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Title:THE 3RD ROYAL TANK REGIMENT GOES INTO ACTION ON THE FIRST DAY OF OPERATION 'GOODWOOD' [Allocated Title]
Film Number:A70 87-2
Other titles:
Summary:
Description: German flares drift towards the ground as the 11th Armoured Division gathers for the attack. The 3rd RTR assembles in the semi-darkness; dust and smoke from the RAF bombing obscures the dawn sunrise. (Some of the smoke may have been caused by bombs accidentally falling on the regiment's start-line). The regiment's CO, Lieutenant-Colonel Silvertop, gives the order to advance and, accompanied by several Churchill AVRES, the 3rd RTR rolls towards the Caen-Troarn railway line at Demouville and comes under anti-tank fire. Two tank crew beat out fires on their straw-camouflaged Firefly set alight by shrapnel. An OP (?) half- track crosses the railway line at Demouville; another M5 half- track tows a Daimler scout car out of a bomb crater. The 3rd RTR moves up to the Caen-Vimont railway near Grentheville and suffers several losses en route; it then advances towards the villages of Hubert-Folie and Bras on the Bourguebus ridge. From his tank, Lieutenant-Colonel Silvertop reviews the deteriorating situation through his binoculars. Nearby are the remains of a German 8.8cm anti-tank gun and its tractor.
Production Details: Directorate of Public Relations, War Office (Production sponsor)
Army Film and Photographic Unit (Production company)
Laws, George E J1916-02-15 (Production individual)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: Silvertop (Lieutenant-Colonel) (person)
British Army, Royal Tank Regiment, 3rd Battalion (regiment/service)
British Army, Div, Armoured, 29 (?) (regiment/service)
British Army, Div, Armoured, 11 (regiment/service)
British Army, Royal Engineers (regiment/service)
British Army, Div, Armoured, 79 (regiment/service)
British Army, Corps 8 (regiment/service)
Keywords: armour, United States - funnies: M4 Sherman Firefly & [British] (object name)
armour, United States - tank: M4 Sherman & [British] (object name)
armour, United States - tank: M3 Stuart recce tank (object name)
armour, British - funnies: Churchill AVRE (object name)
armour, United States - halftrack: M5 (object name)
armour, British - armoured car: Humber scout car (object name)
armour, British - tank: Crusader AA (object name)
combat, British - armoured (object name)
transport, French civilian - rail (object name)
01/5(4-16).233 [ Operation Goodwood] (event)
Caen-Troarn Railway, Demouville, Calvados, France (geography)
Caen-Vimont Railway, Grentheville, Calvados, France (geography)
Bras-sur-Meuse, Meuse, France (geography)
Hubert-Folie, Calvados, France (geography)
Notes: Note: See with A70 87-1, 88-1, 89-3, 90-4 and 5 for footage showing 11th Armoured Division units in action during "Goodwood". (Refer also to A70 89-1 and 92-7 for material showing Guards Armoured Division units similarly engaged). Sergeant G E C Laws accompanied the 3rd RTR's HQ squadron while taking this footage. With the 3rd RTR in the first wave of 8th Corps' assault was the 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry.
Remarks: Excellent action footage, in which some of the unpredictable hazards of tank warfare, such as the camouflage on the Sherman Firefly catching fire and being bombed by one's own air force are depicted. In view of the hammering the 3rd RTR and other armoured regiments taking part in "Goodwood" received at the hands of the Germans, such untoward incidents comprised the least of their perils.
Documentation/associated material: Refer to bibliography listed in A70 87-1
