Description
Object description
The Road To Germany.
Full description
I. 'THE ROAD TO GERMANY.' Panoramic views show a destroyed stone and iron bridge across an unidentified watercourse as British sappers construct a pontoon bridge that will allow armoured vehicles and soft-skins to cross. The commentary stresses the importance to the Allies of rapidly replacing bridges blown up by retreating German forces. A British Cromwell tank crosses a newly constructed pontoon bridge as British infantry file along side gang-planks. A Canadian CMP 13 soft-skinned vehicle towing a limber and Ordnance 25-pounder field gun enters the outskirts of Rouen as French civilians cheer and wave. Hundreds of French civilians gather near Rouen Cathedral as Canadian Universal carriers drive past. Footage shows Seine River Bridges that have been destroyed by elements of the retreating German 15th Army. Canadian soft skins drive past abandoned German soft-skins and horse-drawn carts. A German Gepanzerter Munitionsschlepper UE (f) (Renault UE) supply carrier lies abandoned in a wheat field. Polish softskins drive past a road sign that reads "Les Cambres 4.5k, Dieppe 46k." The commentary states that the Canadians returned to Dieppe without having to fire a shot and that some of their number had taken part in the historic "reconnaissance in force" of 1942. Road signs show Dieppe at 35.5k, 11k and finally at only 3.5k distance, the final sign is situated outside the "Auberge Maison Blanche." Canadian soft-skins enter the outskirts of Dieppe, driving under a banner that reads "Honneur aux Canadiens." A German V1 flying bomb (Fieseler Fi 103 Vergeltungswaffe 1) flies through flak in the night skies, eventually being destroyed by tracer fire. The commentary highlights the role of the barrage balloon crews in the defence of Britain against V1 attack and states that the German terror weapons were caught like fish in nets suspended between pairs of barrage balloons. A Royal Air Force (RAF) barrage balloon crew arrive by soft-skin at a rural location where they unload and inflate a barrage balloon. A winch operator then raises the balloon to its required height. A German V1 is hit by flak at night and is shown impacting on the Southern English countryside. A V1 impacts on water near a rural town, its fuel exhausted. The commentary states that the Allied advance into Belgium has caused the loss of eight million tons of coal and four million tons of iron and steel that would otherwise have gone to German war production. M4 Sherman tanks sweep past a road sign reading "Béthune 18k, Servins 2k." Belgian Army soft-skins and Willys Jeeps are welcomed by Belgian civilians. Scores of German Army prisoners are escorted by members of the Belgian resistance. German Army and Waffen SS troops are guarded by British infantry carrying 9mm Sten sub-machine guns, soft-skins of the British XXX Corps (black boar insignia on tailgates) drive past. An M4 Sherman tank "Erin" leads a column of M4's past cheering Belgian civilians. A British Sherman Firefly drives past a sign attached to a building that reads "Welcome to the liberators." A Belgian woman attempts to hit a German soldier as he is escorted past her by a British army motorcycle despatch rider. Extended footage shows the liberation of Brussels with British Guards Armoured Division Cromwell tanks driving through throngs of cheering civilians. British Cromwells drive past the Bruxelles Hotel Metropole.
Physical description
35mm
