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.
Alternative Title:
Colour:B&W
Digitised:Yes
Object_Number:A70 72-5
Sound:Silent
Access Conditions:IWM
Film: IWM (A70 72-5)
Featured Period:1939-1945
Production Date:1944-07-08-1944-07-08
Production Country:GB
Production Details:Directorate of Public Relations, War Office (Production sponsor)
Army Film Unit (Production company)
Smales, Edgar (Production individual)
