ADVANCE OF THE CRUSADERS INTO MESOPOTAMIA - 2

This film is held by the Imperial War Museum (ID: IWM 78).

Synopsis

I. British and Indian forces, and the Arch of Chosroess, Mesopotamian Front, 1918.

Indian soldiers resting after a march. An Indian water-truck column refilling their trucks from a river using hosepipes and pumps. The construction of a sandbag observation tower, and British troops observing the fire of a 6-inch howitzer from the tower, near Ramadi. British Army ground observers signal to aircraft, using strips of cloth laid out as letters on the ground. A 6-inch howitzer and an 18-pounder firing from behind scrim netting. The Al Malwaiyah tower, part of the Great Mosque at Samarra, (described in the film as "a Turkish spiral observation tower"). British soldiers checking the belongings of Turkish prisoners. A long sequence showing the Arch of Chosroess at Ctesiphon.

II. The Jewish settlement at Mulebbis under British control, Palestine Front, December 1917.

The British captured the settlement on 22 December. The people return to the settlement with their possessions, "restoring their goods and shackles (sic) to their homes". British soldiers buy oranges from a street stall.

Notes

Title: only the series title appears on the film. The episode number has been taken from the shotsheet.

Production: this appears to be one of the post-war compilations made by Jury from official material as part of his reward for controlling wartime film production.

Summary: It is unclear whether or not otherwise unidentified material is official film or not. See also IWM 72, IWM 79 and IWM 80.

Remarks: Jury has some funny ideas of where Mesopotamia is, and a cavalier disregard for consistency in describing his films' locations and events. If wartime captioning was as inaccurate as this, the implications for wartime film identification are grim indeed.

 

Titles

  • ADVANCE OF THE CRUSADERS INTO MESOPOTAMIA - 2
 

Technical Data

Year:
1919
Running Time:
15 minutes
Film Gauge (Format):
35mm
Colour:
B&W
Sound:
Silent
Footage:
852 ft
 

Production Credits

Production Countries:
GB