THE 59TH STAFFORDSHIRE DIVISION GOES INTO ACTION, NORTH OF CAEN, ON THE FIRST DAY OF OPERATION "CHARNWOOD" (PART 1) [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: THE 59TH STAFFORDSHIRE DIVISION GOES INTO ACTION, NORTH OF CAEN, ON THE FIRST DAY OF OPERATION "CHARNWOOD" (PART 1) [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: A70 72-5
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: 197th Brigade's assault on positions held by elements of the 12th SS Panzer Division 'Hitlerjugend' meets with fierce resistance.
  • Description: Infantrymen belonging to the 17th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment's 'D' company advance in extended order through waist-high wheat from Les Buissons towards the village of St Contest past a knocked-out Sherman ex-DD tank (a relic of the immediate post D-Day battles between 3rd Canadian Division and the 12th SS Panzer Division 'Hitlerjugend'). A Sherman tank from the East Riding Yeomanry's 'A' squadron's HQ troop supporting the assault on ST Contest opens fire with its co-axial Browning .30 calibre machine-gun. Smoke from a bursting mortar bomb flares up in the wheat near a Sherman and a universal carrier from 68th Anti-tank Regiment RA's 298th Battery. An M10 Wolverine SPG from 62nd Anti-tank Regiment RA's 248th Battery is seen with the Sherman (note the Browning .30 calibre machine-gun mounting on its commander's hatch ring in position behind a low ridge in front of St Contest, where oily smoke from two 'brewed-up' ERY Shermans rises into the sky; the Sherman keeps its main armament trained in the direction of the blazing wrecks.
  • Access Conditions: IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-07-08
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Directorate of Public Relations, War Office (Production sponsor) Army Film Unit (Production company) Smales, Edgar Hiram1920-08-071984-09-19 (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords: Normandy, France (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: None Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 99 ft; Running time: 1 min
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Notes: See with A70 72-4, 6, 7, 9; 73-1, 3; 74-1; 75-1; 76-2; 77-1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 78-3 for footage showing 59th (Staffordshire) Division in action during "Charnwood". 'D' company, to which Sergeant Watkins was also attached to cover the assault on St Contest, was the 1/7th Royal Warwickshire Regiment's reserve company. Altogether, the regiment suffered 143 casualties (killed, wounded, missing) during "Charnwood" Excellent action footage. Best seen with items of cinĂ© material listed above, notably A70 72-6, 7; 75-8 which contain virtually identical, complementary footage shot during 197th Brigades assault on St Contest. Documentation/associated material: in addition to the publications listed in A70 71-3, 72-3 and 4, read 'Europe Revisited: The East Riding Yeomanry in the liberation of Europe and the defeat of Germany' by V C Ellison.
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    A70 72-5

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