BOFORS GUNS IN ACTION [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: BOFORS GUNS IN ACTION [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: BDY 47/1
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: Unedited but censored newsreel rushes showing a Royal Artillery light anti-aircraft gun battery serving with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) carrying out target practice at a firing range on the French coast between Boulogne and Etaples (?) with the new Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft cannon.
  • Description: Part I. Mute shots showing light anti-aircraft artillery detachments manning the new Bofors 40mm L/60 anti-aircraft cannon during target practice. The sand dunes at Dannes used by the BEF as a live firing range are the probable location. The camera focuses on two Bofors guns that have a Bren light machine gun fixed to the gun either for firing at close-range targets (?) or as a ranging device. The first gun has reflector sights, the second normal ring sights. Each Bofors gun crew consists of five men: a gun layer seated on the left of the gun who is responsible for traversing the gun onto its target, a gun trainer seated on the right who is in charge of elevating or lowering the gun barrel, the loader busy feeding the breech with magazine clips (each consisting of four rounds), the gun commander and at least two other men (ammunition numbers) who keep the gun supplied with ammunition. Two aircraft can be seen flying in the distance. By depressing his right hand side foot pedal, the gun layer actuates the Bofors' firing mechanism. Spent .303 cartridges spill onto the ground as the Bren gun fixed to the Bofors gun is fired. At the top of the beach, an officer uses a rangefinder on collapsible tripod legs. Gunners display a red (?) and white target sleeve for the camera; there are several small holes in the fabric caused by .303 rounds from the Bren guns. 40mm cannon projectiles, four to each clip, are left lying on the ground in their steel ammunition crates. One of the loading numbers collects a clip. Part II. Sound film footage shot in variable light conditions showing a troop of six Bofors gun detachments lined up at the top of the beach at Dannes. The Bren gun mounted on the Bofors gun nearest the camera produces a distinctive chatter as it is fired at a target sleeve; the target towing aircraft cannot be seen but its engine is clearly audible. An unseen range umpire blows his whistle and the firing ceases. The Bofors guns commence firing with their 40mm cannon, which as it is at a much slower rate of fire produces a more regular thumping sound. The camera focuses on the gun barrel and the flash cover at the end of the Bofors gun nearest to it as it is fired; the rest of the light anti-aircraft troop keeps up a low rate of fire. The scenes in this section are very slightly out of focus. Part III. Sound film footage shot when the sun is shining showing the two Bofors gun detachments nearest the camera in action; one gun is equipped with reflector sites, the other with standard ring sights. The crew is seen feeding the gun with clips of 40mm rounds. Another cameraman, possibly Ronnie Noble, is seen filming one of the Bofors teams with his Newman-Sinclair ciné camera. The rate of fire of the Bofors with conventional dial sights appears to slow down. A moment of drama is caught on film as a Royal Artillery officer in charge of one of the Bofors gun crews, realising that the gun layer is continuing to traverse his gun beyond the zone of safety, steps forward to slap him firmly on the back to get him to stop firing. Part IV. Sound film footage showing the target sleeve being towed on a course parallel to the beach in both directions; the engine of the target towing aircraft and the Bofors guns firing at it are very audible. Scenes showing the gun with the reflector sights and the one with the conventional ring sights firing at the target drogue as it is towed back and forth on a course parallel to the beach. Part V. Sound film footage showing three Hawker Hurricane Mk I fighters from a fighter squadron serving with the BEF Air Component flying over the troop of Bofors guns at low level and from different directions, producing good clear sound of Rolls Royce Merlin engines approaching and flying away from the camera. The camera faces towards the gun line at the top of the beach as the Bofors gun crews try to keep the Hurricanes in their gun sights as they fly low overhead without opening fire.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: No
  • Object_Number: BDY 47/1
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1940-03
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: British Movietone News (Production company) Universal (Production company) Fisher, Norman (Production individual) Noble, R (Production individual) Gray, M (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: British Expeditionary Force (1939-1940) (regiment/service) British Army, Royal Artillery (regiment/service) Royal Air Force, British Expeditionary Force Air Component (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: Dannes, Pas-de-Calais, France (geography) Phoney War 1939-1940, Second World War (event) Artillery (theme) British Army 1939-1945 (theme) France and the Low Countries 1939-1940 (theme) Military Aviation (theme) Royal Air Force 1939-1945 (theme) Aerial Warfare (theme)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: None Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 1011 ft; Running time: 11 mins 14 secs
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    BDY 47/1

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    BDY 47/2 (VICKERS GUNS AND BOFORS GUNS IN ACTION [Allocated Title])
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