WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 188 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 188 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 188
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: An edition of the British official newsreel "War Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.
  • Description: I. 'WESTERN FRONT.' A Royal Navy (RN) rocket-firing landing craft (LCT-R) fires ripple-salvos at German positions on Walcheren Island in support of the Anglo-Canadian operation to clear the islands of enemy troops and open up the Scheldt Estuary to Allied shipping. Royal Air Force (RAF) Hawker Typhoon fighter-bomber aircraft overfly Allied landing craft on their way to Walcheren. Men of the British 4th Commando Brigade attempt to look over the disembarkation ramp of a small landing craft as it makes for the landing beaches near Westkapelle on Walcheren Island. Landing craft come under German artillery fire as they negotiate shallow water near the landing areas. Knocked-out Allied LCT landing craft burn in the shallows near a landing site (location undisclosed). Allied (British or Canadian) LVT(2?) Water Buffalo and M29 Weasel amphibious vehicles remain stationary on a beach. A Willys Jeep negotiates a flooded country road allegedly following the German destruction of the sea defences (The flooding of Walcheren is more likely to have been caused by RAF bombing). Panoramic footage shows the extent of the flooding. Members of the British 4th Commando Brigade move across a beach strewn with German anti-tank obstacles (environs of Westkapelle) carrying Lee-Enfield No.IV rifles. British M4A1 Sherman and Sherman Firefly tanks drive through the town of Middelburg (Walcheren Island). A British Commando carrying an M1 Thompson .45-inch sub-machine gun, escorts a German 70th Division prisoner along a road in Middelburg. General Daser of the German 70th Division is shown in close-up after his capture by Allied troops. German prisoners march along a street as Dutch national flags fly from windows. Abandoned German equipment lies at the side of a road. II. 'WOMEN RAILWAY WORKERS.' Women railway workers wearing boiler suits work on steam locomotives at an unidentified Great Western Railway (GWR) depot. Steam locomotive "Neath Valley" moves slowly past the camera position. A woman railway worker forms part of a riveting team, working on the construction of steam locomotives. A woman railway worker operates switching levers at a railside junction box. A female ticket collector checks tickets at a small GWR station (unidentified location). A United States (US) non-commissioned officer (Technician 3rd Grade) walks along sidings at a storage area for US rolling stock. III. 'ITALY.' British artillery teams fire camouflaged 155mm heavy field guns at German positions near an unidentified Italian medieval hill town. A British M4 Sherman tank (three piece nose) drives along a dusty Italian road past a dump for spent artillery shells. Members of the 4th Indian Division armed with Lee-Enfield Mk III .303-inch rifles move with caution across rugged Italian terrain. An Indian infantryman throws a Mills No 36M hand grenade into a suspected enemy foxhole position, taking cover prior to its explosion. German prisoners of war walk along a country road guarded by British infantrymen armed with Lee-Enfield Mk III rifles. Italian civilian refugees pass down a road in an ox-drawn cart that is laden with personal possessions and has white flags flying from it. A caterpillar tractor is used to pull an Ordnance QF 25-pounder howitzer with limber along a very muddy mountain track. The commentary outlines the increasing problems of movement and communication inherent in the changing weather situation with the onset of the Italian winter. Eighth Army infantrymen attempt to push a bogged-down artillery tractor from cloying mud, others shore up a road against torrential rain using logs. A party of British infantrymen drag a wounded colleague over muddy terrain on an improvised sled. British Eighth Army Gurkha troops ford the River Ronco (Ravenna-Forli) in the environs of the village of Meldola. Italian civilians hold guide-ropes to assist the Gurkhas in the crossing of the fast-flowing Ronco, swollen by heavy winter rains.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 188
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-12-11
  • 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: Daser (General) (person) British Army, Gurkhas (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: celebrations, Dutch - liberation (object name) prisoners of war, German - movement (object name) destruction, Dutch military - area (object name) operations, British military - amphibious (object name) transport, British civilian - rail (object name) medical, British military - movement (object name) refugees, Italian - movement (object name) prisoners of war, German - movement (object name) operations, British military - movement: march (object name) Second World War & Operation Infatuate & 1/11/1944 (event) Netherlands & Walcheren, Z <Middelburg> (geography) Italy (geography) (concept) mud (concept) rain (concept)
  • 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: 889 ft; Running time: 10 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 188

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