BRITISH AWARDS FOR AMERICAN ALLIES: SIR RICHARD PEIRSE ALLIED AIR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF BIDS FAREWELL [Main Title]

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  • Title: BRITISH AWARDS FOR AMERICAN ALLIES: SIR RICHARD PEIRSE ALLIED AIR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF BIDS FAREWELL [Main Title]
  • Film Number: ABY 65
  • Other titles: ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Peirse, Allied Air Commander-in-Chief, presents British awards to personnel of the United States Army Air Force at the Viceregal Lodge, Belvedere, Calcutta, India.
  • Description: American band marches past. View from balcony of band marching by. Airmen marching with shouldered rifles. The parade forms up. Band playing. View of the parade. Air Chief Marshal Peirse arrives by car and gets out. Airmen present arms and Peirse takes the salute. American airmen to be decorated in line in foreground, namely Major-General Stratemeyer, head of Eastern Air Command, Lieutenant-Colonel Boebel and Staff Sergeant Cherry. Stratemeyer's citation for the Companion of the Order of the Bath is read out, praising his 'distinguished service in the Allied cause'. Stratemeyer steps forward and is decorated by Peirse. Salutes are exchanged. Boebel's citation for the Distinguished Flying Cross is read out, praising his 'disregard for personal danger and unflagging zeal' and his work '[making] possible the evacuation of a large number of wounded by the light plane force and the maintenance of physical contact with detached bodies of troops'. Boebel is decorated by Peirse and salutes are exchanged. Cherry is decorated with the Distinguished Flying Medal. Peirse addresses the parade, and speaks of this ceremony as 'deeply symbolic of all that is best between two nations; faith, courage and friendship'. He pays warm tribute to General Stratemeyer's determination to make the joint Allied Air Command a success, and calls him a 'great leader, great Ally, and a great personal friend'. Stratemeyer, Boebel and Cherry pose with their medals in front of British and American flags.
  • 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 65
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-02-09
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Air Ministry, Directorate of Public Relations (Production sponsor) Royal Air Force Film Production Unit (Production company)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Peirse, Richard Edmund Charles (person) Stratemeyer, George (person) Air Command South East Asia (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: Calcutta, North East India, India (geography) Viceregal Lodge (geography) Burma 1942-1945, Second World War (event) Royal Air Force 1939-1945 (theme) Far East 1939-1945 (theme) India 1939-1945 (theme) United States Air Forces 1939-1945 (theme)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 769 ft; Running time: 9 minutes
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    ABY 65

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    JFU 189 (CASUALTY EVACUATION FROM LIGHT AIRSTRIP AT SAIZANG [Allocated Title]) CH 12244 (ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN THE FAR EAST, 1941-1945.) CH 12245 (THE WAR IN THE FAR EAST: THE BURMA CAMPAIGN 1941-1945)
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