DeptName
Documents

IDNO
1254

OtherNumber
87/6/1

ItemName
Private Papers of A A Mayard

ObjectType
Private Papers

ShortSummary
Ts memoir (138pp) based on well-written letters to his future wife from an Anglo-Japanese NCO serving with the Royal West African Frontier Force, May 1944 - January 1946, in which he describes the voyage to Nigeria in HMT ALMANYORA, then service with No 822 Company West African ASC (Command Transport) in Abeokuta, June 1944 - September 1945, briefly attached to No 56 General Hospital in Ibadan, and finally as a Sergeant with No 481 Coy WAASC (CT) in Lagos, September 1945 until his demobilisation in January 1946, in which he talks about his duties, living conditions, the African troops and natives, and the difficulties of running lorries in Nigeria.

MakerName
Mayard

Forenames
A A

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

WebStatus
published

UncatTransferDate
23/06/2006 12:46:31

URLEncodedDeptName
Documents

Access
Unrestricted

DeptName
Documents

IDNO
653

OtherNumber
Con Shelf

ItemName
Private Papers of H R Ross

ObjectType
Private Papers

ShortSummary
Excellent series of 59 ms letters/cards (412pp including some ts transcripts, postcards, airgraphs and telegrams, July 1940 - September 1944) giving his critique of war and criticisms of British colonial life based on his service (September 1940 - March 1942) in the Malayan Civil Service and as a gunner in a volunteer light battery of the Federated Malay States Volunteer Force based in Kuala Pilah and Kuala Lumpur (even anticipating a Japanese invasion, April 1941, and describing the battle for Singapore and his escape via Sumatra to Ceylon), his boredom and dissatisfaction as an officer cadet in the Indian Army, Bombay (from April 1942), as an Assistant/District Officer in the Nigerian Administration Service in Opobo and Eket, Nigeria (June 1942 - January 1944), and training with the 'Services Reconnaissance Department' (cover name for Special Operations Australia) for the abortive Operation Rimau, a raid on shipping in Singapore harbour which led to his being killed in a skirmish on 16 October 1944. Together with SO Book 136 containing ms notes (24pp) for a diary/chronicle of his life; 2 ms accounts (27pp written March - May 1942) giving his philosophical views on war and friendship and his vivid impressionistic account of the Malayan campaign (especially the looting), the fall of Singapore and his thoughts on escape; postwar official correspondence describing how he was killed in action; and photographs of him and of his grave.

MakerName
Ross

Forenames
H R

Style
Lieutenant

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

WebStatus
published

UncatTransferDate
23/06/2006 12:46:31

URLEncodedDeptName
Documents

Access
Unrestricted

DeptName
Documents

IDNO
2012

OtherNumber
Misc 160 (2467)

ObjectType
Miscellaneous Documents

ShortSummary
Historical Record (ca 250pp) of the 1st Battalion The Sierra Leone Regiment (Royal West African Frontier Force), 1948 - 1957, containing brief ms accounts of the Regiment's monthly activities together with photographs, newspaper cuttings, official correspondence and ephemera, of particular interest being a series of photographs of a visit to the Battalion by Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein in 1948; much of the Record is concerned with ceremonial and sporting occasions, although there are descriptions of training exercises, a newspaper cutting about Colour Complex issues in the RWAFF (August 1953) and reference to the Battalion's part in anti-riot operations in Freetown (February 1955); also a ts report (5pp) on the Sierra Leone Battalion's actions during Idara disturbances in Kambia, 1931.

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

WebStatus
published

UncatTransferDate
23/06/2006 12:46:31

URLEncodedDeptName
Documents

Access
Unrestricted

DeptName
Documents

IDNO
2019

OtherNumber
93/12/3

ItemName
Private Papers of W C Bond

ObjectType
Private Papers

ShortSummary
5 ms diaries, January 1940 - September 1945, describing his personal experiences during service as an NCO and Officer with the Royal Fusiliers on attachment to the King's African Rifles in East Africa and Somalia, finishing as commander of a company of Somaliland Scouts, including: his duties, learning Swahili, his relations with his African troops, news from his family and friends at home and the conditions. Also included are miscellaneous papers, 1923 - 1953, such as official documents; training notes; photographs; postcards; letters from his family, friends, fellow officers and his personal servant (in Swahili); newspaper cuttings; and patrol reports relating to his service with the 1st Battalion The Queen's Westminster Regiment (TA) between the wars and with the King's African Rifles during the war.

MakerName
Bond

Forenames
W C

Style
Major

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

WebStatus
published

UncatTransferDate
23/06/2006 12:46:31

URLEncodedDeptName
Documents

Access
Unrestricted

DeptName
Documents

IDNO
2875

OtherNumber
94/28/1

ItemName
Private Papers of F A Hopkins

ObjectType
Private Papers

ShortSummary
3 folders of ms and ts papers (287pp, with 6 sketch maps) collected by him (1914 - 1956) for his history of the Northern Rhodesia Regiment (1914 - 1918), during which time he served as Aide-de-Camp to Colonel R E Murray, Commanding Officer of the Northern Rhodesia Police (attached to the King's African Rifles), including a full account of the part played by the Northern Rhodesia Regiment during the East African campaign (1914 - 1918), a history of the British South Africa Police Service (1914 - 1918), extracts from the diaries of Lieutenant Colonel R E Murray (October 1915 - April 1916 and March 1917 - February 1918) and of Brigadier General (later Major General Sir Edward) Northey (July 1916 - May 1917), and correspondence with Lieutenant Colonel Charles Hordern (1936 - 1937) regarding the preparation of the volume of the official history by the Committee of Imperial Defence, covering military operations in East Africa from 1916 to 1917.

MakerName
Hopkins

Forenames
F A

Honours
OBE

Style
Major

RelatedIWMItems
See full catalogue. The Department also holds the papers of Major General Sir Edward Northey

RelatedTextFile
FAHopkins.doc

Weighting
500

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

WebStatus
published

UncatTransferDate
23/06/2006 12:46:31

URLEncodedDeptName
Documents

Access
Unrestricted

DigitalAsset
Y

DeptName
Documents

IDNO
3455

OtherNumber
86/87/1

ItemName
Private Papers of W P S Brereton Martin

ObjectType
Private Papers

ShortSummary
Photocopied ts transcript (13pp) of two short accounts describing his service as a temporary subaltern, Straits Settlement Volunteer Force, attached to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Mysore Regiment acting as a Liaison Officer in the Pengarang area of Johore, Malaya from December 1941 until the fall of Singapore in 1942, and his escape via Sumatra and Java to Australia in February 1942. Also photocopies of three separate ts accounts (4pp, written ca late 1945) describing Operation Carpenter-Mint, a landing from submarine of a party of Force 136 (led by him) on the coast of Johore, Malaya, on 5 October 1944, its intelligence gathering activities there and his death in action when the unit was ambushed by the Japanese after a supply drop by aircraft.

MakerName
Brereton Martin

Forenames
W P S

Style
2nd Lieutenant

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

WebStatus
published

UncatTransferDate
23/06/2006 12:46:31

URLEncodedDeptName
Documents

Access
Unrestricted

DeptName
Documents

IDNO
4492

OtherNumber
82/32/1

ItemName
Private Papers of R S Thompson

ObjectType
Private Papers

ShortSummary
Ts history (27pp) of the operations of the Frontier Battalion of the Sudan Defence Force during the Abyssinian campaign, November 1940 - June 1941, including a description of the fighting before the Gulit positions in March 1941 and the attacks on the fortresses of Mota in April 1941 and at Debra Tabor in May 1941; together with reviews of the military situation on the Sudanese frontier with Italian East Africa on 17 and 31 August 1940; staff notes on the Sudanese language, available locations for leave and procedures for camel convoys and encounters with hostile tribesmen; the ts summary of evidence (18pp) about an affray in Addis Ababa in August 1945 involving men of the Sudan Defence Force; and a few presscuttings about the Sudan Defence Force.

MakerName
Thompson

Forenames
R S

Style
Major

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

WebStatus
published

UncatTransferDate
23/06/2006 12:46:31

URLEncodedDeptName
Documents

Access
Unrestricted

DeptName
Exhibits

IDNO
ORD 110

ProductionDate
1903

ItemName
9.2in BL Mk 10* Coast Defence Gun on Mk VII mount.

ObjectType
gun

IndexPlaces
Spur Battery, Gibraltar

IndexUnits
GB.A & Coast Defence

FullSummary
The design of this type of gun originated in the
Committee on Ordnance assembled in 1879.
During the1880s this gun became the premier
coast defence gun and retained this position until
the disbanding of Coast Defence in 1956. There
were bigger guns but the 9.2 inch was installed in
the greatest numbers and was the standard
counter-bombardment weapon to protect naval
bases, strategic harbours and commercial ports
against hostile warships.

This gun was issued in 1903 as a Mk 10 and
relined to a Mk 10 * in 1919. It was mounted on
Spur Battery in 1929, and the mounting converted
to a Mk 7, which improved loading, elevation and
traverse. Spur Battery was completed in1902,and
is 1,130ft (344 metres) above sea-level. The
9.2inch gun fired a shell of 380 Ib at a muzzle
velocity of 2,700ft a minute, to a range of 36,700
yards ( 20. 9 miles) .A well -trained gun crew
could fire up to three rounds a minute.

The complex movement of the gun from
Gibraltar to IWM, Duxford-Project Vitello-was
carried out during the period 1981-82 by the
Royal Engineers.

ProductionCompany
Royal Gun Factory

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 11:14:35

URLEncodedDeptName
Exhibits

FormatDescription
9.2in BL Mk X * Coast Defence Gun on Mk VII mount.

Access
On display at IWM Duxford

DeptName
Exhibits

IDNO
INS 6066

ItemName
badge, overseas force, HQ Land Forces Hong Kong.

ObjectType
formation sign

IndexPlaces
Hong Kong.

IndexUnits
GB.A & HQ Land Forces Hong Kong.

FullSummary
The dragon creates an association with China and with the Hong Kong Regiment who wore this symbol as their badge. The background is formed of the command colours.
The Force was established on the liberation of Hong Kong in 1945.

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 11:14:35

URLEncodedDeptName
Exhibits

FormatDescription
A China dragon in gold set on a ground divided horizontally red, black, red. This example faces left.

Access
Access by prior appointment

DeptName
Film

IDNO
UKY 458

ProductionDate
1/1944

ItemName
WORKER AND WAR-FRONT MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 9 [Main]

IndexObjects
agriculture, British - forestry
arts, West Indian - ethnic: calypso
industry, British - general
journalism and record, British - radio
operations, British military - routine
society, British - precautionary
society, British - sustenance: taxi drivers' cook house
society, West Indian - friendship
transport, British civilian - car: taxi
weapons, British - smallarm: Sten sub-machine gun

IndexPlaces
GB, England & London

IndexUnits
GB.A & Home Guard & [London taxi drivers' column]
GB.O & British Broadcasting Corporation

ShortSummary
A wartime newsreel highlighting the part played by ordinary working men and women in Britain's war effort featuring London taxi drivers in the Home Guard, women manufacturing diamond wire dies for the production of electrical wiring and felling timber for pit props and a performance by a West Indian calypso band.

FullSummary
START 00:00:00 'Mobile Column takes Drivers from the Ranks' . A report on an exercise by the London Taxi Battalion of the Home Guard, showing taxi cabs collecting passengers at a mainline railway terminus (Paddington Station ?), leaving one unhappy passenger behind at the taxi rank unable to get a lift, and a column of taxis in Marylebone Road (?) outside the taxi battalion's depot where taxi drivers in the uniform of the Home Guard collect rolls of scrim netting and stow them away on their roof racks before heading out west past Hammersmith Broadway and along the deserted A4 Great Western Road (?). In a clearing in woodland (Burnham Beeches ?), Home Guardsmen unroll the scrim netting from the roofrack and spread it out to conceal the vehicle. They add fern leaves to the camouflage netting. Shots showing members of the London Taxi Battalion cleaning their Sten Mk II sub machine guns, hammering a sign for the Gas Post into the ground, deploying in the wood and cooks preparing food at the field cookhouse for No. 2040 Company, Home Guard. Men line up to receive hot food and have their food out in the open. At the end of the exercise, the taxi battalion heads back to London. A taxi arrives back at the mainline railway terminus to pick up the traveller seen unhappily waiting for a cab at the beginning of this story.
00:02:27 'Diamond Cut Diamond. Brilliant Work by Girls'. A report on the manufacture of diamond dies used to make extremely fine electrical wiring using graphics and live actuality. Scenes showing young women at work with microscopes at a work bench and small uncut diamonds being poured out of an envelope onto dark felt cloth before one small stone is selected for cutting into shape as a diamond wire die on a grinding machine that closely resembles a stylus arm on an old record turntable. A sequence showing how a hole is drilled through the cut diamond die with a miniature diamond cutter and a steel drilling bit tipped with crushed diamonds. The technique of manufacturing extremely thin and delicate conductive wiring with a diamond wire die is shown together with some of the end products, for example the filaments inside a radio valve and an aircraft's instrument panel. The report ends with shots of a Flight Sergeant radio operator tapping a message on a Morse key inside an aircraft and a pilot sitting at the controls inside a cockpit of an Avro Lancaster (?) bomber.
00:05:49 'Props'. A report about tree felling by the Women's Timber Corps in a forest somewhere in Scotland (?). Views of men and women at work burning spare branches and cutting up timber and tall spruce pines growing nearby. Male lumberjacks are seen felling trees and chipping away at the base of one tree trunk with an axe. Two 'lumberjills' use a double-handled saw to slice through a tree trunk and then bring it crashing to the ground. More women are seen chopping off branches from a felled tree trunk and using handsaws to cut tree trunks into shorter lengths of timber which are then cut up into pit props by a powered circular saw. The pit props are thrown into the back of a Fordson lorry which delivers them to a local railway goods deport. The final shots in this report show open railway goods waggons loaded with pit props and miners deep inside a coal mine making their way along a a mine shaft past some pit props.
00:08:01 'Song of the Islands'. A report featuring a calypso band of West Indian musicians serving in the armed services. Scenes inside a radio studio in BBC Broadcasting House (?) where servicemen and servicewomen from the West Indies (mainly RAF and Army personnel) are seen chatting in groups; they include white men and women from the region but the majority is Afro-Caribbean in origin. A West Indian RAF aircrewman speaks into a BBC microphone. Royal Navy Petty Officer Alf Jennings leads a calypso band consisting of a drummer, double bassist, guitarist and trumpeters in singing, 'We came from way out west/We came to do our best/To fight for right/And against the might of Nazi tyranny!'
END 00:10:06

ContextDescription
Remarks: an unexpected and an intriguing mix of stories and subjects.

Duration
10 mins 6 secs

Format
35mm

Colour
B&W

Sound
Sound

NumberOfParts
1

Dimensions
946 ft

ProductionSponsor
Ministry of Information

ProductionCompany
Paul Rotha Productions

ProductionCountry
GB

Language
English

LanguageMainTitles
English

LanguageSubtitles
None

RelatedIWMItems
See CCE 211 'West Indies Calling'.

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
04/11/2008 05:50:32

URLEncodedDeptName
Film

Access
IWM

DeptName
Film

IDNO
RMY 95

ProductionDate
9/1940

ItemName
PLANES OF HINDUSTAN [Main]

IndexObjects
aircraft, British - combat: Bristol Blenheim & [Indian]
aircraft, British - combat: Hawker Hart & [Indian]
aircraft, British - combat: Vickers Valentia & [Indian]
operations, Indian air - preparation: parachute packing
operations, Indian air - routine
operations, Indian air - sortie
recreation, Indian air - sport: hockey
recreation, Indian air - sport: swimming
society, Indian air - domestic
society, Indian air - sustenance
training, Indian air - combat: bombing
training, Indian air - specialist: reconnaissance

IndexPeople
Mukerjee (Squadron-Leader)

IndexPlaces
India & Punjab

IndexUnits
IN.F & Sqdn, 1

ShortSummary
Documentary on life in the Indian Air Force (IAF) culminates with a plea to Indian audience for more and better planes for the IAF.

FullSummary
At the headquarters of the Indian Air Force in the Punjab, Hawker Harts of 1 Squadron stand on the airfield representing the only armed unit of the Crown entirely officered by Indians. Squadron-Leader Mukerjee and his pilots, all Cranwell-trained, climb into their Harts and fly in formation. Over views of the quarters, bar and canteen similar to RAF barracks, commentary describes excellent facilities enjoyed by men and also their families. Meals are served on Royal cypher crockery in the airmen's mess, officers have their own room and a baby is weighed at the Child Welfare Centre. Parachutes are packed prior to supply canisters being dropped: a Hart drops a bomb with perfect accuracy, over remark that "the British Empire has already shown it knows a thing or two about accurate bombing". Another Hart swoops low to pick up a message from the ground and reconnaissance photos are taken. Back on the ground the planes are serviced and men relax off-duty in the gymnasium, playing hockey and swimming. "Famous" Vickers Valentia transport bomber is used for travels to and fro; Squadron-Leader takes off in Blenheim. Film from Universal and British Movietone News of a Battle of Britain dogfight is used to stress need for more planes and more men in addition to the 10,000 who have already volunteered in order to defend India from attack, suggested by final sequence of army air cooperation against unspecified enemy beyond hills.

ContextDescription
Production: Bombay Board of Film Censors certificate dated 24 September 1940 precedes film and indicates length as 1110 ft.

Duration
11 mins

Format
P 1/35/N

Colour
B&W

Sound
comopt

NumberOfParts
1

Dimensions
1013 ft

ProductionCompany
Wadia Movietone

ProductionTeam
Radcliffe Genge, G: director
Pathy, P V (Dr): cameraman
Pathy, P V (Dr): film editor
Hardy, Marcella: assistant editor
Tata, Burjore M: sound recordist
Melody Trio: music performer

ProductionCast
Radcliffe Genge, G: commentary

ProductionCountry
India

Language
English

LanguageMainTitles
English

LanguageSubtitles
None

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 09:20:43

URLEncodedDeptName
Film

Access
LPU

DeptName
Film

IDNO
WOY 9

ProductionDate
1942

ItemName
ALERT [Main]

IndexPlaces
South Africa
North Africa

ShortSummary
A South African anti-aircraft recruiting film aimed at men and women.

FullSummary
The film opens in a dug-out in North Africa where two men of the South African Army are resting. One of the men is writing home to his girlfriend. He recalls how they first met a year earlier during his training as an anti-aircraft gunner. Cut to the Cape region of South Africa and the training exercise where they met. A soft-skinned vehicle towing a mobile Bofors 40mm QF anti-aircraft gun is seen passing through the hilly region and countryside of the Cape. It passes a small farm and into a large paddock where the men set up the Bofors on the cruciform mounting. During this sequence the man's letter recalls important aspects of the training: becoming proficient with a piece of machinery which was initially as difficult to understand and handle 'as a woman', learning to operate the gun as part of a team. Once the gun has been set up several rounds are fired at an imaginary plane. From the farm house nearby a boy and his father come to watch the exercise. They are joined by the daughter who brings out drinks and cakes for the men. It was at this point that the letter-writer fell in love. Fortunately, the young woman decides to join an anti-aircraft unit as her contribution to the war effort. Cut to scenes of her and other women being shown by male instructors the features of a 3.7-inch Mk 1A, static, anti-aircraft gun emplacement. These include the searchlights, listening devices, range-finders and the gun itself. Cut to convivial scenes in the recreational huts of a mixed anti-aircraft unit. Men and women are chatting, playing table tennis etc. The writer and his new girlfriend are seen together. The alarm goes and the unit go to action stations. Various shots of the unit in action, the women operating the lights, detectors and range-finders, the men the 3.7-inch gun. A bomber is caught in the lights. Cut to a dock where a mobile Bofors is being loaded onto a ship. The letter explains that the gunner has been mobilised for active service. The couple are seen sightseeing during his embarkation leave. Cut to the South African anti-aircraft unit in action in North Africa. The unit shoot down a Junkers JU 87 'Stuka' in desert markings. Close-ups of the letter-writer show him operating the 40mm Bofors. The wreck of a plane is seen. The letter-writer paints a Swastika on the barrel of the gun, and closes his letter with the appeal 'The more ack-ack gunners we have the sooner we will bring down the last one'. Cut to a photograph of his girlfriend in her uniform.

ContextDescription
Date: this is taken from the Kodak edge symbol.
Summary: The scenes of the SA unit in action in North Africa appear to be actuality. This suggests that the star of the film and the other men of the unit were gunners not actors and that the scenes in South Africa were shot during a period of leave, using the same men to maintain continuity and ensure authenticity.

Duration
11 mins

Format
35mm

Colour
B&W

Sound
Comopt

NumberOfParts
1

Dimensions
1015 ft

ProductionSponsor
Union Defence Force

ProductionCompany
Army Film Unit of the Union Defence Force

ProductionCountry
South Africa

Language
English

LanguageMainTitles
English

OtherReferences
COI file - brief synopsis, transfer details

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
27/04/2007 05:50:17

URLEncodedDeptName
Film

Access
IWM

DeptName
Film

IDNO
CBE 205

ProductionDate
1941

ItemName
HEROES OF THE ATLANTIC [Main]
CANADA CARRIES ON [series]

IndexObjects
operations, Canadian air - sortie: flying boat patrol
operations, Canadian naval - escort: convoy
operations, Canadian naval - routine
recreation, Canadian naval - casual
training, Canadian naval - specialist: gunnery

IndexPlaces
Canada & Halifax, NS

IndexUnits
CA.F
CA.N

ShortSummary
A view from Canada of the North Atlantic convoy route during the Battle of the Atlantic, presented in the framework of the turnaround of a single convoy at Halifax, Nova Scotia.

FullSummary
Convoy approaches shore (coastguards check incoming ships) and passes harbour boom; merchant and Navy ships moor, seamen come ashore. Freight train delivers cargo, ships are refuelled and take on stores; some brief shots of ships in drydock, and ship building and conversion. The training of new manpower for the RCN (gunnery and torpedo school: night vision and silhouette recognition training). Loading of cargoes and deck cargo; minesweeping; conference/briefing for convoy captains. Seamen spend their last night ashore (cinema, bowling, dancing etc). The convoy puts to sea again (pilots go on board, RCAF flying boat patrols) - commentary bids a rather rhetorical farewell.

ContextDescription
Remarks: good - a well planned commentary (although a little histrionic) maintains interest through not very exciting visual material.

Duration
14 mins

Format
P 1/35/N

Colour
B&W

Sound
comopt

NumberOfParts
2

Dimensions
1318 ft

ProductionSponsor
National Film Board of Canada

ProductionCompany
Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau

ProductionTeam
Davidson, J D: director
Fraser, Donald: assistant director
Lane, W H: sound recordist
Quick, C J: sound recordist

ProductionCountry
Canada

Language
English

LanguageMainTitles
English

LanguageSubtitles
None

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 09:20:43

URLEncodedDeptName
Film

Access
LPU

DeptName
Film

IDNO
CCE 202

ProductionDate
1941

ItemName
WAR CAME TO KENYA [Main]

IndexObjects
operations, Kenyan military - routine
training, Kenyan

IndexPeople
Moore, Henry M-M
Moore, Henry M-M (Mrs)
Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia
Smuts, Jan C

IndexPlaces
Ethiopia & Addis Ababa
Kenya & Mombasa
Kenya & Mount Kenya

IndexUnits
KE.A & Kenya Defence Force

ShortSummary
Kenya's first two years of war.

FullSummary
Opens with establishing shots - Mount Kenya, wild-life, black schoolchildren, white settlers; maps and headlines tell of Italian invasion of Abyssinia, outbreak of war. Men go into training with Kenya Defence Force; various forms of 'filling the gap': women farm, become nurses, amateur pilots fly patrols. Italy joins war; Governor (Henry Moore) signs proclamation - troops and supplies come to Kenya from all the Empire (map): Governor greets S African troops; some service women (vehicle maintenance, nurses, cooks etc.). (Reel 2) African Tribes (Kikuyu and Masai) make gifts to war effort; convalescent soldiers stay at a settler's farm; Governor's wife organises civilian aid scheme; Smuts visits South African troops; making armoured cars; Mombasa (docking operations, naval training, minesweeping); soldiers in training (including Indian mule-gun battery). The advance into Abyssinia, and return of Haile Selassie to Addis Ababa.

ContextDescription
Production company: appears as "African Films, Johannesburg".

Duration
18 mins

Format
P 1/35/N

Colour
B&W

Sound
comopt

NumberOfParts
2

Dimensions
1650 ft

ProductionSponsor
Kenya Information Office

ProductionCompany
African Film Productions

ProductionTeam
Johnson, Guy: director
Johnson, Guy: photography
Blanckart, Eric: assistant cameraman
Johnson, Guy: commentary written

ProductionCast
Wetherell, Ian: commentary spoken

ProductionCountry
South Africa

Language
English

LanguageMainTitles
English

LanguageSubtitles
None

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 09:20:43

URLEncodedDeptName
Film

Access
IWM

DeptName
Film

IDNO
CCE 211

ProductionDate
1943

ItemName
WEST INDIES CALLING [Main]

IndexObjects
society, British - friendship
society, West Indian - friendship

IndexPeople
Constantine, Learie N
Cross, Ulric
Fairweather, Carlton
Marson, Una

IndexPlaces
GB, England

ShortSummary
Film records and illustrates a BBC broadcast by West Indians in Britain to explain to the British people the West Indians' contribution to the war effort.

FullSummary
Una Marson introduces: Learie Constantine (the cricketer, then working as Welfare Officer for Ministry of Labour) who speaks on industrial contribution over film of West Indians at a Northern industrial training centre; Flying Officer Ulric Cross (a bomber navigator from Trinidad) who speaks on behalf of West Indians in the forces over suitable film (including a Sergeant Pilot in a fighter squadron); Carlton Fairweather, who introduces film of lumbermen from British Honduras. Broadcast ends with a dance in the studio. Commentary and contributors continually stress the themes of possibilities of peoples learning from each other, benefits of continuing relationship post war, etc.

ContextDescription
Film: this is a shorter version (not a mere alternative title) of HELLO WEST INDIES, which is the film named in the MOI catalogue for 1944.

Duration
15 mins

Format
P 1/35/N

Colour
B&W

Sound
comopt

NumberOfParts
1

Dimensions
1300 ft

ProductionSponsor
Ministry of Information

ProductionCompany
Paul Rotha Productions

ProductionTeam
Page, John: director
Alexander, Donald: producer
Logie, Seymour: assistant director
Page, John: photography
Suschitzky, Wolfgang: studio photography
Norris, William: sound recordist
Page, John: script
Jennings, Al: music

ProductionCast
Lewis, Archie: singer

ProductionCountry
GB

Language
English

LanguageMainTitles
English

LanguageSubtitles
None

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits
Together

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 09:20:43

URLEncodedDeptName
Film

Access
IWM

DeptName
Film

IDNO
CIN 202

ProductionDate
1941

ItemName
the HANDYMEN [Main]

IndexObjects
engineering, military, Indian
operations, Indian military - routine
training, Indian military - specialist: sappers

IndexPlaces
Libya & Tobruk

IndexUnits
IN.A & Royal Bombay Indian Sappers and Miners

ShortSummary
The work and training of the (Royal Bombay) Sappers and Miners; film stresses the military importance of their work as the "lifeline of the army" and the value to the men of their acquired skills once the war is over.

FullSummary
Film is introduced by shots of the advance on Tobruk: Indian Sappers and Miners are then shown doing PT to music; river crossing (in portable assault boats, then building a ferry with collapsible pontoons); washing and eating; a school for troops' children; the men themselves receive instruction (eg pneumatic drill, sign painting, welding, brick making and laying, carpentry, printing, surveying and all sorts of metal-working); road building (with new machinery); digging a railway cutting; practice in "digging in" slit-trench system, sandbag shelters, and dugouts; and bridging a river bed with a girder bridge.

ContextDescription
Remarks: quite good.

Duration
8 mins

Format
P 1/35/N

Colour
B&W

Sound
comopt

NumberOfParts
1

Dimensions
787 ft

ProductionSponsor
Film Advisory Board of India

ProductionCompany
Indian Film Unit
National Studios

ProductionTeam
Patel, Gordonbhai: cameraman
Bodhye, Jinaraja: cameraman
Parmar, Pratap: film editor
Talyarkhan, A F S: commentary

ProductionCountry
India

Language
English

LanguageMainTitles
English

LanguageSubtitles
None

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 09:20:43

URLEncodedDeptName
Film

Access
LPU

DeptName
Film

IDNO
COI 591

ProductionDate
1940 (ca)

ItemName
HE'S IN THE NAVY [Main]

IndexObjects
recruitment, Indian naval
training, Indian naval - combat

IndexPlaces
India

IndexUnits
IN.N

ShortSummary
Film showing what happens when a boy joins the Royal Indian Navy.

FullSummary
Footage of India's coastline is used as an introduction. Indian boys arriving to join the Navy are shown next, and the film chooses one of them to follow. It shows the medical, enrolment, swearing in and the receiving of new clothes and kitbags. Badges of rank are indicated, and there is an explanation of what the various stripes mean. Film is shown of the boys marching, just after they have joined and after three months, with verbal commentary noting the difference. The troops are shown at training school, with film of them in the canteen, at the gunnery school, undergoing medical training, learning the use of semaphore, and relaxation activities. After training school they are shown on board ship having their first boat drill. Out at sea the sailor whom the film has chosen to follow is shown taking a turn at the wheel. Training continues at sea, and the film concludes by showing a simulated enemy raid.

ContextDescription
Production: made with the cooperation of Vice-Admiral Herbert Fitzherbert CB CMS, Flag Officer Commanding, and the men of the Royal Indian Navy

Duration
12 mins

Format
P 1/35/N

Colour
B&W

Sound
comopt

NumberOfParts
1

Dimensions
1147 ft

ProductionCompany
Wadia Movietone

ProductionTeam
Radcliffe Genge, G: director
Pathy, P V (Dr): photography
Subrahmaniam, P: photography
Shankar, C M (BSc): assistant cameraman
Tata, Burjore M: sound recordist

ProductionCountry
India

Language
English

LanguageMainTitles
English

LanguageSubtitles
None

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 09:20:43

URLEncodedDeptName
Film

Access
UPU

DeptName
Film

IDNO
COI 831

ProductionDate
1941 (ca)

ItemName
a DAY WITH THE INDIAN ARMY [Main]

IndexObjects
operations, Indian military - routine
society, Indian military - domestic
training, British military

IndexPlaces
India

IndexUnits
IN.A

ShortSummary
Life in the Indian Army Unit shown is possibly the 15th Punjab Regiment).

FullSummary
The day begins with reveillé and scenes inside the barracks. The parade ground - physical exercise. Various forms of training are shown - weapons, anti-aircraft, signalling. Soldiers receive letters from home. The hospital and surgery; leisure time; sport. The end of the day - flag being lowered.

Duration
10 mins

Format
N 1/35/N

Colour
B&W

Sound
comopt

NumberOfParts
1

Dimensions
936 ft

ProductionCompany
Bombay Talkies

ProductionCast
Talyarkhan, A F S: commentary

ProductionCountry
India

Language
English

LanguageMainTitles
English

LanguageSubtitles
None

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 09:20:43

URLEncodedDeptName
Film

Access
To be established

DeptName
Film

IDNO
IWM 202-1

ProductionDate
17/1/1916

ItemName
WITH THE INDIAN TROOPS AT THE FRONT PART I [Main]
OFFICIAL PICTURES OF THE BRITISH ARMY IN FRANCE - FIRST SERIES [series]

IndexEvents
01/3(4-15).4

IndexObjects
ceremonies, Indian - customary: blade touching
equipment, Indian - personal: trench periscope
recreation, Indian military - sport: wrestling
society, Indian military - ethnic
supplies, Indian, storage [RA] - food
weapons, British - smallarm: Vickers machine gun & [Indian]
weapons, Indian - powderless: kukri

IndexPlaces
France

IndexUnits
IN.A & Rifles 57
IN.A & Rifles 58
IN.A & Sikhs 47
IN.A & Sikh Pioneers 34
IN.A & Regt, Cavalry, 4
IN.A & Div 7 & [sappers and miners]
IN.A & Div 7 & [Gurkhas]

ShortSummary
Units of the former Indian Corps, just after its disbandment, in rear areas before their departure from France, November and December 1915.

FullSummary
The officers' mess, a building away from the battle zone, of 58th (Vaughan's) Rifles, with officers entering and leaving. Pan over a group of soldiers from 57th (Wilde's) Rifles. An outdoor "durbar" (orderly room) for 47th Sikhs - some officers sit while three new soldiers are paraded before them and perform the ritual of offering the blades of their bayonets for each officer in turn to touch as a symbol of loyalty. An open air workshop for the Sappers and Miners at which they shape wood, making wooden trench periscopes. Gurkhas sharpen their kukris on a grindstone. A demonstration of a "Khattak" or ritual sword dance. Sikhs in formal wrestling bouts which others watch. 34th Sikh Pioneers dig shallow trenches from start to completion with a sandbag parapet and coiled wire in front. 57th (Wilde's) Rifles machine gun section demonstrates setting up its two Maxims in a wood and then retiring with them. At a "refilling point" on a muddy road British and Indian soldiers collect food and fodder for their horses. 4th Cavalry entrains its horses and waits for the order to load its men.

ContextDescription
Date: this film was the very first of the OFFICIAL PICTURES OF THE BRITISH ARMY IN FRANCE and so represents the first British official film record of any of the war zones released for public viewing.
Cameraman: this was either Malins or Tong.
Summary: this film was subject to censorship at GHQ France. The resulting censored sections are now in IWM 383.

Duration
9 mins

Format
P 1/35/A

Colour
B&W

Sound
Silent

NumberOfParts
1

Dimensions
522 ft

ProductionSponsor
War Office

ProductionCompany
British Topical Committee for War Films

ProductionTeam
Malins, Geoffrey H (?): cameraman
Tong, Edward G (?): cameraman

ProductionCountry
GB

Language
None

LanguageMainTitles
English

LanguageSubtitles
English

OtherReferences
shotsheet

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 09:20:43

URLEncodedDeptName
Film

Access
IWM

DeptName
Film

IDNO
IWM 202-2

ProductionDate
24/1/1916

ItemName
WITH THE INDIAN TROOPS AT THE FRONT PART II [Main]
OFFICIAL PICTURES OF THE BRITISH ARMY IN FRANCE - FIRST SERIES [series]

IndexEvents
01/3(4-15).4

IndexObjects
equipment, British - personal: bagpipes

IndexPeople
Bell, G H
Gray, E H

IndexPlaces
France

IndexUnits
IN.A & Punjab Infantry 69
IN.A & Rifles 58
IN.A & Di, 7 & [infantry]
IN.A & Burma Infantry 93
IN.A & Seaforth Highlanders, Bn 1
GB.A & Seaforth Highlanders, Bn 1

ShortSummary
Units of the former Indian Corps, mainly 7th (Meerut) Division, just after the Corps' disbandment, in rear areas before their departure from France, November and December 1915.

FullSummary
Lieutenant-Colonel G H Bell, with his adjutant Lieutenant Gray, taking the salute at the side of the road as his battalion, 69th Punjab Infantry, marches past, 14 November. 58th (Vaughan's) Rifles marching in column across a field. 1st Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders with its transport marching through a village in wet weather. An Indian battalion of 7th Division on the march in road column in wet weather, followed by one of the division's Gurkha battalions. 93rd Burma Infantry resting by the roadside in the rain and wet. Nearby, 1st Seaforths also relax, and three bagpipers give an improvised performance, at which one or two of the men begin dancing. Also nearby, another of the division's Indian battalions rests by a stream.

ContextDescription
Cameraman: this was either Malins or Tong.
Summary: this film was subject to censorship at GHQ France. The resulting censored sections are now in IWM 383.

Duration
7 mins

Format
P 1/35/A

Colour
B&W

Sound
Silent

NumberOfParts
1

Dimensions
407 ft

ProductionSponsor
War Office

ProductionCompany
British Topical Committee for War Films

ProductionTeam
Malins, Geoffrey H (?): cameraman
Tong, Edward G (?): cameraman

ProductionCountry
GB

Language
None

LanguageMainTitles
English

LanguageSubtitles
English

OtherReferences
shotsheet

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 09:20:43

URLEncodedDeptName
Film

Access
IWM

DeptName
Printed Books

IDNO
93 / 1077

OtherNumber
0-918339-18-9

ProductionDate
1992

ItemName
Forces of the British Empire 1914

IndexPlaces
British Commonwealth

IndexConcepts
armies in general
uniforms, army
army uniforms
military unit histories
armed forces in general
armies
heraldry in general

IndexHistPeriod
Pre-1914

FullSummary
[Printed materials]
Presentation copy signed by the author

ContextDescription
page 280

NumberOfParts
288 pages
ill. (chiefly col.)

Dimensions
29

MakerName
by Edward M. Nevins
introduction by David g. Chandler

MakerInfo
NEVINS, EDWARD M.

ProductionCompany
Vandamere Press

ProductionCountry
Arlington, Virginia

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 09:47:44

URLEncodedDeptName
PrintedBooks

FormatDescription
p.280
index

ISBN
0-918339-18-9

DeptName
Printed Books

IDNO
17911

ProductionDate
1941

ItemName
War for Britain
the inner story of the Empire in action
first part : September 1939 to September 1940

IndexPlaces
British Commonwealth
Place in general
The world

IndexConcepts
political history
politics
defence policy
armies in general
military operations second world war
political history
military unit histories
armed forces in general
armies
military operations
campaigns, military
warfare (conventional)
battles

IndexHistPeriod
Second World War

FullSummary
[Printed materials]
Maps on end papers

ContextDescription
Maps on end papers

NumberOfParts
xiii, 265p., 20 leaves of plates
ill., frontis., ports.

Dimensions
22

MakerName
by Donald Cowie

MakerInfo
COWIE, DONALD

ProductionCompany
Chapman and Hall

ProductionCountry
London

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 09:47:44

URLEncodedDeptName
PrintedBooks

FormatDescription
index

DeptName
Printed Books

IDNO
81 / 944

OtherNumber
0-354-04528-8

ProductionDate
1981

ItemName
Imperial sunset
frontier soldiering in the 20th Century

IndexPlaces
British Commonwealth
Borneo
Somalia
Hong Kong
India
Malaysia
Jordan
Transjordan
Oman, Trucial
Muscat and Oman

IndexUnits
[ Hadhrami Bedouin Legion]
[ Somaliland Camel Corps]
[ Somaliland Scouts]
[ Hong Kong Regt.]
[ Chinese Regt., Bn. 1]
[ Malay Regt.]
[ Royal Brunei Malay Regt.]
[ Iraq Levies]
[ Trans-Jordan Frontier Force]
[ Trucial Oman Scouts]
[ Aden Protectorate Levies]

IndexConcepts
armies in general
army, semi military forces
armies, mounted troops
imperial camel corps
armies, infantry regiments and battalions
indian army, infantry regiments and battalions
burma rifles
military unit histories
armed forces in general
armies

IndexHistPeriod
General, 1900 to the present day
Pre-1914
October 1945 to end of Vietnam War, 1975

FullSummary
[Printed materials]

ContextDescription
pages 397-402

NumberOfParts
422 pages, 24 pages of plates
ill., maps, ports.

Dimensions
24

MakerName
James Lunt

MakerInfo
LUNT, JAMES

ProductionCompany
Macdonald

ProductionCountry
London

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 09:47:44

URLEncodedDeptName
PrintedBooks

FormatDescription
p.397-402
index

ISBN
0-354-04528-8

DeptName
Printed Books

IDNO
93 / 1072

OtherNumber
1-871167-23-X

ProductionDate
1993

ItemName
Order of battle of divisions. Part 5B
Indian Army divisions

SubTitle
History of the Great War based on official documents

IndexPlaces
British Commonwealth
India

IndexConcepts
orders of battle
military unit histories
armed forces in general
armies

IndexHistPeriod
First World War

FullSummary
[Printed materials]

NumberOfParts
180 pages

Dimensions
31

MakerName
compiled by F.W. Perry

MakerInfo
PERRY, F.W.
HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS

ProductionCompany
Ray Westlake Military Books

ProductionCountry
Newport, Gwent

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 09:47:44

URLEncodedDeptName
PrintedBooks

FormatDescription
History of the Great War based on official documents

Access
Copy in Reading Room - B(4144)

ISBN
1-871167-23-X

DeptName
Printed Books

IDNO
21648

ProductionDate
[1942]

ItemName
A spear for freedom
mkuki na bunduki...

IndexPlaces
East Africa
British Commonwealth
Negroes
Black
Afro-Caribbean
Tanganyika

IndexUnits
[ East African Pioneer Corps]
[ East African Military Labour Service]

IndexConcepts
army, pioneer troops, pioneers
africans in the army
blacks in the army
blacks in the armed forces
afro-caribbeans in the army
British empire, army, general histories
armies of the british empire
commonwealth armies
race or nationality
racial groups
army, racial groups, nationalities
army, labour units
military unit histories
armed forces in general
armies
autobiography, individual
personal experiences
[ Kisarish, (Corporal)]
illustrated works
atlases
pictorial works

IndexHistPeriod
Second World War

FullSummary
[Printed materials]
A recruitment brochure in four languages

ContextDescription
A recruitment brochure in four languages

NumberOfParts
i, 90p.
ill.

Dimensions
19

MakerName
[photography and design by Captain A.G. Dickson, Cameron Highlanders of the East Africa Intelligence Corps]

MakerInfo
A SPEAR FOR FREEDOM
EAST AFRICA COMMAND
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION
DICKSON, A.G.

ProductionCompany
Ministry of Information (East Africa Command)

ProductionCountry
Nairobi

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OtherCommonwealthFightingUnits

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 09:47:44

URLEncodedDeptName
PrintedBooks