ANNALES DE LA GUERRE 52 [Main Title]

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  • Title: ANNALES DE LA GUERRE 52 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: IWM 508-52
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: I. French newsreel item of the Class of 1919 conscripts honouring French and US war dead, France, March 1918. II. French newsreel item on the removal of cultural objects from Rheims, Western Front, March 1918. III. French newsreel item showing locals carrying on as normal despite an air raid which has left an unexploded aerial torpedo half-buried in the earth. Lorraine, March 1918. IV. French newsreel item showing an anti-aircraft battery, probably in training, Western Front, March 1918. V. French newsreel item on two air aces, Adjutant Garaud and Sub-Lieutenant Georges Madon, Western Front, March 1918. VI. French newsreel item on the wreck of a German aircraft shot down near Soissons, Western Front, March 1918.
  • Description: The location is a town behind the Western Front. The conscripts, still in civilian clothes, march forward with US soldiers to lay wreaths on the graves of French and US soldiers. Outside the cathedral the life-sized eleventh century statue "Maison des Musiciens" is secured in a wooden frame and lifted from its wall niche by block and tackle. The stained glass is removed from the cathedral windows, "this is what the Germans call installing observation posts". The glass is reconstructed, crated up and driven away in lorries. M Laferre, the Minister for Public Education and Fine Arts, visits the city and is escorted round the work by M Saintsaulieu, the architect responsible for the preservation and restoration scheme. One soldier sights on an aircraft (not shown) using a rangefinder and calculates the angle and fuse setting. This is shouted by megaphone to the guns, which open fire from their pits. Garaud, who shot down his most recent 'kill' on 11th March, is shown posed beside the cockpit of his Spad 13. Madon, with 26 kills, is posed beside his Spad, then in its cockpit. The wreck, which is burnt out and unidentifiable, is guarded by US soldiers. The caption describes it as "one of the pirates" returning from an air raid on Paris.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: IWM 508-52
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM (IWM 508-52)
  • Featured Period: 1914-1918
  • Production Date: 1918-03-09
  • Production Country: France
  • Production Details: Section Cinématographique de l'Armée Française (Production company)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Laferre (person) Saintsaulieu (person) Garaud (Adjutant) (person) Madon, Georges (person) French Army (regiment/service) United States Army & American Expeditionary Force (regiment/service) French Ministry of Public Education and Fine Arts (regiment/service) French Army (regiment/service) French Army, [gunners] (regiment/service) French Army, Air Corps (regiment/service) United States Army & American Expeditionary Force (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: casualties, French graves - formal (object name) casualties, United States graves - formal (object name) delegations, French national - goodwill (object name) delegations, United States national - goodwill (object name) arts, French - architecture (object name) arts, French - fine arts (object name) propaganda, French - inflammatory (object name) buildings, French - religious: cathedral & [damaged] (object name) destruction, French military - area: air raid (object name) weapons, German air - bomb: [unexploded] (object name) society, French - domestic (object name) training, French military - specialist: anti-aircraft (object name) combat [simulated], French - anti-aircraft (object name) weapons, French - gun [AA]: 75mm (object name) communications, French military - direct: megaphone (object name) equipment, French - fire control: rangefinder (object name) aircraft, French - combat: Spad 13 (object name) propaganda, French - inflammatory (object name) 31/3(44) (event) 31/3(44) (event) 31/3(44) (event) 01/3(4-15).8 (event) 01/3(4-15).8 (event) 01/3(4-15).8 (event) France (geography) Rheims, Marne, France (geography) Lorraine, France (geography) France (geography) France (geography) Soissons, Aisne, France (geography) camera (concept)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: French Subtitle language: French
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 561 ft; Running time: 9 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    IWM 508-52

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