WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 41 [Main Title]

An edition of the British official newsreel "War Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.

I. 'NEWS FROM ENGLAND.' "Bullets by the Billion." A display of bullet casings and bullets as the commentary points out that it takes twenty two principal stages to produce a finished cartridge. The various processes are highlighted at a munitions factory where industrial presses start the sequence by stamping brass into its initial production shape. Various views of male and female munitions workers at their work stations follow. Brass is moulded by different presses into bullet casing shape with the product being hand sorted at the end of each production sequence. The casings are now toughened and washed by passing them through a gas flame and washing them in Sulphuric acid baths. A female munitions worker checks the casings at the end of the washing process. The commentary outlines the complexity of bullet manufacture and the fourteen manufacturing stages involved. A machine measures out strings of Cordite, placing the exact amount into each bullet casing, paper wads are added to keep the explosive in place. The final production sequence shows the bullets being pressed into their casings. Female munitions workers test chosen batches of bullets at the factory butts. The female workers use a Vickers .303-in heavy machine gun on a tripod, Lewis .303-in light machine gun with tripod, Bren .303-in light machine gun with tripod and Browning M1919 .30-in heavy machine gun with tripod. The guns are fired at cardboard targets with tracer bullets evident in flight and burning on impact with the sand backstop.

II. 'COMMANDOS RAID ON VAAGSO.' Lieutenant-Colonel J F Durnford- Slater (Commanding Officer of No 3 Commando) attends a briefing prior to a Commando raid on the Norwegian islands of Vaagso and Maaloy. Durnford-Slater views with interest a scale model of the harbour settlement at Vaagso. A map illustrating the positions of Vaagso and Maaloy in relation to the Norwegian mainland and Scotland is displayed as the commentary outlines the islands' location and distance from Scotland. Royal Navy O Class destroyers at sea (HMS Onslow G17, HMS Offa G29 and HMS Oribi G66) forming part of the Naval contingent of the combined operation against Vaagso (27 December 1941). The commentary stresses the role of the RN and RAF in the success of the overall operation. RAF Bristol Blenheim Mk IV bombers overfly the task force on their way to bomb a nearby Luftwaffe airfield and also to lay smoke ahead of the assaulting Commando forces. View from a destroyer's Lewis .303-inch anti-aircraft position with heavy seas evident. Royal Navy O Class destroyers visible in silhouette as the early morning sun rises. Meanwhile on board a Landing Ship Infantry (LSI, either HMS Prince Charles or HMS Prince Leopold) Commandos prime Mills 36M hand grenades, as Royal Navy ratings play cards and smoke cigarettes. Commandos carrying Lee-Enfield .303-in Mk III rifles and Thompson .45-in sub-machine guns move to board landing craft (LCA) as the start signal is received by telephone. Flares fired from a Very pistol by Durnford-Slater act as a signal for the Royal Navy to stop their bombardment of the German garrison headquarters and defensive sites. The Commandos land on the island of Maaloy and advance along snow covered streets silhouetted by fires already raging from the RN bombardment. German prisoners are brought in by the Commandos to a central rallying point presumably near to the landing craft. Scenes of burning buildings and destruction as a Commando detachment inspects a captured German 7.5cm FK 16n artillery gun mounted on a circular pivot and used for coastal defence. A map shows the proximity of Vaagso to Maaloy island. The commentary stresses the stubborn resistance put up by the German defenders of Vaagso over scenes of more burning buildings. A commando engages the enemy using a Bren .303-in light machine gun from the cover of a dry stone wall. Commandos fire an Ordnance 3-in smooth bore mortar at maximum elevation illustrating the close range nature of the fighting on Vaagso. Norwegian civilians take cover near the Ulvesunds Hotel, used by the Germans as a headquarters building. A Royal Navy O Class destroyer moves along a fjord to engage German coastal craft. A harbour building used as an ammunition dump is blown up by charges laid by Commandos. A German sign forbidding photography is displayed. German dead lie in the snow as the Commandos prepare to withdraw. The recall signal is given and the Commandos file down to the waiting landing craft. RN landing craft (LCA) leave Vaagso in a line astern formation. German prisoners and Norwegian civilians board the waiting Royal Navy destroyers. Once on board, Royal Navy ratings and Commandos pose with a captured German flag, as others give the thumbs up sign wearing German helmets and a Kriegsmarine officer's cap.

35mm