WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 204 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 204 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 204
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: An edition of the British official newsreel "War Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.
  • Description: I. 'AUSTRALIA.' Women's Australian Auxiliary Air Force (WAAAF) personnel work on Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber aircraft. WAAAF armourers clean and reload the 20mm Hispano-Suiza cannon of a Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX fighter aircraft. A WAAAF fitter takes out the main cockpit instrument panel of a Spitfire Mk IX. WAAAF armourers climb into a B-24 Liberator aircraft for the purpose of testing the aircraft's defensive guns at operating altitudes. A WAAAF secures the door entry hatch on a B-24's (Briggs-Sperry ?) ball-turret position. Aerial footage shows Consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft in flight. A WAAAF member test fires a .50-inch Browning from the Liberator aircraft's waist gun position. II. 'ALEXANDER MEETS TITO.' Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander meets Marshal Fyodor Tolbukhin at an unidentified airfield location in Hungary. Alexander later arrives by aircraft in Belgrade, where he inspects Yugoslav Army guard of honour armed with Pistolet-Pulemyot Shpagina obr 1941g 7.62mm sub-machine guns. Alexander with British military police escort, walks through the streets of Belgrade being cheered on their way by civilian well-wishers. Alexander and Tito pose for photographs and are later shown consulting a wall-mounted map of Yugoslavia. III. 'NYLON GOES TO WAR.' An item covering the manufacture of nylon thread. Interior views at a nylon manufacturing plant shows polymer flake being loaded into heating units. Nylon thread is worked through a factory winding machine and bobbins. The commentary stresses the importance of nylon thread in the construction of parachute shroud lines. Stock shots show an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley aircraft dropping supply canisters. A British paratrooper unpacks a field radio from a padded container. Stock shots show a Royal Air Force (RAF) target tug (Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle ?) towing an Airspeed Horsa glider. Airspeed Horsa gliders land. Stock shots show British paratroopers driving a Willys Jeep with trailer. Paratroopers run over open ground carrying Lee-Enfield Mk IV .303-inch rifles and a Vickers .303-in heavy machine gun. IV. 'BRITAIN'S POST WAR PLAN.' An item introducing the concept of using prefabricated buildings to meet Britain's emergency housing problems in the immediate post-war years. The front and rear elevations of a single storey prefabricated house are displayed. The interior of the prefab is displayed room by room. The bathroom facilities include a heated towel-rail and wall mounted sink unit. The small well-designed kitchen is displayed along with the ducted heating system in the main reception room. Built-in cupboards, two bedrooms and built-in garden shed are displayed. The item concludes with a view of the blueprint layout of the prefabricated house designed by the Ministry of Works. V. 'CHURCHILL ON THE SIEGFRIED LINE.' British General Bernard Law Montgomery meets Winston Spencer Churchill and General Alan F Brooke who arrive by train to view part of the Siegfried Line defences near the town of Jülich. Churchill addresses British troops from a make-shift podium and is later shown walking through the ruins of Jülich.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 204
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-04-02
  • 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: Alexander, Harold (1st Earl Alexander of Tunis) (person) Tolbukhin, Fyodor Ivanovich (person) Tito, Josip Broz (person) Churchill, Winston Leonard Spencer (person) Brooke, Alan Francis (person) Montgomery, Bernard Law (person) Royal Australian Air Force, Women's Auxiliary Air Force (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: operations, Australian air - maintenance (object name) delegations, British international - military (object name) industry, British - general (object name) buildings, British - residential: pre-fabricated house (object name) delegations, British national - political (object name) Yugoslavia & Belgrade, Serbia (geography) Australia (geography) Germany & Jülich (geography) (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: 924 ft; Running time: 10 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 204

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