Description
Object description
Unedited and uncensored (?) scenes showing a Royal Indian Army Service Corps (RIASC) animal transport company disembarking at the port of Marseilles and its first days in France recuperating after its long sea voyage from India before joining the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the north of the country.
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Part I. Indian army drivers serving with 32 Animal Transport Company, RIASC, ride light supply carts each drawn by two mules in the grounds of their transit camp outside Marseilles. The procession of mule carts is led by two Indian officers on horseback; in contrast to the style of turbans worn by their men, they are wearing turbans with loose folds at the back. Hand-held travelling shots from one of the mule carts as it joins the procession around the grounds of their transit camp.
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Part II. Filmed from a dockside crane and at ground level, large numbers of mules and their RIASC handlers are seen on the quayside in the port of Marseilles shortly after arriving on French soil. All the animals seen here are wearing blankets against the cold. The mules are led around the quayside into an enclosed area where they are exercised after a long voyage spent in cramped conditions below deck. Blank film (169 - 181 feet).
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Part III. Scenes in the transit camp in use by the RIASC animal transport company showing Indian officers on horseback leading a procession of mules wearing pack saddles on their back on an exercise march. A close-up shot of an RIASC Risaldar or senior Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) with campaign and medal ribbons going back to the First World War. Mules tethered together in two long rows in the camp lines. An Indian officer feeds a morsel of food to one of his animals. An Indian Lance-Corporal is seen in charge of weighing oats for the mules (?) in a pair of hand-held weighing scales and pouring it into bags held out by several of the mule handlers. A British officer is seen chatting to an Indian officer whilst this activity is going on; there are also several bales of hay in this part of the camp lines. Blank film (282 - 296 feet).
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Part IV. Three French police officers riding in a motorcycle and side car lead a long column of mules and their handlers led by two Indian officers on horseback. The procession makes its way along a road lined with high walls on either side. Each mule has a bag slung around its neck containing a gas mask (?). The column of animals and men makes its way back to the transit camp through a large gateway. A senior NCO (Havildar?) poses for the camera holding a sabre as the column returns to the camp lines; standing nearby is a group of other RIASC NCOs. Two rows of mules tethered to trees and facing each other.
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Part V. Ground level and top shot views of a quayside in the docks at Marseilles as large numbers of mules are herded together by their handlers under the supervision of their NCOs. All the mules are covered in blankets and each animal has a bag with a gas mask inside around its neck. Several large dock cranes and a large French (?) passenger liner can be seen in the background. A sepoy attaches a mule lead to a Havildar.
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Part VI. Sepoys are seen on the quayside at Marseilles helping mules make the final stage of their journey down a covered gangway onto terra firma with the help of a rope tied around each beast. One mule is especially reluctant to leave the gangway and three men have to drag it ashore. Other animals, uncertain quite how to negotiate the last few feet, leap over the gap between the end of the covered gangway and the quayside before being led away.
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Part VII. Filmed on board ship, more animals are seen coming up the ramp from the cargo hold where they have been kept during the sea voyage from India and using the covered gangway to disembark with a dark interior shot showing sepoys in charge of getting the mules off the ship. A general view of sepoys and their British commanding officer (?) at the foot of the gangway and the steep sided hull of the transport ship in which the mules were ferried to France. As they step ashore, the mules are led away by their handlers. A brief interior shot of a room with flowery wallpaper.
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Part VIII. On the word of command from one of their NCOs, men climb up onto their mule carts, pick up their reins and sit down in the driving seats. There follows a final check of how secure the reins are tethered to the mules before the drivers return to their places in the carts and set off on a route march in order to exercise their animals.
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Part IX. A view of mules tethered in two long rows under the shelter of tall trees in the transit camp. The RIASC unit's British commanding officer and two of his Indian officers on horseback lead a column of pack mules through the spacious grounds of the transit camp followed by two more Indian officers on horseback at the head of a procession of mule carts.
Physical description
35mm