FIGHTING IN SURABAYA [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: FIGHTING IN SURABAYA [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: JFU 437
  • Other titles: BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: Footage from the Battle of Surabaya (Sourabaya/Soerabaja) in Java, Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia), including mortar and artillery fire, infantry activity, and views of the city.
  • Description: Indian troops advance in single file along a street in the Chinese quarter of Surabaya. Medium close-up of a dead Indonesian lying in the street 'full of Bren gun slugs' (from the dopesheet). A file of Indian troops passes camera; they are identified on the dopesheet as 5th Battalion 6th Rajputana Rifles of 49th Indian Brigade, 23rd Indian Division. Indian troops crouched by an Ordnance QF 6-pounder anti-tank gun. An Indian corporal speaks on a radio in a jeep. Close-up of a 3-inch mortar bomb. Out of focus footage of mortar men with their weapons (Ordnance ML 3-inch mortars). Two mortars ready for firing. A mortar is fired. A position on a railway line held by men of 5/6th Rajputana Rifles, probably near the docks and west of the Kali Mas canal. Indian soldiers on the position. Rear quarter shot of a soldier firing his Sten submachine gun; the weapon appears to repeatedly misfire. View from a rooftop observation or command post with a Bren light machine gun entering left foreground. A sergeant wearing 23rd Indian Division insignia looking through binoculars. An officer seen sniping from behind a grassy embankment with a Lee Enfield No.5 rifle (a 'jungle carbine'). An improvised barricade across a street. A sign reads '13th Indian Field Battery, Indian Artillery' and is marked with the badge of the Indian Artillery. An Indian gun team at the ready by an Ordnance QF 25-pounder field gun. The muzzle. A probably posed sequence showing the gun team running from a small basha to their gun and taking their positions. Stacked ammunition. 25-pounder firing. Views of a battery position with smoke on the horizon. A column of smoke. Pan from battery position to smoke on the horizon. A sign reads 'NO ENTRY - ROAD UNDER FIRE'. Looking down a road over a barricade; Indonesian nationalist graffiti and flags can be seen. A few troops on a deserted street. An Indonesian flag on a pole. Thick smoke rising behind a treeline. View of bomb damage in the Chinese quarter, with a view of the Chinese Alhambra cinema facing the Kali Pegirian (or Semampir Canal). An improvised crossing over the Semampir Canal; a motionless British soldier of 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment stands guard on frame right. Debris in the canal. Wide shot showing a group of (possibly Chinese) civilians outside a damaged (possibly shop) building. View from inside a sandbagged bunker with a Bren gun left foreground and a warehouse visible through the aperture. Shot from outside; sandbags left with warehouses some distance off with an Indonesian flag flying above. A British soldier of the West Yorks stands outside the bunker with his rifle; the muzzle of the Bren gun can be seen. Shot of an Indonesian flag flying from a tower. Views of a shell-damaged government building. Views from an artillery observation post in an unnamed 'government building' in Surabaya, possibly the Governor's Offices in the city centre. Views over the city, some with smoke rising (presumably from shelling). A jeep parked by an embankment marked with graffiti. Smoke in the distance with a sandbagged emplacement in the foreground; location possibly facing the Semampir Canal (Kali Pegirian) in 9th Brigade's sector. A small barricade across a road, probably at the junction of Sociëteitstraat and Regentstraat. A knocked out Indonesian light tank, previously a Japanese Army Type 95 Ha-Go. It is marked 'PRI' (probably 'Pemuda Republik Indonesia' or 'Youth of the Republic of Indonesia', an armed youth movement). A debris-strewn street. Three civilians approaching a barricade. A young pony or foal with a sandbagged emplacement behind. In the Chinese quarter a crowd of Chinese civilians stands in the street (Chinese flags are evident). Entrance to the Chinese Red Cross building. Close-up of a sign reading 'Chinese Red Cross Unit'. Red Cross flag flying at the doorway.
  • Alternative Title: BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: JFU 437
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-11-16
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: War Office Directorate of Public Relations (Production sponsor) SEAC Film Unit (Production company) Davis, Desmond (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Indian Army, 6th Rajputana Rifles, 5th Battalion (regiment/service) Indian Army, 49th Indian Infantry Brigade (regiment/service) British Army, West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own), 2nd Battalion (regiment/service) Indian Army, 9th Indian Infantry Brigade (regiment/service) Indian Army, 23rd Indian Division (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: Surabaya, Java, Netherlands East Indies (geography) Surabaya 1945, Allied Occupation of the Netherlands East Indies, Allied Occupation of South East Asia post-August 1945 (event) India 1939-1945 (theme) British Army 1939-1945 (theme)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 838 ft; Running time: 10 mins
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    JFU 437

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