RAF BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTER OPERATIONS IN BURMA [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: RAF BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTER OPERATIONS IN BURMA [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: ABY 30
  • Other titles: ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: Scenes of RAF airmen preparing for a Bristol Beaufighter sortie over Burma.
  • Description: Airborne footage of flight over coastal areas of Burma, both forward facing and back over aircraft's tailplane. Internal shot of cockpit with pilot seated at controls. Beaufighter seen landing. Air-to-air view of Beaufighter in flight over thickly wooded terrain. Aircrew seen talking amongst themselves as they leave a bamboo building, presumably after a briefing. Pilots wearing holstered pistols climb aboard a open lorry. Beaufighters standing on steel matting dispersal. Airman seen checking his harness while two ground crew wind over the propellor of a Beaufighter's port engine. Shot of a fuel bowser. Beaufighter starting up. Interior shots showing pilots being briefed from a large wall map, then gathered around a table.
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-09-18
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Air Ministry, Directorate of Public Relations (Production sponsor) Royal Air Force Film Production Unit (Production company) Lang, T W (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Royal Air Force (regiment/service) Royal Air Force, 211 Squadron (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: Burma (geography) Chiringa, Bengal Province, India (geography) Fighter operations, Air operations over Burma, Burma 1942-1945, Second World War (event) Aerial Warfare (theme) Royal Air Force 1939-1945 (theme) Burma 1942-1945 (theme) Far East 1939-1945 (theme)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 392 ft; Running time: 5 minutes
  • HD Media:
  • Notes: Dopesheet mentions various attacks on river shipping, railway engines and wagons, motor transport and a staff car, however these not seen in this film. This footage would appear to be held by the IWM Film Archive as ABY 166, though the reason for its reappearance so late in the series is not clear. See related items. Aircraft likely to be of RAF 211 Squadron based at Chiringa, India (now Bangladesh), from July 1944 with a detachment at Ranchi. The squadron was withdrawn to Yelahanka, near Bangalore, in May 1945 for conversion to De Havilland Mosquito Mk VIs. For other footage of RAF Beaufighter operations in this theatre, see related items. Date taken from slates. Dopesheet dated 31/10/1944.
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    ABY 30

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    ABY 166 (211 SQUADRON BEAUFIGHTER OPERATIONS FROM CHIRINGA [Allocated Title]) ABY 24 (GROUND ATTACK OPERATIONS BY BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTERS OF RAF 211 SQUADRON IN BURMA [Allocated Title]) ABY 63 (RAF 27 SQUADRON BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTER OPERATIONS AT CHIRINGA [Allocated Title]) ABY 155 (MOSQUITO BUILD-UP [Allocated Title]) MWY 3 (HURRICANE DISPLAY AND BEAUFIGHTERS DEMONSTRATED FOR INDIAN PRESSMEN [Allocated Title])
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