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Summary: The British occupation of Cologne, including 1st Cavalry Division and 29th Division marching past General Sir Herbert Plumer, commanding the Army of Occupation, across the Hohenzollern Bridge, 6th-14th December 1918.
I. The marchpast by 1st Cavalry Division on 12th December. Plumer stands with his staff to one side of the road leading across the bridge. With him are Lieutenant-General C Jacob, commanding II Corps, and Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Kavanagh commanding the Cavalry Corps. Lorries and 6-inch howitzers are parked waiting at the end of the bridge. 2nd and 9th Cavalry Brigades begin the marchpast, which continues for two hours, at 10 am. The lancer regiment in the procession is 9th Lancers; they advance with the divisional cyclists and Austin armoured cars behind. Plumer is shown waiting to leave by his car, then standing beneath the giant statue of Kaiser Wilhelm II above the bridge, taking the salute. The division, including its transport, continues the marchpast. II. On the following day, 13th December, 29th Division starts its marchpast at 9.30 am, with Plumer again taking the salute. The Scottish battalion in the procession is 1st Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers. (There is an interpolation of the Cavalry from the previous day moving off the bridge.) III. The lorries and 6-inch howitzers at the far end of the bridge are still in position, waiting, on 14th December. IV. At a road bridge just north of Bayenthal, Cologne, on 6th December a corporal's guard of 'A' Squadron, 18th Hussars, sets up a Vickers machine gun and equipment. Armed German civilians, ex-soldiers employed by the British as a police force, look on.
Production Details: Ministry of Information (Production sponsor)
Topical Film Company (Production company)
Bassill, F A (Production individual)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: Plumer, Herbert Charles Onslow (person)
Jacob, Claud William (person)
Kavanagh, Charles Toler MacMorrough (person)
British Army, Div, Cavalry, 1 (regiment/service)
British Army, 1st Division, Cavalry, 9th Lancers (regiment/service)
British Army, 1st Division, Cavalry, 18th Hussars (regiment/service)
British Army, Div 29 (regiment/service)
British Army, King's Own Scottish Borderers, 1st Battalion (regiment/service)
Occupation police, Germany (regiment/service)
Keywords: ceremonies, British - event-related: entry into Cologne (Plumer) (object name)
administration, British - occupation (object name)
weapons, British - gun: 6-inch 26cwt howitzer (object name)
armour, British - armoured car: Austin (object name)
weapons, British - smallarm: Vickers machine gun (object name)
First World War, Armistice & 6/12/1918=14/12/1918 (event)
Germany & Cologne, North Rhine Westphalia <Hohenzollern Bridge> (geography)
Germany & Cologne, North Rhine Westphalia <Bayenthal> (geography)
Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W
Sound format: Silent
Soundtrack language: None
Title language: English
Subtitle language: English
Technical Details: Format: 35mm
Number of items/reels/tapes: 1
Footage: 1425 ft; Running time: 25 mins
HD Media:Yes
Notes: Remarks: Lord Beaverbrook had retired for health reasons as Minister of Information in October 1918, and his ministry was closed down at the end of December. There was therefore virtually no policy directing British official films at the end of 1918. Films such as this one were taken with some sense of the need to make a historical record, but little else. It is not certain whether they were ever shown to the public in any form
