SEA REPATRIATION FROM BOMBAY TO SOUTHAMPTON ABOARD HMT OTRANTO [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: SEA REPATRIATION FROM BOMBAY TO SOUTHAMPTON ABOARD HMT OTRANTO [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: ABY 182
  • Other titles: ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: Servicemen, time-expired after years of service in India and the Far East, embark aboard the troopship HMT Otranto for repatriation to Southampton.
  • Description: Reel 1: Men laden with kit board the Otranto at Bombay harbour. Female personnel of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force ('the WAAFs') go aboard up a gangplank; Indian bearers carry their luggage. One of the WAAF's carries a teddy bear. RAF officers come aboard; one may be Wing Commander Furness and another Wing Commander D Tollerton, according to names on their luggage. An RAF Police corporal checks papers before men board. Close-up of feet stepping onto the gangplank. Various shots of men boarding. An Indian man stands by a pile of luggage, including a couple of rectangular metal trunks; the names are partly obscured but possibly 'Captain J L Williams RAMC' [Royal Army Medical Corps] of Llangefni and 'Major Shaw IEME' [Indian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers] of Dundee. A large net of luggage is hoisted aboard by a crane. On board the ship a group of men, women and children are inspected; they are all wearing lifebelts. An airman ties a lifebelt on a small girl. Dim footage of men eating. The ship starts to get underway; dockers seen hauling on lines, tugs at work and the ship slowly pulls away from the quayside. A waterfront building, possibly a warehouse or shipping office, bears a large sign reading 'Welcome to India - But Mum's the Word'. View of the harbour as it slowly recedes. A burial at sea; pallbearers carry the body of Private Douglas, covered in a British flag, on a board. The ship's chaplain is in attendance. The board is lifted and the body can just be seen slipping from beneath the flag. A firing party fire a rifle salute. An ensign flying from the mast. Series of shots of a church service aboard ship. Reel 2: Physical training on deck. An extremely muscular man lifts another above his head with only one arm. The muscle-man, gyrating, shows off his physique to the camera in a surprisingly long continuous shot. Local boats coming alongside. The Otranto enters the Suez Canal. She passes another troopship in the canal. The master of the ship and the canal pilot. A performance by 'Tot Simpson and his Blighty Boys', a band drawn from servicemen on the ship. Dimly lit but atmospheric footage as Otranto approaches Southampton. A tug pulls the ship towards its berth and is received by a single lonely harbourmaster or docker. Attractive shot of the sun rising over Southampton docks. Air Commodore Howe waves to troops then goes aboard. [Change of location] The canal pilot is dropped off at Port Said, Egypt. Views of Port Said. A church service on deck. A man in diving equipment. Lifeboat drill; lifeboats are run out from their davits. At Southampton the troops are welcomed home by a band playing on the quayside; dock workers walk past pushing bicycles. Deputy Mayor Stranger, wearing medals on his overcoat, leaves the ship having given a welcoming address to troops. Two men lean from a porthole. An RAF sergeant throws his topee to a waiting parent. Troops display a captured Japanese flag. The ship's captain, Captain Savage, and the Officer in Command of Troops, Lieutenant-Colonel Batchelor, are introduced to Air Commodore Howe by Wing Commander Howden. An RAF Leading Aircraftman meets his parents on the quayside; he embraces them and they are obviously delighted. Troops disembarking down a gangplank; one of them an RAF sergeant carrying a guitar.
  • 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 182
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-10
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Air Ministry, Directorate of Public Relations (Production sponsor) Royal Air Force Film Production Unit (Production company) Goozee, S (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Howe, Thomas Edward Barham (person) Royal Navy, OTRANTO (HMT), troopship (regiment/service) Royal Air Force, Women's Auxiliary Air Force (regiment/service) Royal Air Force, RAF Police (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: Port Said, Egypt (geography) Bombay, West India, India (geography) Suez Canal, Egypt (geography) Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK (geography) Repatriation (event)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 2 Footage: 1288 ft; Running time: 15 minutes
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    ABY 182

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    ABY 177 (RECREATION BEFORE REPATRIATION AT BOMBAY [Allocated Title]) ABY 73 (SO THIS IS INDIA [Allocated Title])
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