Other titles:THE WAR ANNALS 72 [Alternative Title]
Summary: French film of their own forces during the Second Battle of the Marne, Western Front, July 1918.
Description: A panorama of the River Marne near Château-Thierry. The town of Château-Thierry itself shows extensive damage, with German barricades and trenches still in place. Men of XXXVIII Corps and US 26th (Yankee) Division pass through. President Poincaré visits the city and is shown round by General Fayolle. He visits the town hall and talks to the locals who stayed through the German occupation. At Dormans, also on the Marne, troops of III Corps clear rubble from the streets. One soldier reads a sign (in German) "Caution - this street is overlooked by the enemy". The town of Châtillon, including its church, is in ruins. Royal Engineers of British XXII Corps build a pontoon bridge across the Marne beside the town. A portrait shot of a young German prisoner, with and without his helmet. German 77mm field guns, abandoned in the retreat, along with dumps of their shells, are turned by the French against the Germans and fired repeatedly. Prime Minister Clémenceau, accompanied by General Berthelot, decorates the standard of 33rd Colonial Regiment with the "fourragère" ribbon at a formal ceremony at its headquarters. He talks with some of the men and receives a bouquet from a small child.
Alternative Title:THE WAR ANNALS 72 [Alternative Title]
Production Details: Section Cinématographique de l'Armée Française (Production company)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: Clemenceau, Georges Benjamin (person)
Berthelot, Henri Mathias (person)
Poincaré, Raymond (person)
Fayolle, Emile (person)
French Army, Corps 38 (regiment/service)
United States Army & American Expeditionary Force (regiment/service)
United States Army & Div 26 (regiment/service)
French Army, Corps 3 (regiment/service)
British Army, Royal Engineers, Corps 22 (regiment/service)
French Army, Colonial Infantry Regt 33 (regiment/service)
Keywords: destruction, French military - area: artillery bombardment (object name)
defences, German - emplacement: [captured] (object name)
operations, French military - movement: march (object name)
operations, United States military - movement: march (object name)
delegations, French national - state (object name)
buildings, French - institutional: town hall (object name)
buildings, French - religious: church & [wrecked] (object name)
engineering, military, British (object name)
prisoners of war, German - custody (object name)
weapons, German - gun: 77mm field gun & [captured] & [impressed] (object name)
spoils, French (object name)
supplies, German, storage [FA] - munitions: [captured] (object name)
combat, French - artillery bombardment (object name)
ceremonies, French - event-related: investiture (object name)
01/3(4-15).91 [1918 Marne] (event)
Château-Thierry, Aisne, France (geography)
Dormans, Marne, France (geography)
Châtillon, France (geography)
Marne (River), France (geography)
Marne, France (geography)
Children (concept)
camera (concept)
Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W
Sound format: Silent
Soundtrack language: None
Title language: None
Subtitle language: French
Technical Details: Format: 35mm
Number of items/reels/tapes: 1
Footage: 531 ft; Running time: 9 mins