WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 156 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 156 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 156
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: An edition of the British official newsreel "War Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.
  • Description: I. 'SOUTH AFRICA.' An item that encourages South African housewives to donate left-over cooking bones to make bonemeal feed for cattle. Foodstuffs are displayed on a table, they include a joint of beef, cheese, and packaged butter pats from Stein Bros Ltd. South African women are shown in a butchers shop and buying cheese from a grocers. Cattle graze on scrub grassland that is deficient in phosphates, thus creating a nutritional hazard. A black South African worker hand sorts bones at factory manufacturing bonemeal. Powdered bonemeal drops through an industrial filter. The commentary explains that the bonemeal will provide cattle with phosphates unobtainable from their usual sources of diet. A white farmer gives his cattle their daily dose of bonemeal, spooning the powder into the mouth of a cow. II. 'PACIFIC.' Ships of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) sail in line astern forming part of the Allied naval task force (Task Force 76 ?) supporting the landing of the United States 1st Marine Division at Cape Gloucester, New Britain in December 1943. HMAS Shropshire is shown in silhouette, sailing on calm seas. RAN ratings, wearing anti-flash hoods, are shown standing on the deck of an unidentified Australian ship. A RAN destroyer is shown in the distance (Queenborough Class ?). Unidentified Allied ships (seen in silhouette) fire a barrage at Japanese positions on Cape Gloucester. RAN personnel wearing anti-flash clothing drink tea after taking part in the naval bombardment. III. 'RUSSIA.' Red Air Force Ilyushin Il-2 Stormovik ground attack aircraft fly at low-level over countryside, unidentified soft-skinned vehicles burn in the distance. The commentary describes an attack by Russian aircraft on German positions in the Crimean Peninsula that occurred at an early stage of Soviet offensive operations in the area. Red Air Force Sukhoi Su-6 ground attack aircraft (second type with ASh-71 radial engine) fly in formation. Captured German film shows a German soldier ringing an alarm bell to warn of approaching Russian aircraft. Simulated footage of an air battle follows with a Russian Yakovlev Yak-9 fighter portrayed as an attacking German aircraft. The dorsal gunner of a Russian Ilyushin Il-4 bomber simulates firing on an attacking German aircraft, the Ilyushin is parked on the ground during the simulation. Captured footage shows German anti-aircraft crews firing light anti-aircraft guns at high elevation (20mm Flak 30 ?). Luftwaffe field teams fire an 88mm Flak 36 anti-aircraft gun Stock shots show Russian Ilyushin Il-2 aircraft at low-level and Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber aircraft dropping a stick of bombs. At a port near the Kerch Straits German infantry and captured Russian prisoners roll oil drums onto a jetty to await loading onto a ship. Russian artillery crews load and fire 76.2mm Pushka obr 1942g dual-purpose field guns. Russian infantry crawl forwards under the cover of an artillery barrage. Brief views of Russian General Nikolai Vatutin (Commander 1st Ukrainian Front) follow as the commentary makes the point that these were the last pictures of him before his untimely death (killed by Ukrainian partisans on February 1944). Russian infantry march through the town of Kerch carrying Pistolet-Pulemyot Shpagina obr 1941g 7.62mm sub-machine guns as waving civilians look on.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 156
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-05-01
  • 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: Vatutin, Nikolai (person) Red Army, cavalry (regiment/service) Royal Australian Navy (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: combat, Australian naval [d] (object name) agriculture, South African - animal (object name) combat, Russian (object name) combat, German - anti-aircraft (object name) Cape Gloucester 1943-1944, New Britain, Pacific War 1941-1945, Second World War (event) South Africa (geography) Russia & Crimean Peninsula (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: 855 ft; Running time: 9 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 156

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