Title:THE ROAD TO ROME: INDIAN TROOPS AT CASTROCIELO AND VEROLI [Allocated Title]
Film Number:MWY 86
Other titles:INDIAN INTER-SERVICE PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTORATE COLLECTION - INDIAN HOME FRONT AND MILITARY OPERATIONS, AND ALLIED OPERATIONS IN ITALY AND THE PACIFIC DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
Summary: At Veroli, in Italy's Liri Valley, troops of 8th Indian Division fraternise with Italian villagers and are visited by their divisional commander, Major-General Russell, during the advance on Rome.
Description: In Veroli Indian troops and Italian villagers do their ‘dhobi’ (laundry). An Indian soldier and a villager wring out a garment together. Indian troops ‘fraternise cordially’; one soldier shakes hands with villagers, another soldier (a Pathan or Pashtun with thick moustache) bounces a baby in his arms; the baby doesn’t seem keen. Indian troops and villagers gathered around a jeep, which has clearly taken bullets through its windscreen. Universal carriers passing through a badly bombed street in Veroli. A Humber armoured car and a Stuart Kangaroo follow; these vehicles probably of 6th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers. Major-General Dudley Russell, commander 8th Indian Division, meets the commander of 6th Battalion 13th Frontier Force Rifles in Veroli. Russell consults a map with the battalion commander, then departs. A wounded man on a stretcher is carried into a building. Inside a bar that was formerly a fascist headquarters a Sikh jemadar washes with water from a soda fountain. Another examines an abandoned trumpet. A slightly tattered Union flag with King’s crown is flown from a balcony next to the flag of the Kingdom of Italy. Wideshot troops and villagers at laundry. Indian soldier washing himself. Indian troops (probably 1st Battalion 5th Mahratta Light Infantry) passing through Castrocielo with spades and pick axes. They continue up a steep hillside track. Indian troops climb narrow stone steps. Men passing camera; some wear neutral expressions, others smile for the camera.
Alternative Title:INDIAN INTER-SERVICE PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTORATE COLLECTION - INDIAN HOME FRONT AND MILITARY OPERATIONS, AND ALLIED OPERATIONS IN ITALY AND THE PACIFIC DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
Production Details: Public Relations Directorate, India (Production sponsor)
Indian Public Relations Film Unit (Production company)
Thomas, F (Production individual)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: Russell, Dudley (person)
Indian Army, 8th Indian Division (regiment/service)
Indian Army, 5th Mahratta Light Infantry, 1st Battalion (regiment/service)
Indian Army, 13th Frontier Force Rifles, 6th Battalion (regiment/service)
British Army, 6th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers (regiment/service)
Keywords: (geography)
(geography)
Italy 1939-1945 (theme)
Indian Army 1939-1945 (theme)
