OPERATIONS OF THE BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCES IN EAST AFRICA [Main Title]
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- Title: OPERATIONS OF THE BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCES IN EAST AFRICA [Main Title]
- Film Number: IWM 84
- Other titles: OUR GRIP ON THE HUNS : Cherry Kearton War Series [Series Title] IN EAST AFRICA [Alternative Title]
- Summary: The British campaign in German East Africa, late 1915 to early 1916.
- Description: Soldiers of the King's African Rifles patrolling into the bush, supplied by light canoes bringing equipment up to the frontier outposts. The 25th Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers, better known as 'The Frontiersmen' or 'Driscoll's Scouts', moving up country and encamping. Wheeled mortars being cast and scratch-built from molten metal, and later test fired. A horse being camouflaged using potassium permanganate to darken its coat. An aeroplane, a Caudron GIII (captioned as belonging to the RFC, but in fact part of Royal Naval Air Service No 4 Expeditionary Squadron under the command of Squadron Commander J T Cull - note presence of RNAS ground crew), taking off, in flight and landing, probably at Maktau, Taita Hills in background. African scouts stalking on patrol. The Frontiersmen acting out the drill for a night alarm. A 4.7-inch coastal defence gun mounted on a field carriage being fired. -------- Enhanced data reproduced from COLONIAL FILM CATALOGUE - www.colonialfilm.org.uk CONTEXT Cherry Kearton, mostly remembered for his films of African wildlife, spent the early part of the War producing ‘The Whirlpool of War’, a cinemagazine made by Warwick Trading Co.. Kearton was a director and the largest shareholder of the company and produced 33 issues between August 1914 and February 1915, making a succession of weekly trips to Belgium (Kearton, 1935, 177, 189). In April and May 1915 he also presented a cinema lecture entitled ‘Through Central Africa from East to West’, featuring footage of his expedition from Mombasa to the mouth of the Congo, which had lasted from April 1913 until May 1914 (The Times, 8 April, 1915, 10). The lecture was also presented in America, with over 6,000 feet of film, by his accomplice on the trip, James Barnes (Indianapolis Sunday Star, 2 May 1915, 1). Kearton claimed that he wasn’t initially wanted by the army, but was approached by Colonel Daniel Patrick Driscoll, a veteran of the Burma campaign of 1886-1888 and of the South African War of 1900-1902, when Driscoll sought permission to raise a special battalion out of the Legion of Frontiersmen for service in German East Africa. Driscoll chose the 64-year-old hunter F. C. Selous and Kearton as his ‘intelligence officers’, noting Kearton’s experience and knowledge of East Africa. On 4 May 1915 they arrived in Mombasa as part of the 25th Bn Royal Fusiliers (Kearton, 1935, 203-04). Kearton recalled his experiences serving in East Africa in his book Adventures with Animals and Men. ‘Anyone who had experience of the War on the Western Front – with its creeping barrages, pill-boxes and tanks – will think our campaign in East Africa a very tame affair’ yet, he argued, ‘we had difficulties to contend with which were never met in Europe. We were fighting “open warfare” with a far-flung battle line. We had no continuous line of trenches and we never knew what unprotected piece of railway or exposed outpost would next be attacked in a sudden raid. We frequently marched without water’, he added, ‘and were also short of rations. There was a lack of proper and adequate medical supplies and the danger of sudden and devastating outbreaks of fever and dysentery was always with us’. ‘More than anything else’, he concluded, ‘the country was admirably suited for snipers and the native soldiers employed by the enemy were well trained in that section of the art of war’ (Kearton, 1935, 210). While serving in East Africa, Cherry Kearton was loaned to the Royal Naval Air Service (R.N.A.S.) as a photographer, performing a ‘good deal of work for them and later for the R.F.C.’ (Kearton, 1935, 224). Kearton’s footage from East Africa was advertised in Bioscope in January 1917. Under an advertisement for Academy Moving Pictures – ‘the home of exclusive novelties’ – was Our Grip on the Huns in East Africa, described as ‘a fine Kine-record of the war in British East and German East Africa’ (Bioscope, 11 January 1917). A Scala theatre programme also suggests that the film played theatrically alongside official productions in London. ANALYSIS Operations of the British Expeditionary Forces in East Africa provides footage of an often-overlooked aspect of the British war effort. In its coverage of East Africa, the film illustrates the work of the ‘native troops’, showing the King’s African Rifles ‘marching through the scrub to the front’, as they walk fully armed towards the camera. It shows the Royal Fusiliers (Driscoll’s Scouts) marching at ease, and presents their preparation work, for example in constructing their camp. It illustrates the particular conditions of the area, showing the ‘difficulties of transport’ as three Africans paddle a ‘native dug-out boat’, and also shows the locals working with the Europeans. For example, when showing the heliographers at work, the camera reveals two uniformed African soldiers positioned behind a European man as he looks through his binoculars. While the film is of historical import as a record of the war effort in East Africa, it is also noteworthy as a Cherry Kearton production. First, Kearton’s interest in the African landscape is evident in his filming and secondly, as a film produced by a professional filmmaker, the film has clear commercial sensibilities. This is most evident in the film’s use of titles. The opening title reads ‘Midst the lairs of wild beasts. A glimpse of the German East African country, where our soldiers are accomplishing the task of ousting the Hun’. The titles serve to sensationalise the material and, in this respect, the film differs from some of the official productions, such as With the Indian Troops at the Front. The film concludes with a night drill, complete with explosions, but the titles do not clarify this, once more dramatising the sequence with a title that states ‘In the danger zone. Native patrol scouts on the alert’. Tom Rice (September 2009) WORKS CITED Bioscope Foreign and Export Supplement, 11 January 1917. ‘Murat – Central Africa from Coast to Coast’, Indianapolis Sunday Star, 2 May 1915, 1. Kearton, Cherry, Adventures with Animals and Men (London: Longmans and Co., 1935). Pocock, Geoff, ‘Cherry Kearton’ accessed at http://www.frontiersmen.org.au/kearton.htm (29 September 2009). The Times, 8 April 1915, 10.
- Alternative Title: OUR GRIP ON THE HUNS : Cherry Kearton War Series [Series Title] IN EAST AFRICA [Alternative Title]
- Colour: B&W
- Digitised: Yes
- Object_Number: IWM 84
- Sound: Silent
- Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM (IWM 84)
- Featured Period: 1914-1918
- Production Date: 1916
- Production Country: GB
- Production Details: Academy Moving Picture Bureau (Production company) Kearton, Cherry18711940 (Production individual)
- Personalities, Units and Organisations: British Army, King's African Rifles (regiment/service) British Army, Royal Fusiliers, Bn 25 (regiment/service) Royal Navy, Royal Naval Air Service & Sqdn 4 (regiment/service)
- Keywords: operations, British military - movement: march (object name) weapons, British - mortar: (improvised) (object name) industry, British - guns: mortars & [+] (object name) animals, mammals: horse (object name) equipment, British - camouflage: potassium permanganate (object name) aircraft, French - combat: Caudron GIII & [British] (?) (object name) weapons, British - gun: 4.7-inch naval gun (carriage mounted) (object name) training, British military - combat (object name) 01/3(676) (event) German East Africa (geography) Race (concept) jungle (concept) night (concept)
- Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: English Subtitle language: English
- Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 580 ft; Running time: 10 mins
- HD Media:Yes
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