1. Duke of Gloucester Inspects Canadians: England, 19 May 1943. Beginning a three-day tour of Canadian Forces in England, His Royal Highnees, the Duke of Gloucester, spends some time with Canadian Army troops. He visits elements of the Royal Canadian Dental Corps in company with Lieutenant-General McNaughton and other officers. He inspects an honour guard and looks over personnel of No. 6 Casualty Clearing Station. Nurses and medical orderlies stand on parade for the occasion. On the second day, the Duke watches a demonstration by the 3rd Army Tank Brigade, and 18th Armoured Car regiment. Four tanks appear on the crest of a hill in the distance and move across a field. Next on the Duke's itinerary is a visit with the 4th Division Royal Canadian Army Service Corps. (RCAFC), a supply corps. The men are lined up by their trucks, motorcyles and other equipment as the visitor and his party walk by. On the third day the Duke, escorted by Major General F.F. Worthington, O.C. of the 4th Armoured Division, inspects an honour guard of the 28th Canadian Armoured Regiment (some notes identify this as the British Columbia Regiment) and looks on as the 11th Infantry Brigade, supported by tanks, puts on an assault demonstration. The action takes place in the mid-distance as a few Universal Carriers and Ram tanks speed down a hill and cross over an assault bridge spanning a ditch. Two tanks and several infantry move by the camera. At the end of his visit, the Duke, with General Crerar standing by, takes the salute of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. <1mn 34s>~2. Canadian Sappers Train at British School: England, May 1943. Royal Engineers and Royal Canadian Engineers train together at a British School of Military Engineering at Uckfield. A grou of men practice lyaing landmines. One man is shown placing a mine in a hole in the ground. They also learn about mine removal. In another section, the camera focuses, from various angles and distances, on a group of men assembling a prefabricated bridge, handling various tools, under the guidance of a British Army Engineer. The commentary stresses the appropriateness of Canadians being instructed by British Army personnel in military engineering matters. <1mn 13s>~3. Casualty Evacuation: England. 3 May 1943: Men of the 14th Field Ambulance march past Brigadier E.A. McKusker, who returns the salute, and Lieutenant-Colonel Matron-in-Chief A.C. Neill. The men stage a demonstration in transporting "wounded" soldiers across a stream. The two officers observe what the narrator calls the "Moses in the bullrushes" operation being performed by the medics. The men load "casualties" on improvised water craft after one man has crossed the stream, which is thick with bullrushes, to prepare for ferrying the casualties across. Once on the other side, the "wounded" are lifted out and placed on a framework erected on a jeep. The jeep, casualties and medics move away past the camera, presumably on their way to a casualty clearing station. <1mn 8s>~4. The Pen and the Sword: England, May 1943. A platoon of Canadian Army clerks experience battle-drill training on a tough assault course. The men, in battledress and with fixed bayonets, jog laboriously past the camera through a clearing. Holding rifles above their heads, they wade through waist-deep water and clamber up the bank past the camera. An explosion sends water flying a few feet away. They struggle through a smoke screen, across a barbed wire entanglement and over obstacles. As they sprawl in a muddy trench, bullets rip up the ground and pass a few inches over their heads. The narrator refers to the clerks' usual duties as compared to the rigours of assault training. The men are then shown crawling in a water-logged ditch, lifting themselves out of the mud and slogging disconsolately past the camera. Half a dozen men are last seen, their backs turned to the camera, advancing away through smoke. <1mn 18s>~5. Khaki Close-Ups: England, 1943. This concists of three segments, as follows: Ross-Munro-Helen Stevens Wedding: This is a story on the wedding of war correspondent Ross Ross Munro and Nursing Sister Helen Marie Stevens of No. 1 Canadian General Hospital, on May 8, 1943. They walk towards and past the camera. Military wedding guests stand by as the couple sit in their army vehicle and drive away. Lorne Scots Sports Day, May 1943. The regimental pipe band pipe the men and their dog mascot onto the field for track and field events. Runners run by the camera at theend of the three-mile race, after which winner J.W. Collier and the runner-up R.B. [Haley] pose together. Other athletes participate in a tug-o-war and the high-jump event as the camera cuts away to the spectators. Queen's Own Cameron Swimming Party. This consists of a sequence showing a few men of the regiment diving into a lake and swimming. It shows high jumps by C.Q.M. [Zipyard] and Private V.J. Smith. Private W. [Cream] jumps. The Queen's Own Camerons dive into a lake for fun. <1mn 38s>~6. Ready for the Day: England, 25-30 April, 1943. The Three Rivers and Calgary Regiments train in preparation for the coming invasion of Europe. Ram tanks are shown boarding an LCT for the journey to the training beaches. Tank crews apply rubber-based compound and balloon-silk waterproofing over the seams and joints on tank bodies. the camera cuts from a long shot of the LCT approaching the beach to clsoe views of the ramp splashing down, tanks moving past the camera, down the rank and into the water. Waterproofing and special air intakes and exhaust ducts projecting high over the engines are noticeable. Tanks are seen from a high angle moving through water up to their turrets. Reverse view of a couple of tanks reaching land. They blast away their waterproofing with explosive charges. Ending the exercise, several tanks fire over the water from a line abreast position on the beach. Gun flashes show clearly in the gathering dusk. <1mn 53s>
