WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 185 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 185 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 185
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: Liberation of Greece.
  • Description: I. 'LIBERATION OF GREECE.' A Royal Navy (RN) landing craft (LCG-L) lying in the shallows of an Albanian cove, fires its two 4.7-inch guns at high elevation. British troops stack supply crates on the beach near a small tented encampment, others carry supplies down the twin gangplanks of a large infantry landing craft (LCI-L). Greek partisans and civilians welcome British Commandos at Corfu (Ionian Islands) following their landing on October 12 1944. British Jeeps are off-loaded from landing craft in Corfu. Greek civilians carrying palm tree fronds and Greek national flags take part in a liberation parade through the streets of Corfu. British Commandos carrying Lee-Enfield No 4 .303-inch rifles and Bren .303-inch light machine guns, pass through thronging Greek civilians. The procession is led by two of Corfu's town bands. HMS Easton arrives at a quayside in the Greek Island of Chios (Khios) to be welcomed by crowds of civilians eager to benefit from the supplies being carried on the ship. Food-stuffs are loaded onto the back of mule-drawn carriages by Greek civilians for later distribution across the island. Following the main British landings at Patras (Morea) on October 4 1944 (Operation Manna), a Jeep drives along the coastal road towards Corinth. The Willys Jeep carries Special Air Service (SAS) personnel and is armed with an air-cooled Browning .50-inch heavy machine gun. Greek civilians parade through the streets carrying EAM (National Liberation Front) banners. Scenes of welcome are repeated in Salonika when an RN patrol boat (motor gun boat ?) arrives at dock facilities. Greek andarte partisans march through Salonika armed with captured German and Italian rifles (7.92mm Kar 98K rifles and Moschetto modello 91 per Cavalleria 6mm carbines) and wearing German helmets. Greek women and children watch the proceedings from a balcony bedecked with a banner displaying a picture of Adolf Hitler and the legend "Worlds Greatest Criminal." The Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou inspects a British guard of honour at Piraeus, later laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Athens accompanied by Lieutenant-General Sir Ronald Scobie. Papandreou and Scobie are accompanied by Greek women wearing traditional costume on a visit to the Acropolis to watch the Greek national flag being raised.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 185
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-11-20
  • 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: Papandreou, George (person) Scobie, Ronald Mackenzie (person) Royal Navy, EASTON (HMS), escort destroyer (regiment/service) National Liberation Front (Greece) (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: supplies, British, movement [RA] - misc (object name) celebrations, Greek - liberation (object name) ships, British naval - destroyer: Easton (object name) Second World War & Greece, Liberation of & 10/1944 (event) Second World War, Greece & Corfu, Allied Landing on & 14/10/1944 (event) Second World War, Greece & Khios, British Landing on & 5/10/1944 (event) Second World War, Greece & Corinth, Liberation of & 10/10/1944 (event) Albania (geography) Greece & Corfu (geography) Greece & Khios (geography) Greece & Corinth (geography) Greece & Salonika, Macedonia (geography) Greece & Athens, Central Greece <Acropolis> (geography) Greece & Athens, Central Greece <docks> (geography) Greece & Athens, Central Greece <Parthenon> (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: 872 ft; Running time: 10 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 185

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