WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 190 [Main Title]

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

I. 'PACIFIC.' United States Navy (USN) large landing craft (LCI-L ?) make for Morotai Island in the Moluccas possibly as a prelude to the US landings of February 20 1944. A US LVT amphibian vehicle (with M3 Stuart turret ?) moves up a beach on Morotai. United States Marine Corps (USMC) members run from an LVT-2 Water Buffalo amphibious vehicle, making for the cover of a tree-line. US Marines carrying M1 .30-inch carbines move inland past a former Japanese defensive position still burning from an earlier flame-thrower attack. US marines carrying M1 Garand .30-inch self-loading rifles and M1 carbines disembark from USN LCI-(L) 544. US Caterpillar tractors tow 105mm howitzers through surf to the beach. Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) advance teams carry Lee-Enfield Mk III rifles as they wade ashore from a landing craft. A Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber ditches in shallow water near an island, its crew being rescued by an Allied naval vessel. Stock shots show General Douglas MacArthur (Commander South-West Pacific) standing on a beach in an unidentified location.

II. 'NEWS FROM ENGLAND.' King George VI visits the Centre for Islamic Culture in Regent's Park where he is met by outgoing Egyptian Ambassador to London, Hassan Nashaat Pasha and is introduced to representatives of the Muslim community resident in London. Mr Langley Taylor, the architect, shows his plans for Regent's Park Mosque and points out features of the proposed site to the King. King George and the Egyptian Ambassador are shown in conversation as they descend the main staircase at the Islamic cultural centre.

III. 'NAZI ATROCITIES IN POLAND.' The item is preceded by a written introduction stating that film offers "irrefutable proof of Nazi atrocities" and that WPN leaves the viewer "to pass judgement". Panoramic footage shows shell-damaged buildings in the Polish town of Lublin (Lubin). A Russian tank crew member, watched by Lublin townsfolk, ties a bouquet of flowers to the 76.2mm gun barrel of his SU-76 self-propelled gun. Russian infantry (1st Belorussian Front) walk along a street in Lublin carrying and wearing masses of flowers donated by civilians enthusiastic at their liberation by the Red Army. Lublin civilians wave at the crews of passing Russian T-34/85 tanks and SU-76 self-propelled guns. Knocked-out Russian T-34/85 and (lend-lease) M4 Sherman tanks stand in a rubble strewn Lublin street. The commentary outlines events leading to the murder of seven hundred prisoners held in Lublin Castle by the German forces of occupation. Exterior views of Lublin Castle follow. Interior footage of the castle shows many civilian corpses lying in the prison workroom, having been executed by a bullet to the back of the head. Numerous corpses lie in the prison courtyard as distraught Lublin civilians attempt to identify the victims of the atrocity. Hundreds gather at the funeral and mass burial held at the foot of the walls of Lublin Castle.

35mm