WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 170 [Main Title]

The Fall Of Caen.

I. 'FALL OF CAEN.' A British sapper uses a mine detector in a field in the environs of Caen as a caterpillar tractor equipped with a winch drives past. The commentary outlines events leading to the final Allied push to capture Caen over footage of British tank crews boarding their M4 Shermans. British M4 tank crews perform routine maintenance on their machines, one crew is shown "pulling through" their 75mm tank gun. A British tank crewman gets into his M4 hull entry hatch and closes it slowly, affording good views of the hatch-mounted driver's periscope. Canadian (?) infantry carrying picks and Lee-Enfield .303-in No.IV rifles march along a road described by the commentary as the "Falaise Highway." British infantry ride on the hull of a Churchill Mk VI tank (with 75mm gun). British infantry carrying Lee-Enfield No.IV rifles and Bren .303-in light machine guns walk past parked Churchill Mk IV and VI tanks and M4 Shermans. Waffen SS prisoners (12th SS Pz Div ?) stand with their hands placed on their heads as they are interrogated by a roadside, British Churchill (Mk III ?) tanks drive past raising dust. Stock shots show British troops firing a Vickers .303-in water-cooled machine gun followed by an artillery barrage by heavy field guns. A British M4 Sherman travels at speed along a country lane, its frontal armour augmented by extra track links affixed to its hull. The commentary states that Caen was captured by British and Canadian elements (British 1 Corps and Canadian 1 Corps) and that the Americans (US VII Corps) had simultaneously taken La Haye-du-Puits (Manche). Panoramic footage shows British infantry advancing over open country supported by M4 Shermans and Universal carriers. British infantry walk across a field carrying Lee-Enfield No.IV rifles, an Enfield .38-in pistol, and slung PIAT (Projector Infantry Anti Tank) projector, a Sherman M4A2 (76mm gun) is parked in the background. General Bernard Law Montgomery (Commander 21st Army Group) seated in his Humber Snipe tourer is given three cheers by a small group of assembled British soldiers. A British Sherman Firefly fires its 17-pounder gun at unseen targets. Waffen SS prisoners, still wearing camouflage smocks and helmets are guarded by Canadian (?) infantry armed with Sten 9mm sub-machine guns. General Montgomery talks to recently liberated French civilians near to the Palais de Justice in Caen. French civilians gather outside the Lycée Malherbe in Caen to watch the raising of the French national flag on Bastille Day (July 14 1944). A 2nd Lieutenant of the British 3rd Infantry Division poses near a road sign that reads "Paris, Rouen, Le Mans, Laval."

35mm