1) Or it might be hidden in a barnyard Trojan Horse
2) Or it might stand in this familiar rural edifice
3) Battered by the rifle, Hitler's tank retreats wildly
1) Soldier can carry a 36-lb. rifle for short distances
2) But if he carries it too long, he may collapse thus
3) In magazine five bulllets are loaded on top of spring
1) At rifle butt are hand grip, cheek pad, shoulder rest
2) This shows how rifle is supported on adjustable leg
3) This shows removable bolt, containing firing pin
###
Right after Dunkirk the Boys antitank rifle, named after its inventor, became known as a jinx gun. English and Canadian soldiers who returned from Dunkirk claimed it had little effect on German tanks. Actually, the Boys rifle is a good weapon for light armor. So the Canadian Army was forced with the necessity of giving it a new build-up with its soldiers. For this purpose, Walt Disney was engaged by Canadian Film Coordinator John Grierson to make Stop That Tank, showing how to operate the Boys rifle, and generally to proclaim its virtues. As his first really technical war film this is a Disney milestone.
Here Disney tries all the tricks of his trade. He starts with a cartoon sequence showing Hitler in a tank being mowed down by the Boys rifle which pops out of many odd spots. The serious purpose of this is to demonstrate that the rifle is easily portable and easily concealed. Then he does a thorough job showing how the rifle works, using cross-section and microscopic views to explain its highly technical mechanism. For further clarification, there are real movie shots of the rifle in action.
On these pages you see some of Disney’s early rough sketches of this good little gun whose bullet will cripple a big tank if fired at its treads or, if fired inside a tank, ricochet around the walls and efficiently mess up its occupants.
Life August 31, 1942
No comments:
Post a Comment