This late 1930s-early 1940s black-and-white WWII British military training film (B.191 C.191) shows segments focusing on “shooting to kill” using a Bren, rifle, anti-tank rifle, or Tommy gun, which are shown (:15-1:24). Bren and Rifle. A demonstration of when to fire with the Bren and rifle is given. Troops wait in a trench. A Range Card is shown. Enemy troops emerge from the trees. Troops fire before the enemy is within range and a shell is fired at the troops. The scene is re-enacted. The Corporal checks his Range Card to give the signal when the enemy is close enough to kill (1:25-8:04). Anti-tank rifle. Multiple tanks move past the camera. An anti-tank rifle is shown. An officer uses a pointer to explain the angle of impact needed to penetrate a German tank. A soldier with an anti-tank gun is camouflaged by surrounding bushes. A fellow soldier uses binoculars to spot a moving tank. Firing too soon gives their position away. The scene is reenacted. By waiting, three shots pierce the tank’s side and it smokes (8:05-13:35). The Tommy Gun. The Thompson submachine gun is shown against a backdrop of war footage. The patrol leader, holding a Tommy gun, walks past a brick building. He hides, signaling that enemy troops are walking up the road. Firing too soon, he is killed. The re-enactment shows the Corporal waiting to fire until the enemy is within range, killing five enemy soldiers (13:36-17:19). Firing against German Planes. A soldier uses a rifle to successfully fire against a German plane as sights are set at 500 yards. A soldier uses a Bren gun to fire against an airplane. A platoon marches. A soldier blows a whistle to take cover as enemy planes are spotted. The soldiers fire when the planes are too high, making themselves targets. A German plane crashes and dark smoke rises, brought down by a platoon who waited for the plane to dive. A Bren gun is used to shot too soon at an enemy plane, resulting in bombs being dropped on the platoon. The re-enactment shows the enemy plane seeing tracks and turning to drop bombs. The soldier waits to fire. The burning plane wreck is shown (17:18-23:42). In the Attack. Offensively, a diagram of the area shows German and British positions. The attacking soldiers fire too soon, resulting in death. The re-enacted situation shows them waiting until the enemy soldiers are close enough to kill (23:43-28:41). The Anti-Tank Two-Pounder. The Ordnance QF-2 pounder gun is shown. A single sentry and over-ambitious troops fire a visible anti-tank two-pounder too soon at approaching enemy tanks. The re-enactment shows a heavily camouflaged 2-pounder and troops who wait to fire. The Corporal makes nine chalk marks celebrating success (28:42-32:21). Recap. The four weapons are used as troops wait to fire in each scenario. The motto of “hold your fire and shoot to kill” is emphasized (32:22-34:43).
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