Summary: Unedited and uncensored newsreel rushes showing an 8-inch howitzer battery training for battle with the British Expeditionary Force and British troops keeping fit by taking part in cross-country running.
Description: I. Gunners serving with 5 Battery, 1st Heavy Artillery Regiment Royal Artillery (RA), camouflage their Vickers BL 8-inch MK VIII howitzer at the edge of a wood near Arras. The gunlayer uses the gun sights to bring the howitzer onto the correct target elevation.
II. British soldiers wearing gas mask satchels keep fit by running along a road. Scenes from a cross-country run by British soldiers.
III. Gunners from 1st Heavy Regiment RA's 5 Battery rush to man their 8-inch howitzer in a firing position in the middle of a farm yard. It has been camouflaged with straw and tarpaulins. Four gunners carry a loading cradle with a 200-pound 8-inch projectile. The gun barrel is elevated but no rounds are seen being fired.
Production Details: Universal News (Production company)
Noble, R (Production individual)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: British Army, Royal Artillery, 1st Heavy Regiment (regiment/service)
Keywords: France (geography)
Phoney War 1939-1940, Second World War (event)
British Army 1939-1945 (theme)
Camouflage (theme)
France and the Low Countries 1939-1940 (theme)
