Title:THE HOME GUARD ON EXERCISE IN SURREY [Allocated Title]
Film Number:BTF 12
Other titles:RAILWAYS IN BRITAIN, 1935-1976 [Allocated Series Title]
Summary: Shipbuilding at Eastleigh Works near Southampton, Hampshire. The Home Guard on exercise in Surrey, and a staged sequences featuring dispatch riders.
Description: (25 August 1940) Shipbuilders work on "MLS" vessel at Eastleigh Works near Southampton, Hampshire. Various stages of shipbuilding shown in sequence, in including riveting work on steel hulls. MH90
(26 August 1940) Fitting armour plates to ALC boats (Assault Landing Craft, later known as Landing Craft Assault or LCAs). Carpentry work inside of the hull and steel plates being fitted to the outside. The recognisable shape of a landing craft begins to emerge as rivets are hammered in with a rivet gun (pneumatic hammer). The engine is winched into position below deck. Intertitle; “… and launched at a SOUTHERN Port.” (1 min 45 sec) MH91
(4 September 1940) Home Guard, advanced training exercise at Deepdene in Dorking, Surry. Opens with a scene of a country lane, as Home Guard trainees cautiously maneuverer from around the corner into shot. They stealthily make their way towards the camera, sticking closely to the sides of the road. Intertitle; “INSTRUCTION IN BOMBING”. “MOLOTOV BOMBS”, a member of the Home Guard throws a "Molotov bomb". The scene cuts to a small fire bellowing black smoke. Intertitle; “COMBINED ACTION BOMBS AND BAYONET”, the Home Guard practice an assault manoeuvre over a mound. (3 min 49 sec) MH92
(6 September 1940) Emergency road communications, Deepdene in Surry. Three dispatch riders dismount their Ariel W/NG motorcycles with document cases in-hand. All three cases are handed to the recipient through an open ground floor window. They then pass on information to a man in civilian clothing before entering a corrugated building. 6 min 38 sec; cuts to two of the riders passing a moving camera on an open road. Cuts again to a single dispatch rider taking an envelope for urgent delivery. (5 min 40 sec) MH94
(6 September 1940) A civilian car collects three men (Home Guard?) from a temporary checkpoint. More demonstrations of Home Guard using "Molotov bombs". Intertitle; “THROWING HAND GRENADES”; five Home Guard watch as an instructor demonstrates how to throw grenades. Cuts again to a staged shot of seven dispatch riders in a staggered row. Followed by the dispatch riders on the open road, and ending with a mixture the previous scenes. (7 min 11 sec) MH95
Alternative Title:RAILWAYS IN BRITAIN, 1935-1976 [Allocated Series Title]
