ADVANCE OF THE CRUSADERS INTO MESOPOTAMIA - 2 [Main Title]


  • Title: ADVANCE OF THE CRUSADERS INTO MESOPOTAMIA - 2 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: IWM 78
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: I. British and Indian forces, and the Arch of Chosroess, Mesopotamian Front, 1918. II. The Jewish settlement at Mulebbis under British control, Palestine Front, December 1917.
  • Description: Indian soldiers resting after a march. An Indian water-truck column refilling their trucks from a river using hosepipes and pumps. The construction of a sandbag observation tower, and British troops observing the fire of a 6-inch howitzer from the tower, near Ramadi. British Army ground observers signal to aircraft, using strips of cloth laid out as letters on the ground. A 6-inch howitzer and an 18-pounder firing from behind scrim netting. The Al Malwaiyah tower, part of the Great Mosque at Samarra, (described in the film as "a Turkish spiral observation tower"). British soldiers checking the belongings of Turkish prisoners. A long sequence showing the Arch of Chosroess at Ctesiphon. The British captured the settlement on 22 December. The people return to the settlement with their possessions, "restoring their goods and shackles (sic) to their homes". British soldiers buy oranges from a street stall.
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM (IWM 78)
  • Featured Period: 1914-1918
  • Production Date: 1919
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Jury's Imperial Pictures (Production company) Jury, William F (Production individual) Varges, Ariel L (Production individual) Jeapes, Harold (Production individual) Thomas, Lowell18921981American writer and broadcaster (Production individual) Chase, H A (Production individual) Hurley, Frank1885-10-151962-01-16Australian photographer (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: British Army, Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force (regiment/service) Indian Army, Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force (regiment/service) British Army, Egyptian Expeditionary Force (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: equipment, Indian - engineering: water pump (object name) transport, Indian military - truck, special: water truck (object name) engineering, military, British (object name) weapons, British - gun: 6-inch 26cwt howitzer (object name) communications, British military - direct: ground-to-air panels (object name) weapons, British - gun: 18-pounder field gun (object name) combat, British - artillery bombardment (object name) prisoners of war, Turkish - reception (object name) buildings, Mesopotamian - religious: mosque (object name) buildings, Mesopotamian - historic (object name) arts, Mesopotamian - architecture (object name) buildings, Jewish - residential (object name) refugees, Jewish - return (object name) society, British military - friendship (object name) 01/3(567) (event) 01/3(569) (event) Turkey & Samarra, Mesopotamia (geography) Turkey & Ctesiphon, Mesopotamia (geography) Turkey & Ramadi area, Mesopotamia (geography) Turkey & Mulebbis, Palestine (geography) desert (concept)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: English Subtitle language: English
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 852 ft; Running time: 15 mins
  • Notes: Title: only the series title appears on the film. The episode number has been taken from the shotsheet. Production: this appears to be one of the post-war compilations made by Jury from official material as part of his reward for controlling wartime film production. Summary: It is unclear whether or not otherwise unidentified material is official film or not. See also IWM 72, IWM 79 and IWM 80. Remarks: Jury has some funny ideas of where Mesopotamia is, and a cavalier disregard for consistency in describing his films' locations and events. If wartime captioning was as inaccurate as this, the implications for wartime film identification are grim indeed.
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    IWM 78

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    IWM 64 (WITH THE FORCES IN MESOPOTAMIA - SERIES 4 [Main Title]) IWM 72 (SCENES ON THE EUPHRATES - MESOPOTAMIA [Main Title]) IWM 81 (BAGHDAD, BABYLON AND BAALBEC [Main Title])
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