THE RAF QUARTERLY VIDEO [Main Title]

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  • Title: THE RAF QUARTERLY VIDEO [Main Title]
  • Film Number: BFE 411
  • Other titles: RAF STRIKE COMMAND, HIGH WYCOMBE VIDEOCASSETTE COLLECTION [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: News magazine for serving personnel and their families, showing some of the activities of Strike Command around the world; hosted by Flight Lieutenant Susannah Streeter.
  • Description: I. Report from Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan, where the Royal AIr Force has been tasked with making the airport airworthy again. Interview with Group Captain Steve Abbot in temporary operations room. Other nations in assistance: French troops guard the airport perimeter, and Norwegian soldiers assist with air movements. Giant crater on the airfield apron. Warrant Officer Bob Lockwood, SWO (Station Warrant Officer) for Kabul APOD, talks about the poor condition of the airport when the RAF arrived. Basic catering: boil-in the-bag compo rations. General views of airfield. [Presented by Squadron Leader Jean Sanderson for MNT] II. Exercise Grand Prix, Kenya: Hercules aircraft deliver artillery and troops for training at remote Kenyan ranges. Wing Commander Simon Footer (OC 70 Squadron RAF) discusses the advantages of Kenya for training. Hercules in action: Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Davies (CO 1 Para) talks about paradrops in Kenya, and Flight Lieutenant Mark Nash, Hercules pilot, describes the challenges caused by the high altitude (3,500 feet above sea level). Replacing a burst tyre an remote airstrip. [Presented by Information Officer Ed Marshall for MNT] III. RAF Donna Nook bombing range, Lincolnshire: Flight Sergeant Ernie Whittaker describes how the range has up to 1,000 seals on the beach during season. Roger Wood, Range Foreman, talks about the problems caused by this: shots of seals being moved out of the way (in slings) prior to exercises. Interview with Julie Holdershaw at the Mablethorpe Seal Sanctuary, seen with some of the orphan seals which the RAF have rescued. [Presented by Acting Pilot Officer Peter Darling, 7644 Squadron RAuxAF, for MNT] IV. Item about the recent rediscovery of Avro Lancaster JB659 of 97 Squadron, which was shot down over Holland and crashed into a farmhouse outside Amsterdam, killing all seven crew members and six members of the Van Der Bijl family. Only two of the crewmen were recovered at the time. Now the farm, rebuilt after the war, has been demolished; the remains of the Lancaster and five of the seven crewmen have been recovered. Sue Raftree of the Central RAF Casualty Section discusses the importance of the ceremony. Geer Dales, Deputy Mayor of Amsterdam, delivers a speech (in English) before the unveiling of a memorial to the tragedy. Afterwards, a church service takes place, attended by Air Chief Marshal Sir Rob Wright, and the interment of the five remaining crewmen in a Commonwealth War Graves Commission plot. V. Mount Pleasant International Airport, Falkland Islands, the home of Headquarters British Forces Falkland Islands (HQBFFI). Group Captain Mike Barnes (Chief of Staff and Air Commander HQBFFI) discusses the role of HQBFFI, in particular that of the RAF (Tornado F3, VC10, Hercules, Sea King, Chinook). RAF Mount Alice, a remote radar station. Community support for the three forces: interview with Squadron Leader Jeff Harker (OC PSS HQBFFI) about the good facilities available. Christmas messages are shot on video and posted to a secure page on the RAF's website: Sergeant Adrian Tinsley talks about this. Scenes in the Museum at Stanley, where there is a section about the 1982 Argentinean invasion. Memorial on seafront 1914 Battle Day Parade. [Presented by Information Officer Barry Shaw for RAF Corporate Communications] VI. Brief news round-up: (i) Alex Coomber gains Bronze medal at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics; (b) the RAF Falcons parachute display team set a new world record; (iii) Leading Firefighter Steve Watson from RAF Neatishead visits Ground Zero in New York, and hands over a cheque for £13,000 for the Firemen's Disaster Fund; (iv) Conclusion of Exercise Saif Sareea II in Oman, a test of the rapid reaction force concept in the wake of the Strategic Defence Review - also host to a concert by Geri Halliwell, Steps and Bobby Davro; (v) RAF Police and their civilian counterparts (spokesman DCI Jill Simpson) have produced a video - "Chat Safe", presented by Carol Vorderman - warning young people of the dangers of internet chatrooms.
  • Alternative Title: RAF STRIKE COMMAND, HIGH WYCOMBE VIDEOCASSETTE COLLECTION [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour: Colour
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: BFE 411
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © Crown copyright. IWM (BFE 411)
  • Featured Period: 2001-2025
  • Production Date: 2002-03-01
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Royal Air Force, Strike Command Media Ops Corporate Communications (Production sponsor) Royal Air Force, Strike Command Media Services (Video) (Production company)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: Colour Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: English Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: Beta-SP Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Tape length: 30; Running time: 24 mins
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    BFE 411

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