Title:BRITISH MILITARY BAND DEMONSTRATION IN ARRAS; FIRST SHOTS OF "REAL WAR" [Allocated Title]
Film Number:AYY 13A/1
Other titles:BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
Summary: Military band in Arras; first scenes of 'real' war; British troops preparing for action in France.
Description: Band playing in square at Arras as civilians look on. Various shots of troops marching behind the band. Troops march past a building with a large advertisement for Byrrh. Troops marching in the square. An officer saluting. Men marching. Men preparing for drill. Officer walking across the square. Troops on parade. The officer inspecting troops, walking behind then in front of the file of soldiers. Officer saluting superior officer. Café Tivoli is visible behind the soldiers. The band playing. Close up of the drum being beaten. Men marching from the square. A guardsman on duty and on the move. Soldiers leaving a church, replacing their caps as they walk down the steps. Band marching and playing. Troops follow the band, some with rifles on their shoulders.
A calf in a field. First shots of "real" war (?): French Potez bomber no. 375 crashed and burning. Fire in field caused by crashed plane. The plane burning fiercely. Flames and smoke rising. Smoke in the distance. Buildings damaged by the Germans. Buildings on fire and damaged buildings. Stack of half burnt timber from buildings. Burnt-out buildings.
(Date unknown). British troops washing outdoors in France. Soldiers walking into a dugout. A soldier pours water from a petrol can over a bare-chested colleague who is heavily tattooed. View from inside a gun emplacement. Men in trench with rifles. A soldier passes a newspaper in to men in a dugout. The dugout is labelled Mabel's Room. Men reading the newspaper (possibly the first news of the German invasion?). Men laying in field with a dog, ready to advance. Troops cut barbed wire and advance by crawling and on foot through a wood. Men with rifles. Men walking through trees, rifles in hand (it is not clear if this is practice or reality).
Alternative Title:BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
