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Description: | I. French newsreel item of US forces on the River Vesle, Western Front, September 1918.
II. French newsreel item on places recaptured in the Battle of Noyon, Western Front, September 1918.
Some of the troops line a trench, others a sunken road. Engineers of 3rd (Marne) Division build a light bridge over the river. Transport crosses a stone bridge as the sappers continue to repair it. A distant view of a kite balloon crashing to earth in flames as US soldiers watch it descend. The town hall at Fismes shows extensive damage, as does the railway station and the road to Soissons. Braine is also severely damaged, including the church, and the bank of the Vesle is covered with captured German wire and tank traps. One of the bridges has been damaged and the river has flooded across the water meadows. US Engineers pull down damaged buildings which threaten to collapse.
The 'liberated' areas show battle damage. Horse-drawn 155mm Schneider guns pass through Chauny in a long column. The Crozat Canal nearby is choked with debris. A pan over Tergnier. The mayor of Noyon is briefly held up at a military checkpoint before being allowed back into the town. Prime Minister Clémenceau visits the town, in particular the cathedral and cloisters which show severe damage. Soldiers put a French flag back above the town hall. The film ends with the inspirational poster "On Ne Passe Pas".
35mm | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Subjects: | Georges E B French Army 01/3(4-15).9 Mayor of Clemenceau United States Army & Div 3 & Engineers United States Army & American Expeditionary Force Noyon | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Section Cinématographique de l'Armée Française | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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