Summary: As examples of the 'new' France reborn from the ashes of defeat, Norman volunteers for the re-constituted French army take part in combat training, route marching and physical fitness exercises near the village of Le Vast.
Description: The volunteer company, with most of its members in civilian clothes, attends a parade in a farmyard where it is inspected by its commander, a big and fierce-looking man who has been in turn a Legionnaire NCO, a prisoner of the Germans and eventually a Lieutenant in the Normandy 'Maquis'. Under his instruction, the volunteers, armed with a variety of Mauser, Lebel and M-1 Garand rifles, stage a practise assault on the farmyard. The lieutenant leads his company back to Le Vast and passes groups of villagers including three old ladies wearing traditional lace bonnets who wave at and applaud the young volunteers. At their headquarters, the company parades before the Tricolour; a guard of honour consisting of five Senegalese troopers presents arms as the Tricolour is hauled up the flagpole and as a bugle is sounded. The volunteers attend a lesson in physical training, generally let off steam by splashing around in a nearby stream before returning to their headquarters.
Alternative Title:
Colour:B&W
Digitised:Yes
Object_Number:A70 123-1
Sound:Silent
Access Conditions:IWM
Featured Period:1939-1945
Production Date:1944-08-12
Production Country: GB
Production Details: Army Film Unit (Production company)
Walter, Ernest Henry1919Family origin: Barry, Glamorgan, South Wales (Production individual)
