Title:BELSEN CONCENTRATION CAMP [Allocated Title] ELBE RIVER, HAMBURG [Allocated Title] V-DAY CELEBRATIONS IN BRUSSELS [Allocated Title]
Film Number:A70 327/3-5
Other titles:BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
Summary:
Description:A70 327/3. Lilac blossoms around the village signboard of Belsen. A group of internees in fresh clothes line up for new identity cards. A Parisian woman takes their details and hands a ticket to a Polish woman. Medium shot of hands signing an identity document. The women are taken to a waiting lorry and helped aboard by soldiers. The lorry moves off as the next batch of evacuees wave. A woman puts her head in her hands.
Close up of a sign which reads Grave No. 1 Approx 1000 22nd April 1945. The camera pans to a large mound where a British officer has just finished erecting a signpost. Close up of the sign which reads Grave No. 2 Approx 5000 23rd April 1945. Medium shot of the sign. Shots of the ten signs over the ten communal graves: Grave No. 3 Approx 5000 24th April 1945; Grave No. 4 Approx 2000 27th April 1945; Grave No. 5 Approx 1000 23rd April 1945; Grave No. 6 Approx 800 26th April 1945; Grave No. 8 Approx 1000 30th April 1945; Grave No. 7 Approx 800 April 1945; Grave No. 9 No. Unknown April 1945. Grave No. 10 No. Unknown April 1945.
Improvised cameraman's slate drawn in the sand: '7/5/45 Hewitt Roll 3'. Pan of the now deserted southern end of the camp. A bulldozer driver enters the picture and climbs aboard the machine. The driver backs the machine into position. The bulldozer smashes down a thick entanglement of barbed wire. One of the high wire fences crashes to the ground. Close up of a heap of discarded striped prison uniforms being scooped up by the bulldozer blade and buried under a pile of earth. Shots of the debris in the camp, including piles of clothes and makeshift tents.
A70 327/4. Various scenes of the River Elbe including bridges, a wrecked ship, tugs moving down the river and a floating crane being moved.
A70 327/5. Scenes of VE Day in Brussels. Cheering crowds in the centre of Brussels. A military band plays on the steps of the Stock Exchange. Close up of men holding various flags. Scenes of the crowd, including a woman in uniform and a soldier enjoying a long kiss to the delight of her friends, and a man dressed as Charlie Chaplin singing alongside children and adults. Crowds cheering and waving outside the Metropole restaurant, in front of a sign for The Allied Nations. Close up of a British soldier and woman singing. Two soldiers hug two women. A tram passes through the crowd. Military trucks pass through the crowds. A truck crowded with soldiers, service women and boys. Close up of two of the women on the truck in front of sailors, they are wearing hats with V signs and one makes the V for Victory sign.
Alternative Title:BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
Colour:
Digitised:Yes
Object_Number:A70 327/3-5
Sound:
Access Conditions:IWM
Film: IWM
Featured Period:1939-1945
Production Date:1945-05-07-1945-05-09
Production Country:GB
Production Details:War Office Film Unit (Production company)
Hewitt, Charles (Production individual)
Wilcox, John (Production individual)
Franklin (Sergeant) (Production individual)
