WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 80 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 80 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 80
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: An edition of the British official newsreel "War Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.
  • Description: I. 'CHINA TODAY.' United States Special Envoy Wendell Willkie arrives at Chungking by Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft for talks with Dr H H Kung, Chinese Vice-Premier. Willkie inspects a Chinese infantry guard of honour and is then driven to the home of Dr Kung. Willkie chats informally with Madame Chiang Kai-shek and shakes hands with General Chiang Kai-shek in the garden of his residence. Willkie is described by the commentary as being "A vigorous champion of maximum possible aid to China" and as such, seems to be warmly welcomed by the Chinese. Chungking is described by the commentary as being the most bombed city on earth. street scenes show that despite the bombing, commerce and every day life continue as normal. Elsewhere, Chinese civilians are given parachute training using a drop tower. A smiling Chinese girl is strapped into a parachute harness prior to a jump. Three civilian trainees are suspended by open parachute from the jump tower and are dropped without incident. The training programme of the Central Military Academy is highlighted with Chinese officer candidates drilling with sticks on a parade ground, practising mock cavalry charges and firing a Fusil-Mitrailleur Hotchkiss mle 1922 8mm light machine gun. The commentary stresses that China has faced a highly efficient and well equipped enemy for five years and that through her improved training programs, will soon meet the Japanese on equal terms. Chinese infantry negotiate barbed wire obstacles during a demonstration marking the thirty-first anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Republic. II. 'THE ADVANCE CONTINUES.' Victory in the Western Desert is ascribed to the effective combination of all service arms to achieve cohesion in the breakthrough of Axis lines of defence and in the pursuit of the retreating enemy. Air to air footage shows a mixed force of United States Army Air Force (USAAF) North American B-25 Mitchell bombers and Royal Air Force (RAF) Martin Baltimore bombers flying in a defensive formation. The role of the Allied air forces in harassing the retreating Germans is explained over views of 250lb bombs with extended fuses dropping on an undisclosed target. A member of the First Armoured Division arrives by Jeep to deliver a message to the occupants of an AEC Matador 4X4 ACV armoured command vehicle. The commentary stresses that a large amount of Axis matériel was either captured or destroyed during the offensive over scenes of a German Junkers Ju 87 dive-bomber burning fiercely. An Auto Union/Horch truck and a SdKfz 2 kleines Kettenkraftrad half-track motorcycle also lie abandoned and burning in desert terrain. A British Universal Carrier drives past a turretless German PzKpfw III tank. British troops inspect an abandoned Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109F (Trop) fighter parked in a sandbagged revetment at an undisclosed airfield location. The role of the Royal Navy (RN) is outlined over views of a Nelson Class Capital ship at sea. A Fleet Air Arm (FAA) Fairey Fulmar fighter ditches in the sea following a sortie. A RN submarine commander scans the horizon using a periscope in the control room of an unidentified submarine. Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk fighter aircraft of 250 Squadron RAF perform a Squadron take-off from a rough desert airstrip. The commentary outlines the tremendous efforts of the Allied air forces during the German retreat from El Alamein during which over eight hundred sorties were flown per day. USAAF B-25 AND RAF Baltimore bombers fly in formation and bombs impact on the desert floor.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 80
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1942-11-16
  • 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: Willkie, Wendell Lewis (person) Kung, H H (person) Chiang Mayling Soong (person) Chiang Kai-shek (person)
  • Keywords: training, Chinese - specialist: paratroops (object name) training, Chinese - combat (object name) ceremonies, Chinese - event-related: national day (object name) equipment, German military - personal: [captured] (object name) prisoners of war, German - movement (object name) prisoners of war, Italian - movement (object name) Second World War, North African Campaign & El Alamein, Battle of & 4/11/1942=8/11/1942 (event) China & Chungking (geography) Egypt & Western Desert (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: 939 ft; Running time: 10 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 80

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