WORLD PICTORIAL NEWS NO 236 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WORLD PICTORIAL NEWS NO 236 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 236
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: An edition of the British official newsreel "World Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.
  • Description: I. 'NEWS FROM THE FAR EAST.' A British soft-skinned vehicle arrives at a Hong Kong prison compound carrying suspected Japanese war criminals. A Royal Marine stands guard over the prisoners in the compound holding a Thompson M1928 .45-inch sub-machine gun. Close up footage shows Japanese Colonel Esao Tokunaga and Doctor Saito, both accused of crimes against humanity. Elsewhere, Royal Marines organise a party for children from a Hong Kong orphanage. Royal Marines give the children chocolate and amuse them with bag pipe music. Royal Marines fire off distress flares in lieu of the traditional fireworks at the conclusion of festivities at the orphanage. Brief film footage shows Royal Air Force (RAF) firefighters attempting to control a blaze at Kallang Airport (Singapore). II. 'V.2 ROCKET.' Allied technicians (unseen) test fire a captured German A4/V2 (Vergeltungswaffe 2) rocket missile from a mobile launching platform. The missile still bears its Peenemünde experimental black/white colour scheme which facilitated ground observation of the missile's rotational movement in flight. Extended ignition and launching sequences follow. III. 'NEWS FROM GERMANY.' Large numbers of German civilian refugees cling to the sides of a train. German civilians and children sit on packages and boxes containing their meagre belongings in a Berlin railway station. German civilians awaiting transportation, cook on open fires. German civilians climb down from a British Second Army soft-skinned vehicle. The commentary outlines the difficulties faced by the Allies in dealing with the many thousands of displaced people in Germany. British Minister for Education and Labour Member of Parliament Miss Ellen Wilkinson visits a Berlin school and talks to the children. Interior footage shows a kitchen preparing soup for distribution to the children. German children are taught in open air classes in order to overcome lack of school buildings. Older female pupils help to rebuild their school buildings by mixing cement and replacing window panes. Children indulge in a variety of relay races at a school sports day.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: WPN 236
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-11-12
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Ministry of Information, Middle East (Production sponsor) World Pictorial News (Production company) Martin, Charles (Production individual) Redway, John (Production cast)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Tokunaga, Esao (person) Saito (Doctor) (person) Wilkinson, Ellen Cecily (person) Royal Navy, Royal Marines (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: prisoners of war, Japanese - custody (object name) society, British military - friendship (object name) delegations, British international - political (object name) society, German - education (object name) refugees, German - reception (object name) refugees, German - movement (object name) weapons, German - missile: V2 & [captured] (object name) Kallang, Singapore (geography) Germany & Berlin, Berlin (geography) Children (concept)
  • 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: 719 ft; Running time: 8 mins
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 236

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