WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 117 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 117 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 117
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: An edition of the British official newsreel "War Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.
  • Description: I. 'FAR EAST.' A mule train supplying General Chiang Kai-shek Chinese Nationalist troops travels from India into China. The commentary explains that since the loss of Burma it has been a major problem for the Allies to reopen a supply route into China. The mule train sets out over rugged mountainous terrain on its one hundred mile journey which involves many hardships including the crossing of deep snowfields. The mule train enters a small mountain hamlet watched by interested (Tibetan ?) locals. II. 'MIDDLE EAST.' An item introducing the theme of weapons and equipment reconditioning. Abandoned German equipment, including 5cm Pak 38 anti-tank guns are shown at an outside desert store prior to their removal to Allied reconditioning and storage depots. A close up of an artillery parts store shows mortar bipod stands, gun carriage wheels and gun elevation controller cranks. On arrival at a Royal Engineers reconditioning depot in Egypt, captured Axis artillery pieces are reconditioned by local craftsmen and metal workers. A member of the Royal Engineers uses an oxy-acetylene torch to weld a new armoured shield onto a Pak 38 anti-tank gun. A German 10.5 cm leichte Feldhaubitze 18 artillery piece has its barrel changed. British troops walk through a Royal Engineers storage depot viewing reconditioned armaments which include Pak 38 and 4.7cm Pak (Böhler) 177i anti-tank guns (possibly Italian issue Cannone anticarro 47/32 modello 35). Reconditioning of another kind is displayed at an Egyptian electrical workshop as workers smelt old lead in a furnace as the first stage in the battery reconditioning cycle. A male Egyptian worker pours the recovered lead into moulds that will form electrode plate grids which will eventually hold the electrical charge. The formed plate grids are then coated in a mixture of lead-oxide and hung for drying. Egyptian workers at assembly benches place charge plate grids into battery boxes bearing the Ford Motor Company logo. The assembled and reconditioned batteries are then sealed using bitumen. III. 'SOUTH AFRICA.' Mounted civilian Boers watch Avro Anson coastal patrol aircraft of the South African Air Force (SAAF) as they overfly a Johannesburg military parade presided over by Field Marshal Jan C Smuts. Field Marshal Smuts gets out of an official car outside the buildings of the Turf Produce Company in Johannesburg where he is met by Boer military veterans. Mounted and armed civilian Boers form an escort for Smuts as he is driven to a reviewing podium bedecked with Springbok emblems. A large civilian crowd looks on as South African (SA) artillery crews fire a ceremonial salute from Ordnance QF 25-pounder howitzers. Smuts reviews a large march-past led by Boer veterans which includes contingents from the SA Army, Women's Auxiliary Army Service, Mine Rescue Teams, Government Miners Training School, Boys Brigade and Scouts. A procession of floats follow including entrants representing munitions workers and home front workers.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 117
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1943-08-02
  • 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: Smuts, Jan Christiaan (person) South African Army (regiment/service) Boys' Brigade (regiment/service) South African Boy Scouts (regiment/service) British Army, Royal Engineers (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: weapons, German - gun: [captured] (object name) operations, British military - salvage (object name) animals, mammals: mule (object name) supplies, Chinese, movement [RA] - misc (object name) ceremonies, South African - state (object name) South Africa & Johannesburg (geography) Tibet (geography) Egypt (geography) Winter (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: 863 ft; Running time: 9 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 117

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