Other titles:THE WAR ANNALS 86 [Alternative Title]
Summary: I. French newsreel item of an animated map showing the Allied victories on the Western Front, July-November 1918.
II. French newreel item on Zeebrugge after liberation, showing demolished coastal defence gun positions and HMS Thetis sunk in the harbour. Belgium, November 1918.
III. French newsreel item on the liberation of towns and villages in Belgium and France by British and Imperial troops, November 1918.
IV. French newsreel item of the "victors", who led France to victory on the Western Front, November 1918.
Description: The map, in stop-frame action, shows the German invasion of France and Belgium in 1914, followed by a more detailed version of the Allied advance to victory between July and November 1918. The Allied attacks and German counter-attacks are identified by name and marker arrows. The Canadian and Australian Corps in the British sector are shown under their own national flags.
First shown is Tournai, comparatively undamaged, through which British soldiers march to the cheers of the crowd. In Audenarde (or Oudenaarde), the village shows some shell damage and white flags are hung out. French soldiers with a machine gun keep a sentry post. Tourcoing some time after liberation. The church spire is intact but other buildings are extensively damaged. Australian soldiers and local people stand by the roadside as a civic procession in honour of the war dead passes through the streets. Maubeuge, showing the seventeenth century outer defences of the town itself. The town is barely damaged except for some broken glass and fallen bridges. Civilians and British soldiers scramble through the rubble of one area. President Poincaré visits the town and is met by a British parade and General Sir Henry Horne, commanding British First Army. The parade includes a contingent of the New Zealand Division.
Prime Minister Clémenceau talking with General Pétain. A portrait shot of Marshal Foch. Finally a line of ordinary French soldiers, "the liberators" on the march led by their band.
Alternative Title:THE WAR ANNALS 86 [Alternative Title]
Production Details: Section Cinématographique de l'Armée Française (Production company)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: Poincaré, Raymond (person)
Horne, Henry Sinclair (person)
Clemenceau, Georges Benjamin (person)
Pétain, Philippe (person)
Foch, Ferdinand (person)
Royal Navy, Thetis (regiment/service)
British Army (regiment/service)
French Army (regiment/service)
Australian Army, Australian Imperial Force (regiment/service)
British Army, Australian Imperial Force (regiment/service)
British Army, New Zealand Div (regiment/service)
British Army, Army 1 (regiment/service)
French Army (regiment/service)
Keywords: ships, British naval - cruiser: Thetis & [expended] (object name)
demolition, German - denial (object name)
celebrations, Belgian - liberation (object name)
celebrations, French - liberation (object name)
destruction, French military - area: artillery bombardment (object name)
destruction, Belgian military - area: artillery bombardment (object name)
weapons, French - smallarm: Mitrailleuse Saint Etienne machine gun (object name)
buildings, French - religious: church (object name)
ceremonies, French - display: memorial (object name)
buildings, French - historic: outer defences, Mauberge (object name)
delegations, French national - state (object name)
delegations, French international - state (object name)
propaganda, French - inspirational (object name)
01/3(4-15).9 (event)
31/3(493) (event)
01/3(4-15).9 (event)
First World War, Armistice & 11/1918 (event)
Zeebrugge, West Flanders, Belgium (geography)
Tournai, Hainaut, Belgium (geography)
Audenarde, East Flanders, Belgium (geography)
Tourcoing, Nord, France (geography)
Maubeuge, Nord, France (geography)
France (geography)
Animation (concept)
Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W
Sound format: Silent
Soundtrack language: None
Title language: French
Subtitle language: English
Technical Details: Format: 35mm
Number of items/reels/tapes: 1
Footage: 727 ft; Running time: 13 mins
