LIBERATION OF HOLLAND - UNEDITED RUSHES [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: LIBERATION OF HOLLAND - UNEDITED RUSHES [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: RMY 133
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: Record film, including clandestine views, shot by Dutch cameramen immediately before and after the Allied liberation of The Hague, Amsterdam and Amersfoort records final moments of Dutch collaboration with the German occupier, arrest of Anton Mussert and public jubilation greeting the Dutch Resistance and the arrival of Canadian forces.
  • Description: Reel 1. The Hague. Probably 7 May 1945. Official drive past of Canadian Army. The Hague. Canadian and German troops by roadblock to Reich Commissioner of the Netherlands Seyss-Inquart's headquarters in The Hague. The roadblock is lifted and an armoured car goes towards the HQ. Back to the Canadian Army driving past Dutch dignitaries, among them Mayor de Moncy of The Hague, and the future socialist Dutch PM (man with moustache). Members of the Dutch underground, one armed with a pistol, escort an arrested Dutch Police officer. A man with a camera runs up and tries to film them, but the arrested officer brushes him aside. Dutch underground workers paste up sign on a low wall. Copies of Volk en Vaderland (Dutch NSB weekly paper) burning. Allied Red Cross ambulance passes by, as do an armed German officer and soldier, they look up, probably at allied bombers passing overhead. Camera is running while in a bicycle basket, following a man who tries to get collaborators to look back so the person with the hidden camera can film them. They are interested in one couple in particular. Around 7 May. Polar bear reconnaissance unit (49th Regiment, British Army, attached to the Canadian Army) passing through the Hague. Dutch underground forces (hereafter referred to as BS short for "Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten" which translates as Interior Forces) march past a German soldier on the ground and German soldiers on carts. Dutch NSB leader Anton Mussert arrested. Take 1 wide shot. Take 2 mid shot. Take 3 medium close up. Take 4 reverse medium close up. Take 5 gets into car. A Polar bear armoured car passes the German soldier on the ground. Motorcycle and sidecar follows. Wide shot of crowd on square. Unknown location, but probably The Hague. Mussert's arrest continued. Take 6, 7 and 8. Getting into car, discussing something with his captors. Wide shot, pan over anti-glider poles in Dutch country side. Location unknown. Wide shot of flooded land. Location unknown. View from window. Long shot, German trucks pass by. Probably The Hague or Haarlem. Interior. Dutch police cut NSB insignia from their caps and uniforms. Interior. Man with pipe and tall man talk by window. Interior. Dutch police officer cuts Nazi insignia from the cap of a small Dutch or German soldier who stands in line with two civilian collaborators. Interior. Pan left to right over the guilty-looking trio. Then pan right to left, holding for a moment on each individual. Haarlem. Dutch Boy Scouts round up civilian collaborators who have their hands in the air. Interior. Man tips portrait of Hitler from the wall. Two Dutch resistance men lead away what is probably a Prison officer from a crowd gathered outside a prison. (Location unclear, probably Haarlem or The Hague). The resistance men give the clenched fist salute. Pan to the happy crowd. Flanked by two women, a rather bewildered-looking newly released prisoner smokes a cigarette. A woman (former prison guard?) is led away by underground forces in civilian clothes. A swastika pennant is fixed at her throat. The crowd outside the prison. Women waiting for their men wave to the camera. Wide shot of crowd gathered outside a house. A closer shot shows Dutch Police/Underground forces (wearing a BS Orange arm band) lead out Dutch collaborators in civilian dress. (Haarlem) Food drops. Most likely near the Hague or Haarlem. RAF planes (Halifax bombers?) fly overhead watched by people in the street. Extreme long shot crowds on one side of canal watching planes unload over airfield. Date - After 29 April. Robert van Genechten (top Dutch Nazi, second or third after Mussert), is filmed after capture, wearing civilian clothes and a moustache. In the distance behind him a large crowd of people run towards him. Then he is grabbed by the seat of his pants and rushed into a building. (Haarlem, May 1945) Shot of the ecstatic crowd who chased him. Dutch and allied officers at window speak to unseen people below. Personalities and location unknown. Canadian Army jeep. What look like Dutch soldiers (perhaps Princess Irene Brigade who are wearing the Orange BS arm bands) laying cables from a truck. (Hilversum?) German soldiers build a bridge from tram rails. (Hilversum?) AVRO radio studios in Hilversum. Amsterdam. 9 or l0 May. German troops exit a building. They form a column and are escorted by Dutch police wearing BS helmets into the back of the Queens Palace on the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal. Pan to the happy crowd. Amsterdam, 7 May. View of Leidsestraat from the Herengracht (Canal). Crowd heading onto the Koningsplein towards the Dam square to greet the expected allied liberators. Same subject, view of Koningsplein from the Leidsestraat. People taking copies of Trouw (Dutch underground Newspaper), while a woman sells flowers. Amsterdam. The Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal. Men, women and children dig up the tram rails for the hard teak blocks (which burned very well in their stoves). Most likely filmed after 29 April but before liberation, during the time of food drops. Marnixstraat, Amsterdam. The former "Spiegelschool" which was burned down by the Dutch resistance in December 1944 when it was used as a volunteer labour recruiting office.( Five Dutch Nazis who organised the office were shot by the resistance. The next morning, the Germans executed five Dutch resistance prisoners, who had been arrested the night before for stealing sugar.) En route with the Canadians towards Amsterdam, 7 May. Passing through Amersfoort. The Canadians mobbed by happy Dutch civilians. Raising the Dutch flag. Travelling shot towards the historic gateway of Amersfoort. Probably Amsterdam. Centralisation of air-dropped food. Children pick up dropped grains. Probably 2 or 3 May. Underexposed shots of Dutch flags. Probably filmed before liberation when the Dutch put out the flags for the food drops. Possibly the Hague. Two men paste up an illegal paper. Just before liberation, flags out, but no large presence in the streets. In that limbo period between the death of Hitler and the final unconditional German surrender. Road sign. Amersfoort 36 Km. Looks like a snippet from a home movie. Summer weather, a man drives a cart load of happy children. (NB the following should be watched frame by frame) Running shadows on the pavement ahead. Across the street a Nazi is being arrested and put into an open-top car. The camera runs closer. Someone in a Boy Scout uniform steps behind the prisoner and points a pistol at his head. Then the prisoner's head jumps forward and there is a flash frame (camera being switched off) . The film runs for a few more frames as the camera operator jumps back. Blood is seen running down the outside of the car door. On a balcony someone starts to hang out a Dutch flag. Very short. A shaven-headed woman (one who had fraternised with German soldiers). Out of focus. Amsterdam. A collaborator stands before a crowd with his arms raised. The jubilant crowd. The same collaborator shouts out something, has his legs or feet beaten, he stumbles, looking afraid and upset. Amsterdam 9 or 10 May. Members of the German Kriegsmarine (the ones who fired into the crowded Dam Square) exit the "Grote Club" under supervision of Dutch and Canadian forces. They board trucks which move onto the Dam Square, where a large crowd is gathered. Camera pans from a smiling Canadian soldier to the Kriegsmarine who sit casually in the truck. Back outside the Grote Club, members of the Kriegsmarine load cans of food etc onto another truck. Two officers exit with bicycles. Two allied officers talk with two German officers. Amsterdam. May 7th. Wide shot of crowd gathered around barrel organ on the Rokin (street adjacent to the Dam). Wide shot, a BS truck, loaded with soldiers and with a machine gun on top of the cab passes by on the Rokin. Medium wide shot (using a long lens) of the moving crowd on the Dam. Behind them SS insignia on recruiting office for Dutch Waffen SS. Extreme wide shot, crowded Dam square. Another barrel organ visible among the crowd. Extreme wide shot, crowded Dam square. Queen's Palace and podium (built to officially receive the liberators) in the background. Medium wide shot. Barrel organ plays amidst crowd, people look into the camera. Approximately 3.15 p.m. on 7 May. Camera jerks as the first shots are heard. Then the crowd runs and the square clears very quickly. The camera cuts. Camera now inside the Industria Building. Empty Dam Square. Much later, around 5 p.m. Wide shot of Royal Palace. Transporting wounded. German column under the protection of Dutch resistance officer Overhoff (one of the men who managed to stop the shootings around the Dam and at the Central station) who can be seen sitting on the running board. A group of SS on bicycles follow the lead cars and another car brings up the rear. An allied press car passes by. Mid shot, Orange flag flying over the Royal Palace. BS talking on the corner. Ambulance on Dam. Truck with Red Cross flags. The Ambulance slowly returns. On the Rokin, an allied Jeep passes. Close on a bullet hole in the wall on the Dam Square. A BS and a civilian talk somewhere on the Dam. Close on a bullet hole in a window on the Dam Square. On the Rokin, a Dutch motorcycle takes away a Dutch officer. Amsterdam. BS column marches out of Nederlandsche Volkdienst (Dutch Peoples Service). Amsterdam. Vijzelstraat. Allied jeep passes. BS column marches towards town centre. Reel 3: An allied motorcyclist is given a copy of Trouw. Amsterdam. German soldiers dismantle barricades around one of their positions. Marching column of BS arrive at the Germans' position. The Germans come out and the BS escort the Germans along the street. Confused images probably from the Dam Shooting. Amsterdam. Canadian Army jeep on the Rembrandts plein. Cabaret theatre in background. Civilians and soldiers unloading something from jeep. Amsterdam. 8 May. Travelling shot shows a Canadian Army Bren carrier loaded with civilians following from behind. Then the Bren carrier is ahead, passing over the Kleine Gartmanplantsoen onto the Leidseplein, with the Stadschouwburg (City Theatre) in the background. In front of the Stadschouwburg, Canadians go by in various vehicles with happy civilians riding on them. Same, passing by the Hotel Americain. An allied camera operator with a camera mounted on a tripod on top of a bren carrier. More Canadians, including good shot of Canadian with about five children. A Dutch girl gets on the back of a Canadian motorcycle. Amsterdam, possibly 7 May. Three women, who have been tarred and have had their heads shaved are pulled along on a cart by a jubilant crowd. Unknown. 8 May. Canadian Army columns passing below across the Leidseplein. Taken from the Stadschouwburg balcony. Pre-liberation clandestine film. Amsterdam canal. A German barge passes by, probably transporting requisitioned machinery, trams or metals to Germany. Various unknown short snippets. Food drops. Amsterdam, probably 2 May. Olympic stadium in Amsterdam South. Mostly very long shots and not very interesting. Amsterdam. Post May 8th. Canadian troops billeted in the Vondel Park. Nice shots, showing very friendly and casual relations between the soldiers and the civilians. Unknown crowd shots, getting autographs of liberators etc. Rounding up collaborators in Amsterdam. Allied officer out of focus. Transporting wounded? BS soldier with sten gun. Amsterdam. German soldiers leave Holland on horse-drawn carts. Allied vehicles pass by. Probably around the 9-10 May. Allied officers escorted by a Boy Scout on the Dam Square. Probably 9 or 10 May. Canadian Army bren carriers loaded with Dutch civilians on the Rokin near the Muntplein, heading towards the Dam Square. Probably 8 May.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: RMY 133
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM (RMY 133)
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-05
  • Production Country: Netherlands
  • Production Details:
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords: Netherlands (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: None Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 3 Footage: 2368 ft; Running time: 26 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    RMY 133

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