Lion v. Eagle

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 478, 6 October 1928, Page 25

Lion v. Eagle

GREAT NAVAL ACTIONS Coronel and Falkland Islands ON November 1, 1914, the German Eagle screamed triumphantly at the Battle of Coronel, when two British warships, outranged and overwhelmed by superior artillery, were sunk after a short and hopeless action. In the following month the Lion of Britain had his revenge at Falkland Islands, when an adequate squadron caught the Germans near their own coaling-station, and shattered Von Spee’s ships.

Thus the British Fleet regained its prestige in the opening days of the Great War, when modern sea-power was put to practical test. It is fltting that such an event

should be recorded permanently by that greatest of descrintive mediums, the screen. And it is equally fltting that, in doing so, the makers should bracket Coronel with Falkland Islands, as the resulting film becomes interna-

tional in character and interest, besides being tree from any suggestion of blind patriotic bias. “The Battles of Coronel and the

Falkland Islands,” that will be screened shortly at the Strand Theatre, is one of the most interesting and important historical films made in recent years. This picture is British-made and British-flavoured, although the Germans gave their hearty co-operation in its manufacture. The producers were able to use no fewer than 35 British warships of all classes, including H.M.S. Barham, a battleship of the Queen Elizabeth class, whose broadsides strengthened the main fleet at Jutland. Among those who took part in the picture were Lieutenant Hankow, who was a gunnery officer on the Scharnhorst, one of the German ships sunk at the Falklands, and several other British and German ex-officers who took the roles of leading personalities in the actions.