Summary: I. French newsreel item on a visit by the Queen of Belgium to a French military hospital in Roosbrugge, Belgium, August 1917.
II. French newsreel item on the battlefield after the French counter-attack at Verdun, August 1917.
III. French newsreel item on the damage done by German shelling to Rheims Cathedral, Western Front, August 1917.
Description: The hospital is a temporary affair of Nissen huts. The Queen and General Anthoine walk with their escort down a path between two huts and enter one of the wards.
The village of Esnes has been reduced to rubble but it is safe for men to stand upright and look down on the battlefield. The German bombardment still continues. French soldiers occupy the badly damaged German trench system at Côte 304. Panoramas of the ruins of Cumières and Regnévelle, where a few German 77mm field guns have been abandoned. At the cameraman's request a French soldier handles the firing mechanism of one gun. A relief unit, with full kit and its transport carts, makes its way up the hillside to take over a set of trenches.
The damage done by "les vandales" is shown. The town commandant leaves his sandbagged headquarters. Cardinal Luçon and Monsignor Leven lead the camera around the cathedral, showing an unexploded German shell, damage done to the cathedral by shelling, and two workers trying to reconstruct the broken stained glass.
Production Details: Section Cinématographique de l'Armée Française (Production company)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: Elisabeth, Queen of Belgium (person)
Anthoine, Francois (person)
Luçon, Louis-Henri-Joseph (person)
Rheims, Archbishop of (person)
Neven (Monsignor) (person)
French Army (regiment/service)
French Army (regiment/service)
Keywords: delegations, Belgian international - state (object name)
buildings, French - military: hospital (object name)
medical, French military - hospital (object name)
combat, French - artillery bombardment [D] (object name)
destruction, French military - area: artillery bombardment (object name)
weapons, German - gun: 77mm field gun & [captured] & [+] (object name)
defences, German - emplacement: trenches & [captured] (object name)
buildings, French - religious: cathedral & [damaged] (object name)
propaganda, French - inflammatory (object name)
weapons, German - shell: [unexploded] (object name)
arts, French - decorative arts (object name)
01/3(4-15).7 (event)
01/3(4-15).7 (event)
01/3(4-15).7 (event)
Roesbrugge-Haringe, West Flanders, Belgium (geography)
Esnes, Nord, France (geography)
Côte 304, Verdun, Meuse, France (geography)
Cumières, Marne, France (geography)
Regnévelle, Vosges, France (geography)
Rheims, Marne, France (geography)
camera (concept)
Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W
Sound format: Silent
Soundtrack language: None
Title language: French
Subtitle language: French
Technical Details: Format: 35mm
Number of items/reels/tapes: 1
Footage: 453 ft; Running time: 8 mins
