ELECTION DAY IN INDIA [Allocated Title]
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- Title: ELECTION DAY IN INDIA [Allocated Title]
- Film Number: ABY 111
- Other titles: ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
- Summary: Scenes of RAF personnel in India casting their votes in the British General Election of July 1945.
- Description: Establishing shot showing a large thatched building with a queue of men, an improvised voting booth, and a similarly improvised ballot box. Two large flags (a Union Flag and an RAF Ensign) are on display and a sign reads 'Vote Here'. The airman in the booth gets up to post his ballot paper into the box. Closer shot of the booth. Close-up of airmen queuing; an officer wearing an armband invigilates. An airman seals an envelope before posting it into the ballot box which is perched on top of a couple of metal bins. A supervising Squadron Leader sits by the box, which is marked 'Ballot Papers Here' and in the background a finger board points to the base post office. Close-up of six men posting their ballots. Close-up of 'Vote Here' sign; a warrant officer, wearing his insignia on a leather wristband, passes camera. At a different, and evidently more permanent location, men queue along a covered verandah and men leaving a small room set aside for voting. The ballot box is on a table on the verandah and two airmen sit behind it. Camera move; the camera tracks back along the queue of airmen to show individuals entering and leaving the voting room before pushing in again to focus on the two men administering the vote. A doorway with sign reading 'Polling Booth'. Back at the previous location a sign reads 'Your Vote Is Your Heritage Use It'. A man leafs through a sheaf of election material; one sheet bears a photograph of a woman under the title 'Your Candidate' while another, marked 'Harrow West Parliamentary Division' declares 'Vote for Bower' next to a photograph of Norman Bower MP ('Official Conservative Candidate'). High shot looking down on a man sealing his envelope and posting it into the ballot box. Close-ups of three men sitting down, taking their ballot paper from its envelope, marking it and sealing it again; the angle of the shot chosen so as not to violate the secrecy of the men's vote. Amusing close-up of the man at the front of the queue; he pats down his pockets but cannot find his ballot paper before remembering that he's been keeping it safely under his bush hat. Interior shot at base post office; a copy of the SEAC (South East Asia Command) newspaper lies by an open window. An airman approaches and speaks to the mail clerk who flicks through a number of envelopes before handing one to the airman. Reverse angle from outside. High shot looking down on queue, booth and ballot box.
- 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 111
- Sound: Silent
- Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
- Featured Period: 1939-1945
- Production Date: 1945-07-05
- Production Country: GB
- Production Details: Air Ministry, Directorate of Public Relations (Production sponsor) Royal Air Force Film Production Unit (Production company) Tookey, C E W (Production individual)
- Personalities, Units and Organisations: Royal Air Force (regiment/service)
- Keywords: Calcutta, North East India, India (geography) General Elections, UK, 1945, Elections (event) Royal Air Force 1939-1945 (theme) Far East 1939-1945 (theme) India 1939-1945 (theme)
- Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
- Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 552 ft; Running time: 7 minutes
- HD Media:
- Link to IWM Collections page:
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Related IWM Collections Objects:
GEN 14 (THE GEN NO 14 [Main Title]) ABY 115 (RAF POLLING DAY IN SOUTH EAST ASIA COMMAND [Allocated Title])