WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 102 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 102 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 102
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: The Battle Fronts of Tunisia.
  • Description: I. 'ON THE TUNISIAN BATTLE FRONTS.' Merchant ships sail in convoy, en route to Tunisia to supply the Allied armies engaged in operations in the north of the country. An M3A1 scout car is unloaded by hoist from the hold of a cargo ship as the commentary stresses that well over a million tons of supplies have been unloaded since the initial Allied landings courtesy of the Royal and Merchant Navies. Anti-aircraft tracer fire crosses the sky during an Axis air attack on merchant shipping. Ammunition supplies destined for the Eighth Army are loaded onto waiting British soft-skinned vehicles. Men of the Royal Engineers repair damaged road surfaces using a caterpillar tractor. Large numbers of German prisoners from Panzerarmee Afrika march down a Tunisian road. Eighth Army M4 Sherman tanks with cast noses pass through the town of El Hamma watched by the recently liberated civilian population. General Bernard Law Montgomery accompanied by General Harold R L G Alexander greet the new Air Officer Commanding Western Desert, Air Vice-Marshal Harry Broadhurst. Supermarine Spitfire VB fighter aircraft of 417 Squadron take off in pairs from a desert airfield (La Fauconnerie, Tunisia ?). The Spitfires overfly a tented encampment on their way to escort Douglas Boston aircraft on a bombing raid. Air to ground stock shot footage shows 250lb bombs dropping from the bomb bays of unidentified aircraft and impacting on the ground far below. Disarmed German Tellermines are stacked in the back of an Allied soft-skinned vehicle. Spitfire fighter aircraft of 417 Squadron RAF land on their return from a sortie. Stock shot footage shows wrecked Axis soft-skinned vehicles. The commentary stresses that since the Allied breakthrough on the Mareth Line, over thirty thousand Axis prisoners have been taken. United States General Dwight D Eisenhower (Supreme Allied Commander North Africa) shakes hands with General Bernard Law Montgomery during a visit to "formulate future plans." Panoramic views show Allied merchantmen at anchor near a port facility.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 102
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1943-04-19
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Ministry of Information, Middle East (Production sponsor) War Pictorial News (Production company) Martin, Charles (Production individual) Martin, Charles (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Alexander, Harold (1st Earl Alexander of Tunis) (person) Montgomery, Bernard Law (person) Broadhurst, Harry (person) Eisenhower, Dwight David (person) Royal Air Force, Sqdn 417 (regiment/service) Royal Air Force, Sqdn 601 (regiment/service) British Army, paratroops (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: combat, British - air strike (object name) supplies, British, movement [FA] - misc (object name) combat, British naval - anti-aircraft (object name) operations, British military - movement: road (object name) prisoners of war, German - movement (object name) Tunisia & El Hamma (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: 700 ft; Running time: 8 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 102

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