THE ARRIVAL OF THE BRITISH 2ND ARMY ENDS ANTWERP'S FOUR YEARS OF GERMAN OCCUPATION [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: THE ARRIVAL OF THE BRITISH 2ND ARMY ENDS ANTWERP'S FOUR YEARS OF GERMAN OCCUPATION [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: A70 170-2
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: Footage taken by Belgian (Flemish) cameramen.
  • Description: I. German soldiers try to get their Citroën started. Others ride by in trucks, lorries, tractors towing light and heavy Flak pieces and in a self-propelled gun. The 3rd Royal Tank Regiment's armour and the 8th Rifle Brigade's motorised infantry are mobbed by excited Belgians. A German army post office is broken into. Nurses rush civilian sniper and mortar casualties to hospital. II. Civilians tear down direction signs to confuse German drivers. Belgian flags decorate windows and balconies. Civilians rush out to greet the British. Flames pour from a building used by the Germans. III. British troops receive a rapturous welcome in the streets. White Army men round up Germans and collaborators. British tanks rush through the streets. Firemen tackle the burning building. IV. German prisoners are led away. Furniture from a collaborator's house is thrown onto the street below. People shower British tank crews with flowers. V. Collaborators' wagons and German transport head through Antwerp's Central Park. Belgian flags re-appear; German signs are torn from a kiosk. British Troops are mobbed. The firemen tackle the blazing building. VI. German troops ride through a street decorated with Belgian flags. The British - the 3rd RTR and the 3rd Monmouthshire Regiment - arrive in the city.
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-09-04
  • Production Country: Belgium
  • Production Details: Vlaamsch Nationaal Verbond (Production sponsor)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords: Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 953 ft; Running time: 10 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Notes: Summary: See with A70 150-10, 153-2 and 3 and A 170-3 for footage taken during Antwerp's liberation. Many German vehicles seen here are camouflaged with branches against detection by Allied aircraft with Troops riding shotgun on the look-out for Allied planes and Belgian partisans on some. The vehicles themselves are a mixed bag - some of French, Italian or even British origin. See with A70 165-3. Remarks: Despite its variable quality, a cause both of the peculiar circumstances in which it was filmed and technical problems incurred when the AFPU reproduced the original 16mm print onto 35mm, this footage conveys the hurried nature of the German retreat through Antwerp and the mad-house atmosphere among its inhabitants produced by the arrival of the British 2nd Army. Best seen with A70 170-3. Production Credits: film taken by at least five anonymous Belgian (Flemish) cameramen who might have worked for the 'Eenheidsbeweging' VNV's propaganda unit. Documentation/associated material: Refer to A70 143-4 and 145-11 for a bibliography.
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    A70 170-2

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