RAF JUNGLE SCHOOL AT MAHABALESHWAR, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: RAF JUNGLE SCHOOL AT MAHABALESHWAR, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: ABY 34
  • Other titles: ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: Scenes of instruction in jungle survival at RAF Mahabaleshwar, in the Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India
  • Description: Reel 1: Men gathered around sketch map. Close-up with finger pointing out various locations. A Burmese instructor in front of a blackboard teaches RAF airmen basic phrases such as 'Where are the Japs?' and 'Have you any food?'. Models of huts demonstrate differences in local constructon methods. A medical officer demonstrates the contents of a survival kit including water sterilisation tablets, anti-malarial tablets, aspirin, salt, potassium permanganate, morphine, anti-burn mittens, fishing tackle, jungle torch, waterproof matches and anti-mosquito cap. An airman demonstrates the anti-mosquito cap. Close-up on insect specimens including centipede, spider and scorpions. Shots of bamboo used as cooking utensil. Meat cooked on bamboo skewers. Two Burmese eating rice from leaves. A British airman with pistol and kukri lights a cigarette before walking into the jungle. Airman walking through jungle, pauses to relight cigarette. Men in clearing setting a trap made from a spiked tree limb. A Burmese man splices bamboo and demonstrates how to make rope from it. An airman tries twisting strands together. The finished rope is tested in a tug of war. Panning landscape shot. Demonstration of trip wire, pit trap and spiked tree limb trap. Reel 2: Spiked tree limb and pit trap. Burmese man leads an airman through the jungle. Wide shot of a raft under construction, panning past a hut and then to a group of airmen making snares. A snare is demonstrated. Closer shot of raft under construction. Burmese man demonstrates a simple wooden bow. An airman in his underwear pushes a small raft carrying his clothes across a lake, possibly Lake Venna. A two-man raft is paddled across a lake. Shot of flagpole with RAF ensign before panning to buildings. Airmen emerging from undergrowth before pausing to check their direction with a compass. Men sleeping. Burmese man with airman - close-up on cigarette packet (Players). Two-man raft coming ashore. Men leave rafts and head into jungle. Burmese leads airman up rocky outcropping. Group of airmen washing by the side of a creek before suddenly running away, some only partly dressed. Man looking out. Man swimming in small pool with waterfalls. Reel 3: Lone airman emerges from jungle but then falls into a hidden pit. British men in a clearing shown plucking a bird, eating, roasting a vegetable over a fire and drinking from a bamboo container. Men walking in the jungle, one points out a sign left on a tree. Airman asleep in tree wakes up and fires a catapult. Burmese man and airman with bow and arrow. Men hacking their way through undergrowth. Men leaving a building with dog. Airmen on balcony before descending a flight of stairs. Men appearing from behind cover and walking through jungle. Raft under construction. Man swimming. Three takes of a Burmese man smoking by lakeside, before suddenly getting up. Lone airman walking stops to rest. Burmese man with airman.
  • 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 34
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-09-21
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Air Ministry, Directorate of Public Relations (Production sponsor) Royal Air Force Film Production Unit (Production company) Swain, J (Production individual) Layzell, R G (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Royal Air Force (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: Mahabaleshwar, Bombay Presidency, India (geography) Burma 1942-1945, Second World War (event) India 1939-1945 (theme) Burma 1942-1945 (theme) Royal Air Force 1939-1945 (theme)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 3 Footage: 2685 ft; Running time: 30 minutes
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    ABY 34

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    GEN 12 (THE GEN NO 12 [Main Title]) ABY 158 (JUNGLE SCHOOL [Main Title])
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