Description
Object description
RAF aircrew are trained and tested in techniques of jungle survival at a jungle school at RAF Mahabaleshwar, in the Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India.
Full description
Aerial footage; the camera flies closer and closer towards a jungle-covered hillside. Pilot at the controls. A flagpole and building at RAF Mahabaleshwar. RAF aircrew are shown how to plan a cross-country escape route. A language lesson given by a Kachin tribesman. Differences in local construction methods are demonstrated. The versatility of bamboo is demonstrated. The men are shown how to make snares and traps from bamboo to catch animals, and how to avoid Japanese booby-traps. Men cooking on small fires using bamboo utensils. Aircrew gather around a table to be briefed on the contents of their survival kits, which are filled with useful things such as a torch, compass, fishing tackle and cigarettes. An officer, sporting a bushy moustache, demonstrates an anti-mosquito cap and veil. The aircrew are shown specimens of a centipede, a spider and a scorpion. A snake is held still by means of a forked stick. A number of aircrew leave the school building and head off into the jungle. The voiceover helpfully comments that 'They are not likely to come across any local pubs on the way'. A Burmese man and a British man in tropical uniform complete with pith helmet camouflage themselves with leaves and twigs before following the group into the jungle. As the group of aircrew tramp through the jungle the voiceover commentator describes their various errors of fieldcraft. They include not choosing the right man to lead the group, leaving sign of their passing, silhouetting themselves against a skyline, not keeping a good lookout when bathing in a stream, crossing a river at its narrowest point, sleeping in the open, and so on. One of the airmen is identified as Pilot Officer Prune, originally an affably dimwitted cartoon character from the RAF's 'Tee Emm' magazine. Sleeping in a tree, Prune repels a prowling tiger with 'his secret weapon' (a catapult!). The Burmese man and Briton in tropical uniform continue to pursue the group of aircrew, aided by their various mistakes. The group eventually make it back safely to the jungle school. 'Pilot Officer Prune' gets separated from the group and after another string of errors falls into a pit trap that he had failed to spot.
Physical description
35mm