RAF REPAIR AND SALVAGE UNIT NEAR SAGAING, BURMA [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: RAF REPAIR AND SALVAGE UNIT NEAR SAGAING, BURMA [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: ABY 101
  • Other titles: ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: An RAF Repair and Salvage Unit recovers a crashed Hawker Hurricane fighter-bomber near Sagaing, Burma.
  • Description: A jeep and a lorry drive along a road passing bullock carts on the verges. An articulated flatbed lorry follows. The vehicles arrive at a crashed Hawker Hurricane Mk IIC 'E' (serial LB941). Men of the Repair and Salvage Unit, armed with Lee Enfield rifles, Sten submachine guns and Bren guns, dismount from their vehicles. One airman mans a Bren gun in a shallow foxhole while others go to work on the Hurricane in the background. An airman works on one of the aircraft's magazines. Two others remove one of the Hurricane's 20mm Hispano cannons and carry it away. Airmen working on the tail assembly. General shot of the aircraft with men working on various parts. A Douglas Dakota transport aircraft flies overhead. A ragged hole in the leading edge of the port wing; a man reaches in and pulls out the mangled remains of a vulture that struck the aircraft in flight and apparently caused the crash. Two men lift a petrol can full of tea off a small fire and carry it towards the rest of the salvage party. A man at work under the tailplane is handed a mug of tea which he gratefully receives. The group is joined by a passing army patrol who stop to chat; tam o'shanter bonnets suggest a Scottish regiment. The salvage party detach the Hurricane's starboard wing. High shot (possibly from one of the vehicles) looking down as the port wing is removed. The wing is put down on the ground and then turned over. The vertical and horizontal stabilisers are removed. A man sits in the cockpit while a crane lifts the fuselage high enough to be lowered onto the flatbed lorry. The wings are loaded onto the second lorry which drives away. A Bren gunner stands behind the cab. This lorry is followed by the flatbed carrying the fuselage and then the crane. The articulated flatbed lorry gets stuck in a pothole and is dug out. The four vehicles (two lorries, crane and jeep) drive past a small Buddhist temple with spires.
  • Alternative Title: ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: ABY 101
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-02
  • 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)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Royal Air Force, Repair and Salvage Unit (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: Sagaing, Burma (geography) Burma 1942-1945, Second World War (event) Royal Air Force 1939-1945 (theme) Far East 1939-1945 (theme) Burma 1942-1945 (theme)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 500 ft; Running time: 6 minutes
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    ABY 101

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    CF 395 (ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN THE FAR EAST, 1941-1945) CF 397 (ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN THE FAR EAST, 1941-1945) CF 406 (ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN THE FAR EAST, 1941-1945)
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