Title:RAF SCENES ON NORTH WEST FRONTIER, INDIA [Allocated Title]
Film Number:MGH 6670
Other titles:AMATEUR FILM BY PILOT OFFICER FRANK POWLEY [Alternative Title]
Summary: Amateur film shot by Canadian-born Pilot Officer Frank Powley while serving in RAF 27 Squadron in India between November 1937 and July 1943, at Kohat, Miranshah and Risalpur before September 1940 and then as an instructor at 1 Flying Training School, Ambala.
Description: Reel 1: Miranshah 1938 [?]. Bomb marked "fuzed". Bombs being loaded onto trolley and transferred to waiting Hawker Hart. Rolls Royce armoured scout car and assorted trucks. Men sorting bullets for machine guns, presumably intended to arm aircraft with. Stack of bombs. Harts K2124, K2085 and K2096 of 39 Squadron undergoing maintenance checks on the ground. Hart K2085 starts up and takes off. Harts in the air. Views of settlements and villages from cockpit. Mountain scenery. Releasing bombs [target appears to be a fort?].
Reel 2: Karachi 1938 [?]. Skiing scenes [some in colour]. Travelling along winding road in a Chrysler Touring Car. Tribesmen with their possessions and camels in desert area.
Reel 3: Miranshah. Hart on the ground. Westland Wapiti in the air. Views from the air, traveling over scrubland and winding rivers. Wapitis K1275, K1258 and K2295 [of 27 Squadron?] flying in formation. Views from the cockpit. Small fort/watchtower. A large number of tribesmen [?] with presumably their wives, children, animals and worldly goods moving across desert area.
Reel 4: Miranshah 1938 [?]. Sign on building: "SCOUT POST MIRANSHAH 1905". Inside fort. Stack of large wooden crates marked "NOT TO BE ISSUED TO H.M. SHIPS". Crates appear to contain 112lb bombs and 250lb bombs. Convoy of trucks travelling through the Khyber Pass. Armoured cars on the road.
Reel 5: Cockpit views. Travelling over fort/settlement [?] Mountain ranges. Westland Lysander landing and taxiing on airfield [Kohat?]. Buildings. Hart on airfield.
Reel 6: Miranshah. Fishing in the river. Mules. Harvesting carrots. Aerial views of river and fields. Wapitis including K1275 on the ground.
Reel 7: Wapiti flies overhead at RAF Kohat and drops two parcels by parachute. Flying over land and sea. Views over town.
Reel 8: Vickers Valentia on airfield. Starting up the engines. Airman climbs onboard. Views from the air. Cockpit views of landing on airfield. Assorted aircraft on airfield including Valentias, Wapitis and Harts (including Hart K2091). Hart takes off. Wapiti running engines.
Reel 9: Animated caption: "LIVE BOMBING". Wapiti K2257 and others on airfield. Sign: "DANGER FUZED BOMBS NO SMOKING". Prepping munitions.
Reel 10: Egypt 1939 [?]. Playing golf. Valentia on airfield in front of hangars. Control Tower. Boat trip. Valentia KR2342 on airfield. Shorts Scion II VQ-PAB in Palestine Airways colours lands on airfield. Aerial shots. Views onboard aircraft (possibly a Scion).
Reel 11: Egypt 1939 [?]. Visiting the pyramids. Views of sphinx. Views from the air. On board flying boat. Landing on water. Aerial views of pyramids.
Reel 12: Khyber Pass. Regimental plaques placed on mountainside: "GORDON HIGHLANDER 1930 1931 1932", "MARABOUT DORSETSHIRE 1936 1937". Road sign for Kabul. Notice: "VISITORS MUST LEAVE HERE ON THE RETURN JOURNEY AS TO PASS LANDI KOTAL BY PM AND JAMRUD BY 5PM". Signs: "LIMIT OF BRITISH INDIA", "FRONTIER OF INDIA", and "TRAVELLERS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO PASS THIS NOTICEBOARD UNLESS THEY HAVE COMPLIED WITH THE PASSPORT REGULATIONS.
Reel 13: Tents. Scenery. Lake. Playing field. Track events. Tug-o-war game. Trophies on table. Prizes being issued. Crowd of locals watching an organised quail fight.
Reel 14: Views from Wapiti in the air. Bombing practice. Views of pilot in cockpit. Landing on airfield. Road signs.
Alternative Title:AMATEUR FILM BY PILOT OFFICER FRANK POWLEY [Alternative Title]
Colour:B&W (part Colour [Kodachrome])
Digitised:No
Object_Number:MGH 6670
Sound:Silent
Access Conditions:NON-IWM
Featured Period:
Production Date:1938
Production Country: GB
Production Details: Powley, Frank (Pilot Officer) (Production individual)
