KNOW YOUR ENEMY PART 3 - GERMAN AIRCRAFT [Main Title]

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  • Title: KNOW YOUR ENEMY PART 3 - GERMAN AIRCRAFT [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WOY 202
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: The third part of the Know Your Enemy series of instructional films, detailing the different sorts of German liaison, fighter, divebomber and medium bomber aircraft, and transport aircraft that might be encountered by British troops.
  • Description: Reel 1: Titles 'Reel 1 "Know your enemy" Part 3 B170 - C170'. Countdown. Main titles: 'Know your Enemy Part III - German Aircraft / A military training film produced by British Paramount News'. Against footage of formations of German aircraft the commentary describes German belief in the 'invincibility of their air fleet' as 'the greatest myth of modern times'. Intention of the film to give a clear impression of the usual types of German aircraft. Front cover of a book 'Luftwaffe'; a hand open the covers to show the first page. First page shows a Henschel 126 monoplane 'most distinctive of all enemy planes'. Commentary contrasts the Henschel 126 with the British Lysander (LX:X and LX:Z; RAF 225 Squadron); most important difference is backward swept wings 'like some huge and clumsy bird'. Speed and armament inferior to Lysander. Messerschmitt Me-109 with 'squat' tailfin and rudder with braced tailplane. Straight leading and trailing edge, and square wingtips. Slim, long fuselage, and two radiators and high tailplane. Capable of 'a very restricted bombload' for 'tip-and-run' sorties. Speed given 350mph (claimed as 30mph slower than a Spitfire 'and very much outgunned'). Me-110 (described as a fighter-bomber) with twin engines and tailfins. Large glazed cockpit, long wingspan and square wingtips. Sharp nose. Bomber escort role, but known to carry a bombload 'when accuracy is not essential'. Joking suggestion that another role is the transport of high-ranking Nazis 'easily recognisable, from any angle, by their trailing edges' (an arrow highlights Hitlers moustache and parting, and Rudolf Hess’ eyebrows). Junkers Ju-87 Stuka described as a 'round-shouldered vulture' with 'hump-backed look'. Reiterates vulture-like appearance with large radiator and cranked wings. Wing shape seen from below. Head-on view with wings, radiator and undercarriage all distinctive. Machine gun and bomb armament. 'Slow and vulnerable...to small arms fire'. Use of sirens 'but no one ever came to much harm from an evil look and a bit of a noise. Stand up to her and you'll get her everytime!'. Reel 2: Title: 'Reel 2 "Know Your Enemy Part 3". Countdown. Junkers Ju-88. Tailfin and bulbous glazed nose and bomb aimer's position. Dive brakes. Long engine nacelles with square front. Tailfin and rudder. Front view; engines low slung and bomb aimer's position. 'Maid of all work' of the German air fleet. Machine gun armament. 'Among the most successful of German planes' but still vulnerable to 'determined small arms fire at the right moment'. Junkers Ju-52 troop and paratroop carrier; engine and trailing edge, low wing, fixed undercarriage, wing and elevator form. 16 troops of 12 paratroops. Movable machine guns. Heinkel He-111 engines (much shorter than Ju-88) and tailfin. Distinctive curve of top of the fuselage. Ventral gun position. Plan view with wing shape. Armament; 'the largest bomber Jerry has in use'. Dornier Do-17Z with bulbous nose with twin tails. Long slim fuselage. Nose leading engines, round wingtips. Armament and role as long-range reconnaissance bomber; 'Hello! Something's in the wind, she off on a reconnaissance flight over enemy territory'. The Dornier taxis out and takes off. Use of photoreconnaissance and interpretation. 'The plot thickens....'; Goering shown standing over a map in a war room. Bombers are despatched with commentary recapitulating the key details. Do-17Z takes off, Heinkel He-111 taxis out. Ju-88 taxis out to take off. Reel 3: Massed bomber formation passing overhead with aerial footage. Bombs dropping and exploding. The second phase 'the fighters and divebombers have the stage'. 109's and 110's take off. Stukas take off. 'Curtain up on the next step'; Ju-52 takes off. Suggests paratroops may carry tear gas bombs to drop on their dropzones 'but never forget the silent stealthy approach of the glider'. Air landing troops relieve paratroopers. New aircraft the Ju-90 heavy transport illustrated with a model shot. Air superiority would allow enemy 'to spy out the land, multiply the speed of armies, surprise, supply, reinforce and even occupy'. Vulnerability of paratroops, the 'moral rather than physical' role of Stukas 'low-flying aircraft are money for old rope'. Assumption the RAF 'will take heavy toll before the enemy reaches his objective'. Footage of a 3.7-inch anti-aircraft gun goes into action ('Know your enemy. Study him as the batsman studies the bowler..then hit him for six!'). Various shots of the gun crew at work and in action. Aircraft under fire and falling to earth. Commentary then launches into an extract from Shakespeare’s King John: 'Come the three corners of the world in arms, and we shall shock them. Naught shall make us rue. If England to itself do rest but true.' The End with gun in silhouette and fanfare.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: WOY 202
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions:
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1941
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Army Kinematograph Service (Production sponsor) British Paramount News (Production company)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Hitler, Adolf (person) Göring, Hermann Wilhelm (person) Hess, Rudolf Walter Richard (person) German Air Force (Third Reich) (regiment/service) Luftwaffe, Fallschirmjager (regiment/service) Royal Air Force, 225 Squadron (regiment/service)
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: English
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 3 Footage: 2619 ft; 30 mins
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WOY 202

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