Title:DEPARTURE FROM UK FOR NORMANDY INVASION (PART 4) [Allocated Title]
Film Number:A70 25-4
Other titles:
Summary:3rd Division units are seen embarking on their invasion craft prior to D-Day.
Description:Major-General Rennie, officer commanding 3rd British Division, and Brigadier Prior-Palmer, 27th Armoured Brigade commander, watch detachments from the 13/18th Hussars' HQ and 'C' Squadrons board an LCT at Gosport. Note the wading equipment fitted to the Hussars' Stuart and Sherman tanks and the equipment and spare parts lashed onto their hulls and turrets. Two Hussars tankmen watch the shore recede as their craft leaves Gosport. A soldier from the 1st South Lancashire Regiment helps tankmen cover a vehicle with camouflage netting. A barrage balloon flies over a cluster of landing craft anchored together near a sea-fort off Spithead. The following sequences filmed the next day, June 4th, show the mass of invasion craft still anchored in the Solent, a naval rating on board the cameraman's craft signalling a message to the shore with flags, and troops resting, reading official issue booklets on France, and cooking and eating meals in cramped surroundings. Close-ups include a soldier serving with No 101 Beach Sub-Area (?) reading a novel aptly titled "Stowaway" and another man igniting a self-heating tin of Heinz's cocoa milk with 'Swan Vesta' matches.
Production Details:Directorate of Public Relations, War Office (Production sponsor)
Army Film and Photographic Unit (Production Company)
O'Neill, F D (Production individual)
