WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 194 (22/1/1945)

This film is held by the Imperial War Museum (ID: WPN 194).

Synopsis

I. 'NEWS FROM ENGLAND.' Members of the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) stand on the deck of a small marine auxiliary vessel used to ferry RN personnel from ship to shore. WRNS members work on the decks of a small ferry vessel (MCI). Film footage taken in the wheelhouse shows a "wren" (WRNS) steering the vessel. Royal Navy ratings are transferred from ship to shore by a WRNS ferry vessel working in a unidentified harbour location.

II. 'BURMA.' An Indian officer of the British Fourteenth Army (7th Indian Division ?) reads a map from the cover of foliage. A British M3 Grant tank fires at Japanese positions on Kennedy Peak (environs of Tiddim). Indian infantrymen use a field telephone. South East Asia Command (SEAC) Douglas C-47 Dakota transport aircraft drop supplies over rugged terrain. Indian infantry fire a Bren .303-inch light machine gun and M1 Thompson .45-inch sub-machine guns from the cover of long grass. An Indian infantryman cautiously enters a Japanese foxhole and later emerges with a Japanese battle flag.

III. 'THE PORT OF ANTWERP.' An item stressing Antwerp's strategic and logistical importance to the Allied war effort. Panoramic views show Antwerp's large port facilities with tugs vessels 28 and 25 at work near the quaysides. Allied soft-skinned vehicles are off-loaded by quayside cranes from the holds of berthed merchant shipping.

IV. 'COASTAL COMMAND ATTACKS.' Brief footage shows a Royal Air Force (RAF) Coastal Command Bristol Beaufighter squadron starting engines prior to operations. A Coastal Command de Havilland Mosquito FB Mk VI anti-shipping aircraft starts its Rolls-Royce Merlin engines and is later shown taking off (no squadron codes visible). Aerial footage shows Coastal Command Mosquito WR*X with drop-tanks in flight. Extended operational footage shows Coastal Command Mosquito aircraft attacking German shipping in an unidentified Norwegian fjord (Nordpolen ?).

 

Titles

  • WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 194 (22/1/1945)
 

Technical Data

Year:
1945
Running Time:
9 minutes
Film Gauge (Format):
35mm
Colour:
B&W
Sound:
Sound
Footage:
854 ft
 

Production Credits

Production Countries:
GB
Sponsor
Ministry of Information, Middle East
commentary
Keating, Rex
film editor
Martin, Charles
Production company
War Pictorial News