Title:539 ASSAULT SQUADRON ROYAL MARINES, BASRA, OPERATION TELIC IX (TAPE 1) [Allocated Title]
Film Number:BFM 232
Other titles:ROYAL MARINES DURING OPERATION TELIC IX [Allocated Series Title]
Summary: Members of 539 ASRM (Assault Squadron Royal Marines) at Basra Palace.
Description: Bridge and jetty on the lagoon at Basra Palace: Offshore Raiding Craft of 539 ASRM are moored alongside. Close-ups of the open boats (currently unoccupied). View of bridge. Statement to camera by Captain Barnard, OC of the RMVPU (labelled as cameraman on box). He discusses the all arms course and also discusses the ETM branch of the Royal Navy. (Poor quality sound: low-level and affected by wind.) Poor quality footage as the cameraman repositions himself at length: this is followed by views of the Basra Palace. Torchlit shots after dark in the environs of the palace. A fire blazes on the horizon. Dim shots of wrecked service building, followed by daylight shots of the same building, peppered with gunshots and badly damaged by shelling. Members of 539 ASRM in their Offshore Raiding Craft, preparing to move off - a group of Marines pose for a photograph. Boats move off from their moorings. Group of boats in the lagoon, moving off under the bridge and out towards the Shatt al-Arab. Views from on board as the boats move down the river: views of the palace from river side. Extended shots of the boats' journey down the Shatt al-Arab past factories, ships and palm-lined river banks. Occasionally, ruined buildings and shipwrecks can be seen at the riverside. Among the many vessels passed are the ship Al Assadi and the wreck of the Oriental Star (a casualty of the Iran-Iraq War). Local Iraqi fishermen in open boats come alongside and wave. Further riverside views (silhouetted landscapes as the sun begins to set).
Alternative Title:ROYAL MARINES DURING OPERATION TELIC IX [Allocated Series Title]
Colour:Colour
Digitised:No
Object_Number:BFM 232
Sound:Sound
Access Conditions:IWM
Featured Period:2001-2025
Production Date:2006-11-18
Production Country: GB
Production Details: Royal Marines Video Production Unit (Production company)
Barnard, Toby (Production individual)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: Royal Marines, 539 Assault Squadron (regiment/service)
