TERRITORIAL ARMY FILM [Main Title]

Recruiting film for the Territorial Army showing manoeuvres by 162nd East Midland Brigade, Northamptonshire, mid-1920s.

(Reel 1) The film opens by stating that as the basis for the expansion of the Army in wartime the TA "may be a factor in the maintenance of peace". Men of 4th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, march to the station where the Mayor and Mayoress of Northampton are among those seeing them off to camp. They march into their tented camp at Bulford. Next morning the men get up, practice PT, and hold a parade. Cooks and QMAAC members work (very camera-conscious) preparing food. Regimental barbers give men haircuts. The band practises its music. Lunch is served under canvas. After lunch the officers get a riding class under Lieutenant-Colonel Wernher, commanding 5th Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, who is also Master of the Fernie Hunt. The men unload footballs and beer for the YMCA tent. At the tent a conjuror performs his act, followed by a song and dance act, Arthur Line and Ireson Swann of Northampton. At the end of the week there is a pay parade and kit inspection, after which the men leave for manoeuvres. Most of the transport is 3-ton lorries, but horse-drawn field kitchens are still in use. As the brigade marches past, its commander, Colonel John Brown, takes the salute with two Finnish officers watching. Brown talks with Lord Onslow, the Under-Secretary of State for War, and with Lieutenant-General Sir Hugh Jeudwine, Director-General of the Territorial Army. Two Japanese Army observers are also present, as is the Mayor of Northampton. The brigade marches into the battle area, to take part in manoeuvres with regular troops. Royal Tank Corps forces, including Rolls-Royce armoured cars and Vickers Medium Mark I tanks, pass up the road, followed by 18-pounder Mark IV field guns, and the rest of the forces. (Reel 2) On manoeuvres a section of 4th Northants piles into a ditch and 'opens fire' with rifles and a Lewis gun, using a rattle to simulate Lewis fire. Other soldiers 'play dead' as the exercise continues. The film emphasises the 'empty battlefield' of modern warfare. Obsolete Medium A 'Whippet' tanks are used to generate smokescreens which add to the confusion. As enemy aircraft (not seen) pass overhead, guns and Vickers Medium Mark II tanks hide in the woodlands. Some men of 1st Battalion, Hertfordshire Regiment, part of the brigade, relax and eat. Heliograph signallers indicate the danger is past and movement starts again. Dragon caterpillars move 18-pounder field guns to a threatened area. 6-inch 26cwt guns open fire. Vickers machine-gunners with horse-drawn limbers also set up their weapons. Other guns, including the 6-inch Mark VII and the 3.7-inch mountain howitzer, join in. Tanks and Cavalry start to pursue and 'enemy' prisoners are brought in. The cease fire is given and troops start to move out of the area. Back in camp the horses are cared for. Colonel Brown talks with Lord Exeter, the Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire, while Lord Onslow talks with the Mayoress of Northampton and Lieutenant-Colonel Cockburn (?). Back at camp the 4th Northants commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Lowther, Master of the Pytchley Hunt, addresses his men, who then march past in dismissal. The film ends by explaining how TA training "makes a man physically fit, broadens his mind, develops his spirit of comradeship, and teaches discipline", and how the TA is "a great factor for peace".

35mm