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Summary: I. The advance of the Desert Mounted Corps from Nablus to Haifa following the Battle of Mediggo, Palestine Front, 21-27 September 1918.
II. Recruit training by the Royal Air Force at the Senior Officers' School at Heliopolis and the Imperial School of Instruction at Zeitoun, Egypt, late 1918.
Description: (Reel 1) Most of the scenes are of Indian troops of 15th Cavalry Brigade, 5th Cavalry Division. Also shown in the advance are the Nottinghamshire Battery, Royal Horse Artillery and 'A' Battery of the Honourable Artillery Company; part of 5th Mounted Brigade, Australian Mounted Division; and 1st Spahi Cavalry Regiment of the French Contingent. (Reel 2) There is a brief scene of Lieutenant-General Sir Philip Chetwode arriving at the Jewish settlement of Zimmaria. The advance continues along the Sea of Galilee, Lake Tiberias, and to Haifa. Indian Cavalry bring in German and Turkish prisoners.
(Reel 3) Recruits are given a medical examination, then instruction as pilots and training with the Lewis machine gun as air-gunners. (Reel 4) A training flight by a DH6 bomber and a demonstration of the assembly of an Airco DH9 by Royal Air Force and Women's Royal Air Force personnel, aided by Arab workers. The aircraft is assembled from parts sent out from Britain. (Reel 5) More scenes of the work done by the Zeitoun and Heliopolis training schools in instructing RAF personnel. (Reel 6) An Avro 504A aircraft takes off and demonstrates stunt flying. Part of the sequence is filmed from an aircraft in flight. The film ends with a montage of aircraft in flight, in no particular order, including a Martinsyde Elephant and a Farman Shorthorn, probably all stockshots.
Production Details: Jury's Imperial Pictures (Production company)
Jury, William F (Production individual)
Jeapes, Harold (Production individual)
Campbell, J R (Production individual)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: Chetwode, Philip Walhouse (person)
British Army, Egyptian Expeditionary Force (regiment/service)
British Army, Div, Cavalry, 5 (regiment/service)
British Army, Honourable Artillery Company, Bty A (regiment/service)
British Army, Royal Artillery, Royal Horse Artillery, Nottinghamshire Battery (regiment/service)
Indian Army, Egyptian Expeditionary Force (regiment/service)
Indian Army, 5th Cavalry Division (regiment/service)
British Army, Egyptian Expeditionary Force, French Contingent (regiment/service)
French Army, French Contingent, Egyptian Expeditionary Force (regiment/service)
French Army, Spahi Cavalry Regt, 1 (regiment/service)
Australian Army, Australian Imperial Force (regiment/service)
Australian Army, Egyptian Expeditionary Force (regiment/service)
Australian Army, Anzac Mounted Division (regiment/service)
British Army, Imperial School of Instruction, Zeitoun (regiment/service)
Royal Air Force, Senior Officers' School, Heliopolis (regiment/service)
Royal Air Force, Women's Royal Air Force, (regiment/service)
Keywords: operations, British military - movement: march (object name)
operations, Indian military - movement: march (object name)
operations, Australian military - movement: march (object name)
operations, French military - movement: march (object name)
buildings, Jewish - residential (object name)
prisoners of war, Turkish - movement (object name)
prisoners of war, German - movement (object name)
training, British air - weapons: machine gun (object name)
training, British air - specialist: pilot (object name)
medical, British air - preventative (object name)
aircraft, British - combat: De Havilland DH6 (object name)
aircraft, British - combat: De Havilland DH9 (Airco) (object name)
aircraft, British - combat: Avro 504A (object name)
aircraft, British - combat: Martinsyde Elephant (object name)
aircraft, French - early: Farman Shorthorn & [British] (object name)
industry, British - aircraft (object name)
01/3(569) (event)
01/3(53).5 (event)
31/3(621) (event)
Turkey & Nablus area, Palestine (geography)
Turkey & Haifa, Palestine (geography)
Turkey & Sea of Galilee, Palestine (geography)
Turkey & Lake Tiberias, Palestine (geography)
Turkey & Zimmaria, Palestine (geography)
Egypt & Zeitoun <Imperial School of Instruction> (geography)
Egypt & Heliopolis <Senior Officers' School> (geography)
desert (concept)
(concept)
desert (concept)
camera (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: 6
Footage: 4785 ft; Running time: 80 mins
HD Media:Yes
Notes: Title: it seems likely that the title of the film originally referred only to the first two reels, and the remainder has become attached to these.
Intertitles: the first two reels are unusually well subtitled, the third and fourth reels have flashframes and the final reels have no titles at all.
Production: the subtitles on the first two reels seem to be too detailed for British wartime censor's regulations, suggesting another of the post-war compilations made by Jury from official material as part of his reward for controlling wartime film production (cf IWM 37 - THE ADVANCE THROUGH NAZARETH AND DAMASCUS, SEPTEMBER 20TH-OCTOBER 1ST 1918). The War Office Cinema Committee, which remained in paper existence after the end of the war, appears to have been connected with the making of the film.
