WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 191 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 191 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 191
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: An edition of the British official newsreel "War Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.
  • Description: I. 'ALBANIA.' Albanian partisans using captured German equipment pose for photographs next to a sign that reads "Tiranë" (Tirana). Panoramic footage shows Tirana and surrounding mountains. Three Royal Air Force (RAF) Handley Page Halifax bomber aircraft overfly waving crowds of Tirana civilians (Albanian Independence Day- November 28 1944). Hundreds of Albanian civilians march through the streets of Tirana carrying Albanian national flags and political banners that read "Pushtetit Popullor". A single RAF Halifax bomber aircraft overflies the celebratory procession at very low level. Albanian partisans take part in a march past carrying a motley collection of firearms which include British Sten 9mm sub-machine guns, German 7.92mm Kar 98 rifles and Italian 6.5mm Moschetto modello 38 and modello 91 per Cavalleria carbines. II. 'TRIBUTE TO A CAMERAMAN.' Members of film units lay wreath at the Cenotaph in Sydney in memory of Australian war cameraman Damien Parer. Footage shot by Parer shows British Universal carriers and wounded in Libya; an artillery barrage on Crete; jungle scenes from the assault on Salamaua and wounded in New Guinea. A cameraman sets up a camera position in a tree (possibly Damien Parer). A still of Damien Parer in uniform concludes the item. III. 'A STORY OF WOOD.' Interior film footage taken at a wood processing plant in the United Kingdom shows wood veneer being stripped from logs by a rotary cutting machine. A female factory worker in a floral dress stacks thin sheets of wood veneer which are later bound together using heat-treated glue to form plywood. Male and female factory workers construct small folding plywood boats for army use in river crossings. Interior views of an assembly floor show plywood Airspeed Horsa glider sections under construction. Interior film footage shows a de Havilland Mosquito aircraft assembly line (location unidentified). An overhead crane lowers a Mosquito monocoque fuselage (made of plywood, balsa and spruce) onto a waiting wing section. Aerial footage shows a pair of de Havilland Mosquito (B.IV ?) bomber aircraft of 105 Squadron RAF in flight (probably operating from RAF Marham in Norfolk). The item continues in its theme with footage of elephants being worked to construct a wooden river bridge in Burma, and a wood-chopping "lumberjack" competition held in Australia.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 191
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-01-01
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Ministry of Information, Middle East (Production sponsor) War Pictorial News (Production company) Martin, Charles (Production individual) Keating, Rex1910-02-142005-01British newsreel commentator, WW2 period (Production cast)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Parer, Damien Peter (person) Albanian guerrilla forces (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: ceremonies, Albanian - event-related: Independence Day (object name) industry, British - aircraft (object name) animals, mammals: elephant (object name) recreation, Australian civilian - sport (object name) Albania & Tirana (geography) Australia & Sydney, NSW <Cenotaph> (geography) Burma (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: English Subtitle language: Arabic
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 748 ft; Running time: 8 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 191

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