MILITARY AND OFF-DUTY SCENES IN ERITREA, EGYPT AND PALESTINE [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: MILITARY AND OFF-DUTY SCENES IN ERITREA, EGYPT AND PALESTINE [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: MGH 6858
  • Other titles: AMATEUR FILM BY CAPTAIN CHARLES OADES [Alternative Title]
  • Summary: Amateur film shot by Captain Charles Oades of 4/5th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment while stationed in Egypt and later Eritrea between November 1940 and 1942 provides a detailed record of the places and people in Eritrea one year after the East Africa campaign, although the former colonial presence of Italy remains strikingly visible in the architecture of Asmara and Massawa.
  • Description: Reel 1: ("Cairo I") Interior of office at Abbasiya Barracks, Cairo during preparation for formation of 5 Corps, British Army. Artillery trucks, and overloaded Egyptian mule cart, pass along street. Scenes at Helmya (spelling ?) race course, where Egyptian grooms (seises) saddle up race horses ouyside ornate row of stables and prior to appearing in parade ring. Actual flat race. Brief (and overexposed) shot of General Auchinleck talking with Sir Miles Lampson. Stands crowded with Allied servicemen and Egyptian civilians; horses race past finishing post; beggar with monkey outside. 5 Corps training run and picnic at Step Pyramid at Saqqara (Sakkara). Various birds and animals inside Cairo Zoo. Traditional irrigation methods along Sweetwater Canal. Servicemen dinghy sailing on Lake Timsah, Ismailia; passing King Farouk's royal yacht Mahroussa at anchor. Smoke spirals skywards from a crashed aircraft at Ismailia aerodrome. Dark interior at Cairo cabaret shows belly dancer performing. Egyptian mounted policeman in Opera Square, and passing traffic. Polo match at Gezira Club, with shot of Captain Oades smiling at the camera. Members, male and female, are served by Egyptian waiters at Gezira Club cafĂ© beside swimming pool. Football and baseball at Gezira Club; US servicemen play the latter. Muslim funeral procession along Cairo street. Servicemen on balcony of Rhodesia House. Shoe shine boy polishes servicemen's boots. Kite on nest outside window of Captain Oades' bedroom at Officers Hostel in Cairo. Cairo trams. Scenes in Souk (Market) show wide variety of traditional trades and cutoms, from ambulant coffeee seller to fortune teller striking sands (geomancy). (18 mins) Reel 2: ("Cairo II") "Minor fight in street outside my billet." Legless dwarf hobbles along pavement. The City of the Dead - tombs and view towards Citadel Mosque. Scenes in the Souk of traditional pasttimes and crafts. Servicemen riding round and climbing the pyramids. Pyramid of Cheops. Hieroglyphs. United Nations parade through Cairo on 14 June 1943, marking Allied victory in North Africa, is headed by British Army band, followed by flags of the members of the United Nations, British Army tanks (Shermans and Crusaders) a wide variety of armoured and support vehicles and transport, including a truck marked Field Cashier and two NAAFI Mobile Canteen trucks, US Army Air Force band and other forces from India, French West Africa and British East Africa. (8 mins 23 secs) Reel 3: ("Nile Valley journey - Cairo to Massawa") By railway from Cairo to Karnak, via Aswan Dam. Sudan railway platform scenes. Villagers on Eritrean road between Khartoum and Asmara. Wrecked bridge. Narrow gauge Eritrean railway. Train arriving at Ghinda railway station. Captain Oades on donkey. Views from Sudan train. Flag at Egyptian frontier. Other scenes of local life. (13 mins 11 secs) Reel 4: ("Massawa Island I") Officers' Mess. Port and town scenes. Union Jack flies over Massawa. Residenze - Headquarters of Occupied Enemy Territory Adminstration (OETA). White brothel with notice over door "This house is open for British and Allied other ranks and merchant seamen from 2000 hours to 2245 daily". Shipping scuttled by Italians still block harbour. Other scenes of local life. (13 mins 52 secs) Reel 5: ("Massawa Island II") Sea fishing scenes. Massawa Island from Captain Oades' bedroom. Blowing up collected unexploded ammunition; Sikh soldiers of Indian Army stand by hole following explosion. Stone sangars outside Massawa. Italian cemetery in desert. Working the salt pans near naval base at Massawa. Tracking shot past ships scuttled by Italians to block use of harbour. Arrival of Duke of Gloucester (August 1942), who inspects Sudan Defence Force guard of honour; departure by ship. Fighting coal stock pile on fire. (15 mins 56 secs) Reel 6: ("On the Massawa - Asmara Road") (14 mins 43 secs) Road scenes, including improvements by Americans. Natural mineral water factory - interior scenes with child labour. Italian sign in native village. Natural history shots of birds and lizards. (14 mins 43 secs) Reel 7: ("Asmara 1942") Panorama of Asmara as seen from prisoner of war camp; hospital hut with red cross markings on roof as protection against air attack. Native wattle huts on the outskirts contrast with public buildings built by Italian colonial power, including Roman Catholic church, Divisional Court and modernist architecture. Coptic church. Lively street scenes in the native quarter ("out of bounds") include Eritreans in traditional and European dress. Italian armoured car drives along street. Army Film Unit cameraman with camera mounted on tripod on vehicle roof surveys scene in main street. Mercato delle Granaglie [Grain market constructed 1937]. Gipsy wigwams near Asmara. Natural history shots. Plaque on wall of governor's palace; Indian Army turbaned pipe band plays "Beating the Retreat" in gardens outside., opposite the HQ of the General Officer Commanding. (10 mins 35 secs) Reel 8: ("Nacfa and Keren Expeditions") Car and two lorries with Sudan Defence Force (SDF) soldiers travel across country, crossing sandy wadi north of Massawa. Colonel Brian Sundius-Smith (5th Indian Division) greeted by village headman, with OETA interpreter. Hunting kudu. Lieutenant Linklater holds up fox he shot. Two large Abyssinian crows. Camel convoy passes, ostrich feathers denoting wealth. Colonel Sundius-Smith beside baobab tree. Tracking shot from road along which British forces reached Keren battlefield. Fort Dologorodoc. Cameron Ridge. Battlefield from Italian perspective. Memorial service in war cemetery on first anniversary of British victory at Keren (so April 1942). After service Camel Corps of SDF parades. SDF practise unarmed combat and wrestling. Camel racing. Natural history shots near Ghinda rest house. (9 mins 35 secs) Reel 9: ("Eritrea I 1942-43") Flight by USAAF DC-3 over Danakil Depression and Eritrean coast from Massawa to Assab. Overland expedition over Depression (lent camera to another). Voyage by motorised dhow from Massawa to Dahlak and Nocra Islands (Red Sea) to inspect Italian oil well exploration pre-1941. Scuttled ships in Massawa harbour and port installations destroyed by Italian forces. Journey up old Massawa - Asmara road with Colonel Gough (Monmouthshire Regiment) (15 mins 57 secs) Reel 10: (Staff School, Sarafand, Palestine") Scenes in Alexandria. Train journey to Palestine via Kanatara Bridge, Egypt. View from roof of Sarafand Middle East Staff School [attended by Oades 1 March - 2 June 1943], and huts where students lived. Physical training before breakfast, putting the weight, firefighting demonstration, artillery demonstration, lorry mounted gun, self-propelled medium guns, 25 pdr field gun. Sheep shearing. Bofors anti-aircraft gun against mock air attack. Predictor for heavy anti-aircraft guns; range finder. Arabs make bricks. Demonstration of gun camouflage. Smoke screen by canisters; aircraft lay smokescreen. Officers pose in group for end of course photo - No 5 War Course. Outside views of camp facilities including restaurant. "Captain Higgins and other friends in Haifa." [October 1943] Mount of Olives, Jerusalem. Pan across new town to King David Hotel. Dome of the Rock. Street scene. YMCA building and King David Hotel. More views of Jerusalem: ancient walls, Dome of the Rock, entrance to garden sepulchre. (11 mins 51 secs) Reel 11: (Italy and Yugoslavia) On Landing Ship Infantry (LSI) crossing Adriatic from Bari to Vis. Vis harbour. Escaped prisoner of war and partisans with football. Major Bill Morgan with papers from Siebel Ferry sunk by other LCI previous night. Motor Torpedo boats return Morgan and I to Bari Xmas. eve. Sheep and goats grazing near Monopoli. Shepherd and lamb. SOE wireless station near Monopoli. Sunday afternoon promenade in main square at Monopoli, from Hungarian Sec balcony. Boat building near the main harbour. Depressed Italians looking at the Italian front situation map publicly displayed by us in Bari. Boy tenderising squid in Bari. Cattle truck accomodation for officers moving by rail from Bari to Forli; brew-up by the line. The Holding (Reinforcement) Camp at Forli; raising water from the well.; "Ginger" shaving. Railway trains destroyed by Allied AIr Forces. Snow at Mussolini's birthplace at Dovia di Predappio. Near Moldola. Bailey bridge near HQ of Polish Corps. Mud in Po valley, Polish Corps front, 1944-45. San Remo. Florence cathedral and Campanile. Bridges over the River Arno, old undamaged and a new Bailey bridge.
  • Alternative Title: AMATEUR FILM BY CAPTAIN CHARLES OADES [Alternative Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: MGH 6858
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM
  • Featured Period:
  • Production Date: 1940-11
  • Production Country:
  • Production Details: Oades, Charles (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics:
  • Technical Details: Format: Std 8mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 11
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    MGH 6858

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    Documents.25166 (System.Xml.XmlElement)
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