30TH CORPS FOLLOWS UP THE GERMAN RETREAT BEYOND THE NOIREAU VALLEY [Allocated Title]

The 50th (Northumbrian) Division crosses the Noireau valley and takes possession of villages left unharmed by fighting on account of the rapid German withdrawal. Their inhabitants return to their own homes from the surrounding countryside.

Transport belonging to the 8th Battalion Durham Light Infantry and armour from the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry's 'A' and 'C' squadrons heads across the Class 40 Bailey bridge constructed by 50th Division's engineers over the Noireau river at Pont Erambourg before heading towards the village of Sainte-Honorine-la-Chardonne. Long lines of lorries and marching infantry belonging to the 50th Division, in particular to one of its artillery regiments, the 74th Field Regiment RA, head through Sainte-Honorine-la-Chardonne and past its church from whose tower Allied and French flags fly in celebration of liberation. A French civilian, an ex-prisoner of war, puts on a comedy routine insulting Adolf Hitler before a bemused audience in the middle of Athis. Those of the village's inhabitants who had fled into the countryside to avoid the fighting - including nuns and orphans - return to their homes.

35mm