MILITARY AND WILDLIFE SCENES IN WESTERN INDIA DURING PARTITION [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: MILITARY AND WILDLIFE SCENES IN WESTERN INDIA DURING PARTITION [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: MGH 5184
  • Other titles: AMATEUR FILM BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL G V HAYWARD [Alternative Title]
  • Summary: Amateur film shot by Lieutenant-Colonel G Hayward of the IEME (Indian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) while serving in India, and (after July1947) with the PEME (Pakistan Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) records preparations for moving equipment from Kirkee (IEME) to Quetta (PEME), Churchill Crocodile flamethrower trials, extensive coverage of Indian wildlife and remote Indian tribal populations shot during game hunting expeditions, caged prostitutes in Bombay and his homeward voyage on the Caledonia to Liverpool in 1948.
  • Description: Reel 1: (Mixed Colour/B&W) IEME School at Kirkee (near Poona), prior to Indian Partition and the creation of Pakistan. British officers fire pistol and rifle on range. Bulldozer clears a malaria site. Indian/Pakistani soldiers pack up, prior to the splitting of the post-Independence Indian Army into its Indian and Pakistan elements. Sherman tanks are marked "EME Training Centre, Pakistan, c/o O/C 503 Command PEME Workshops, Quetta". Churchill Crocodile flamethrower trials (Colour). Indian soldiers at Sports Day. Mongoose attacking captive snake. Snake charmer. Reel 2: (Colour) Indian wedding procession. Rural scenes of agriculture and game hunting. Tribal Indians. Reel 3: (Colour) Railway journey in western India, past Dhulia. Arrival at Forest Rest house for shooting expedition. Visit to remote Indian village where villagers wear distinctive red and orange headdress masks, and males perform circular ceremonial dance. Traditional agricultural scenes. More game hunting. Reel 4: (Colour) More game hunting, and dissection of animal corpses. Distinctive villagers again. Skinned tiger. Reel 5: (Colour) Indian procession. Mongoose attacking cobra. Railway journey in western India, passing through Lonavla. Sequence in Bombay shows young Indian girl prostitutes waiting in their distinctive cages for clients, signs advertising Grant Road Clinic (presumably the next stop for clients who catch venereal disease) and Dr Patel and Indian soldiers walking along street. Fortified island off coast. Tourist scenes of Agra Fort and Taj Mahal. Reel 6: (Colour) British Army officer with Pakistani (or Indian) troops on railway station preparing to depart from post-Independence India (national flag flies). (Camera fault) Embarkation on Caledonia at Bombay, and return voyage via Karachi, Port Sudan and Suez Canal to Liverpool, where luggage waits loading aboard train.
  • Alternative Title: AMATEUR FILM BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL G V HAYWARD [Alternative Title]
  • Colour: Colour (Ektachrome) (part B&W)
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: MGH 5184
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: NON-IWM
  • Featured Period:
  • Production Date: 1947
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Hayward, G V (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: Colour (Ektachrome) (part B&W) Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: Std 8mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 6 Footage: 1200 ft ca; Running time: 94 mins (16 fps)
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    MGH 5184

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