WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 56 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 56 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 56
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: Twenty Four Hours a Day Seven Days a Week! Aircraft Production.
  • Description: I. 'TWENTY FOUR HOURS A DAY, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK!' Stylised aircraft silhouettes are superimposed over a air force type roundel. RAF Avro Anson communications aircraft fly in formation as the commentary stresses that the basis of Allied air supremacy is aircraft production. Male factory workers manhandle Supermarine Spitfire fighter fuselages across a factory floor. Factory workers attach frame engine mounts to Spitfire firewalls, other workers test undercarriage retraction systems. The commentary points out that the year 1940 saw British aircraft factories making immense efforts to overcome Battle of Britain losses despite the fact that the fields of England came to be known as "Goering's Graveyard." Male factory workers use a winch to fit a constant speed propeller unit to an engine hub. Hawker Hurricane (Mk IIB ?) fighters of 401 Squadron RAF are shown in flight (YO Squadron code). 1941 is described as a year which saw an increased tempo in aircraft production, "More bombers being the slogan for 1941." Stock shot footage shows a Vickers Wellington Mk I of 149 (East India) Squadron RAF taxiing at dusk as the commentary stresses that 1941 was the first time the war was carried into the Nazi camp. 1942 is described by the commentary as being the year that saw the balance of aircraft production turning in favour of the Allies. Internal views of a Rolls Royce Merlin engine production line shows female factory workers drilling piston rings, turning crankcases and cleaning flash from cast engine parts using a mechanised rotary file. Visiting RAF aircrew watch the bench testing of a Rolls Royce Merlin engine from behind an observation screen. Stock shot footage of RAF aircraft follows showing 7 Squadron Short Stirling bombers, an Avro Manchester bomber of 207 Squadron, Parked Bell Airacobra fighters of 601 Squadron and Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Mk I bombers (No squadron code, RAF livery). United States Aircraft production figures for 1942 (60,000) and 1943 (125,000) are superimposed on a map of that country. Male factory workers rivet Martin B-26 Marauder bomber fuselage sections on a production line at an unidentified aircraft factory (Martin's Baltimore works ?). B-26 fuselages are transported across the production floor to a final assembly area by means of an heavy-lift roof crane. Male factory workers manhandle a B-26 main undercarriage oleo leg to an assembly area. A Pratt and Witney air-cooled radial engine is hoisted by winch prior to its attachment to B-26 welded-steel engine mounts. The Martin B-26 Marauder bomber is described by the commentary as being "One of the toughest fighting ships of their size." Newly completed B-26 bombers are towed to an external aircraft park with their engine nacelles covered in plastic sheeting as protection against bad weather. A B-26 Marauder in United States Army Air Force (USAAF) colours runs up its engines and takes off. II. 'PLANES TO RUSSIA.' The commentary states that Russian aircraft production is not enough and that the shortfall is being made up from British and American aircraft production. A convoy of merchant ships at sea presumably bring Allied lend-lease aircraft to Russian ports. Hawker Hurricane fighters of the Red Air Force run up their engines in the snow prior to a sortie. Russian Ground crews prepare bombs for loading onto a Petlyakov Pe-2 fighter-bomber. A Petlyakov starts its liquid-cooled M-105R engines. Russian Pe-2 aircraft fly in formation over snow covered ground, the commentary describing the aircraft as "messengers of death to those who mock at free peoples." Stock shot footage shows South African Air Force (SAAF) Martin Maryland bombers taking off in a desert setting. Air to ground views show incendiaries and 250lb bombs dropping on harbour facilities (Benghazi ?).
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 56
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1942-05-25
  • 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 individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords: industry, British - aircraft (object name) industry, United States - aircraft (object name)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: English
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 1059 ft; Running time: 11 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 56

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