A 14-INCH COASTAL GUN IS REMOVED FROM THE DEFENCES AT DOVER [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: A 14-INCH COASTAL GUN IS REMOVED FROM THE DEFENCES AT DOVER [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: BTF 59
  • Other titles: RAILWAYS IN BRITAIN, 1935-1976 [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: A 14-inch coastal gun removed from the defences at Dover, and then taken northwards by a Southern Railway locomotive. There is also a new method of laying railway track demonstrated, using a specialist type of crane hoist. The final segment covers the beginning of a journey to repatriate wounded French troops following the successful Allied invasion of Europe.
  • Description: (9-10 November 1944) A 14-inch Channel gun, also known as “Pooh”, being dismantled and lifted onto flat railway wagons at Martin Mill in Kent, to be hauled by a Southern 0-6-0 Diesel-electric shunter locomotive (No. 1). The 14-inch gun was one of a pair, the second known as “Winnie”, positioned at St Margaret's Cliff, near Dover. A railway crane lifts sections, including “sides, cradle but not the barrel”, onto the wagons and workmen secure them with shackles. The scene cuts to a Southern 0-6-0 locomotive as it steams past, hauling the Channel gun sections, north of Higham Station in Kent. SH372 (12 November 1944) Between Kenley and Whyteleafe stations in Greater London, a railway crane demonstrates a new method of track laying. Complete sections are laid at once, as an alternative to the traditional method of laying the track and sleepers separately. A type of hoist has been made for the specific job of gripping whole sections of track, so they can be more easily stacked and transported, as demonstrated in the sequence. Manual labour is nonetheless still required to accurately place and secure the new track into position. A short temporary piece of track is also used to cover a gap of approximately four inches, shown to be effective by a close-up of locomotive wheels passing over. More manual labour efforts are illustrated by workmen clamping, welding and tightening sections of track into place. (1 min 15 sec) SH375 (16 November 1944) Two Southern Railway cranes lift sections of the Cannel gun, or “Pooh”, from its defensive position onto flat railway wagons. The foundations of the gun are evident beside the tracks. (5 min 51 sec) SH376 (November 1944) Service personnel from the French military, wounded during the fall of France in 1940, on a journey to return home to France. Outside Waterloo Station, London, a procession of ½-ton Dodge ambulances enter the station. The wounded men, still stretcher bound, are carried onto ambulance trains by American service personnel. Once aboard a civilian lady with a YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) canteen trolley distributes cups of tea, whilst an American Officer with a prosthetic hand converses with one of the passengers from the platform (Technical: underexposed in parts). A mixture of British, French and American service personnel fill the platform, in various uniforms including a French Officer. A Free French soldier (?), with a wounded arm in a sling, shakes hands with a Southern Railway employee before being assisted on-board by a member of the medical staff. The final shot in the sequence then shows the ambulance train leaving the station, with some of the passengers waving from the window as it passes. (7 min 21 sec) SH377
  • Alternative Title: RAILWAYS IN BRITAIN, 1935-1976 [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: BTF 59
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM (BTF 59)
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-11
  • 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: 855ft ; 9 min
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    BTF 59

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