UNEDITED FOOTAGE OF CAMBODIA DURING THE KHMER REPUBLIC [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: UNEDITED FOOTAGE OF CAMBODIA DURING THE KHMER REPUBLIC [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: MGH 6748
  • Other titles: FAR EAST NEWSFILM BY DENIS CAMERON [Alternative Title]
  • Summary: Rushes shot by the American photographer and cameraman Denis Cameron in Cambodia, probably in 1971, as part of his coverage between 1969 and 1975 of the conflict in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
  • Description: (Reel 1) Soldiers prepare to travel in convoy. (These will be South Vietnamese, members of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). This is likely to be footage of Operation Lam Son 719, a limited incursion into Southern Laos in February-March 1971.). Here, the soldiers stand casually in a circle beside a jeep, smoking cigarettes and talking. A helicopter flies overhead. One of the soldiers cleans his machine gun. Lines of army trucks are parked beside the road. Some are laden with petrol tanks and drums of fuel, others are possibly carrying ammunition and other supplies. Views from on board moving truck (hand held and shaky) show jeeps and other military vehicles driving down a road. Armoured trucks; helmeted ARVN soldiers man mounted machine guns. The convoy of army trucks waits beside the ‘highway’; an armoured personnel carrier (possibly an M113) drives past the long line of vehicles. (Reel 2) Further shots of the convoy of trucks and jeeps with soldiers on a rural road. A windswept Vietnamese soldier mans his machine gun; the gun is mounted on the back of an armoured truck which is travelling along an unsealed road in fairly open countryside. Smoke pours past from the exhausts of the truck. (The good condition of the road/highway suggests that this was on the Vietnam side of the border with Laos.) A muddy road crosses a small creek bed and a small firebase (probably manned by the ARVN). Soldiers clean up in muddy water. The wreckage of a helicopter. Another soldier, wearing a helmet and with a cigarette hanging casually from his mouth) manning machine gun (this time mounted on an armoured personnel carrier); this is followed by a similar shot of another gunner. Final shot of the reel is a poor quality image of the interior of a truck/APC (after the camera has been placed, still running, on the floor). (Reel 3) Marines of the Khmer Republican Army on a river bank, probably at or near Neak Loeung on the Mekong River. A riverine gunboat (number "MSR2" on bow) is moored at the bankside; Cambodian soldiers climb down onto the bank and are handed guns, radio equipment and ammunition (the soldiers are ethnic Khmer, not Vietnamese). Local civilians in the river, bathing their cattle. The reel ends with a black screen; again, the camera had been put down while still running. (Reel 4) ARVN (?) field gun position in village, possibly Cambodia or Southern Laos during Operation Lam Son 719. Shells are loaded and fired from the gun, a 105mm howitzer; the artillery crew looks lackadaisical as they load shells into breech. A vehicle convoy, carrying crates of ammunition, is at the roadside; a soldier checks paperwork. An armoured truck drives past. Soldiers relax by the roadside, some playing cards, others eating rice from pannikins. A helicopter flies overhead. Close-up of ammunition lorry and boxes of (US-supplied) 105mm howitzer shells. (Reel 5) Scenes in a Cambodian city, almost certainly Phnom Penh. A display of food stocks, including bread and flour in a sack marked "Khmer Republic" and "milled in USA"; these are food stores donated to villagers and/or refugees. A circle of mute villagers looks on (presumably the intended recipients of the aid). A stack of small bundles in the back of a truck; these are probably cooked rice, which was commonly carried by troops. On the veranda of a hospital building, military casualties on stretchers are attended to by Khmer medics; injuries are to the abdomen and chest. One soldier, lying on a tiled floor, has an injection in his leg and also has a saline drip attached. (Reel 6) Street market scenes (Phnom Penh ?). A trader sells pig tusks and other items, which are laid out on a red cloth. A crowd gathers. A tusk is offered to a Khmer Republic soldier. These teeth/tusks were often worn by Cambodian military personnel as talismans, as they were commonly believed to give them protection (even against bullets). Other traders include a man selling military fatigues and shoes. (Reel 7) Further city scenes. A crowd of Khmer men has gathered. These will be military veterans, waiting to receive assistance; many have major disabilities. Amputees on crutches climb aboard a military truck. (Reel 8) Further veterans with disabilities gather. These include a man without hands and a man in a floral shirt who has lost an eye; the latter poses for the camera. Some of the veterans are still in uniform; one is in a wheelchair. (Reel 9) Field gun position in a Cambodian village; artillery shells and cases are handled by Khmer Republic soldiers. The houses on stilts in background are of a typical Khmer style. Phnom Penh: scenes of damage on the streets, in the vicinity of the Royal Palace. A Mercedes car, its windows smashed, is parked at the kerbside, surrounded by broken tree branches; this may be the aftermath of a rocket attack. A crowd of onlookers stands in the background. An ambulance marked "CROIX-ROUGE CAMBODGIENNE" (Red Cross) pulls out onto the road, possibly from the grounds of Calmette Hospital, and drives down a road (possibly Monivong Boulevard). A street vendor's cart is inspected by soldiers. Technician takes equipment from red container marked ‘Kit Safing Mine Canister’ [sic] carried in the back of a jeep. A food cart has been overturned; soldiers inspect the damage and wave away spectators. A press photographer takes a photograph. Burnt-out cars are also seen, including a Volkswagen beetle and a Citroen DS. (Reel 10) Khmer Republic soldiers set up a mortar position in the countryside (Cambodia/Southern Laos). They stand by crates of mortar shells. A paddy field and village are in the background). The mortar is prepared for loading. The mortar crew themselves act casually; there is no urgency in their actions. On a rural road, an ambulance parks and an injured Khmer soldier, supported by his comrades, is helped on board. Another wounded soldier, his face covered, is carried on stretcher. A bemused-looking Khmer soldier with an ammunition belt over his chest. An armoured personnel carrier wheels up from a field onto the road. (Reel 11) An open air army command post in the countryside, fitted with map tables and a field telephone. Soldiers sit around nearby. Cut to shot of the field gun, seen in Reel 9, being fired; further stacks of ammunition lie nearby. Food - bundles of rice and a bottle of fish sauce (?) - are distributed to villagers by Cambodian soldiers; one of the soldiers addresses local people. (Reel 12) A Khmer Republican soldier stands with belt of ammunition draped over his shoulder and chest. Mortars are fired from an armoured vehicle (possibly an M113) in a village field; the APC reverses and then rolls forward (the number ‘2’ marking in Khmer script sab be seen on the side). Long shot of (155mm ?) mortars being loaded and fired from the armoured vehicle (the aimer wears a floppy hat and black rimmed spectacles). Truck-loads of soldiers drive past (the trucks are also numbered ‘2’ in Khmer script). More mortar firings; the barrel is cleaned with a rod. Smoke rises in the distance In the foreground, the side of an armoured vehicle can be seen; this is marked ‘25’ in Khmer script. A small spotter aircraft flies overhead. Further plumes of smoke, presumably from a bombing or shelling, on the horizon. (Reel 13) Cambodia. Children and families (almost certainly refugees/displaced persons) gather in the open air; a man hands out cigarettes to his relatives. Panning shot of the main entrance gate to a military or government compound, protected by wire barriers; this may contain a Veteran's Affairs Office, as many veterans, including amputees, are standing nearby (see also Reels 7 and 8). Khmer men – most in military uniform – also sit waiting. Motorcycle and jeeps pass. The one-man in a floral shirt, seen in Reel 8, stands with other veterans. (Reel 14) Street scenes in Phnom Penh. A blind market trader, selling bamboo flutes, plays one as a crowd gathers to listen. Bustling streets: cinema banner for the ‘Soriya’ cinema near the Central Market, Phnom Penh. Camera moves to show cyclos and traffic in the foreground. A female traditional 'dental practitioner' in street inspects a patient’s mouth. (Reel 15) The aftermath of street disturbances in Phnom Penh (following on from Reel 9). Ruined street hawker’s cart seen earlier lies on the pavement beside the Royal Palace, along with other debris. Soldiers on patrol; one pushes a bicycle. A street vendor's cart is put onto the back of a military truck. Close-up of red metal box marked "Kit, Safing, Mine Canister" with serial number, possibly the same one as seen in Reel 9. Soldiers and others look up as a helicopter flies high overhead. Soldier (or Military Policeman) loads another street vendor's cart, this one containing ice cream, into a truck as a crowd watches; a further cart is confiscated. (This is a precautionary measure, as it is possible that the carts have been booby-trapped with small amounts of plastic explosive.) The wrecked Mercedes car seen in Reel 9 is nearby. A Bell helicopter (with the roundel of the Khmer Republic clearly visible on the underside) flies very low overheard; one of the crewmen surveys the scene. A reporter talks with soldiers wearing berets.
  • Alternative Title: FAR EAST NEWSFILM BY DENIS CAMERON [Alternative Title]
  • Colour: Colour
  • Digitised: No
  • Object_Number: MGH 6748
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: NON-IWM
  • Featured Period:
  • Production Date: 1971
  • Production Country: United States of America
  • Production Details: Cameron, Denis (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: Colour Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: 16mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 21 Footage: ft; Running time: 120 mins ca
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    MGH 6748

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    PHO 414 ()
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