297 SQUADRON MOVES FROM ANDOVER TO HURN [Allocated Title]

297 Squadron moves from RAF Andover to RAF Hurn, near Bournemouth.

(Reel 1) A Ford jeep, driven by the moustachioed Wing Commander P R May, AFC, the Officer Commanding 296 Squadron, approaches the camera head on and drives up the loading ramp of a Horsa. The camera is positioned inside. Troops approach the jeep and remove the bicycles (one of the folding type) thereon. A group of officers chat. The camera pans across three Horsas. A Ford 30 cwt GS truck drives past the gliders into one of which kit bags are thrown from the back of the truck. Whitley crews gather round an officer with a map obviously discussing the route. This is then seen in close up. Whitley BD436 taxies off. The towing equipment attached to the tail of the Whitley is seen in a good close shot. The panning shot of the gliders and tugs shows the tow ropes being attached and the camera follows a staff car approaching a 'plane. Behind a Ford truck a Coles crane lifts a spare engine into a Horsa (action obscured). After a shot of a Whitley revving up there is a good air to air shot taken through the cockpit of a Horsa to the Whitley tug ahead.

(Reel 2) The sequence showing the Ford jeep entering the Horsa is repeated but from a different angle. A glider pilot inspects the tail stabilising rod of a Horsa and stows it away. After a shot of airmen stowing their kitbags onto a glider, there is a good panning view of a glider and a Whitley moving off. The tow rope is attached to a Whitley and tested. A Coles crane (mounted on a Leyland Retriever chassis) lifts a spare Merlin engine into a Horsa. The ride to Hurn is filmed from a Horsa and there are good 'pilot's eye' views of the flight and landing (in its entirety). There is also a good shot of Wing Commander May at the controls. After landing he is seen walking from the Horsa to the Hurn control tower. Final shots are those of other gliders landing.

35mm