OPERATION SLAPSTICK [Allocated Title]
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- Title: OPERATION SLAPSTICK [Allocated Title]
- Film Number: ADM 465
- Other titles: MEDITERRANEAN OPERATIONS OF THE ROYAL NAVY [Allocated Series Title]
- Summary: Operation Slapstick, the occupation of Taranto by the 1st British Airborne Division. Cameraship is HMS Aurora.
- Description: I. Reel One. First Airborne Division embarks at Bizerta. CUs as heavily laden soldiers come up the gangway onto Aurora. View of the embarkation seen from the quayside. A handcart is swung up in a cargo net. Jeeps, including a Red Cross vehicle, are lifted onboard by the ship's crane. More troops embark - in the background to some shots are visible HMS Abdiel and HMS Largs (?). Lorries wait on the quayside laden with fuel and stores. Onboard Aurora ammunition and rations are stacked on deck. II. At sea. LS of USS Boise and the covering battleships HMS Howe and HMS King George V. The quarterdeck of cameraship Aurora is piled with stores and equipment, including two solo motorcycles. HMS Penelope keeps station on the starboard quarter. Naval lieutenant and Airborne officers study a map of Taranto. A soldier looks at the other ships through binoculars. LS broad on the starboard quarter of HMS Abdiel. Soldiers sit on and around torpedo tubes - a jeep has been stowed on deck just aft. Paravane is hoisted out ready for streaming - Penelope and the two Didos in the background. LSs of battleships and Abdiel. HMS Hurworth (L.28) passes. The focsle is crowded with sightseeing troops. A P Class destroyer passes. Shots of Howe lying in Bay of Taranto. Cameraship enters a swept channel, an Italian pilot coming onboard from a launch. Cameraman goes ashore with 1st Airborne staff - two minesweepers lie in the offing. II. Reel Two. Further film of the embarkation of troops at Bizerta. Ship's crane lifts jeeps and solo motorcycle onboard. Black GIs help to load ammunition. 6-pounder AT is freed from cargo net and manhandled into position. MS of Aurora lying alongside taking on stores - outboard of her is Penelope. Troops embark while loading goes on. MS off the port quarter of Penelope as she steams out, and HA onto focsle as anchor party flake down and Aurora begins to make stern way. III. Taranto. LS of a two masted schooner in Taranto harbour. CUs of Italian servicemen and civilians as they cross bridge over canal to the inner harbour, and HA from the bridge as a CB Class midget submarine passes underneath. Street scene - a girl peers out at the cameraman from beneath the canopy of a buggy. CU of a handsome moustachioed Italian naval rating. HA from the bridge again as a second CB Class submarine passes beneath - an officer on its deck regards the cameraman through binoculars - the midget carries its full armament of two torpedoes. More street scenes - a laden jeep passes, an Italian 4x4 light artillery tractor with Italian crew tows a military caravan, local horse-drawn taxies ply their trade. IV. Cruisers unloading. HMS Penelope and the two Didos steam in line astern. Minesweeper HMS Sharpshooter (J.68 ?) closes on the cameraship to take on troops. Aurora passes ML 484. Jeeps and motorcycles are transferred onto a lighter which is towed off by a harbour tug - Penelope is also unloading in the background. V. Scenes in Taranto. LS along the quays showing Italian warships boats and destroyers alongside. LS of harbour dredger. MS of the bridge spanning the canal between inner and outer harbours - on the point beyond is an old fortress being used as a signal station. A harbour tug passes along the canal. A detachment of Italian police pass over the bridge, watched by a British trooper. A second tug passes along the canal - a LCI(L) is alongside in the foreground. Various shots of town buildings, many of them bomb damaged, and local fishing vessels in the harbour. VI. Reel Three. Entry into Taranto. LS into the harbour - in centre frame is a sunken vessel, its upper works above the surface. Anchor crew on Aurora stand by - one man uses a cable jack to lift the cable so that the tongue of a Blake slip can be passed underneath. MS as Aurora passes off the port quarter of HMS Dido. LS of HMS Sirius with Penelope in the background. Film then reverts to sequence showing cruisers in line astern at sea, the quarterdeck of Aurora piled with equipment and troops relaxing on the focsle. VII. Scenes in Taranto - passing tram, a war memorial, horse-drawn taxi, civic buildings, park and street scenes, a public air-raid shelter, bomb damage. Cameraman then takes a boat trip past torpedo boats and destroyers alongside in the harbour - Monzambano (MB), and FR-31 and FR-23 (ex-French Trombe and Tigre). A number of Italian submarines are also present. A seaplane base has large numbers of moored CRDA Gabbianos and Airones, including an air-sea rescue Z506S in Red Cross markings. Sequence showing a Bachaquero Class LST disembarking motor transport, including a Thornycroft 3 ton bowser and a Chevrolet 3 ton 4x4 C60S truck. The cameraman the visits an airfield operating Spitfires - among the gutted hangars lies the wreckage of a Ju 52 and burnt-out Fiat CR 42 Falcos - a Federal 6x4 wrecker is at work clearing the debris. Film then reverts to view over the harbour - the Monzambano is still alongside in the foreground, but FR-31 has got up steam and moved out into the basin. In the canal between the inner and outer harbours LCAs are embarking troops. Final view of Taranto from departing aircraft.
- Alternative Title: MEDITERRANEAN OPERATIONS OF THE ROYAL NAVY [Allocated Series Title]
- Colour: B&W
- Digitised: Yes
- Object_Number: ADM 465
- Sound: Silent
- Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
- Featured Period: 1939-1945
- Production Date: 1943-09-09
- Production Country: GB
- Production Details: Admiralty (Production sponsor) British Paramount News (Production company)
- Personalities, Units and Organisations: Royal Navy, King George V (regiment/service) Royal Navy, Howe (regiment/service) Royal Navy, ABDIEL (HMS), minelayer (1967) (regiment/service) Royal Navy, AURORA (HMS), light cruiser (regiment/service) Royal Navy, Penelope (regiment/service) Royal Navy, DIDO (HMS), frigate (regiment/service) Royal Navy, Sirius (regiment/service) Royal Navy, Hurworth (regiment/service) Royal Navy, ML 484 (regiment/service) United States Navy & Boise (regiment/service) Italian Royal Navy, Monzambano (regiment/service) Italian Royal Navy, FR 23 (regiment/service) Italian Royal Navy, FR 31 (regiment/service) French Navy, Tigre (regiment/service) French Navy, Trombe (regiment/service)
- Keywords: ships, British naval - battleship: King George V & [-] (object name) ships, British naval - battleship: Howe (object name) ships, British naval - cruiser: Aurora (object name) ships, British naval - cruiser: Penelope (object name) ships, British naval - cruiser: Dido (object name) ships, British naval - cruiser: Sirius & [-] (object name) ships, British naval - minelayer, ocean: Abdiel (object name) ships, British naval - destroyer: Hurworth (L.28) (object name) ships, British naval - light forces: ML 484 (object name) ships, British naval - amphibious: Bachaquero Class LST (object name) ships, United States naval - cruiser: USS Boise (object name) ships, Italian naval - escort: Monzambano & [surrendered] (object name) ships, Italian naval - destroyer: FR 23 & [surrendered] (object name) ships, Italian naval - destroyer: FR 31 & [surrendered] (object name) ships, Italian naval - submarine, midget: CB Class & [surrendered] (object name) ships, French naval - destroyer: Tigre & [impressed] (object name) ships, French naval - destroyer: Trombe & [impressed] (object name) aircraft, Italian - seaplane: CRDA Cant Z501 Gabbiano & [surrendered] (object name) aircraft, Italian - seaplane: CRDA Cant Z506B Airone & [surrendered] (object name) aircraft, Italian - seaplane: CRDA Cant Z506S Airone & [surrendered] (object name) aircraft, Italian - combat: Fiat CR 42 Falco & [wrecked] (object name) aircraft, German - transport: Junkers Ju 52 & [wrecked] (object name) aircraft, British - combat: Supermarine Spitfire (object name) transport, Italian military - prime mover: Trattore Leggero SPA Mod TL37 (object name) transport, British military - ambulance: Ford 1/4-ton 4x4 GPW (object name) Operation Slapstick 1943, Landing at Taranto, Italy, Second World War (event) Italy & Taranto, Apulia (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: 3 Footage: 2132 ft; Running time: 24 mins
- HD Media:Yes
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