THE RAILWAYS PLAY AN IMPORTANT PART IN THE BUILD-UP FOR D-DAY (PART 4) [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: THE RAILWAYS PLAY AN IMPORTANT PART IN THE BUILD-UP FOR D-DAY (PART 4) [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: A70 20-4
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: Further coverage of activity on the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway (SMR), taken over by the War Office in June 1941 and run since then by a Royal Engineers Railway Operating Group.
  • Description: War Department 0-6-0 tank locomotives are seen at various times hauling goods wagons loaded with ammunition along a single-track railway line running through attractive countryside. At Ford station an army signalman pulls a set of signal levers for an oncoming train (not seen). Two farm labourers wave their caps at a passing train. The cameraman records part of the journey from Ford to Kinnerley Junction, the site of railway sheds, a mobile repair shop and an overhead water tank from which his engine can refill. The 'Gazelle', a diminutive five and a half ton 0-6-0 locomotive, the first engine to be used on the SMR, stands disused nearby. Crates of hand-grenades are loaded into goods wagons at Ford ordnance depot. A WD (War Department) locomotive shunts rolling stock over the 'hump' into nearby railway sidings. Two sappers heave spadefuls of coal into a goods wagon (?).
  • Access Conditions: IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-05-13
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Army Film Unit (Production company) Carpenter, L (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords: Welsh Border (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 339 ft.; Running time: 4 mins.
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Notes: Remarks: see A70 20-1 and A70 20-2 for similar footage shot by Lieutenant Handford and Wilkes. Refer to A70 20-3, A70 11-3 and A70 17-4 for further coverage of British railways pre D-Day. Summary : good material for railway enthusiasts - particularly the shots of the toy-like five and a half ton steam locomotive. Best seen with the first two of the items of film listed above.
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    A70 20-4

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    A70 20-2 (THE RAILWAYS PLAY AN IMPORTANT PART IN THE BUILD-UP FOR D-DAY (PART 2) [Allocated Title])
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