ENTRY TO BOLOGNA [Allocated title]

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  • Title: ENTRY TO BOLOGNA [Allocated title]
  • Film Number: AYY 910/10-12
  • Other titles: 6TH SOUTH AFRICAN ARMOURED DIVISION ON ROUTE 64 AND ENTRY INTO BOLOGNA [Allocated title] GERMAN WAR CEMETERY AND PARTISAN FIGHTING IN MODENA [Allocated title] BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated series title]
  • Summary: Polish and Italian troops enter the city of Bologna in northern Italy, and are welcomed by the local population.
  • Description: AYY 910/10, shot by Sergeant E Deeming on 21 April 1945 00:00:00:00 Polish (?) soldiers, in a parked jeep. An Italian civilian man pours a drink from a fiasco bottle for a soldier sitting in the passenger seat. The soldier drowns his cup and returns it to the Italian man. 00:00:07:14 A road in Bologna; a tracked carrier approaches. Polish military police jeeps and a motorcyclist are parked in the road. 00:00:11:04 Tracked carriers pass camera (carrying German prisoners of war?). One of the two appears to be a Wasp flamethrower carrier. 00:00:26:15 Italian civilians with Polish troops (?) 00:00:28:21 A crowd of Italian civilians help a military motorcyclist negotiate a steep pile of rubble blocking a road. 00:00:39:12 A Polish military police lorry (marked with the insignia of II Polish Corps) negotiates the pile of rubble. A second lorry stalls on the rubble pile and a crowd of Italian civilians gather round the vehicle to assist. 00:00:49:00 Italian civilians at work with shovels etc trying to free the stuck lorry, and trying to smooth the pile of rubble. 00:01:01:14 End of roll 00:01:02:22 Cheering civilians; the cameraman is on a jeep that moves off as he is filming. 00:01:15:01 Cheering civilians seen from a moving jeep. The cameraman catches the eye of one young man not applauding, who immediately starts applauding enthusiastically. 00:01:37:03 View from a moving vehicle as an applauding crowd parts to let the vehicle pass. The road appears to be one of the roads leading to the Asinelli Tower in the center of Bologna. At least one man, a civilian wearing an armband, appears to be armed. People of all ages are present. 00:02:02:18 Brief shot of troops on foot, vehicles, and mule drivers in a crowded street. 00:02:09:03 End of roll 00:02:11:09 A jeep passes camera; it is marked with the two stars of a Major General. 00:02:15:04 Looking up at the very tall Tower Asinelli; camera tilts down to show the crowd. 00:02:21:09 View of the crowd, which is now thronging the street and climbing onto vehicles. 00:02:29:19 Applauding civilians 00:02:37:12 A small group of German prisoners of war (?) being led through the crowd. 00:02:47:17 A group of German prisoners (?) sit on a jeep being driven slowly through the crowd. An Allied soldier passes carrying a PIAT anti-tank weapon. 00:02:52:18 Close-up; soldier and civilians. 00:02:55:08 View from a moving vehicle, following a file of troops (following a flag) as they move through the crowd. The camera turns to look at a woman being held up by a man; she says something towards the camera. 00:03:06:14 Tilt down to applauding crowd 00:03:13:22 Panning view of Piazza Maggiore looking towards the Basilica of San Petronio. A large brick blast wall has been built in front of the basilica's main door, and the piazza is full of tightly parked Sherman tanks. 00:03:18:10 End of roll 00:03:21:02 Looking up as a Spitfire passes overhead; it performs a victory roll. 00:03:28:04 Street scene; civilians watch as a body of troops marches along a main road. 00:03:38:04 A column of Sherman tanks (one possibly marked with the insignia of B Squadron, 1st Krechowce Uhlan Regiment) passes camera with the Garisenda and Asinelli towers in the background (on the Via Rizzoli?). The tanks are carrying infantry. Further shot with 00:03:53:18 Further shot of tanks passing. One tank is named Raszyn. 00:03:57:09 A tank named 'Rycerz' ('Knight') passes. 00:04:05:02 Series of shots of infantry marching along the street; some have feather plumes tucked into their helmet covers (Italian Bersaglieri?). A civilian woman kisses soldiers as they pass. 00:04:27:05 ENDS AYY 910/11, shot by Sergeant Richiardi on 20-21 April 1945. 00:04:28:21 A Sherman tank of 6th South African Armoured Division drives towards camera, somewhere in a small town on Route 64 in northern Italy. Further shots of Shermans, with infantry riding aboard. 00:04:58:15 A file of infantry follow a Sherman. 00:05:08:08 A Sherman approaches camera (an M4A1(76)W?). 00:05:26:05 A Sherman passes a milestone marked '15 da Bologna' 00:05:32:09 A Sherman passes. 00:05:35:05 End of roll 00:05:37:12 Slate 'IT5'. Shot looking up at a tank commander, standing in his turret and leaning back on his turret hatch, looks through binoculars. 00:05:43:19 A Sherman, carrying infantry, passes a milestone marked '80 Casalecchio 8 Bologna 14' 00:05:54:04 Looking down on two men as they probe the ground around a small stream running under a bridge. 00:06:00:03 A series of shots apparently showing a small engagement in or near a village, but it is not clear what is happening. 00:06:42:13 Long shot; motor traffic crosses a river. There appear to be bomb craters around the crossing point. 00:06:49:15 A Sherman passes a sign giving the distances to Bologna, Bazzano, and Vignola (probably south-west of Bologna). Close-up of the sign. 00:07:01:13 Close-ups of passing tanks. Brief shot from a moving vehicle of a Sherman, motorcyclist and jeep. 00:07:12:09 Troops in a vehicle waiting under an archway. A sign on a wall reads 'Bologna', with close-up. 00:07:32:09 Tanks crossing a level crossing over a railway line. A sign reads 'Bologna'. 00:07:42:14 Italian civilians greet Allied troops in Bologna. One officer climbs on the bonnet of a jeep to vigorously shake hands with another. 00:08:02:13 Crowds of civilians with parked tanks (at Piazza del Nettuno?); camera pans towards the Via Rizzoli with the two towers in the background. 00:08:12:08 A crowd of civilians with flags. Some carry placards, one reading 'Evviva il Commitato Liberazione Nationale' ('Long live the Committee for National Liberation'). 00:08:20:05 Further shots of the crowds with Allied vehicles including Staghound armoured cars. 00:08:38:21 A brief shot apparently showing the head of a civilian parade, led by flags, through the city. 00:08:43:19 ENDS AYY 910/12, shot by Sergeant Huggett on 22 April 1945 00:08:44:09 Slate 'IT.14'. Panning shot of headstones at a German military cemetery north-west of Bologna. Static shot at low level, with the headstone of 20-year-old Gefreiter Siegfried Launhardt in the foreground. A close-up of Launhardt's headstone, showing he served with Artillerie Regiment 165, and died on 27 March 1945. 00:09:23:12 In Modena a group of civilians on bicycles leads a group of armed partisans. A US M3 half-track passes carrying American troops. 00:09:49:18 A street in Modena with parked M8 Greyhound armoured cars. Civilians seem to suddenly flee. 00:10:01:19 Looking down from a building; an Italian partisan kneels and fires his rifle. Another angle of a partisan firing his rifle and taking cover, filmed with a telephoto lens. 00:10:27:11 A city street; a group of partisans sheltering behind columns. They fire rifles at an unseen enemy down the street. 00:10:36:10 ENDS
  • Alternative Title: 6TH SOUTH AFRICAN ARMOURED DIVISION ON ROUTE 64 AND ENTRY INTO BOLOGNA [Allocated title] GERMAN WAR CEMETERY AND PARTISAN FIGHTING IN MODENA [Allocated title] BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated series title]
  • Colour:
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: AYY 910/10-12
  • Sound:
  • Access Conditions: IWM Film: IWM (AYY 910/10-12)
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-04-21-1945-04-21
  • Production Country:United Kingdom
  • Production Details:War Office (Production sponsor) Army Film and Photographic Unit (Production company) Deeming, Eric (Production individual) Richiardi (Sergeant) (Production individual) Huggett, J. (Sergeant) (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics:Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details:35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Running time: 11 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:
  • Related IWM Collections Objects:
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