Title:HIS MAJESTY THE KING IN FRANCE [Allocated Title]
Film Number:BBY 13
Other titles:
Summary: Unedited newsreel rushes showing HM King George VI inspecting troops of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) during his first official visit to France following the declaration of war in September 1939.
Description: At the end of a visit to defences manned by British troops near the Franco-Belgian border (either at Mouchin or Bachy), HM King George VI, in company with several other officers including his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, walks towards a waiting staff car and gets into the back. The car door is held open by Lieutenant-General Sir John Dill, commander of I Corps. A view filmed on a wet day down a pavé road made from cobblestones and part-lined with trees with muddy verges as a Scottish pipes and drum band leads a long column of marching soldiers wearing tam o'shanters and sloping their SMLE Mk III rifles; they are seen wearing 1937-pattern ammunition pouches over their greatcoats and 1937-pattern gaiters on their legs.
Production Details: British Pathe (Production company)
Martin, C (Production individual)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: George VI, King (person)
Henry, Prince (Duke of Gloucester) (person)
Dill, John Greer (person)
British Expeditionary Force (1939-1940) (regiment/service)
Keywords: France (geography)
Phoney War 1939-1940, Second World War (event)
British Army 1939-1945 (theme)
France and the Low Countries 1939-1940 (theme)
