SONS OF OUR EMPIRE EPISODE 5 : Attacking hard [Main Title]

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  • Title: SONS OF OUR EMPIRE EPISODE 5 : Attacking hard [Main Title]
  • Film Number: IWM 130-09+10
  • Other titles: ATTACKING HARD [Alternative Title]
  • Summary: The wounded, prisoners and captured ground from the British Somme offensive, Western Front, autumn 1916.
  • Description: (Reel 9) A bombardment in progress. Mk I tanks move up. Fatigue parties (described as "doctors") move forwards. Prisoners are brought in and the captured area mopped up. The German Crown Prince's headquarters at Péronne shows shell damage. A Guards Division dressing station. The formal search of prisoners by Australians, "the Intelligence officer returns an Iron Cross to a prisoner". The troops return to their rest camps. A chaplain takes a message from a wounded man on a stretcher. Tanks and soldiers return. (Reel 10) The remains of Trones Wood and the unidentifiable rubble of villages. German dead in their trenches. A ditched Mk I tank. "Australians", "London Irish" and "Civil Service Rifles" (of 56th Division) return. An open air funeral service, "the inevitable price of victory". Mk I tanks of 'D' Company H/MGC being serviced and maintained. Aircraft return from their observation flights. An observation kite balloon lands. Men of 35th (Bantam) Division and the New Zealand Division rest. A final shot of Prime Minister Lloyd George on a balcony with H Samuel Homer Stacy, with a policy speech: "our sword was not lightly drawn, and will never be sheathed until our terms - Restitution, Reparation and Guarantees - are fully assured".
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1914-1918
  • Production Date: 1917
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: War Office Cinema Committee (Production sponsor) Topical Film Company (Production company) Jury, William F (Production individual) Raymond, H C (Production individual) McDowell, J B (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Lloyd George, David (person) Stacy, H Samuel Homer (person) British Army, Div, Guards (regiment/service) British Army, London Regiment, Bn 1/18 (regiment/service) British Army, London Regiment, Bn 15 (regiment/service) Australian Army, Australian Imperial Force (regiment/service) British Army, Machine Gun Corps, Heavy Branch (regiment/service) British Army, Royal Tank Corps (regiment/service) British Army, Div 35 (regiment/service) New Zealand Military Forces, New Zealand Div (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: destruction, French military - area: artillery bombardment (object name) defences, German - emplacement: trenches & [captured] (object name) armour, British - tank: Tank Mark I Male (object name) armour, British - tank: Tank Mark I Female (object name) weapons, British - gun: 18-pounder field gun (object name) weapons, British - gun: 4.5-inch howitzer (?) & [Australian] (object name) weapons, German - gun: 77mm field gun & [captured] & [wrecked] (object name) weapons, British - gun: 9.2-inch howitzer (object name) aircraft, British - balloon: observation kite balloon (object name) buildings, German - military: headquarters (Crown Prince) & [captured] (object name) prisoners of war, German - movement (object name) prisoners of war, German - reception (object name) arts, German - fine arts: medal (Iron Cross) (object name) intelligence, military, Australian - interrogation (object name) medical, British military - emergency (object name) religion, Christianity - military, British (object name) operations, British military - return (object name) casualties, British dead [disposal] (object name) casualties, German dead - battlefield (object name) operations, British military - maintenance: tanks (object name) politics, British - institutional: war aims (object name) combat, British - artillery bombardment (object name) propaganda, British - inspirational (object name) 01/3(4-15).57 (event) 31/3(41) (event) Péronne, Somme, France (geography) Trones Wood, Somme, France (geography) Courcelette, Somme, France (geography) London, England, UK (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: English Subtitle language: English
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 2 Footage: 1741 ft; Running time: 32 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Notes: Summary: note that a version of reel 10 with German subtitles is held as IWM 670a. Remarks: a better and more coherent end than the series perhaps deserved. A non-contemporary or non-British observer would be puzzled as to precisely which battle he was watching.
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    IWM 130-09+10

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    IWM 123 (WESTERN FRONT (rough material) [Allocated Title]) IWM 233 (LA GUERRE ANGLAISE : grand film documentaire en 4 parts - les tanks anglais a la bataille de la Scarpe [Main Title]) IWM 349 (GERMAN PRISONERS - SCENES AT LA BOZELLE (sic) [Main Title])
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