WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 134 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 134 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 134
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: An edition of the British official newsreel "War Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.
  • Description: I. 'ENGLAND-ATS BIRTHDAY PARADE.' A large contingent of Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) personnel stand to attention on a barrack square (Wellington Barracks ?) prior to marching to Buckingham Palace for a parade in celebration of the fifth anniversary of their formation. The march past at Buckingham Palace will be watched by Queen Elizabeth, ATS Commandant-in-Chief. The commentary states that the ATS has gained high respect and has become an "indispensable war-time force." ATS members march smartly along The Mall, watched by civilian spectators who line the route. The ATS contingents march around the Queen Victoria Memorial and past the gates of Buckingham Palace, where the Queen is standing on a reviewing podium between the Palace gates. The commentary stresses the heterogeneous nature of ATS membership. The ATS contingents march through Parliament Square on their way to attend a special religious service at Westminster Abbey. II. 'RUSSIA: WAR IN THE MARSHES.' An item that highlights the special equipment and tactics adopted by the Red Army for offensive operations in the marshlands of the Kuban region of Russia. Russian infantry don special wading gear that combines waterproof trousers with an inflatable lifebelt. Russian Infantrymen row a small boat through reed covered waters, a Pistolet-Pulemyot Shpagina obr 1941g 7.62mm sub-machine gun lies ready for use in the bows. Russian infantry wading teams are sent out across flooded marshland in a linear skirmish formation, senior Russian officers watch from the comfort of tethered rowing boats. A "wader" moves through shoulder high reeds with a Pulemyot Degtyarova Pekhotnii obr 1928g 7.62mm light machine gun slung over his shoulder. Two Russian soldiers try to find cover as a grenade explodes in marsh water near to their boat, one of the men appears to be armed with a captured German 7.92mm Karabiner 98b rifle. Stock shot footage shows a Russian 152mm Gaubitsa-Pushka obr 1937g artillery gun firing at high elevation from the cover of a tree line. The commentary states that the German forces have been completely out-manoeuvred by the Russians in this region. A Russian gun crew fires a 45mm Protivotankovaya Pushka obr 1930g anti-tank gun at an unseen target using a small rowing boat as a gun platform. Wading Russian infantry continue their slow advance across the flooded marshland, firing their Vintovka obr 1891/30g 7.62mm rifles as they go. Russian wounded are carried out of the marshes on stretchers. Stock shots show burning Isbas (Russian lodge houses), German dead, abandoned equipment and German prisoners being led away under Soviet guard. III. 'MIDDLE EAST: ARMOUR ON PARADE.' Elements of the British Ninth Armoured Brigade perform a drive past on the first anniversary of the battle of El Alamein. Numerous M4 Sherman tanks with cast noses and M7 Priest self-propelled howitzers (US 105mm M2 howitzer) drive past an M3A1 reconnaissance vehicle that is used by British Army officers as a reviewing podium (rear view of officers). M4 Shermans drive past the camera position sporting hand-painted legends on their hull sides ("Moodkee", "Argosy" and "Accurate"). IV. 'ATLANTIC CONVOY.' An item that introduces and highlights the role of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) in protecting Allied merchant shipping using the North Atlantic convoy routes. Stock shot footage shows a merchant convoy silhouetted on the horizon. Flight deck views of an unidentified Royal Navy (RN) aircraft carrier (Illustrious Class ?) show FAA Supermarine Seafire Mk IIC fighter aircraft (three blade propeller units) parked and chocked at the rear of the flying off area. A Seafire takes off from the deck of the carrier. A Royal Navy rating signals with an Aldis lamp as multiple 2-pounder pom-pom anti-aircraft guns are traversed and raised. Stock shots show a Regia Aeronautica (Italian Air Force) Savoia-Marchetti SM 79 Sparviero bomber dropping a stick of bombs on an unseen target. A Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 (I+H fuselage code) bomber is also shown dropping bombs on an unseen target. Stock shot footage taken in the Mediterranean operations area shows an Italian SM 79 Sparviero bomber aircraft ditching in the sea and floating (presumably prior to sinking). An RN Nelson Class capital ship escorts merchant shipping as a dense plume of smoke rises to a great height on the horizon. A FAA Seafire Mk IIC fighter lands on the deck of an aircraft carrier, catching the arrester wire with its lowered arrester hook. Following its successful landing the Seafire is pushed to the parking area to the rear of the flight deck by Royal Navy ratings. V. 'NEW GUINEA: JUNGLE PARATROOPS.' General Douglas MacArthur (Commander-in-Chief South West Pacific Area) talks to a high ranking US airborne forces officer at a tented encampment area (Port Moresby ?). The commentary states that MacArthur is holding a last minute meeting concerning the intended US/Australian airborne assault on the Markham River Valley (New Guinea). Members of the US 503rd Parachute Infantry Division check their personal kit and fold ammunition belts for a Browning .30 air-cooled machine gun in preparation for the airborne assault. Men from the Australian 2/4th Field Regiment load the firing mechanism and wheels of an Ordnance QF 25-pounder field gun onto the back of a soft-skinned vehicle. The 25-pounder probably forms part of the consignment of field guns destined to be air-dropped during the Markham River Valley operation. A soft-skinned vehicle laden with US paratroopers drives past a camera position on its way to an airfield. The US paratroopers climb down from the soft-skin which has pulled up next to a waiting United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft of the US Fifth Air Force. US paratroopers check each others parachute harnesses before filing to a waiting C-47 that is parked on PSP hardstanding. USAAF C-47 Skytrain aircraft taxi in line awaiting their "slot" for take off. Air to air footage shows USAAF C-47 aircraft flying in loose formation having taken off from airfields in the Port Moresby and Dobodura areas of New Guinea. USAAF C-47 Skytrain 22-3720 is shown in flight. Men of the US 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment jump from C-47 aircraft of the 54th Transport Wing (Fifth Air Force) in the region of Nadzab Airfield (September 5 1943). The sticks of paratroopers jump over a drop zone that is partially obscured by earlier Allied smokescreen laying. A 54th Transport wing C-47 banks hard to port as it leaves the dropping area, a door-mounted camera on the aircraft shows the sticks of paratroopers landing accurately and in good concentration. Air to air footage shows Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft of the US Fifth Air Force (54th Transport Wing ?) flying in a loose formation, presumably on their return flight to base. The commentary states that this was the first time paratroops were used in the South West Pacific area and that the operation was entirely successful.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 134
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1943-11-28
  • 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 cast)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Elizabeth II, Queen (person) MacArthur, Douglas (person) United States Army (regiment/service) Australian Army (regiment/service) British Army, Auxiliary Territorial Service (regiment/service) British Army, Bde, Armoured, 9 (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: ceremonies, British - event-related: anniversary of ATS, 5th (object name) ceremonies, British - event-related: anniversary of El Alamein (object name) combat, Russian (object name) combat, British naval - air strike [I] (object name) combat, British naval - anti-aircraft (object name) operations, United States military - preparation (object name) operations, United States military - sortie (object name) operations, Australian military - sortie (object name) Second World War & Anniversary of ATS, 5th & 11/1943 (event) GB, England & London, SW <Buckingham Palace> (geography) GB, England & London, SW <The Mall> (geography) Russia & Kuban marshlands (geography) New Guinea & Markham Valley (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: 839 ft; Running time: 9 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 134

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