Train Busters
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Train Busters | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Directed by | Sydney Newman |
| Produced by | Raymond Spottiswoode |
| Cinematography | RCAF Overseas Film Unit |
| Music by | Lucio Agostini |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures of Canada |
Release date |
|
Running time | 13 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
Train Busters (aka R.C.A.F. Train-Busters; its alternate French language version was known as La guerre des airs[N 1]) is a 13-minute 1943 Canadian documentary film, directed by Sydney Newman. The film was made by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Overseas Film Unit and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) as part of the NFB's Canada Carries On series. Train Busters depicts the Allied night-bombing campaign over German-occupied Europe that was complemented by close air support missions flown by the RCAF targeting enemy trains.[2]
In 1943, the RCAF strength and equipment consists of 32 overseas squadrons based in England. Two fundamental missions were essential to the Allied air strategy: night bombing and interdiction. While bombers struck at the heart of occupied Europe, the German war machine reacted by sending out supplies to their far-flung European bases by rail. The RCAF disrupted the "nerve centres" by attacking the rail system. These specialized ground attack fighters were extremely successful, with fighter-bombers destroying munition trains.
Production
Typical of the NFB's wartime series of documentary short films, Train Busters relied heavily on military assistance in obtaining stock footage. The film incorporated footage shot over a period of time from 1939–1943. While the aerial sequences were limited to available footage, some of the aerial scenes were shot in Canada and carefully edited with other footage obtained from the British Ministry of Information as well as other sources, including pre-war German films.[3]
The RCAF aircraft in Train Busters encompassed most of the types used in Bomber and Fighter Commands, by the RCAF in 1943, including:
- de Havilland Mosquito medium bomber/fighter-bomber
- Handley Page Halifax heavy bomber
- Hawker Hurricane fighter/fighter-bomber
- North American Mustang I reconnaissance/fighter-bomber
- Short Stirling heavy bomber
- Supermarine Spitfire fighter, fighter-bomber
- Vickers Wellington medium bomber