AMERICANS TRAINING IN FRANCE [Main Title]

Created by filmcom…@iwm.org.uk
Metadata
  • Title: AMERICANS TRAINING IN FRANCE [Main Title]
  • Film Number: IWM 257
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: Training exercises for US troops under British (possibly XI Corps) supervision, Western Front, early 1918.
  • Description: Sergeants of a British drill squad train US soldiers who carry British equipment and include a group of WACs. The Americans are put through bayonet practice against sandbags and parrying against a live opponent, and shown how to defend against a bayonet thrust using a knife. They go over an obstacle assault course, firing from a trench, rushing the next trench and bayoneting the sacks inside it, then firing again (some people play dead to add realism). They are shown how to deploy a Lewis machine gun, including the procedure if the machine-gunner is shot and the number 3 has to take over. In a formalised open-air classroom setting the Lewis is stripped and tabletop maintenance carried out. The men practise fire-and-movement tactics from scrape trenches while wearing gasmasks, smoke being laid down to simulate the barrage. Finally they practise ordinary physical exercises.
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM (IWM 257)
  • Featured Period: 1914-1918
  • Production Date: 1918
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Ministry of Information (Production sponsor)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: British Army, Corps 11 (regiment/service) United States Army & American Expeditionary Force (regiment/service) United States Army & [infantry] (regiment/service) United States Army & Women's Army Corps (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: training, United States military - combat (object name) weapons, British - smallarm: Lewis machine gun & [United States] (object name) 01/3(4-15).8 (event) France (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: 1 Footage: 520 ft; Running time: 9 mins
  • Notes: Title: this is taken from the shotsheet.
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    IWM 257

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:
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