Title:OPERATION EPSOM - 49TH DIVISION AT THE VILLAGE OF FONTENAY- LE-PESNEL (PART 1) [Allocated Title]
Film Number:A70 58-1
Other titles:
Summary:Wrecked armoured fighting vehicles and guns from 146th Brigade and its supporting units and the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend are found in Fontenay-le-Pesnel as British troops consolidate their hold on the devastated village.
Description:A 4th Lincolnshire Regiment Universal Carrier overtakes a Loyd carrier hit and set on fire by an anti-tank projectile in a meadow outside Fontenay; the 6-pounder gun it was towing lies a few yards away. Dead cattle and the corpse of an SS man (from the 26th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment) are found in fields outside the village. In Fontenay itself, a 7.5cm anti-tank gun covering the Caen-Juvigny road has been overrun, with one of its gunners lying dead nearby, while further down the road can be seen a burnt-out Sherman tank and a smouldering Panther Ausf G tank, which the cameraman examines in detail. The cameraman then surveys the extent of the destruction in the village - a product of mortar and artillery fire from both sides - and observes men of the Hallamshire Regiment looking for snipers in and around Fontenay, during which a fatally injured German is given water to drink, and digging in.
Production Details:Directorate of Public Relations, War Office (Production sponsor)
Army Film and Photographic Unit (Production Company)
Ginger (Sergeant) (Production individual)
