Movietone’s War Time News - Reported by Leslie Mitchell: Rommel at Bay
Series
- Series Name
- British Movietone News
Issue
Story
- Story No. within this Issue
- 2 / 2
- Section Title
- Movietone’s War Time News - Reported by Leslie Mitchell
- Summary
- MOVIETONE CARD TITLE: Libyan Advance (Rommel at Bay). DESCRIPTION: Scenes from the Libyan front at the start of our offensive against our tanks were seen locked in battle with the German panzers, and full air support was given by the RAF. The first part of the film was shot during the first great battle of Sidi Rezegh when we stormed the enemy position. SHOTLIST: The following stories were combined: 41727 - Jalo Captured 41726 - RAF Western Desert Offensive 41733 - Prisoners Reach Cairo 41734 - Libyan Battleground Story starts with soldiers loading the guns and guns firing. Various action shots. Tanks advancing, Matildas among them, but cannot identify types as dope was not available, also shot of Indians in Bren Carriers. Movietone cameramen took some of this material, but it came through War Office channels. RAF planes including Tomahawks in flight and formation shots same type, I believe. Shot of a Beaufighter on the ground with half the wing shot away. Shot of Marylands and Blenheims taking off and in flight also formation shots of bombers and fighters. Explosions and shot of a crashed Nazi plane. Plane dive bombing and bombs exploding below. (Aerial) Lorries with troops. Troops advancing with bayonets, etc., through a smoke screen and fire. Captured prisoners (Nazis). Blazing captured tanks (Nazis). Part of this was shot when the first great battle of Sidi Rezegh was being fought. German corpse on the ground. Nazi tank taken away on lorry by repair gang. Mass shots of prisoners, both Nazi and Italian also shots of them surrendering. This includes a shot of an Italian tank with its crew. The commentary mentions an Axis plane crashing and the pilot who baled out. The story ends with an improvised grave of Nazi with a cross formed out of food tins to mark a grave. Also shot of field guns. Jalo Captured - CARD 41727 Indian troops move forward in Bren Carriers. They cross the wire and dismount. They charge the enemy’s positions with grenade and bayonet. Italian men escape. Good scene. RAF Western Desert Offensive - CARD 41726 This material is the best of its kind yet received. It will be wanted again. "Blenheims" and "Marylands" take off. Aerial scenes on the way to the target. "Tomahawks" provide a fighter escort. Aerial scenes showing bombs dropping and bursting below. Shots of lorries moving below. Prisoners Reach Cairo - CARD 41733 The prisoners arrive by train and march through the crowd-lined streets of Cairo. They are both Nazi and Wop.
- Keywords
- Vehicles; Weapons; Aviation; Railways; Fires; Death; War damage; Propaganda; Prisoners of war; Military
- Footage sources
- Indian Army Film Unit
War Office Film Unit
- Card file number
- 41713
- Credits:
-
- Commentator
- Leslie Mitchell
- Length of story (in feet)
- 400
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How to cite this record
'Movietone’s War Time News - Reported by Leslie Mitchell: Rommel at Bay', British Movietone News Issue No. 654A, 18 Dec 1941. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/newsonscreen/search/index.php/story/12078 (Accessed 31 Jan 2025)