'SUNDERLAND STORY' - TRANSPORT AND EVACUATION OF BRITISH CASUALTIES BY SUNDERLAND FLYING BOAT AT DIBRUGARH, ASSAM, INDIA [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: 'SUNDERLAND STORY' - TRANSPORT AND EVACUATION OF BRITISH CASUALTIES BY SUNDERLAND FLYING BOAT AT DIBRUGARH, ASSAM, INDIA [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: ABY 12
  • Other titles: ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: An RAF Short Sunderland flying boat and DUKW amphibious trucks are used to evacuate casualties of 111th Brigade during Operation River May-July 1944, in support of the Second Chindit Expedition.
  • Description: Reel 1: Shot from Sunderland of repairs to float and refuelling from DUKW amphibious truck. Airmen hanging washing out on hull of Sunderland. Airborne shots of Brahmaputra River below. Shots of engine, wing and wingtip float. Reel 2: Ambulances gathering on lake shore. DUKW's pull away from Sunderland. DUKW approaching shore. Casualties unloaded from DUKW. One casualty appears to be African, possibly of the 3rd West African Brigade. Airborne shots. Raft approaching Sunderland. Supplies loaded onto raft from Sunderland. Laden raft passes in front of camera. Airborne shots. Sunderland on Lake Indawgyi loading with wounded. Airman with Sten gun. Japanese prisoner unloaded from Sunderland. Loaded raft comes ashore. Casualties board ambulance. Japanese prisoner brought ashore. Local people. Ambulances arrive at No. 49 Indian General Hospital. Japanese prisoner dismounts. Reel 3: DUKW on lakeside. Ambulances driving along road. Sunderland comes into land with other boats in foreground. Indian man with armful of stretchers. Locals, including children, sit and watch from beneath umbrellas. Ambulances arrive at hospital, stretcher cases removed. A British nurse walks by. Airborne shots. Air-to-ground footage of Sunderland take off from Hooghly River (Hoogli/Hugli) at Calcutta . Some fine air-to-air footage, shot from a North American Harvard aircraft, of Sunderland in flight.
  • Alternative Title: ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: ABY 12
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-07
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Air Ministry, Directorate of Public Relations (Production sponsor) Royal Air Force Film Production Unit (Production company) Towler, D (Pilot Officer) (Production individual) Lang, T W (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Indian Army, 111th Indian Infantry Brigade (Chindits) (regiment/service) British Army, 3rd West African Brigade (Chindits) (regiment/service) Royal Air Force, 230 Squadron (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: Brahmaputra River, India (geography) Indawgyi Lake, Burma (geography) Dibrugarh, Assam, India (geography) Hooghly River, India (geography) Air evacuation of casualties, Air operations over Burma, Burma 1942-1945, Second World War (event) Operation River, Chindits 1944, Burma 1942-1945, Second World War (event) British Army 1939-1945 (theme) Burma 1942-1945 (theme) Aerial Warfare (theme) India 1939-1945 (theme) Royal Air Force 1939-1945 (theme) Far East 1939-1945 (theme)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 3 Footage: 1935 ft; Running time: 22 minutes
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    ABY 12

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    MWY 25 (OPERATION RIVER: AIR EVACUATION OF CHINDITS BY SUNDERLAND FLYING BOATS OF 230 SQUADRON RAF [Allocated Title]) ABY 146 (SALVAGING A SUNDERLAND FLYING BOAT ON THE BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER [Allocated Title]) JFU 362 ('T FOR TOMMY' CRASHES: 230 SQUADRON SUNDERLAND AT KUANTAN [Allocated Title]) JFU 363 (KUANTAN, MALAYA: DELIVERY OF RICE BY SUNDERLAND FLYING BOAT [Allocated Title]) ABY 9 (AMPHIBIOUS EVACUATION OF CASUALTIES BY SUNDERLAND AIRCRAFT, DIBRUGARH, INDIA [Allocated Title]) 2565 (Burma: Air Evacuation of Casualties) WPN 181 (WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 181 [Main Title])
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