WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 172 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 172 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 172
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: Western Front - The Great Front.
  • Description: I. 'WESTERN FRONT- THE GREAT ADVANCE.' Royal Air Force (RAF) Avro Lancaster bombers overfly the Channel during daylight, apparently on a sortie to bomb the German-held harbour at St Mâlo (Ille-et-Vilaine). Stock shots show operational footage of bombs falling and impacting. Aerial footage shows an RAF Handley Page Halifax bomber aircraft dropping a stick of bombs (no squadron markings visible). The commentary states that the master plan for the destruction of the German forces in France moves rapidly ahead and that the bombing of St Mâlo was in preparation for the American breakthrough to the South. A British 2nd Army M4 Sherman tank (three piece nose) drives past a shell damaged house, a British rifleman crouches behind a partially demolished wall. A United States (US) M10 Wolverine tank destroyer fires is 3-in gun at unseen targets. German Army prisoners run past a US M4 Sherman with their hands raised. US M4 Sherman and M4 Crab flail tanks move along a country road. The commentary states that massed Allied bombing was softening up the German armour around Caen over stock shots of Avro Lancaster bombers of 15 Squadron RAF in flight. Well camouflaged M4 Shermans, Cromwell Cruiser tanks, and Sherman Fireflies drive across open land, abandoned General Aircraft Hamilcar heavy gliders lie forlornly in the background. British military police carrying 9mm Sten sub-machine guns march alongside a column of German Luftwaffe field troop prisoners who wear camouflage smocks. Footage taken from a static-mount camera fixed to the hull of a Churchill tank shows the vehicle crossing a Bailey bridge over the Orne River (York Bridge). British artillery tractors tow 6-pounder anti-tank guns along a country road. Camera Gun Footage (CGF) show Allied air attacks on German soft-skins, river traffic and low-flying Luftwaffe aircraft (Junkers Ju 88 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190). British M4 Shermans (cast nose), Fireflies and Universal carriers drive past the camera position laden with tank descent infantry riding on their hulls. Air to ground footage shows a British armoured column raising dust as it drives along a raised French road. An M4 Sherman flail tank (probably a Lobster) drives past the camera position, its flailing mechanism is not engaged. M4 Sherman tanks bearing the legends "Aurora" and "Arizona" carry infantry from the British 3rd Infantry Division on their hulls. The commentary states that at least eight divisions of the German 7th Army have been put out of action since D-Day and that Germany is at last tasting the bitterness of an inevitable and crushing defeat.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: WPN 172
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-08-21
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Ministry of Information, Middle East (Production sponsor) War Pictorial News (Production company) Martin, Charles (Production individual) Keating, Rex1910-02-142005-01British newsreel commentator, WW2 period (Production cast)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: United States Army (regiment/service) Canadian Army (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: combat, Canadian (object name) equipment, British military - damage control: flailing equipment (object name) operations, Allied military - movement: road (object name) combat, United States - air strike (object name) destruction, French military - area (object name) Caen, Calvados, France (geography) Saint-Malo, Ille-et-Vilaine, France (geography) Orne (River), France (geography) Saint-Lô, Manche, France (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: English Subtitle language: Arabic
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 786 ft; Running time: 9 mins
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 172

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