Title:SCENES IN ADEN DURING THE EMERGENCY [Allocated Title]
Film Number:MGH 6796
Other titles:AMATEUR FILM BY LIEUTENANT MARK GOSLING RM [Alternative Title]
Summary: Series of 8mm films copied onto a VHS complete with music track and relaxed commentary (presumably by Lieutenant James Barr) identifying locations and participants (names not listed in this summary). First two sequences are short; Aden footage takes up the majority of the presentation.
Description: On-Screen Title: LYMPSTONE TATTOO 1961, GREEN BERETS 1962, ALSO A YEAR IN ADEN 1964
I. Short sequence showing a military tattoo at Lympstone; soldiers marching and pretending to fight. (In the background is a scenic wall which looks like that of a Chinese city.
II. Presentation of Green Berets in passing out ceremony at Lympstone, 1962.
III. Aden. Grand vistas of the mountains and wadis (brief shot of commentator’s girlfriend Pauline). Shots of commandos and of local people. Soldiers relax. Street scenes at Steamer Point, showing local traders and Marines (out of uniform). Exteriors of Officer’s Mess (45 Commando). Queen’s Birthday parade in Aden, 1964, with flypast, band and soldiers “doing their duty for the governor”. Field gun demonstration. Grand Pan exercise with Land Rovers and armoured cars: troops in desert (several are named by the commentator, including one that was later killed). Soldiers relax in the desert camp, eating and having a shave. “Then we went on operations.” (This would be against the Red Wolves of Radfan, an insurgent group of Yemeni and Egyptian rebels). Soldiers line up. Airfield with spotter aircraft and a Belvedere helicopter. Tented camp at Dhala (Al Dali); football match with friendly locals. Fort can be seen on nearby high plateau. Tea and food are consumed. Local man with camel passes. Soldiers struggle to move a three-ton lorry which has become stuck on the road at Dhala. General views of Dhala camp: sandbagged observation post, tents with various signage, field guns. Commandos pose for the camera. Volleyball match. Perim Island, where the commando unit is relocated to guard a radio installation: boating scenes, children on dockside, movement of Land Rover using crane. Local people (actually Somalis) stand around. Shots of the original Victorian mining town on Perim, now no more than ruins without roofs. Final sequence is part of a public relations (PR) film shot in one of the wadis showing a tent set up with radio installation and maps. Recce troop marches towards camera. (Abrupt end)
Alternative Title:AMATEUR FILM BY LIEUTENANT MARK GOSLING RM [Alternative Title]
