =8/11/1942 (event) Libya & Cyrenaica (geography) Algeria (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: English
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 781 ft; Running time: 9 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 85

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