ATTACK ON FORT DUFFERIN [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: ATTACK ON FORT DUFFERIN [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: ABY 81
  • Other titles: ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: Concerted attacks by the RAF and British Army on Fort Dufferin, Mandalay, Burma are seen both from the air and from the ground.
  • Description: Airborne view of Mandalay Hill. Air-to-ground footage of Fort Dufferin with dense column of smoke rising. The fort and its moat. More distant view of the fort. Discarded supply parachutes are scattered across a nearby field - their density suggests an effective supply drop. A pagoda on the far side of Mandalay Hill from the city. Aerial view of the imposing Kuthodaw Pagoda. Fort Dufferin with dense smoke rising. The River Irrawaddy with barges sunk by the RAF during the Japanese occupation. More parachutes on the ground. Air-to-air footage of a passing Spitfire Mk VIII - squadron marking 'AF' denotes RAF 607 (County of Durham) Squadron. Aerial view of Mandalay Hill with one building fiercely ablaze. A road convoy. Another building in flames. The River Irrawaddy. Low pass over field dotted with parachutes. Troops of 19th Indian Division walking along a railway line with Mandalay Hill in the background. View of a number of small buildings. A series of explosions generate clouds of smoke. An Ordnance BL 5.5-inch Medium Gun (probably of 134th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery) is fired, with its barrel depressed to the horizontal for firing at short range. A member of the gun team checks the fall of shot. A wrecked building. Spitfires overhead strafing and bombing, some pressing their attacks to low level. Hawker Hurricanes in action, bombs can be seen dropping from the aircraft with explosions. Panning shot of Mandalay hill.
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-03
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Air Ministry, Directorate of Public Relations (Production sponsor) Royal Air Force Film Production Unit (Production company) Woodcock, Sidney Leslie1945-05-02Flight Lieutenant Sidney Leslie Woodcock, service number 175562, cameraman with No.3 Royal Air Force Film Production Unit. Killed in action 2 May 1945 while filming from a Mosquito of 110 Squadron RAF over Rangoon, Burma. Buried in Rangoon War Cemetery alongside his pilot, Flight Lieutenant John George Buchanan (415744) see [http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2261432 accessed 24 February 2011] (Production individual) Connochie, T D (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Royal Air Force, 607 Squadron (regiment/service) Indian Army, 19th Indian Division (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: Fort Dufferin, Mandalay, Burma (geography) Mandalay 1945, Burma 1942-1945, Second World War (event) Fighter operations, Air operations over Burma, Burma 1942-1945, Second World War (event) Royal Air Force 1939-1945 (theme) Far East 1939-1945 (theme) Burma 1942-1945 (theme) British Army 1939-1945 (theme)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 530 ft; Running time: 6 minutes
  • HD Media:
  • Notes: The dopesheet for this film is dated 23 March 1945. Likely that date of shooting is up to two weeks earlier, as by 21 March 1945 Mandalay was considered sufficiently secure for Lieutenant-General Slim, commander of 14th Army, to lead a ceremonial flag-raising inside Fort Dufferin. Operations related to the capture of Fort Dufferin and Mandalay were extensively covered by British Army cameramen and photographers. See references below. One of the cameramen of this piece, Flight Lieutenant Sidney Woodcock, was killed in action. He and his pilot, Flight Lieutenant J G Buchanan of RAF 110 Squadron, failed to return after a Mosquito sortie over Rangoon on 2 May 1945. They are buried in adjacent plots in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Rangoon War Cemetery.
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    ABY 81

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