WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 97 (15/3/1943)

This film is held by the Imperial War Museum (ID: WPN 97).

Synopsis

I. 'INDIA.' Relief work in Midnapore district of Bengal after the cyclone. Hundreds of Bengali civilians queue at field kitchens to receive a grain hand-out and cooked food. Indian doctors use hypodermic syringes to vaccinate local civilians against water-borne diseases. Villagers take part in a religious procession, performing devotional chants in an attempt to forestall any further disaster. The commentary outlines the enormity of the task facing the Indian Government in restoring communications, rebuilding villages and restoring bridges over scenes of an Indian weaver working white cotton on a wooden loom. Indian workers move earth by hand during the construction of raised dykes designed to prevent future flooding.

II. 'NEW ZEALAND.' North American Harvard training aircraft (Royal New Zealand Air Force ?) overfly a United Nations Day parade held in Wellington. Appreciative civilian crowds watch New Zealand infantry and United States Navy (USN) personnel as they perform a march-past led by a military band. Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) P-40 Kittyhawk fighters overfly the proceedings. Other participants in the parade include New Zealand Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, and members of the Merchant Marine. The commentary stresses that behind the marching columns runs a twenty mile line of fighting and supply vehicles. Artillery tractors tow QF 18-pounder field guns on MkII PA carriages. Valentine Mk I tanks drive past assembled civilian crowds with traversed turrets. Footage shows a convoy of NZ Army soft-skinned vehicles driving through an escarpment and along a coastal road on their way to form part of the parade on United Nations Day.

III. 'RUSSIA.' A Russian armoured train sporting snow camouflage travels through wintry countryside somewhere in the central sector of the Russian Front. Internal views show artillery crews manning and firing a field gun (76.2mm ?) forming part of the train's main offensive capabilities. Russian infantry advance across snow covered steppe supported by artillery fire from the armoured train. Russian gun crews fire 76.2mm Pushka obr 1942g dual-purpose field gun. Footage apparently from the Don and Stalingrad Fronts show Russian infantry carrying a Protivotankovoye Ruzhye Degtyarova obr 1941g 14.5mm anti-tank rifle as they run past knocked-out German PzKpfw II, III and IV tanks. Russian gun crews use 76.2mm Pushkas in the anti-tank role firing at unseen targets. Russian infantry advance through wooded country armed with a Pulemyot Degtyarova Pekhotnii obr 1928g (DP) 7.62mm light machine gun and Pistolet Pulemyot Shpagina 7.62mm sub-machine guns. Russian women and children are helped from underground shelters by Russian infantry following the liberation of their hamlet from the Germans. Hundreds of prisoners from the Italian Eighth Army captured during Operation Little Saturn (Voronezh and South-West Fronts) trudge across the snow into captivity.

 

Titles

  • WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 97 (15/3/1943)
 

Technical Data

Year:
1943
Running Time:
8 minutes
Film Gauge (Format):
35mm
Colour:
B&W
Sound:
Sound
Footage:
756 ft
 

Production Credits

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