WAR PICTORIAL (NO 5) [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL (NO 5) [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 287
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: Greece at War.
  • Description: I. 'GREECE AT WAR.' "First Pictures flown from Athens" appears on screen over shot of an unidentified Greek naval officer addressing a gathering of Greek dignitaries. Greek civil and religious dignitaries take part in an official ceremony. Camera pans over crowds of Greek civilians waving banners in an Athens street. The Turkish and Greek national flags fly in unison (?). A brass band marches at the head of a civic procession. Close up footage shows girls wearing traditional Greek dress, forming part of the procession. A Greek Army military band leads Greek infantry past the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Athens. Recently recruited Greek Army personnel are given instruction in the finer points of calibrating a rifle mounted on an improvised tripod rest. Royal Hellenic Army Air Service officers are commissioned in the open air, symbolically receiving their swords and blessing from an attendant Orthodox priest. A religious service is held on the deck of an unidentified cruiser of the Royal Hellenic Navy. Civilians line the balconies of the Hotel De La Grande Bretagne in Athens as elements of the Greek Army perform a march past. Brief footage shows a "swearing in" ceremony for massed Greek Army conscripts.
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1940-12
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Ministry of Information, Middle East (Production sponsor) War Pictorial News (Production company) Martin, Charles (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Hellenic Army (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: Greece & Athens, Central Greece (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: English
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 507 ft; Running time: 6 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Notes: Description: although this film has a WPN title, it is not numbered. It seems likely that it is WAR PICTORIAL NO 5, as it is said to contain "first pictures" from Athens and therefore predates WPN 6 which also has an item on Greece.
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 287

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