British operations in the Somme offensive between the Battle of Flers-Courcelette and the Battle of the Ancre, Western Front, September-November 1916.

(Reel 1) Material from various phases of the Somme offensive without regard for logical or chronological continuity. The film opens with the unloading of supply trains, and soldiers on the march to the battlefield, horses being used to carry 18-pounder shells to the guns in saddle-panniers as the mud is impassable for wheeled transport, and the first appearance of the tanks. Includes brief footage of black servicemen of the British West Indies Regiment amongst a team of men loading the train. (Reel 2) 18-pounder guns, 6-inch and 8-inch howitzers fire under the control of battery officers and forward observation officers. A sequence of "Irish troops" attacking Martinpuich is shown (fake ?). (Reel 3) The tanks and Highlanders take Martinpuich on 15 September. (Reel 4) Scenes of ruins and a field dressing station after the battle. A German colonel captured with his staff on 13th November. Men of 63rd (Royal Naval) Division rest after capturing Beaumont Hamel. (Reel 5) General views of the Ancre battlefield and troops cleaning up and resting in the aftermath. The final sequence is of silhouetted supply columns moving on up the road. Among the various units in the film, those which are identified are three tanks, HMLS 'Oh I Say !', HMLS 'Daphne' and HMLS 'Dodo', the Australian 1st and 2nd Divisions, Howe and Hawke Battalions from 63rd (Royal Naval) Division, 29th Division, and several Infantry regiments. These include 4th Battalion, the Worcestershire Regiment, 2nd Battalion, the Northamptonshire Regiment, 2nd Battalion, the West Yorkshire Regiment, 7th and 8th Battalions, the King's Own Scottish Borderers, 13th Battalion, the Royal Scots, 11th Battalion, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 6th and 10th Battalions, the Cameron Highlanders, 8th and 9th Battalions, the Durham Light Infantry, the Essex Regiment and the Royal Welch Fusiliers

Notes

Shotsheet: a detailed shotsheet and analysis of this film has been published to accompany the video distribution of this film (1993).

Remarks: the second of the three 'big battle' films made between summer 1916 and spring 1917 by British official organisations, and that which conforms most closely to the 'big battle' format. Compare with IWM 113 THE GERMAN RETREAT AND BATTLE OF ARRAS and IWM 191 THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME. Extremely patchy, it shows evidence of the use of fakes, particularly in the 'Irish' attack, while the close-ups of tanks are clearly filmed in a training ground. Nevertheless it has some good moments, such as the long ride to take shells to the guns in reel 1 and the attack of the Highlanders in reel 3. The novelty value of the tanks is heavily played upon.

Summary (1): additional information courtesy of Tony T of Illuminations TV/Sweet Patootie.

Summary (2): the very tall pipe-smoking officer standing in front of HMLS 'Dodo' in the shot following the caption 'Men of the "Tanks" - Are they downhearted?' has been identified as Lieutenant Hugh Swears of No 11 Company, D Battalion, Heavy Branch. The identification is made in a letter to Roger Smither from Jonathan Walker, written 18/9/1995. Researching a book he was writing on the Battles of Bullecourt (April/May 1917), Walker had been given access to Swears's letters home by his niece, Anne Davison. The letters explain that 'Dodo' was Swears's pet name for his sister Dorothy, and that the film was taken "at our dump, about 1500 yards behind the front line". By mid-February 1917, Swears wrote that he had "heard from lots of people that they have seen me in [the film]". Swears was killed in action at 1st Bullecourt, in April 1917.