Scenes from British feature film "The Somme" made in 1927, about the Battle of the Somme in World War 1. Part of it depicts events involving the South African Brigade in the battle. The extract opens with shells bursting all along No Man's Land among fragments of trees. Explosions and smoke everywhere. On July 18, 1916, Nine German Battalions deploy to drive the South African Brigade from the Delville Wood. Several soldiers of the Brigade seen entrenched in a sand-bagged position as a German shell explodes only yards from them. German soldiers advance through the broken trees and brush, while under fire by British gunners using Vickers machine guns. Some German soldiers falling and others seeking cover in abandoned trench. A line of South African troops firing their rifles from a trench, as several German soldiers reach them and are shot dead just feet away. A British soldier is shot while climbing out of a trench containing several fallen comrades. Other British (or South African) troops scrambling to find a safer place. One crawling across the ground. A British gunner firing a Lewis gun. German troops starting to go over-the-top, from their trench. British soldiers advancing. German gunner firing Maxim gun from fortified position, as shells burst in the distant background. A horizontal line of British troops advancing toward the German position. Some are cut down by the machine gun fire. German gunner firing a captured British Vickers machine gun. British soldiers hunkered down in a deep shell hole behind a ridge. They use their trenching tools to dig in deeper. Several German shells burst in the air. Two British soldiers watch as a tank approaches through the smoke. Large numbers of British troops attack downhill through smoke and haze. German soldiers preparing to defend an occupied structure, as more British troops charge forward. Post-battle view of the area, with fallen soldiers marked by rifles stuck in the ground with helmets on them. (Note: The tanks shown in this film are models Mark V which did not enter service until 1918.)
British men and women entering a building in Wales, UK. They assemble before a stage at the back of the building. Participants are well dressed and constitute a dignified gathering. A gentleman addresses them. British flags displayed and a sign stretched across the top of the stage reads, in Welsh: "adgofion mebyd ein gwron,gwron y byd." ( childhood memories of our hero, the hero of the world ). The gathering may be of political nature and the sign may allude to David Lloyd George who spent his childhood in Wales.(He was Secretary of State for War and then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the head of a wartime coalition government, beginning in 1916.) Following the meeting, participants come out of the front entrance, and pose momentarily for the cinematographer, before continuing on their way.
Oswald Mosley, head of British Union of Fascists, at a rally in Manchester, England. Hecklers object to him and his Union Movement message. Policemen try to control the situation. Many people receive injuries. A man with a bleeding head injury. A woman thrown to the ground. Oswald holds another rally on Ridley Road, Dalston, London. A large number of people protest in the street against Oswald and his movement. He speaks into a microphone but is drowned out by the protesting crowd as policemen hold people behind a human chain. When Oswald cannot be heard over the disturbance he stops the speech as riots break out. Men engage in fisticuffs. 54 men are arrested in connection with the fist fighting and photographers take pictures as Oswald leaves.
British troops aboard 3 different troopships depart from harbors in England, United Kingdom, early in World War 2. Boats on British river. Workers transfer goods onto a ship with the help of cranes. British soldiers aboard the ship SS Bremen as the ship departs from the harbor. Next view is a low view of bow of SS Europa as it is pulling away from a port with troops on board. Last part of clip shows people at dockyard waving at troops aboard the TSMV Dorsetshire, loaded with British forces (ship also called the HM Troopship Dorsetshire, or the HMT Dorsetshire). The soldiers wave back as the ship pulls away from the docks.
Scene from 1927 feature film about World War 1. British tank crosses a battlefield under fire. It is a Mk V tank with dummy guns fitted to simulate a fighting tank. British troops sheltering in a shell-hole recognize it as friendly and follow it towards enemy lines, where it rides over the parapet of a German trench and crushes a machine-gun position. (The tank is an anachronism; the Mark V did not enter service until 1918.)
Reenactment of scenes from 1916 in World War 1, filmed in 1927 in Southwest England. Two British Mk V Tanks advance through shellfire. One has its gun mountings plated over and has dummy guns; the other has its gun mounts intact, though the guns might be dummies, and carries anti-grenade mesh on its roof. (These are by historical errors by the film makers, since this type of anti-grenade protection was not carried on Mark V [Mark 5] tanks, and the Mark V did not enter service until 1918.) The tank advances towards enemy trenches, followed by British soldiers who pursue German soldiers fleeing along the network of trenches. The tank, filmed from below, in the trench, as it moves over the trench. Note: (The film "The Somme" can be seen in full on the British Film Institute website.)
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