Description
Object description
Exploration of four occupational interest areas within the British Army - scientific and precision maintenance, survey, printing and photography, administration and special interest. Last of three films aimed at helping new recruits to choose which area in which to specialise.
Full description
Camera tracks into photograph of 175mm self-propelled howitzer in Careers Office window then cuts to actual howitzer. This part of the film shows four more interest areas. SCIENTIFIC AND PRECISION MAINTENANCE. This area needs an aptitude for physics and a specialised knowledge of electricity: servicing tank turret controls, fixing radar (Cymbeline), Royal Signallers terminal technician working on switchboard, aircraft electrical systems (Sioux helicopter) and guided missiles (SS II, on Scout helicopter). General electricians: setting up field generator. Ammunition technicians: fixing missile, testing smoke grenades, RAOC Ordnance Disposal Officer defusing parcel bomb outside Basingstoke police station. Laboratory technicians: blood testing, X-rays. Engineering surveyors. Draughtsmen. Importance of further study stressed, as is the need for precision and of working indoors: workshop (at Borden ?) is shown, with Control Equipment Technicians working on Chieftain. SIGNALLERS AND SKILLED OPERATORS. The spreading of information: roles include radio and telex operators, camouflaged signals truck, surveyors using theodolite and electronic equipment. Mapmaking: topographical surveyors take field measurements, survey draughtsmen draw map details (also using aerial photographs), Survey Photographic technicians prepare map plates using Littlejohn camera, and Lithographic Machine Minders operate printer. Intelligence Corps Operators: interpreting data, interrogating prisoners. Photographers: in darkroom, taking shots from helicopter. The qualities required of personnel in the branch are repeated, together with further scenes of technicians at work, including photographers and draughtsmen. ADMINISTRATION. Mainly office work, although sometimes in the field (clerks at work in tent). The Pay corps, dealing with book-keeping and pay processing: clerks process invoices, cash cheques, operate computer (IBM 2401) and Hollerith card machine. The storeman: processing requisitions, stocking shelves, checking crates being loaded into Bedford. Qualities needed on the administration side include good English, good handwriting, responsibility and a well-organised and methodical approach to work. SPECIAL INTEREST. This area includes various jobs which need "a sense of calling". Royal Army Medical Corps: examples (seen at Millbank hospital) include male nurses, operating theatre technicians, dispensers and physiotherapists. Field role of Medical Assistants is also shown: FV432 ambulance delivers casualty to RAMC clearing post in woodland. Royal Army Dental Corps: seen at work are dentists, hygienists and dental technicians (making set of false teeth). Royal Army Veterinary Corps: Dog Handler with labrador and trainer teaching Alsatian to attack; Equitation Instructor trains horses. Army Catering Corps: cooks serve food in army mess, kitchens in barracks and in the field. Corps of Royal Military Police: scenes of MPs at work include driving down street, apprehending suspicious person at camp gates, inspecting papers, patrolling in Land Rover (all these scenes in Cyprus). A further montage of scenes (MP, cook, dog handler, male nurse) is shown as the vocations available are summed up. Finally, as in the earlier parts, the qualities needed for each interest area are summarised using an animated pair of scales to balance (on one side) the options available with (on the other side) the requirements needed for each role.
Physical description
35mm
