ONE DAY OF WAR [Main Title]

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  • Title: ONE DAY OF WAR [Main Title]
  • Film Number: CSU 211 (16mm)
  • Other titles: MARCH OF TIME [Series Title]
  • Summary: The English version of a Russian documentary covering the highlights of the Russian military forces in action on 13 June 1942.
  • Description: (Reel 1) The film starts with views of Moscow at sunrise, with guards on patrol and Lieutenant Gregoriev of the 26th Tank Brigade arriving to receive the title 'Hero of the Soviet union' in a ceremony later that day. On the 356th day of the Russian war, Major Bierkin's battalion is shown marching through the quiet streets towards the front.In the far north of the Soviet front, ski troops are shown in action. At the southernmost sector, Sevastopol is air raided and the Red Navy sailors, called the 'Black Devils' by their German foes, are engaged in a land battle to repel German attacks. Although the city falls, it costs the German Army 300,000 casualties. Footage of a Soviet barrage against a German strongpoint, a journalist and soldiers writing during a lull in the fighting, soldiers on outpost duty and a squadron of airmen enjoying a recital from renowned Russian pianist Emil Gilels, who performs on their runway. Supplies are air dropped into Stalingrad, which is in the ninth month of being besieged by German forces. Three generals are shown discussing plans around a table. Famous sniper Ivan Filippovich Abdulov of the 849th Rifle Regiment is shown out 'hunting'; at the time he had 103 'kills' to his name and would end the war with 298. A Soviet submarine attacks a German convoy in the Barents Sea between Norway and Spitsbergen. A 22 year old fighter pilot goes after a Junkers 88 bomber, claiming his 12th victory in the process. A unit of guerrillas operating in occupied territory liberate a village, eliminating all 102 Hungarian troops in the garrison. Footage of the guerrilla's one man arms factory at work as their capture and execution of a local man who collaborated with the occupation force. An aircraft crash lands, explodes and kills the already wounded pilot. His squadron mourns him with a service before going out to avenge him by bombing a German aerodrome. Anti tank guns stop a German tank attack before a Soviet Tank Brigade launches a counter attack. They return with both trophies and their own casualties. A Soviet tank lies in ambush, catching a German tank on a forest track. Collection of footage showing the Soviet industrial capabilities, workforce in action and referring to their output. Includes copper and coal mining, factories producing all types of armaments, weapons and vehicles, oil, steel and other metal works, the Kirovsk tank factory in Stalingrad which continued building tanks throughout the siege, (Reel 2) Continuation of factory section. The Peoples Commission for Foreign Affairs, Moscow. Commissar Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov arrives having completed talks with American and British allies which resulted in the Anglo-Soviet treaty of Alliance. Three pilots form the Royal Air Force (RAF) are seen walking around Moscow in full uniform. The Kremlin, Moscow. Footage of the chairman of the Presidium of Supreme Soviets [presumably Aleksey Badeyev] is shown at his desk, followed by an awards ceremony. Lieutenant Gregoriev of the 26th Tank Brigade, who arrived in Moscow at dawn [at the start of the film] is one of 3 soldiers to be made 'Hero of the Soviet Union'. Turning to more domestic stories: A family adopt a local orphan girl from their village who has just lost her parents and a nursery nurse in Eastern Russia, who's husband was one of the famous 28 guardsmen killed whilst fending off a German tank unit on the outskirts of Moscow. Central Asian borders. A Kazak tribe family read letters from their son who is at the front and female shepherds manage the large flocks as all the males are fighting with the army. The Siberian harvest has been increased to replace the granaries lost from their occupied territories. The eastern borders of the Soviet Union. A motor patrol boat guards the pacific coast and delivers a local newspaper from Vladivostok to the female crew of a fishing boat, who's skipper is shown in it. The Soviet Far East fleet return from a patrol in the Sea of Japan. Air patrols watch the mountainous regions for any signs of incursion as the local Home Guard patrol the ground, watch oil wells and train troops in readiness for the Reserves. A young Cossack goes off to war and a 20 year old female nurse receives her call up papers for the front lines. The Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Aviation training school cadets and tank crews who have completed their training go off to the front. Northwest sector of the front lines, 6.30pm. Footage of a Soviet tank spearhead breaking German positions, followed closely by infantry and cavalry advances. West of Moscow. A Belorussian opera singer visits a Belorussian tank brigade to sing for them before they strike west in an offensive. The 2 Soviet airmen who flew over the North Pole in July 1937 are in the squadron who provide the initial waves of air support for the attack, and are followed by tanks, then infantry. A wounded infantry officer is brought in by a female stretcher bearer who is responsible for saving 161 men under fire. The casualty is then operated on by a Surgeon, as his men are assaulting what was once his home village before German occupation. The battle won, the film moves towards the consolidation and clear up after the battle. Southern front. Footage of Soviet soldiers resting after the battle that drove Italian troops out of the Odessa and the Crimean regions. Dusk falls and the barrage balloons return to the skies over Moscow as the fighting settles down.
  • Alternative Title: MARCH OF TIME [Series Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: CSU 211 (16mm)
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: NON-IWM
  • Featured Period:
  • Production Date: 1942
  • Production Country: USSR United States of America
  • Production Details: Time/Life (Production sponsor) Central Newsreel Studio, Moscow (Production company) March of Time (Production company) Slutsky, M (Production individual) Kapler, A (Production individual) Pokrass, Daniel (Production individual) McLeod, Joseph (Production cast)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Molotov, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Scriabin (person) Stalin, Josef (person) Russian (Soviet) Air Force (regiment/service) Russian (Soviet) Army (regiment/service) Russian (Soviet) Navy, Naval Infantry (regiment/service) Russian (Soviet) Partisans (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: agriculture, Russian - animal (object name) agriculture, Russian - fisheries (object name) aircraft, Russian - balloon: barrage balloon (object name) armour, Russian - tank: T-34 (object name) combat, Russian (object name) industry, Russian - chemical: oil (object name) operations, Russian military - sortie (object name) society, Russian - precautionary (object name) Russia & Baku <oil fields> (geography) Russia & Kamchatka (geography) Russia & Leningrad (geography) Russia & Moscow (geography) propaganda (concept)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: English Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 16mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 2 Footage: 2535 ft; Running time: 70 mins
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    CSU 211 (16mm)

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    COI 833 (BOEYVE BUDNI. FILM O TAKTCHESKIKH UCHENIIAKH KRASNOI ARMII 1940 GODA [Main Title]) CSU 211 (USSR AT WAR [Main Title])
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