THE GREAT WAR 22 : Damn Them, Are They Never Coming In ? (F S Oliver) [Main Title]

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


  • Title: THE GREAT WAR 22 : Damn Them, Are They Never Coming In ? (F S Oliver) [Main Title]
  • Film Number: IWM 1065-22
  • Other titles: DAMN THEM, ARE THEY NEVER COMING IN ? (F S Oliver) [Alternative Title]
  • Summary: The failure of the German "Kaiserschlacht" Offensive in the face of American support for the Allies, May-July 1918.
  • Description: The German attempts to break through on the Western Front in March and April 1918 had failed, and the Americans were now coming to the Allies' aid. America had been at war for thirteen months, a source of hope for the Allies; but the country was unprepared for war, and needed time to train troops and equip them, despite Allied protests about the delay. On 1st May there were only four American divisions in France, three on quiet sectors. The Allies had to supply them with equipment, guns, aircraft, tanks and instructors. The British and French armies were short of troops, conscripting boys of eighteen years old. Yet there were 1,400,000 troops in Britain, of which Lloyd George only sent some to France under French political pressure. Five weak British divisions were sent to recuperate on the Chemin des Dames. But this sector was selected by the Germans for a major assault to pin down the French reserves, prior to another breakthrough attack against the British.The attack came on 27th May with complete surprise, the British were swamped and there was a fifteen mile advance in two days. But then the Germans encountered American 1st Division in action for the first time at Cantigny - a symbolic event. More American troops moved to the Marne and on 3rd June halted the Germans at Château-Thierry. The British and French alliance was by now under serious strain, the French distrustful of the British claims to be short of men; both depended on fresh American manpower. But the American commander, General John J Pershing, was determined not to commit his troops fully except as a unified American Army. Only the German threat across the Marne changed his mind - half a million American infantry were shipped to France in June and July to support the Allies piecemeal as divisions. On 6th June the American attacked at Belleau Wood. Meanwhile, Ludendorff was tempted to renew his attack against the French rather than striking at the British. On 9th June the Germans attacked on the Chemin des Dames, but two days later the French halted them with American support. The German superiority of March had been cancelled out. The British, after two months' rest, were now strong enough to take the offensive. The Australians planned to attack at Le Hamel using the American 33rd Division. Pershing protested, considering the troops undertrained, but General Monash, commanding the Australians, insisted on the Americans taking part and Haig upheld him. The attack, on 4th July, was a "model" battle, a complete success within ninety minutes for virtually no Allied loss. The war was now a race between German and Allied offensive plans, a battle which Foch, promoted Marshal of France, saw as decisive. On 9th July the Germans attacked on either side of Rheims; two days later the French counter-attacked, halting the eastern thrust and exposing the western thrust to a counter-stroke. The French prepared to move forward. Once more as in 1914 the whole fate of the war hung on the forces round the River Marne.
  • Alternative Title: DAMN THEM, ARE THEY NEVER COMING IN ? (F S Oliver) [Alternative Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: IWM 1065-22
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: NON-IWM: PROJECTION PRINT ONLY - NOT FOR PRODUCTION USE
  • Featured Period: 1914-1918
  • Production Date: 1964
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Production sponsor) Imperial War Museum (Production sponsor) Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Production sponsor) BBC (Production company) Essex, Tony (Production individual) Watkins, Gordon (Production individual) Terraine, John Alfred1921-01-152003-12-27 (Production individual) Rollins, Ed (Production individual) Manefield, Tom (Production individual) Terraine, John Alfred1921-01-152003-12-27 (Production individual) Jarvis, Anne (Production individual) Hipple, Rex (Production individual) Kay Film Laboratories (Production individual) Bigman, Richard (Production individual) Caravel Films (Production individual) McWatt, John (Production individual) Garland, Nicholas1935 (Production individual) Saunders, Robert (Production individual) Read, Bill (Production individual) Keene, Brian (Production individual) Callaway, Ian (Production individual) Bosworth, Pam (Production individual) Carr, Norman (Production individual) Heelas, Peter (Production individual) Toovey, Barry (Production individual) Cave, Julia (Production individual) Broadway, Anne (Production individual) Bryen, Doris (Production individual) Kersey, Jill (Production individual) Davidson, Eric (Production individual) Vigne, Jean (Production individual) Mendelsohn, Robyn (Production individual) Maloney, William (Production individual) Macloughlin, Marya (Production individual) Maros, Basil (Production individual) Virgo, Myrtle (Production individual) Descendre, Anne (Production individual) Edwards, Jeffrey (Production individual) Parry, Audrey (Production individual) Shukman, Harold (Production individual) Kuehl, Jerome (Production individual) Barrie, Alexander (Production individual) Hastings, Max Hugh Macdonald1945-12-28Researcher, BBC TV Great War series, 1963–64; Reporter, Evening Standard, 1965–67; Fellow, US World Press Inst., 1967–68; Roving Correspondent, Evening Standard, 1968–70; Reporter, BBC TV Current Affairs, 1970–73; Editor, Evening Standard Londoner’s Diary, 1976–77; Columnist, Daily Express, 1981–83; contributor, Sunday Times, 1985–86; Editor, The Daily Telegraph, 1986–95; Dir, 1989–95, Editor-in-Chief, 1990–95, The Daily Telegraph plc; Editor, The Evening Standard, 1996–2002; contributor, Daily Mail, 2002–; Contrib. Ed., Financial Times, 2009–13. As War Correspondent, covered Middle East, Indochina, Angola, India-Pakistan, Cyprus, Rhodesia and S Atlantic. Mem., Press Complaints Commn, 1991–92. Churchill Fellow, Westminster Coll., Fulton, Mo, 2011. TV documentaries: Ping-Pong in Peking, 1971; The War about Peace, 1983; Alarums and Exercursions, 1984; Cold Comfort Farm, 1985; The War in Korea (series), 1988; We Are All Green Now, 1990; Spies, in series Cold War, CNN, 1998; Hitler’s Germany, 2000; The Falklands: reluctant heroes, 2002; Winston’s War, 2003; The Falklands Legacy, 2012; The Necessary War, 2014. A Vice Pres., Game Conservancy, 1992–; President: CPRE, 2002–07; Sir Walter Scott Soc. of Edinburgh, 2012–13. Trustee: Nat. Portrait Gall., 1995–2004; Game Conservancy, 2014–. Liddell-Hart Lecture, KCL, 1994; Mountbatten Lecture, Edinburgh Univ., 2004; Leonard Stein Lectures, Oxford Univ., 2009. FRHistS 1988; FRSL 1996. Hon FKC, 2004. Hon. DLitt: Leicester, 1992; Nottingham, 2005. Journalist of the Year, British Press Awards, 1982 (cited 1973 and 1980); What The Papers Say, Granada TV: Reporter of the Year, 1982; Editor of the Year, 1988; Duke of Westminster Medal for military literature, RUSI, 2008; Literary Award for Lifetime Achievement, Chicago Pritzker Library, 2012; Friuladria Prize, Gorizia Internat. Hist. Fest., 2014 (Production individual) Liddell Hart, Basil Henry1895-10-311970-01-29 (Production individual) Terraine, John Alfred1921-01-152003-12-27 (Production individual) Barnett, Correlli Douglas (Production individual) Pitt, Barrie (Production individual) Horne, Alistair1925Trustee of the Imperial War Museum (Production individual) Bonham-Carter, Victor (Production individual) Williams, John (Production individual) Josephs, Wilfred (Production individual) BBC Northern Orchestra (Production individual) Hurst, George (Production individual) Redgrave, Michael (Sir) (Production cast) Richardson, Ralph (Sir) (Production cast) Williams, Emlyn (Production cast) Goring, Marius (Production cast) Luckman, Cyril (Production cast) Shaw, Sebastian (Production cast)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:Lloyd George, David (person)
  • Keywords: 01/3(4-15).8 (event) 31/3(73) (event)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: English Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 16mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 1484 ft; Running time: 45 mins
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    IWM 1065-22

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    ()
Register