Title:HMS WARRIOR EVACUATES REFUGEES FROM NORTH TO SOUTH VIETNAM [Allocated Title]
Film Number:ADM 1492
Other titles:POST-WAR NAVAL OPERATIONS - SOUTH EAST ASIA [Allocated Series Title]
Summary: Vietnamese refugees take ship from Haiphong to Saigon in the British light carrier HMS Warrior.
Description: Opening MS around the hangar deck of HMS Warrior, where the ship's band is practising. The French LCT 9070 bringing the refugees from Haiphong approaches the carrier anchored at the Passe Henriette and secures alongside the starboard accommodation ladder. The refugees and their baggage start to come aboard. Down on the hangar deck the refugees are dusted with DDT and their luggage is searched for concealed weapons. The refugees, the pesticide powder clinging to their hair and skin, settle down on rush mats, some fanning themselves in the heat of the lower deck. A second LCT comes alongside to port and the camera pans over the crowded vehicle deck - it is now raining heavily. Refugees come aboard - a small girl carrying an infant pick-a-back, a heavily laden women, a wealthier couple with leather cases. A boat from Warrior circles the ship, passing close beneath the bows to show the LCTs on either side. Cut to a group of three small girls on the flightdeck during the voyage south - the weather has improved and the girls smile and laugh at the cameraman. Sequence showing a meal of rice being served out on lowered elevator, the food having been brought up from the galley on the bomb lift. At anchor off Saigon, the Warrior is approached by LCT(6) 1273 and baggage and the first refugees are disembarked. LSs of the carrier show a US (or French naval) Piasecki helicopter parked aft. The children of the departing refugees are given candy bars. Cut to further sequence showing food distribution on the hangar deck - the meal seems to be rice and tinned sardines. CUs of children on the carrier flightdeck - a handout of sweets by a sailor provokes an eager mêlée. Final HA off the port bow of the LCT(6) as it closes to secure alongside to starboard and the refugees begin disembarkation.
Alternative Title:POST-WAR NAVAL OPERATIONS - SOUTH EAST ASIA [Allocated Series Title]
