THE 59TH (STAFFORDSHIRE) DIVISION GOES INTO ACTION NORTH OF CAEN ON THE SECOND DAY OF OPERATION "CHARNWOOD" (PART 2) [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: THE 59TH (STAFFORDSHIRE) DIVISION GOES INTO ACTION NORTH OF CAEN ON THE SECOND DAY OF OPERATION "CHARNWOOD" (PART 2) [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: A70 76-2
  • Other titles:
  • Summary:
  • Description: I. Infantrymen (2/6th Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment) dig trenches near German graves in Anisy, France. Riflemen investigate abandoned cottages and farmyards. A dead pony lies beside a farm cart in a derelict farmyard; in the background, a 27th Armoured Brigade Sherman ARV motors through Anisy. II. Officers (6th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment) give directions to refugees from Malon, France. An infantryman pours water into a mess-tin; nearby, two riflemen and an officer survey Malon, where derelict and burning cottages are searched for snipers. An infantryman investigates a wrecked Citroën saloon as a jeep carrying a covered corpse (?) and a 210th Field Regiment RA despatch rider arrive in the village. III. Lieutenant-Colonel Borradaile, OC 5th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment, holds an 'O' group with his company commanders in Malon. Men from HQ (?) company, including the CO (wearing spectacles and smoking a pipe), move off to occupy La Folie with a universal carrier and trailer loaded carrying small arms ammunition. Infantrymen make their way cautiously along stonewall-bounded lanes and adopt alert and aggressive stances for the cameraman. IV. 'Hitlerjugend' snipers (26th [?] SS Panzer-Grenadier Regiment) are lined up by their captors (MPs and North Staffs or East Lancs) before being marched away.
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-07-09
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Army Film and Photographic Unit (Production company) Harris, L W J (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: None Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Footage: 460 ft; Running time: 5 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Notes: Summary: see with A70 72-4, to -7, 9, 73-1, 3, 74-1, 75, 77-1, 3 to 8, 78-3 for footage showing 59th (Staffordshire) Division in action during "Charnwood". The lance-corporal rifleman apparently in charge of the POW escort seen here carries a captured P38 pistol in his left hand; this particular sequence was probably filmed outside Malon. Remarks: good after the battle footage; while no doubt the medium and close up shots of alert looking infantry were set up to provide good 'action' material, there was a definite need on the part of British infantrymen to be on the look-out for snipers in villages only recently cleared of the enemy; the variety of facial expression on the five 'HJ'? POWs seen here is worth noting.
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    A70 76-2

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