THE 43RD (WESSEX) DIVISION ADVANCES TOWARDS CONDÉ-SUR-NOIREAU [Allocated Title]


  • Title: THE 43RD (WESSEX) DIVISION ADVANCES TOWARDS CONDÉ-SUR-NOIREAU [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: A70 123-4
  • Other titles:
  • Summary:
  • Description: Enveloped in dust, a tracked vehicle rumbles along a dirt road beyond St Pierre la Vielle past an abandoned Soviet 122mm howitzer captured by the Wehrmacht on the eastern front and used by the Germans in the Normandy campaign. A section of seven riflemen from the 4th and 7th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry picks its way through a bombed-out and deserted stone hamlet while on the lookout for stray Germans during 43rd (Wessex) Division's advance towards Condé-sur-Noireau.
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-08-14
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Directorate of Public Relations, War Office (Production sponsor) Army Film and Photographic Unit (Production company) Carpenter, L (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: British Army, Div 43 (regiment/service) British Army, Corps 30 (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: weapons, German - gun: heavy artillery (object name) Normandy, France (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: None Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Footage: 96 ft; Running time: 1 min
  • Notes: Note: See A70 123-3, which contains identical, complementary footage and A70 126-3, 4, 6 and 7, 127-4 and 5, 128-2, 3 and 7 for footage showing 30th Corps advancing through the Noireau valley and refer generally to material showing the corps pushing onto Argentan, Gacé and L'Aigle. The Wehrmacht employed all kinds of artillery pieces in Normandy - Russian, French, Czech and even British. Remarks: Good footage. Best seen with the items listed above, notably A70 123-3. Documentation/associated material: for a bibliography, refer to 'The 43rd (Wessex) Division at War, 1944-1945' by Major- General Essame, 'Victory in the West : Volume 1' by L F Ellis, 'An Account of the Operations of the Second Army in Europe 1944- 1945 : Volume 1' by 2nd Army HQ and 'The Somerset Light Infantry 1919-1945' by G Molesworth.
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    A70 123-4

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