Title:BURNING DOWN BELSEN CONCENTRATION CAMP (Part 2) [Allocated Title]
Film Number:A70 337-2
Other titles:
Summary: Unedited footage showing the last remaining barrack hut in Belsen concentration camp being incinerated in a special ceremony to mark the camp's destruction by the British Army.
Description: A Wasp IIC carrier flamethrower manned by three men from the 4th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry's 'S' Company is seen in position in front of a single barrack hut in Belsen No. 1 Camp, which has been surrounded by white tape for the occasion. An old Imperial German flag is on display at one end of the hut. A burst of flaming oil is aimed at the flag and it catches fire, thereby setting the hut ablaze; flame from another Wasp IIC which cannot be seen is also directed onto the conflagration. A large banner portrait of Adolf Hitler has been draped at the other end of the hut and it too is set on fire by bursts of flame from the one Wasp flame thrower that is seen throughout this episode. A British war correspondent (?) carrying a Speed Graphic (?) press camera steps into the frame and, noticing the presence of the film cameraman, steps back out of shot just as a 2nd Army officer walks into the shot to watch the Wasp carrier aim another jet of flame at the barrack hut.
A Union Jack flies from the flag pole overlooking the burning hut from whose windows smoke and flame are pouring out. Spectators consisting of British soldiers and camp survivors who have gathered for the ceremony face the camera as flames consume the last hut at Belsen.
Production Details: Directorate of Public Relations, War Office (Production sponsor)
Army Film and Photographic Unit (Production company)
Seaholme, G (Production individual)
