Description
Object description
Unedited and uncensored newsreel rushes of reports intended to reassure British cinema audiences that all was well with their loved ones and relatives serving in the British Army in France at Christmas time, featuring British troops celebrating Christmas lunch and singing a Christmas carol and short Christmas messages from Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), General Lord Gort.
Full description
I. Interior scenes showing men serving with the 5th Battalion Border Regiment sitting down to Christmas lunch in their billet, an upstairs floor in a French brick barn that has been decorated with Christmas streamers and balloons. A clumsily-scripted dialogue takes place involving 'Nobby', who is responsible for carving the turkey, and a young soldier standing next to him who wonders out loud what Nobby's wife would think if she could see her husband now. The platoon sergeant arrives with the Orderly Officer, a Lieutenant, who asks the men if they have any complaints; another soldier shows him a Christmas stocking full of holes. Both the Sergeant and the officer are wearing steel helmets and gas mask satchels on their chests; unlike the rest of the men seen here, they are also wearing the new British Army battledress. 'Nobby' passes a glass of beer to the officer and asks him to drink their health, which he duly does. The scene concludes with a rendition of 'Why was he born so beautiful?' (without the third and fourth lines and their profanities) and a shot of a full glass of beer as the officer toasts the health of the men. There are at least two takes for every bit of dialogue in this scene.
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II. Night-time exterior scenes showing a group of soldiers wearing steel helmets and dressed for cold weather standing outside a barn and lit by a shaft of light through an open bar door singing the first verse of the Christmas carol, 'O Come All Ye Faithful'. There are several takes with differently-framed and composed shots.
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III. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, dressed for the cold weather, stands near a microphone stand in the grounds of the Chateau du Cauroy at Avesnes-le-Comte, where the BEF's General Headquarters (GHQ) is located, and addresses the camera, "And now that I'm about to leave the British Expeditionary Force, I'm very glad to be able to say how very much I've enjoyed my short visit and how deeply I've been impressed by everything that I have seen of the troops and the units of the [Royal Air Force] Air Component. When I consider the shortness of the time the force has been in France and the conditions of weather and other difficulties under which it has had to work, I'm simply amazed at the progress they've made. I must congratulate the Commander-in-Chief most sincerely upon the way in which his preparations for defence have been progressing and upon the obvious smartness and efficiency of the troops under his command. I should like to say also that I've been delighted to hear the excellent relations that exist between the British force and the French inhabitants...May I go on?...There isn't...There isn't a Frenchman to whom I have spoken who hasn't borne a most generous testimony to the conduct of the troops and naturally that has given me great satisfaction. When I go back to England, I shall be able to give all at home a most welcome message of the good health and the good spirits of the force and to tell them of my complete satisfaction in their ability to fulfil any task that may be laid upon them. To all ranks in France, I wish a Happy Christmas and the best of luck for the New Year." Chamberlain has no need to repeat any part of his address but the cameraman does vary the shots. At the end, Chamberlain steps away from the camera. A brief view of the scene once he has left.
Full description
IV. An interior shot of General Lord Gort, Commander-in-Chief of the BEF, seated at his wooden trestle table that he uses for his desk inside his GHQ and busy reading and minuting documents in front of him. He abruptly looks up and says, "I believe that this is the first occasion in which a serving Commander in the field has been able not only to be heard but also to be seen by those to whom he is addressing at home. The particular reason why I am taking this opportunity of speaking to you is because this is Christmas time and I have a message for you, for the parents, the wives, the children and the many friends of the British Expeditionary Force now serving with me in France. The message is in no way an unusual one. It is simply this. Our thoughts are with you and we send you one and all the greetings of the Season. With war upon us, Christmas cannot be as usual but in all billets in France, every endeavour is being made to celebrate it in traditional style and in doing so we will recall the memory of many a Christmas in the past spent at our firesides at home. Such memories, as you will appreciate, mean much to us. And of one thing we are certain. It is this: we ourselves will not be forgotten by any of you in the year that lies ahead". Gort does several takes to allow the cameraman to vary the framing of the shots.
Physical description
35mm