This film is part of Free
General Haig Visits General Joffre
The Battle of the Somme is looming as Allied commanders meet at the French Army’s HQ.
Non-Fiction 1916 1 mins Silent
Overview
While of poor visual quality, this footage documents one of the many fateful meetings of World War One. Plans for the Somme offensive began in earnest here at the French Army headquarters, as Allied military leaders conferred over a strategy for 1916. The mood looks appropriately sombre as Generals Haig and Joffre perform a brisk troop inspection, while deep in conversation.
Douglas Haig had not long assumed his role heading up the British Expeditionary Force before meeting the French Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre here at Chantilly. He would be promoted to Field Marshall later in 1916 - the year by which this newsreel is dated. Soldiers wield bayonets and swords, and the military regalia seems to come from a very different era.
Related
1916 on Film
Shower Baths in the Trenches
Non-Fiction 1916 1 mins Silent
A humble scrub is all it takes to get these French troops in a lather.
Anzac Day
Non-Fiction 1916 1 mins Silent Location: Westminster Abbey
London's at a sombre standstill as both ends of the Empire mark wartime casualties.
London's May Queen
Non-Fiction 1916 1 mins Silent Location: Hayes Common
Excitable children in their Sunday finery gawp at cameras during the parade for London’s May Queen.
Devonshire Hospital Buxton
Non-Fiction 1916 2 mins Silent Location: Buxton
Rheumatic soldiers are treated with the latest in hydrotherapy at the Devonshire Hospital in Buxton, Derbyshire.
In the Interests of Mercy
Non-Fiction 1916 1 mins Silent Location: Croydon
Firepower and fancy dress as a captured German field gun is the focus of a parade through Croydon to mark Red Cross Week.
Topical Budget 245-1
Non-Fiction 1916 1 mins Location: Kensington and Chelsea
Brass bands, bicycles and marching special constables outside the Albert Hall for a Sunday presentation before Bishop John Taylor-Smith outside the Albert Hall.
New
The Lost Highway
Promotional 2019 10 mins
A wandering warrior dreams of a new form of expression, in this promo for UNKLE’s album The Road: Part II / Lost Highway Pt. II directed by Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones.
Colour on the Thames
1935 16 mins
A rare glimpse of 1930s London in colour: the Thames has never looked lovelier.
What's Missing from this Picture?
Advert 1946 1 mins Silent
Life is looking up! The war is over and the “Corona” Man can visit his “Corona” families once more, door-to-door.
Fun at Rhyl
Advert 1962 0 mins Location: Rhyl
Cinema advertisement for Marine Lake & Ocean Beach, Rhyl, a popular destination for crowds set on a day's fun on free rides.
Local Cinema Advertisements - Blaenau Ffestiniog and Merthyr
Advert 1942 7 mins Silent Location: Blaenau Ffestiniog
Who could deny these advertising claims: "Attractive hair is the ambition of every woman", and "Your family will enjoy Lincoln potatoes"?
Shippam's Three Beans
Advert 1955 1 mins
Operatic chickens, shrimps and salmon sing-a-long with a paste pot chorus in this vibrantly animated advert for Shippam's