As 8th Indian Division advances on the open city of Florence in Italy, Indian troops are seen on the march and firing heavy mortars, while British troops of the Royal Fusiliers warily search for snipers amongst ruins close to the River Arno.

At 2015 hours 3rd Battalion 15th Punjab Regiment passes camera, they walk in double file along a road with a bombed house behind them; the men are clearly in high spirits and some are singing. Lorry and trailer passes. Men of 1st Battalion 5th Mahratta Light Infantry setting up and firing 4.2-inch mortars. A jeep slowly passes a smouldering pile of debris as Indian signalmen pay out telephone cable from a drum on the jeep. Signalman climbs a telegraph pole with climbing irons. Securing the cable. In Florence; a Bren gunner of the Royal Fusiliers lying prone in front of a shop that has had its steel shutters blown out. Looking over a British soldier’s shoulder towards a row of substantial buildings a short distance away. Looking through a damaged barred window towards a doorway; a British soldier armed with Thompson submachine gun dives head first through the window, briefly vanishing out of sight before cautiously approaching and entering the doorway. A British soldier fires a Thompson through a decorative window with stone tracery. A British sergeant with Thompson vaults a mound of broken concrete and drops out of shot; a Bren gunner to his right keeps watch. A soldier with bayonet fixed to his rifle also breaks cover (to the right of the Bren gunner). Two British soldiers, quite possibly the same two seen in the previous sequence, in a deep hole or crater, they cautiously move to the lip of the crater; the River Arno can be seen in the background. A British soldier hurries up a mound of rubble, crosses a gap in a broken wall and fires a few rounds from his Thompson. As he does so another soldier goes forwards through the gap, and the first soldier follows him.

Notes

A well-shot and highly credible piece of combat film, strongly evoking the tension of mopping up operations in an urban area. The cameraman’s dopesheet is also interesting, giving detailed notes and giving an impression of the danger of combat photography.

Florence was taken by 21st Indian Infantry Brigade (which included 2/15th Punjabs and 1/5th Mahrattas) on 12 August 1944, the day after this film was shot.

Series note: The MWY series of films is believed to be part of a ‘pool’ of film received by the Government of India from various sources, including South East Asia Command, the Indian Inter-Service Public Relations Directorate, the Ministry of Information, and from Allied governments. This footage would have been considered for editing and release through the Indian Newsreel Parade; see INR series.