RAF FLY TO BANGKOK TO BRING BACK PRISONERS OF WAR [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: RAF FLY TO BANGKOK TO BRING BACK PRISONERS OF WAR [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: ABY 135
  • Other titles: ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: After the surrender of Japan the Royal Air Force fly to Bangkok, Siam (Thailand), to recover Allied prisoners of war and internees.
  • Description: Reel 1: An RAF Douglas Dakota transport aircraft, KN459 'V', in flight. Landing at Don Muang airfield near Bangkok. The crew disemplane. Allied prisoners of war (POWs) awaiting transport. Japanese personnel. Released prisoners enjoying cigarettes and cigars. POWs boarding Dakota. Aircraft taxiing away. Soldiers smoking by a lorry. Lorries carrying POWs drive along a tree-lined road. POWs on the airfield. Shot of the Democracy Monument in Bangkok and the stately Assembly Building. Two Thai officers at the airfield. POWs boarding and unloading transport, and waiting by aircraft. Reel 2: Japanese Lieutenant-General Takazo Numata, Chief of Staff to Field Marshal Count Terauchi, and Rear-Admiral Kaigye Chudo walk through a crowd of British servicemen before saluting Major-General Symes [this footage somewhat incongruous and probably reused from ABY 131]. Convoy of lorries with motorcycle outrider escort. Supplies unloaded from a Dakota. Crowds of Allied officers and men waiting by aircraft. A European woman. Dakota taking off. Medical supplies unloaded from Dakota. RAF and Army officers chatting. Supplies loaded onto a lorry; one of the crates is marked 'Mastiff'. Officers talking with a young Thai woman. A group of POWs enjoy a cup of tea; they laugh as they pour spirits into their mugs. A large building of mixed architecture. POWs walking towards camera. A European woman with a young boy. A man with a baby girl. A tram. A packet of cigarettes is passed round a group of POWs. Men leaving a Dakota. Men board an ambulance. Officers smoke cigarettes by a parked aircraft. A river, lined with trees, with small boats. A modern-looking city street in Bangkok. An archaic-looking crenellated lookout post. Sights in Bangkok, including the Grand Palace. POWs boarding lorry. POWs waiting by Dakota KN584. Men boarding ambulances. Officers and men talking. Men leave a large stone-built building.
  • 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 135
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-08-30
  • 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: Numata, Takazo (person) Symes, George William (person) Chudo, Kaigye (person) Grandy, John (person) Royal Air Force (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: Bangkok, Thailand (geography) Allied Prisoners of War Far East 1939-1945, Internment (event) Recovery of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees 1945, Allied Prisoners of War Far East 1939-1945, Internment (event) Royal Air Force 1939-1945 (theme) Far East 1939-1945 (theme)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 2 Footage: 1359 ft; Running time: 16 minutes
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    ABY 135

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    JFU 314 (PRISONERS OF WAR LIBERATED FROM SIAM EMBARK AT RANGOON FOR CALCUTTA [Allocated Title]) ABY 140 (RAF EVACUATE ALLIED PRISONERS OF WAR FROM THAILAND [Allocated Title])
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