SOUTHERN RAILWAY COMMUNICATIONS IN FOCUS [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: SOUTHERN RAILWAY COMMUNICATIONS IN FOCUS [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: BTF 22
  • Other titles: RAILWAYS IN BRITAIN, 1935-1976 [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: Female workers filling previously male roles at the Ashford Works, in Kent. A second sequence focuses on the communications infrastructure at the Southern Railway Headquarters. Other content includes: tank trap testing, bomb damage at the old Southampton Docks, a naming ceremony for a merchant class locomotive and the writer Collie Knox.
  • Description: (14 October 1941) Wagons being built by female workers at Ashford Works, Kent. Workers use machine tools and carry out precision work at benches. MH160-161 (17 October 1941) Radio communications equipment at the Deepdene Southern Railway Headquarters in Dorking. A close-up of a radio transmitter, followed by Morse code being transmitted by a radio operator. The radio operator’s hand transmitting and elements of the communications equipment. The sequence continues with a man entering the room to deliver a message for transmission. Cuts to a scene outside, as an “emergency” transmission van pulls-up. Inside the cab, a driver sits alongside a radio operator transmitting Morse code whilst holding a telephone handset to his ear. Cuts to the exterior of a camouflaged hut, with a single door and telecoms wires. The camera follows the wires up a tall radio mast beside the hut. A man enters the building clutching some papers (from an earlier sequence). Cuts again, to some papers being delivered through the window of the Southern Railway “emergency” transmission van, at the Southern Railway Headquaters in Dorking. Scenes from inside the van show the radio equipment laid out amongst wooded boxes as a message is delivered by radio and resent via Morse code. (30 sec) MH162-163 (21 October 1941) The second part from a sequence featuring a British Infantry Mark II, or Matilda II, tank attempting to roll over tank traps at Longhedge Junction in South London. A crowd standby to watch, most are service personnel. Following several failed attempts the tank is lifted off the traps by crane. (4 min 50 sec) MH164 (23 October 1941) Damage done to the old Southampton Docks during air raids, from a nearby South Western Hotel. Warehouses and multi-story buildings are burnt out shells, the dockside cranes still stand but much of the scene is of devastation. (6 min 56 sec) MH165 (24 October 1941) A naming ceremony for a new locomotive, the merchant class “ROYAL MAIL”, at Waterloo Station, London. A troop inspection is followed by dignitaries giving speeches in front of a crowd of ARP Wardens (?) (Air Rail Precaution), civilians and service personnel. The curtain is drawn back to reveal a “MERCANT NAVY CLASS – ROYAL MAIL” plaque on the engine. The sequence ends with shots of the new locomotive taking a run down the track. (7 min 21 sec) MH166 (29-30 October 1941) The writer, Collie Knox, boards the footplate of a tank transporting locomotive (No. 1869). (8 min 25 sec) MH167
  • Alternative Title: RAILWAYS IN BRITAIN, 1935-1976 [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: BTF 22
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM (BTF 22)
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1941-10
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Southern Railway Film Unit (Production company)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 789ft ; 9 min
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    BTF 22

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