WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 228 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 228 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 228
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: An edition of the British official newsreel "War Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.
  • Description: I. 'NEWS FROM ENGLAND.' King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret are driven in an open carriage to St Paul's Cathedral for a day of national thanksgiving for victory over Japan. On the boundaries of the City of London, The King receives the City Sword in token from the Lord Mayor. The Royal party ascend the stairs of St Paul's led by the Lord Mayor. A fanfare is sounded by members of the Household Cavalry. Brief footage taken on the exterior steps of St Paul's at the conclusion of the service shows Clement R Attlee, Winston Spencer Churchill and Ernest Bevin watching the royal party depart for Buckingham Palace. II. 'JAPANESE SURRENDER IN BURMA.' Two Mitsubishi MC-2 transport aircraft land at a Rangoon airfield carrying the Japanese surrender negotiation delegation who include Lieutenant-General Takuzo Numata and Rear-Admiral Kanei Chudo. The aircraft bear "surrender" crosses in place of their national markings and are painted in high visibility white. Numata and Chudo are escorted to a waiting British Army soft-skin for their journey to Government House in Rangoon. Close up footage of "Arrogant and self-assured" Japanese aircrew follows. Interior footage taken in Government House shows the arrival of the Japanese delegation and the signing of the preliminary surrender agreement. British General Frederick AM Browning (Chief of Staff) who has presided over the preliminary negotiations, is shown at a press conference held after the meeting. III. 'THE ATOMIC BOMB.' Brief footage shows the first successful detonation of a plutonium nuclear device at Alamogordo, New Mexico (Code Name: Trinity) on July 16 1945. The commentary describes the development of the atomic weapon as "The greatest single force for good or evil ever created by man." Panoramic footage shows the secret uranium processing plant and workers "town" at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A sign reads "Oak Ridge and West Oak Ridge- Prohibited Area." Oak Ridge workers and their families are shown shopping in the purpose-built shopping area (jewellery store, newsagents, post office). People gather to read the headline page of the Knoxville Journal which is posted to a wall. The headline reads "Power of Oak Ridge Atomic Bomb Hits Japs." Brief footage shows the 1939 Nobel prize-winning physicist Ernest Orlando Lawrence at work on his cyclotron (University of California ?). More footage of the Alamogordo/Trinity detonation follows as a scientific monitoring tower made of steel is vaporised by the force of the explosion.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 228
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-09-17
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Ministry of Information, Middle East (Production sponsor) War Pictorial News (Production company) Martin, Charles (Production individual) O'Malley, Patrick (Production cast)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Attlee, Clement Richard (person) Bevin, Ernest (person) Churchill, Winston Leonard Spencer (person) Churchill, Clementine Ogilvy Spencer (person) Numata, Takazo (person) Chudo, Kaigye (person) Browning, Frederick Arthur Montague (person) Lawrence, Ernest Orlando (person)
  • Keywords: ceremonies, British - event-related: victory thanksgiving (object name) Surrender of Japanese Forces 1945, Burma, Second World War (event) Second World War & 'Trinity' atomic bomb test & 16/7/1945 (event) GB, England & London, EC <Saint Paul's Cathedral> (geography) Burma & Rangoon <Government House> (geography) USA & Oak Ridge, TN (geography) USA & NM (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: 878 ft; Running time: 10 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 228

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