OPERATION EPSOM - CAPTURE OF RAURAY SPUR (PART 1) [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: OPERATION EPSOM - CAPTURE OF RAURAY SPUR (PART 1) [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: A70 59-6
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: Elements of the 10th Battalion Durham Light Infantry and the Nottinghamshire (Sherwood Rangers) Yeomanry are seen holding a sector of 70th Brigade's front outside Rauray.
  • Description: An infantryman belonging to the Battalion's Bren carrier platoon digs in near the Cheux-Vendes/Fontenay-Rauray crossroads; in the background can be seen a knocked out M10 self-propelled gun. Traffic belonging to the Durham Light Infantry, including a carrier fitted as an ambulance, overtakes an abandoned ex-501st SS Heavy Tank Battalion Tiger I Ausf E tank and one of the Yeomanry's 'A' Squadron Shermans parked next to it on the Rauray - Fontenay-le-Pesnel road. The camera examines the Tiger's Zimmerit-clad superstructure, the "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" emblem on its front plate and the numerous armour- piercing shot scars on its bow armour. Six 'A' Squadron tank crewmen hitch a ride on the vehicle. Two infantrymen charge past a wrecked Hitlerjugend Panther Ausf A tank. Infantry and 'C' Squadron tank crew rest during a lull in the fighting. Sergeant Christie poses before the wrecked Panther. The M10 burns itself out.
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-06-27
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Directorate of Public Relations, War Office (Production sponsor) Army Film and Photographic Unit (Production company) Handford, Peter1919-03-212007-11-06Handford is known as a a pioneer of location sound recording. He was an AFPU Lieutenant photographer during the Second World War. He volunteered as part of the British Expeditionary Force and went to France, though he was evacuated after the German invasion. He returned as a cameraman in the D-Day landings. He was shot during fighting two days later, saved by a diary and silver cigarette lighter in his pocket. He was informant in the "Wartime Filming" interview project. His first major film was in 1949 working for Alfred Hitchcock. However, what he is best known for is his involvment in the English new wave cinema movement of the 1960s. Later he was involved in did the sound for famous films such as Gorillas in the Mist and Dangerous Liaisons. He retired in 1988. (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Christie (Sergeant) (person) British Army, Durham Light Infantry, 10th Battalion (regiment/service) British Army, Yeomanry, Sherwood Rangers, Squadron A (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: armour, United States - SPG: M10 Wolverine (?) & [wrecked] (object name) armour, United States - tank: M4 Sherman & [British] (object name) armour, German - tank: Pzkpfw VI Ausf E & Tiger I & [+] (object name) armour, German - tank: Pzkpfw V Ausf A & Panther I & [wrecked] (object name) armour, British - carrier: ambulance (object name) operations, British military - movement: armour (object name) combat, British (object name) 01/5(4-16).232 [ Operation Epsom] (event) Rauray, Calvados, France (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: None Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Footage: 176 ft; Running time: 2 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Notes: Summary: a detachment of Tigers from the above SS unit single-handedly destroyed 7th Armoured Division's leading elements at Villers-Bocage on June 13 Remarks: good footage - particularly good close-up shots of the abandoned Tiger I Ausf E
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    A70 59-6

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