Title:CAPTURE OF SIMETO BRIDGE AT REITANO [Allocated Title]
Film Number:AYY 506/3/1
Other titles:ATTACK ON ENEMY'S RIGHT FLANK IN SICILY [Allocated Title]
BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
Summary: The 50th Division in action after the invasion of Sicily.
Description: 18 July 1943. View north through Simeto Bridge with the devastated village of Reitano in the background. Slow panning shot showing the road from the south to the bridge with pillboxes and knocked out equipment on the roadside. Slow panning shot up from the feet of two dead German soldiers to their gun and on to a gaping hole in the pillbox that they were defending. View of the bridge from the south. View of the bridge from the north showing the remains of Reitano and a burnt out German tank on the roadside. Traffic on the road moving up to the front. The body of a German soldier who died defending the bridge. The enemy infantry positions, showing equipment, rifles and ammunition left by the Germans. Close up of German light machine guns. Two dead German soldiers.
19 July 1943. Troops scattering and transport being driven away after bombardment from German mortar fire and shell fire near Maddalena. A British armoured scout car skirting a field of burning corn. The railway line to Catania is visible in the foreground. Slow panning shot of burning stacks of wheat and dry undergrowth. Close up of fire gradually spreading. A Swastika on a bombed ME 109. A burnt out ME 109 on a bombed airfield on the Catania plain, with a crater behind. Close up of the plane. Long shot of the plane with a large crater in the foreground. Long shot of the bridge over the River Dittaino with a jeep going forward.
Alternative Title:ATTACK ON ENEMY'S RIGHT FLANK IN SICILY [Allocated Title]
BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
