The Battle of Ypres

[Amor]

Hi,

The above is a DVD not a book. The recent IWM newsletter announced the release of this DVD:

http://www.iwmshop.org.uk/product/21927/The_Battle_Of_Ypres_1925?utm_ID=IWM+Shop+DVDs+promotion+August+2012&utm_campaign=Wartime+documentary+DVDs&utm_medium=email&utm_source=IWM+eNews

I have never heard of the exsitence of this 1925 Pathe re-enactment Film and would be interested to hear from any members who have a copy or have any details on its content. The IWM describe the DVD as:

• Released in its entirety for the first time ever, this is the original 1925 British instructional films documentary re-enacting key scenes from the notorious Battle of Ypres.
  

Rgds,

Alex

[paulgranger]

I was surprised to discover I bought my copy almost 2 years ago! It's available from Amazon in the UK, at somewhat less than the IWM are asking, though postage may cost more to your location. There are a couple of reviews on Amazon, which sum up the film pretty well. The third review isn't complimentary, but I think the reviewer had unreasonable expectations. For my part, I thought it an interesting addition to my DVD library. It doesn't add anything extra to my knowledge of the battles round Ypres, but it is certainly worth acquiring, and the extras add to that worth.

[BIFFO]

keep your money in your pocket

[Mark Hone]

Yes, it's actually been available for some time. I bought my copy a year or so ago. It's a rather odd production , nothing like the classic documentary 'The Battle of the Somme' with which some of the accompanying blurb compares it. As indicated in the first post much of it is what we would call a drama-documentary with recreated scenes some of which look very amateurish to modern eyes. It is also rather haphazardly compiled and edited. For example, in its recreation of Third Ypres, the scenes depicting Captain Clement Robertson's VC action are shown in the wrong order. It is a pity that the IWM didn't correct this particular gaffe, as it would have been easy to do, but presumably they wanted to present the film as it was originally shown. It would have been nice if they could have presented the corrected sequence as an 'optional extra'.

The nearest equivalent to it that I have seen is the drama-documentary about Arnhem made just after the war called 'Theirs is the Glory'.