Title:ASKARIS TRAINING IN CEYLON [Allocated Title]
Film Number:JFU 151
Other titles:BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
Summary: African troops (askaris), probably of the 11th East African Division, are seen training in jungle country in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
Description: African soldiers, in light fighting order and armed with Lee Enfield No. 3 rifles and Bren light machine guns advance through thickly wooded terrain. They advance through close country and scramble up a steep slope. A soldier operates an Ordnance SBML 2-inch mortar to fire a smoke bomb. The bomb, trailing a white tail of smoke, hits the ground and spreads a smoke screen. The soldiers advance up the hillside. A sequence of footage in fading light. Close-up of two soldiers lying prone; the man nearest camera has an Enfield rifle and next to him is a Bren gunner. The rifleman, with his rifle already cocked, fits a magazine to the Bren gun (old-pattern drum sight Bren Mark III?). The soldiers raise their weapons. The rifleman fires his weapon through thick cover, giving the camera a good view of the rifle's action. The Bren is fired and reloaded.
Alternative Title:BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
AYY 1182 (NAVAL ACTIVITIES AT MOMBASA, KENYA [Allocated Title])
AYY 1173 (1. EAST AFRICAN TROOPS RETURN FROM BURMA. 2 ARMY EXERCISES. 2. NAIROBI RACES [Allocated Title])
JFU 185 (MEN OF THE ASSAM RIFLES TRAINING AT SADIYA [Allocated Title])
AYY 1180 (ARMY MANOEUVRES IN KENYA AND MADAGASCAR [Allocated Title])