THE CANADIAN VICTORY AT COURCELETTE : and the advance of the tanks [Main Title]

Log in to create clips, download free screeners and save clips/films in Collections. Click here to find out more.

Media files

  • Title: THE CANADIAN VICTORY AT COURCELETTE : and the advance of the tanks [Main Title]
  • Film Number: IWM 466
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: I. Canadian soldiers voting in the Canadian elections while on the Western Front, 17th December 1917. II. Slightly jumbled film of the Canadian forces in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. No tanks appear. Western Front, September 1916. III. Graves and a memorial to the dead of the Canadian forces in the Battle of Vimy Ridge, Western Front, summer 1917.
  • Description: (Reel 1) Albert Cathedral, mid-1916. The Canadian 6th Brigade, 2nd Division, led by Brigadier-General H D B Ketchen (past German prisoners) towards the battlefield, halts to rest at La Boisselle crossroads before entering the trench system. A kite balloon is raised to direct fire from 9.2-inch howitzers. A BE2d of the RFC is bombed-up with 112-pound, 40-pound, 20-pound and phosphorus bombs (shown in detail) before taking off. Ground crews signal to the aircraft with identification panels. The aircraft directs the fire of a 4.5-inch howitzer battery. Carrier pigeons, taken forward, return to a mobile loft. (Reel 2) A 12-inch siege howitzer, 15-inch siege howitzer and 8-inch siege howitzer battery are directed by Forward Observation Officers (FOOs) onto their targets. More 8-inch shells are brought forward, while British 18-pounders and French 75mm guns join in. The Canadians attack and prisoners from the German 45th Reserve Division come back. (Reel 3) Walking wounded, stretcher cases and prisoners filter back to the front-line dressing stations and are evacuated by ambulance or on foot. Canadian soldiers watch from a safe distance as the Germans counter-attack at the sugar factory. As they are led back the German prisoners are allowed to wash, "Fritz indulges in an unfamiliar exercise", in a nearby pond. Other Germans are shown dead, "some of the Huns who did not get out of their trench in time". The captured trenches at Courcelette are a shapeless mass. Inside a field hospital surgery is performed on serious cases. Canadian dead are buried in shrouds in a permanent military cemetery after the battle. The memorial reads "To the Memory of the Officers, NCOs and Men of the 2nd Canadian Division and the 13th Infantry Brigade who Fell in the Capture of Vimy Ridge on April 9th 1917", and is followed by a scene of graves being tended in a military cemetery.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: IWM 466
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1914-1918
  • Production Date: 1917
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Canadian War Records Office (Production sponsor) War Office Cinema Committee (Production sponsor) Topical Film Company (Production company) Bovill, Frederick Oscar1891-04-18Bovill joined the film industry in 1906 with Gaumont, then moved to Barker Motion Photography in 1909. He joined the army in 1914 and served with the 1st City of London Regiment, Royal Field Artillery. When he was discharged in 1916 he was made official photographer/cameraman for the Canadian War Records Office at the Western Front. Whilst his earlier work was praised his later work was greeted with criticism and he was discharged in June 1917. In November 1917 he joined the Royal Air Force as an observer. After the war worked for Goldin and Lloyd's 'Horseshoe Comedies' series and as a cameraman to the London Underground and Omnibus Control. In the Second World War he joined the PATHÉ GAZETTE and filmed in Iceland and the Far East. (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Ketchen, Huntley Douglas Brodie (person) British Army, Canadian Expeditionary Force (regiment/service) Canadian Army, Canadian Expeditionary Force (regiment/service) British Army, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Div 2, Bde 6 (regiment/service) British Army, Canadian Expeditionary Force (regiment/service) Canadian Army, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Div 2, Bde 6 (regiment/service) Canadian Army, Canadian Expeditionary Force (regiment/service) Royal Air Force, Royal Flying Corps (regiment/service) British Army, Canadian Expeditionary Force (regiment/service) Canadian Army, Canadian Expeditionary Force (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: politics, Canadian - institutional: election (object name) transport, Canadian military - truck, special: carrier pigeon loft (object name) buildings, French - religious: cathedral (object name) buildings, French - commercial: sugar factory & [wrecked] (object name) operations, Canadian military - movement: march (object name) aircraft, British - balloon: observation kite balloon (object name) combat, Canadian - artillery bombardment (object name) aircraft, British - combat: Royal Aircraft Establishment BE2d (object name) weapons, British air - bomb: 112-pound (object name) weapons, British air - bomb: 40-pound (object name) weapons, British air - bomb: 20-pound (object name) weapons, British air - bomb: phosphorus (object name) communications, British military - direct: ground-to-air panels (object name) communications, Canadian military - message: carrier pigeon (object name) animals, birds (object name) supplies, Canadian, movement [FA] - munitions (object name) casualties, Canadian wounded - battlefield (object name) casualties, Canadian graves - formal (object name) casualties, German dead - battlefield (object name) propaganda, Canadian - inflammatory (object name) prisoners of war, German - movement (object name) defences, German - emplacement: trenches & [captured] & [wrecked] (object name) medical, Canadian military - hospital (object name) weapons, British - gun: 18-pounder field gun (object name) weapons, French - gun: 75mm field gun (object name) weapons, British - gun: 9.2-inch howitzer & [Canadian] (object name) weapons, British - gun: 4.5-inch howitzer & [Canadian] (object name) weapons, British - gun: 12-inch howitzer & [Canadian] (object name) weapons, British - gun: 15-inch howitzer & [Canadian] (object name) weapons, British - gun: 8-inch howitzer & [Canadian] (object name) casualties, Canadian graves - formal (object name) 01/3(4-15).7 (event) 01/3(4-15).57 [1916 Flers-Courcelette] (event) 01/3(4-15).7 (event) France (geography) La Boisselle, Somme, France (geography) Courcelette, Somme, France (geography) Vimy Ridge, Pas-de-Calais, France (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: English Subtitle language: English
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 3 Footage: 2897 ft; Running time: 48 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    IWM 466

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    IWM 1195 (CANADIAN TANKS [Allocated Title])
Register