THE 6TH AIRBORNE DIVISION PREPARES FOR D-DAY [Allocated Title]

6th Airborne Division units prepare to fly into battle.

I. Major-General Gale, the Division's commander, addresses Divisional troops at Harwell aerodrome. Airborne sappers place detonators into shrapnel mines. Military Policemen attend to their Matchless and Enfield motorcycles. An Airborne signals lieutenant and private paint the Liberation star on a cloth panel. A corporal performs a 'native' dance for off-duty signallers. Signallers check jeep-mounted radio equipment. Engineers pack PIATs and ammunition into a parachute container. Parachute Regiment troops are issued with two 24-hour compo ration boxes, etc. Men from the 2nd Battalion, the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, support platoon load ammunition and a Vickers machine gun into jeep trailers. A mechanic services a jeep. Weapons such as a Lee-Enfield rifle, a Colt .45 automatic pistol, a Mark 5 Sten gun, a Bren gun and Nos 36 and 69 grenades are examined before being packed.

II. Empty Bren and Sten magazines are loaded with bullets and packed into boxes. Airborne signallers receive French 'invasion' currency. A paratrooper sharpens his knife. Three paras wearing helmets pose for the cameraman.

35mm