WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 223 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 223 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 223
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: An edition of the British official newsreel "War Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.
  • Description: I. 'BRITISH METEORS GIVE DISPLAY.' Royal Air Force (RAF) groundcrews manhandle a Gloster Meteor Mk III fighter aircraft into an engine start position. RAF groundcrews work on a Meteor fighter of 616 Squadron prior to a display being given in honour of Queen Alexandrine of Denmark. Various views of the Gloster Meteor are shown, cockpit canopies are closed and a Meteor Mk III takes off. A Meteor Mk III performs a high speed low-level pass to camera. Aerial footage shows a pair of 616 Squadron Meteors in flight. An RAF Regiment guard of honour presents arms (Lee-Enfield No.IV .303-inch rifles). A Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) band marches past crowds of Danish civilians at an airfield near Copenhagen. Queen Alexandrine arrives at the air show accompanied by an unidentified RAF group captain. A squadron of RAF Hawker Tempest Mk V aircraft overfly the camera position. A 616 Squadron Meteor Mk III makes high speed low-level passes near assembled crowds of Danish civilian spectators. An RAF Hawker Typhoon aircraft demonstrates its destructive capabilities by attacking captured/surrendered German Blohm und Voss Bv 138 flying boats with 60-lb rocket projectiles. A squadron of RAF Hawker Tempest Mk V fighters overfly the Danish crowds. II. 'INDIA.' Indian farmers watch a demonstration in the use of mechanical rotary cultivators and ploughs. An Indian farmer drives a rotary cultivator, his progress being watched by his colleagues. Indian land workers use hand scythes to cut rice stalks. Rice is winnowed and threshed using traditional methods. Oxen-drawn carts carry rice sacks to a storage and auction area. Brief footage shows a mechanical rice-sifting machine at work. III. 'AUSTRALIANS ADVANCE IN PACIFIC.' Australian (?) Matilda Mk II tanks apparently wade a watercourse on Bougainville Island (more likely to be elements of the 7th New Zealand Brigade fighting on nearby Treasury Island). Australian (?) infantry walk behind a Matilda Mk II tank. Australian infantry fire Owen 9mm sub-machine guns and Lee-Enfield Mk III .303-inch rifles from the cover of jungle foliage. Shells impact from the Allied naval bombardment of Tarakan Island as United States Navy (USN) landing craft make for the shoreline. Australian gun crews fire Ordnance 25-pounder howitzers from the cover of buildings on Tarakan Island. Bare-chested Australian infantry view the remains of Japanese pillboxes that have been knocked from their foundations by the intensity of the Allied naval fire. Brief footage shows the wreckage of a Japanese single-engined fighter (probably a Mitsubishi A6M Zero-Sen) at an airfield on Tarakan. Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) engineers use caterpillar tractors to fill in bomb craters during renovation work at a former Japanese airfield. Brief footage shows panoramic views of Tarakan Oilfields. Australian Army casualties are carried on stretchers. Australian soldiers stand silently together during a burial service for fallen comrades.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 223
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-08-13
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Ministry of Information, Middle East (Production sponsor) War Pictorial News (Production company) Martin, Charles (Production individual) Redway, John (Production cast)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Royal Australian Air Force (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: agriculture, Indian - tropical (object name) engineering, military, Australian (object name) casualties, Japanese dead - battlefield (object name) medical, Australian military - movement (object name) combat, Australian (object name) Denmark (geography) India (geography) Solomon Islands <Bougainville> (geography) Borneo & Tarakan Island (geography) Tarakan 1945, Pacific War 1941-1945, Second World War (event)
  • 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: 937 ft; Running time: 10 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 223

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