Summary: Jumbled, out-of-sequence film of the Army Service Corps during the First World War, containing two main themes and a collection of unrelated scenes, all in England.
Description: I. The first main theme is civilian recruits volunteering for the ASC outside the Central Recruiting Office in Whitehall, London. They are marched to the railway station. Arriving at a suburban station they are formed up and marched to the barracks, where they are inspected and issued with uniforms and equipment. II. The second main theme is of ASC troops preparing to leave their camp, probably for active service. The men are inspected and their methods of folding their kit are checked. The officers are issued with their orders. The departing troops, in 3-ton lorries (mainly Thornycroft, some Maudslay) are cheered by other members of the ASC, ambulance drivers who wait beside the road for their departure. The soldiers, as they wait, are handed mail and their paybooks. They cheer the camera. III. The remaining scenes are related to neither main theme. A group of ASC soldiers waiting in the road beside their depot joke with two passing lady bicyclists before being called to order and marched away. Rifle range practice. A pay parade for motor transport drivers. Distribution of letters. A mastiff, the depot mascot. Unloading packages from 3-ton lorries. ASC carpenters and blacksmiths at work by the roadside. A joke boxing match, including one blindfold bout, and a mop fight. Soldiers watching some form of entertainment while eating indoors. A demonstration of how to get a lorry out of a ditch with a tow-rope. A group of ASC soldiers, one walking on his hands for the camera. A meal out of doors. Two soldiers writing home (staged). An ASC driver shaving by using the plastic window of his lorry as a mirror.
Personalities, Units and Organisations: British Army, Army Service Corps (regiment/service)
Keywords: recruitment, British military: Army Service Corps (object name)
operations, British military - movement: road (object name)
transport, British military - truck: Thornycroft 3-ton lorry (object name)
transport, British military - truck: Maudslay 3-ton lorry (object name)
training, British military (object name)
communications, British military - postal (object name)
society, British military - hygiene (object name)
animals, mammals: dog (mascot) (object name)
society, British military - friendship (object name)
31/3(41) (event)
GB, England & London, WC <Whitehall & Central London Recruiting Office> (geography)
GB, England (geography)
