ROYAL NAVY SUPPORT 8TH ARMY ADVANCE BY LANDING WATER AT SOLLUM [Allocated Title]
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- Title: ROYAL NAVY SUPPORT 8TH ARMY ADVANCE BY LANDING WATER AT SOLLUM [Allocated Title]
- Film Number: ADM 531
- Other titles: MEDITERRANEAN OPERATIONS OF THE ROYAL NAVY [Allocated Series Title]
- Summary: A convoy of LCTs brings supplies of fresh water from Alexandria to Sollum. At Benghazi supplies are being landed, but the dereliction of the harbour area makes discharge difficult and port clearance work is underway. The city is visited by Admiral Harwood who tours the harbour. A party of US Navy nurses visit a Nelson Class battleship at Mers-el-Kebir.
- Description: I. Reel One. A convoy of LCT(2)s in line astern - nearest is LCT 117. Scenes on the beach at Sollum - LCT 117 and 100 have run ashore and are unloading. From 117 men roll 44-gallon drums of water through the shallows and up the beach where they are stacked ready for transportation - one man gets his wristwatch wet and takes it off to examine it. LCT 100 carries a cargo of jerry cans which are conveyed up the beach by a human chain and packed into the backs of waiting lorries. II. Benghazi. HA onto LCT 117 lying just off the ruined harbour front - two derelict German marine ferries are being used as piers and alongside them are berthed two LCP(L)s, a Z-lighter Z.36, a small tug, and two LCM(1)s, one of which is offloading into a 15-cwt Fordson. LS along the waterfront to the wreckage of a ship beached near a demolished harbour crane. LCT 111 and 113 lie either side of a derelict - in the background the harbour is full of wrecks. Sequence showing a RN transport party by desert roadside - they have parked their 3-ton Bedford OY and are enjoying a meal and some tea - two Africans of an Army General Transport company are given some of the brew-up. Trucks, including a CMP Ford, pass along the road as the men eat. After their meal the men wash up and a few play at kicking about a solar topee. The scene returns to Benghazi harbour, where a man examines a damaged enemy radio set abandoned beside a sandbagged emplacement containing a 3.7cm Breda AA gun. A small steamer is capsized in the shallows - in the background is anchored a Flower Class corvette. CU of a discoloured and riddled notice PONTILE DUCA D'AOSTA and MS of partially demolished wooden jetty. On the quayside lie sacks of supplies abandoned by the retreating Germans - CU of one shows it to contain 50 kg of rye meal. CUs of two RN officers talking by beached wreck - the junior of the two points out various features of the harbour and they are presumably talking about the clearance of the port. CU of a helmet diver being suited up. MS of three sailors clowning on a wrecked Zundapp motorcycle and sidecar. The senior of the two officers seen earlier - he is a Commander - dictates a message to a signalman with Aldis lamp. A casualty is brought in - stretcher is removed from the back of a truck and taken inside - the injured man is invisible being heavily swathed and the stretcher surrounded by bearers - a Humber Mk III armoured car is parked outside the building into which the casualty is taken. CU of a RN transport party with an American serviceman talking with Father Lorenzo Gargano (?), the only Italian to remain behind at Giovanni Berta - the American tries out a pair of German (?) binoculars. An Arab woman attempts to sell the sailors some eggs. III. Continuation of I. Sequence onboard a LCT at sea. A man semaphores from the bridge. CUs of the crew reading, talking or just leaning on side rail of the bridge. MS off the starboard bow of LCT 158 - it has an armoured conning position forward on the starboard side. A lookout watches the sky. The convoy nears the coast and the stern anchor is ready to be let go. View inside the canvas covered hold - a sailor has spread a blanket over the cargo of water barrels and lies reading a letter - other crewmen are resting in hammocks slung from the rafters. Further film of the unloading at Sollum - to help unload jerry cans from LCT 100 the men set up lengths of roller conveyor, supported by a line of water drums up-ended in the shallows. One of the workers has solved the problem of getting his clothes wet by removing all of them. IV. Continuation of II. A helmet diver submerges and men pay out line and work the air-pump. MS of a parked M19 truck-trailer which is being used to transport a diving boat STO 1. MS of large No Smoking sign painted on a wall in both German and Italian, and pan to ruined building behind. Another shot of men clowning on Zundapp motorcycle combination. V. Mers-el-Kebir. LS pan across anchorage - merchantmen, HMS Euryalus, Protector, Scylla, and Furious and against the mole, HMS Formidable and HMS Protector with destroyers alongside. Two sailors look out over the harbour, one of them pointing out features of interest to his friend. A local is offered a cigarette. Trucks carry parties of sailors along the coastal road for rest and recuperation in Oran (?). XLS over the anchorage to mountains beyond - in centre frame are Furious and Renown. Sailors at liberty in city park, posing for group photographs, buying fruit and drinks, etc. Sequence showing a party of United States Navy Nurses visiting a Nelson Class battleship - as they come onboard HMS Scylla is visible in the background. VI. Benghazi. LA to a man who has climbed up the flagpole on the tower of Admiralty House to attach a new halyard and LA.LS as the White Ensign is broken out - camera then pans left to the prominent twin domes of the cathedral. MS broad on the port bow of French cruiser Suffren moored to a buoy. VII. Continuation of I and III. Further shots of LCTs at sea and landing water at Sollum. VIII. Benghazi. Brief sequence showing MTB 264 and another Elco motor torpedo boat. LS of merchantmen in the harbour. Sequence showing a visit by Admiral Sir Henry Harwood - he tours the harbour in a launch and visits the Casa del Fascio - outside the town hall the slogan "Act as if the Duce were watching you" has been crudely over-painted with "V for Victory" by advancing British troops.
- Alternative Title: MEDITERRANEAN OPERATIONS OF THE ROYAL NAVY [Allocated Series Title]
- Colour: B&W
- Digitised:
- Object_Number: ADM 531
- Sound: Silent
- Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
- Featured Period: 1939-1945
- Production Date: 1943
- Production Country: GB
- Production Details: Admiralty (Production sponsor) Gaumont British News (Production company) Ewins, James (Production individual)
- Personalities, Units and Organisations: Harwood, Henry (person) Gargano, Lorenzo (?) (person) Royal Navy, FURIOUS (HMS), light cruiser (regiment/service) Royal Navy, EURYALUS (HMS), cruiser (1939) (regiment/service) Royal Navy, Scylla (regiment/service) Royal Navy, LCT 117 (regiment/service) Royal Navy, LCT 100 (regiment/service) Royal Navy, LCT 111 (regiment/service) Royal Navy, Z.36 (regiment/service) Royal Navy, MTB 264 (regiment/service) Free French Navy, Suffren (regiment/service)
- Keywords: ships, British naval - aircraft carrier, fleet: Furious & [-] (object name) ships, British naval - cruiser: Euryalus & [-] (object name) ships, British naval - cruiser: Scylla & [-] (object name) ships, British naval - amphibious: LCT[2] 117 (object name) ships, British naval - amphibious: LCT[2] 100 (object name) ships, British naval - amphibious: LCT[2] 111 (object name) ships, British naval - amphibious: Z.36 (object name) ships, British naval - light forces: MTB 264 (object name) ships, French naval - cruiser: FFS Suffren (object name) ships, German naval - amphibious: MFP Type A & [damaged] & [captured] (object name) weapons, Italian - gun: Breda 37/54 & [captured] (object name) supplies, British, movement [RA] - food: water (object name) supplies, German - food: rye & [captured] (object name) Libya & Sollum (geography) Libya & Benghazi (geography) Algeria & Mers-el-Kebir (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: 2 Footage: 1455 ft; Running time: 16 mins
- HD Media:
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