WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 171 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 171 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 171
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: An edition of the British official newsreel "War Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.
  • Description: I. 'THE RAINS CAME.' An item that covers the efforts made by the Allied forces in Burma to adapt to the changing operational conditions caused by the arrival of the monsoon season. Heavy rainfall lashes at a tented Royal Air Force (RAF) encampment in Burma as the commentary states that despite bogged airfields, the Allied air blitz against the Japanese on the Arakan Front must be maintained. A Douglas C-47 Dakota transport aircraft (no markings visible- SEAC ?) lands on a waterlogged grass air strip. Burmese civilian workers unload bags of cement from a soft-skin and unroll wire grid netting during construction of a concrete landing strip. Burmese civilians use sand bags to shore up the banks of an unidentified watercourse in an attempt to prevent monsoon season flooding. South East Asia Command (SEAC) ground crews fill a petrol bowser from fuel drums using a mechanical pump. Stock shots show RAF pilots running to Hawker Hurricane Mk IIC fighter aircraft. SEAC Hurricanes overfly typical Burmese countryside. II. 'ITALY.' French-Moroccan Spahis of the French Expeditionary Corps line the main square (Il Campo) in Siena, Tuscany. The commentary states that United States (US) and French forces took time off to celebrate Bastille day on July 14 1944. French and US armoured troops are drawn up on Il Campo with M3 Stuart light tanks, M8 Ford Greyhound light armoured cars and M10 Wolverine tank destroyers (Gun Motor Carriage). General A P Juin (French Expeditionary Corps), General Mark W Clark (US Fifth Army) and Field Marshal Harold R L G Alexander (Commander 15th Army Group) are shown in close up taking the salute during the Bastille celebrations and inspecting French-Moroccan troops. US infantry march past the camera position carrying M1 Garand .30-in self-loading rifles. The item closes with footage of the Sbandieratori delle Contrade (medieval flag-bearers) dressed in their traditional medieval costumes during the famous Siena Palio celebrations. III. 'CHURCHILL IN FRANCE.' British Prime Minister Winston Spencer Churchill on his second visit to Normandy, visits Cherbourg following its liberation by the US VII Corps. Churchill is given a tour of the town's damaged dock installations. Later Churchill visits Caen and is shown driving across a bridge over the Orne River in a Humber Snipe Tourer driven by a RASC Sergeant (Royal Army Service Corps). Caen is described by the commentary as being the scene of the great British and Canadian victory over Rommel's Panzers. Churchill talks to small gatherings of British troops, and is accompanied by General Bernard Law Montgomery (Commander 21st Army Group) and General Miles C Dempsey (Commander British 2nd Army). IV. 'COASTAL COMMAND.' A brief item covering an attack by Royal Air Force (RAF) Coastal Command Bristol Beaufighter TF Mk X anti-shipping fighters (no squadron codes visible) on a German convoy off the Frisian Islands. Beaufighters fly at low-level over the sea. Camera Gun Footage (CGF) shows a devastating attack on the German convoy with numerous 20mm cannon strikes evident on the merchant shipping. The commentary outlines the successful anti-shipping operation and stresses the contribution of Coastal Command to the war effort. V. 'NEWS FROM ENGLAND.' King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visit an agricultural camp in Britain to see the work of both amateur and professional farmers. The King and Queen watch a demonstration of ploughing using a Caterpillar tractor. The King, smoking a cigarette, closely inspects a newly ploughed furrow. The commentary stresses that although work on a farm in wartime is largely mechanised, ultimately man and woman power is what counts. The Royal party talk to female agricultural workers who are tending to a vegetable patch. King George VI enjoys tea with the agricultural workers in a canteen. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visit an anti-aircraft battery accompanied by General Sir Frederick Pile (Anti-Aircraft GOC-in-C). Queen Elizabeth talks to a gun crew in an Vickers Ordnance 3.7-in anti-aircraft gun position. The states that the anti-aircraft batteries form part of the defences dealing with German flying bombs. Stock shots show 3.7-in anti-aircraft batteries firing on a V1 flying bomb (Fieseler Fi 103 Vergeltungswaffe 1). CGF shows various attacks on German V1 flying bombs by RAF aircraft and the spectacular destruction of one flying bomb by 20mm cannon fire.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 171
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-08-14
  • 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: Clark, Mark Wayne (person) Alexander, Harold (1st Earl Alexander of Tunis) (person) Juin, Alphonse P (person) Churchill, Winston Leonard Spencer (person) Montgomery, Bernard Law (person) Dempsey, Miles Christopher (person) George VI, King (person) Elizabeth II, Queen (person) Pile, Frederick Alfred (person)
  • Keywords: operations, Australian military - routine (object name) delegations, British national - state (object name) weapons, German - missile: V1 (object name) combat, British - anti-aircraft (object name) ceremonies, French - event-related: Bastille Day (object name) combat, British - air strike anti-ship (object name) Italy & Siena, Tuscany (geography) Caen, Calvados, France (geography) Cherbourg, Manche, France (geography) Burma (geography) rain (concept)
  • 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: 826 ft; Running time: 9 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 171

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