RAMREE ISLAND AIRSTRIP (25/1/1945)

This film is held by the Imperial War Museum (ID: ABY 68).

Synopsis

Scenes of airfield preparation, fighter and RAF Regiment operations and airfield life on Ramree Island, Burma.

Panning shots of airstrip. Local labourers breaking bricks while an armed British serviceman stands over them. An Indian man drives a bulldozer to level ground and clear undergrowth. Close-up on the bulldozer blade. British other ranks of 903 Wing RAF (previously stationed on Akyab) unloading bricks from the back of a lorry. British servicmen throwing broken bricks into the back of a lorry. Series of close-ups of British men at work. A seemingly rather hazardous shot from the bed of the lorry with men throwing bricks towards camera. A Chevrolet CMP 15cwt truck passes camera. A trailer is filled with water drawn from a well some distance from the airfield. The water is thrown by the bucketload to dampen the ground before rolling. A small lorry tows a roller. Close-up on the roller with manufacturer's marking legible - 'Rangoon'. Two men with their back to camera appear to be cleaning their rifles. Men operating a water pump. Group of officers chatting in the shade of a tree, named on dopesheet as Wing Commander Airie, Wing Commander Smith and Flight Lieutenant Garland. Scenes from a British servicemen's cookhouse. Men lining up for food and being served. An RAF Douglas Dakota transport aircraft comes in to land. Dakota taxiing. A Group Captain, probably Group Captain Dennis David, chats with airmen. An RAF Spitfire Mk VIII (MS:K, MV422) of RAF 273 Squadron comes in to land, followed by MS:G. A Spitfire taxis to dispersal with another in the foreground. The pilot of MS:K disemplanes. A US Army Air Force Dakota named 'Flyspeck' lands, passing close to the camera. A DUKW amphibious truck named 'Snow Flake' passes the camera with a variety of British and American senior officers on board including Major-General Lomax, General Officer Commanding 26th Indian Division, and Lieutenant-General Raymond Wheeler, US Army, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command. Hawker Hurricane Mk IIC taxiing. The pilot, a Group Captain wearing service dress nimbly dismounts. A number of senior officers talking with British and Indian servicemen in the background. Men eating 'tiffin' at tables in the cookhouse. Tea served from a petrol can. Various close-ups of men eating. Spitfire MS:H taxiing. Spitfire MS:D (serial possibly JG114, but a little indistinct) landing, followed by MS:S LV861, and MS:X MD235. An RAF Stinson Sentinel observation aircraft in the background as MS:X taxis past. Long panning shot showing Spitfire squadron at dispersal. A jeep carrying RAF Regiment airmen stops to examine a dummy Japanese tank. At a destroyed temple airmen, some of them carrying Sten submachine guns, pause to examine a stone head. Airmen examine a box full of 6.5mm Arisaka ammunition on stripper clips at an abandoned Japanese ammo dump. Men picking their way through large pieces of wrecked masonry. Men find a broken stone statuette and jokingly try to put it back together. Airmen looking at a blackboard with Japanese writing, possibly some sort of roster. Survey of damaged and destroyed buildings in the area.

Notes

Sergeant Clot's personal log refers to the continuing danger of snipers during the shooting of this footage, and of joining one of the RAF Regiment's anti-sniper patrols.

 

Titles

  • RAMREE ISLAND AIRSTRIP (25/1/1945) (Allocated)
Series Title:
ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR
 

Technical Data

Year:
1945
Running Time:
10 minutes
Film Gauge (Format):
35mm
Colour:
B&W
Sound:
Silent
Footage:
890 ft
 

Production Credits

Production Countries:
GB
Sponsor
Air Ministry Directorate of Public Relations
Production company
Royal Air Force Film Production Unit
Sergeant; cameraman
Clot, Dennis Francis Emile
 

Countries

 

Production Organisations