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Unedited British record of leading journalists of the Dominions of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa visiting the British zone of the Western Front, September 1918.
The group of ten men arrives by car at Australian Corps headquarters, Bertangles Château, where it is met by among others, Captain G E W Bean (in slouch hat) and Captain G H Wilkins, one of the Australian official cameramen. They drive off again to a temporary prisoner of war camp (Keith Murdock can be seen in uniform with soft hat) and are shown German soldiers and guns captured by the Australians in the Battle of Amiens. One soldier gets into the muzzle of a gun to demonstrate its size, two others display a 210mm mortar on a wheeled carriage. On 5th September the journalists are shown the old Vimy Ridge battlefield by men of the Canadian Corps. From a shallow trench they use binoculars, telescopes and a map to explain the battle. Captain Bean is seen again, wearing glasses and looking through a telescope. The journalists watch a race between two Mark V female tanks at the Tank School at Etaples, after which a Medium A Whippet demonstrates its manoeuvrability by driving right up to them. On 6th September, also near Etaples, they watch demonstrations by dogs at the Central Depot of the Messenger Dog Service. The dogs deliver messages which are relayed by semaphore flags. As the dogs return to their kennels smoke and explosions are let off to accustom them to battle noises. On 7th September the men meet Field Marshal Haig at the Château de Beaurepaire, Montreuil. They are then shown on 5th September posed with General Sir Henry Horne at First Army Headquarters, Ranchicourt, going on to the ruins of Arras Cathedral on the same day and talking with an old lady who has stayed in the city throughout the war. They walk through the main square, which is reduced to rubble. On Vimy Ridge on 5th September they rest, smoke and eat, talking to three officers. Their cars drive them to a partly damaged village which they explore on foot.
Catalogue entry from Imperial War Museum: http://film.iwmcollections.org.uk/record/index/45229