WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 206 [Main Title]
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- Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 206 [Main Title]
- Film Number: WPN 301
- Other titles:
- Summary: An edition of the British official newsreel "War Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.
- Description: I. 'QUEEN WILHELMINA IN HOLLAND.' Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands crosses the border from Belgium into Holland, accompanied by an unidentified British Army officer. Queen Wilhelmina takes time to chat to assembled civilian well-wishers during her tour of newly liberated Holland. The Queen tours a battle-damaged area accompanied by two large British military policemen armed with Sten 9mm sub-machine guns. Dutch national flags lie draped from the windows of various buildings. A small child presents Queen Wilhelmina with a bouquet of flowers. Queen Wilhelmina places a rosette at a spot where Dutch civilians died in an attempt to defend a bridge (bridge not seen). Queen Wilhelmina takes to war widows dressed in black and women dressed in traditional Dutch costume. Dutch civilian police holdback large crowds of onlookers. II. 'VICTORY AT MANDALAY.' Indian troops load 75mm pack howitzers into the cargo doors of a United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft. USAAF South East Asia Command (SEAC) C-47 transport aircraft raise dust as they taxi along a rough landing strip near Meiktila in Burma. A CG-4A Waco Hadrian glider is towed into take-off position by a Willys Jeep. A Waco Hadrian is snatch-towed off the landing strip by an overflying Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft. An M4 Sherman tank (three piece nose) drives past the camera position carrying Indian tank descent infantry armed with Lee-Enfield Mk III .303-inch rifles and Sten 9mm sub-machine guns. A road sign reads "Meiktila" British and Indian infantry move through the battle damaged outskirts of Meiktila. British infantry fire Ordnance smooth-bore 3-inch mortars from the cover of buildings. Royal Air Force (RAF) SEAC Hawker Hurricane Mk IIC fighter-bombers attack Japanese positions on Mandalay Hill. RAF Republic (P-47) Thunderbolt Mk II fighter aircraft attack Fort Dufferin in the centre of Mandalay. Indian infantry fire a Vickers .303-inch heavy machine gun and 3-inch mortars at unseen enemy positions. Buildings burn in Mandalay following the air attacks. British and Indian (19th Indian Division ?) troops march into Mandalay. Brief footage shows General Sir William Slim seated in a Jeep. Lord Louis Mountbatten (Supreme Allied Commander SEAC) converses with General Slim during his visit to Mandalay Hill and Fort Dufferin. General Slim, with a US M1 .30-inch carbine slung over his shoulder, chats to R G Casey (Governor of Bengal) who is also visiting Mandalay. Slim raises the Union Flag from a wooden podium at Fort Dufferin presumably during the liberation celebrations following the capture of the city from the Japanese.
- Alternative Title:
- Colour: B&W
- Digitised: Yes
- Object_Number: WPN 301
- Sound: Sound
- Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
- Featured Period: 1939-1945
- Production Date: 1945-04-16
- 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 cast)
- Personalities, Units and Organisations: Wilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands (person) Slim, William Joseph (person) Mountbatten, Louis (Earl) (person) Casey, Richard Gavin Gardiner (person) British Army, Gurkhas (regiment/service)
- Keywords: destruction, Dutch military - area (object name) delegations, Dutch national - state (object name) combat, Allied (object name) Mandalay 1945, Burma 1942-1945, Second World War (event) Netherlands (geography) Fort Dufferin, Mandalay, Burma (geography) Meiktila, Burma (geography)
- Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: English Subtitle language: Arabic
- Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 886 ft; Running time: 10 mins
- HD Media:Yes
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