WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 195 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 195 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 195
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: An edition of the British official newsreel "War Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.
  • Description: I. 'GREECE.' Stock shot footage shows British troops welcomed by cheering Athenian civilians as they walk along a street carrying Lee-Enfield Mk III .303-inch rifles. A banner suspended from two buildings reads "We greet the brave English Army- EAM." Another placard reads "We believe in your justice." Greek dockyard workers unload supplies from cargo ships. Panoramic views show crated supplies stacked on a large quayside as the commentary stresses that the British had not arrived as occupiers but as friends hoping to help stricken Greece to its feet. A British M4 Sherman tank patrols an Athens street. British paratroops fire a Bren .303-in light machine gun and a captured German light machine gun (7.92mm MG 15 with saddle drum magazine ?) at unseen ELAS (National Peoples Army of Liberation) forces in Athens. British Paratroopers search Greek civilians at a checkpoint. ELAS supporters are escorted into captivity by Greek police. A British paratrooper scans the horizon using a telescopic sight mounted on a Lee-Enfield rifle. Panoramic views shows smoke rising over the Athens skyline as the fighting between British forces and ELAS personnel continues. On December 25 1944, Field Marshal Harold R L G Alexander and General Ronald Scobie (Commander III Corps) await the arrival of British Prime Minister Winston Spencer Churchill and his Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden. The commentary outlines the British discovery of an ELAS explosives cache in a manhole outside the Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens. Anthony Eden and Field Marshal Alexander are escorted to the British Embassy by numerous British military policemen armed with M1 Thompson .45-inch sub-machine guns. Later, Alexander and Eden repair to the Embassy roof where they watch Royal Air Force (RAF) Supermarine Spitfires and Bristol Beaufighter aircraft using cannon and rocket projectiles to attack ELAS positions in the city. Archbishop Damaskinos is shown on his way to accept the Regency of Greece. Greek soldiers dressed in traditional costume form a guard of honour on his arrival. II. 'RUSSIAN ADVANCE.' An item covering the envelopment and liberation of Warsaw by Russian and Polish forces. Russian T-34/76 tanks carry tank descent infantry. General Kasakov inspects maps at his headquarters (Artillery). Russian Gaubitsa Pushka 152mm heavy guns and truck-mounted multiple rocket launchers fire at night. Aerial footage shows Russian Air Force Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack aircraft in flight. Ground footage shows a stick of bombs impacting on open ground. A pair of German PzKpfw V Panther tanks burn. German infantry lie dead in foxholes and near the remains of a knocked out PzKpfw IV with long 7.5cm Kwk L/48 gun (Ausf H ?). Russian T-34/76 tanks cross open ground in close order. A Russian T-34/76D fires its gun at unseen targets in a rubble strewn Warsaw street. Russian infantry fire a 76.2mm Pushka obr 1942g dual purpose field gun as Russian infantry advance through shell damaged buildings. Russian General Konstantin K Rokossovsky (Commander 2nd Belorussian Front), described by the commentary as "The liberator of the Polish capital" smokes a cigarette in a holder. Aerial footage shows areas of the Polish capital on fire. A stock shot shows Russian leader Josef Stalin staring at the camera.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 195
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-01-29
  • 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: Alexander, Harold (1st Earl Alexander of Tunis) (person) Scobie, Ronald Mackenzie (person) Churchill, Winston Leonard Spencer (person) Eden, (Robert) Anthony (person) Papandreou, Damaskinos (person) Stalin, Josef (person) Rokossovsky, Konstantin Konstantinovich (person) Kasakov (General) (person) ELAS, Greek People's Liberation Army (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: combat, British (object name) operations, British military - search (object name) celebrations, Greek - liberation (object name) law and order, Greek - detention (object name) combat, Russian (object name) Second World War, Eastern Front & Warsaw, Liberation of & 11/1/1945 (event) Greece & Athens, Central Greece (geography) Warsaw, Poland (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: 913 ft; Running time: 10 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 195

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