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Title:AIRBORNE ATTACK ON EL GAMIL AIRFIELD [Allocated Title]
Film Number:AMY 623
Other titles:POST-WAR NAVAL OPERATIONS - SUEZ [Allocated Series Title]
Summary: Aerial shots from one of the Handley Page Hastings transport aircraft participating in the airborne assault on El Gamil.
Description: LA.MS of Hastings transport in level flight right to left (the aircraft flew in pairs). Interior of the cameraman's aircraft, lit by sunlight through the cabin windows - paratroopers sit along either side. One man is apparently asleep. Others look out of the windows or check their equipment. MS of companion aircraft again. The men stand up as the drop approaches. Despatcher opens door panel. MS to open door as a stick jumps. Cut to aerial view looking south-west past walled Royal Hunting Club building (?) to knocked-out bridge carrying the coastal road - the aircraft is on its approach run to El Gamil from the north-west, and the camera holds as it flies over the Fumm Beheiret el-Manzala waterway and the Damietta causeway, also damaged by air attack. Aerial view of the airfield itself, dotted with men and parachutes - across the runway are visible the sand-filled, 40-gallon oil drums placed there by the Egyptians to prevent aircraft landing. Black smoke billows up from the airport control tower, still burning after rocket attacks by RN Sea Hawks and Wyverns. Camera aircraft climbs above the cloud layer as it turns away for the return flight to Cyprus. The film then reverts to interior shots before the jump - at first, perhaps early on in the flight, the only illumination is provided by the cabin lights and the picture is under-exposed. Paras check their equipment. Aerial views again as the aircraft flies towards the drop zone, with a final shot of the Anglo-French invasion fleet lying off the coast.
