WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 107 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 107 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 107
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: On Three Fronts.
  • Description: I. 'RUSSIA.' (Titling superimposed over image of spinning globe) Supermarine Spitfire Mk VB fighter aircraft stand parked and chocked at an undisclosed Middle East airfield (Hapmat, March 1943 ?) as attendant Royal Air Force (RAF) ground crews prepare them for transfer to Russia. A groundcrewman uses a spray gun to overpaint an RAF roundel on the fuselage of a Spitfire VB prior to adding the Soviet red star. Russian male factory workers stoke a furnace at a steel foundry as the commentary stresses that Russia has not yet reached the peak of her war production. Russian T-34/76B tanks roll out of a tank factory, with their hull-mounted machine guns not yet installed. Russian Klimenti Voroshilov KV-1 heavy tanks carry infantry across snow-covered terrain. Russian artillerymen fire 122mm Pushka obr 1931g (122-31) and 76.2mm Pushka obr 1939g field pieces at unseen targets. The continuing British contribution to the Russian war effort is stressed, with the commentary asserting that for the first time British tanks are shown in action on the Russian Front (Russian T-34 and KV-1 tanks shown). Russian infantry wearing winter camouflage clothes take cover in a trench during exercises as a Russian tank drives over their position (track views only-possibly a T-28). Russian Infantry run past burning Isbas (Russian lodge houses) during an attack in the Voronezh sector. Voronezh is described as the graveyard of the German drive to encircle Moscow and the springboard for the new offensive. German prisoners march along a snow covered track on their way to captivity. II. 'THE PACIFIC.'(Titling superimposed over image of a spinning globe) A Douglas Boston bomber aircraft is shown in flight bearing Far East roundels as the commentary outlines the strategic motivation behind Japan's attempt to seize the island of New Guinea. Aerial footage shows a large convoy of merchant ships, apparently Japanese. Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) groundcrews arm a Douglas Boston (overpainted plexiglass nose) prior to a sortie. The commentary states that the enemy convoy was attacked by every available plane as part of the Allied effort during the Battle for the Bismarck Sea (3-5 March 1943). General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander Southwest Pacific talks to a throng of reporters at an undisclosed location. A United States Army Air Force (USAAF) North American B-25 Mitchell bomber takes off from a jungle airstrip bearing the legend "Dirty Dora" on its fuselage side. Aerial footage shows three Bristol Beaufighter aircraft flying in formation with blue and white Far East roundels evident on their fuselage sides. A Beaufighter makes a low-level attack on an enemy merchantman, creating the usual mayhem with cannon shell strikes evident across the superstructure of the ship. Aerial reconnaissance footage show burning Japanese supply ships during the Battle For the Bismarck Sea. Six Beaufighters fly low over the sea on a return from a sortie. III. 'North Africa.' Tank crews from the United States II Corps (Patton) dismount from their M3 Stuart light tanks to enthusiastically shake the hands of British infantrymen from the Eighth Army as the two forces link up, possibly in the environs of Kairouan, Tunisia. British and US troops swap cigarettes as the camera concentrates on hand gestures and footwear of the Allied troops. A British officer accepts the surrender of troops from the Italian First Army, covering them as they exit a shell damaged house with an automatic pistol (captured Italian 9mm Beretta modello 34 ?). USAAF North American B-25 Mitchell bombers land after a raid against the enemy. Air Marshal Arthur Coningham climbs out of a Mitchell's crew entry hatch accompanied by a smiling General Harold R L G Alexander wearing a US B-3 shearling leather flying jacket. The commentary outlines events leading to the fall of Tunis (May 7 1943) and states that General Alexander's order of the day to drive the Axis into the sea has been frustrated by the Axis capitulation. Churchill tanks of the Seventh Armoured Division advance across flower covered fields during the final drive to the Cape Bon Peninsula. German infantry raise their hands in surrender on the outskirts of Tunis. Tunisian civilians cheer and wave at Churchill Mk III tank crews as drive through a Tunis street. Italian prisoners are driven past a sullen Tunisian crowd in a British soft-skinned vehicle. German General Jurgen von Arnim, C-in-C Army Group Africa (and General Cramer ?) is displayed after his capture by the 4th Indian Division (May 12 1943). French General Henri H Giraud visits Tunis three days after its liberation and watches a march-past by Free French troops.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 107
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1943-05-24
  • 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: Giraud, Henri H (person) Coningham, Arthur (person) Alexander, Harold (1st Earl Alexander of Tunis) (person) Arnim, Jurgen von (person) Cramer (General) (person)
  • Keywords: prisoners of war, German - custody (object name) prisoners of war, German - movement (object name) society, Allied military - friendship (object name) combat, Allied - air strike (object name) combat, Russian (object name) Battle of the Bismarck Sea 1943, New Guinea, Pacific War 1941-1945, Second World War (event) Russia (geography) Tunisia & Tunis (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: 1080 ft; Running time: 11 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 107

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