Aerial footage of RAF Hawker Hurricane ground attack and supply operations in and around Mandalay, Burma.

Aerial footage; the camera aircraft rolls to the left and dives towards the ground. As the aircraft levels out, a bomb bursts on the ground below. Airborne over a river, possibly the Irrawaddy. Another Hurricane passes in front. Two Hurricanes low over thickly wooded hills. The leading aircraft drops a pair of parachute supply canisters while the following camera aircraft has to bank sharply left and then right to avoid crashing into the hillside. Brief shot of a wooded hill with thin smoke drifting. Dive-bombing attack with explosion. Chase plane view of a Hurricane which starts to peel left. View over Mandalay; the camera aircraft rolls left and dives towards Fort Dufferin which is easily recognisable by its broad moat and wall. As the camera plane dives two bombs can be seen to explode raising clouds of dust; the camera aircraft continues to dive, pulling up at low altitude, flying through the cloud of dust and exiting the target area towards Mandalay Hill at tree-top height. View over a river with drifiting smoke; a bomb explodes amongst trees on the river bank. Second pass over the same target at low altitude. Three Hurricanes airborne. Camera aircraft banks right and dives with a bomb exploding; the target appears to be close to a railway line, if not the line itself. Aircraft peels off to the left to attack a target. Bombs bursting in a wooded area with drifting smoke. Buddhist pagodas and other buildings amongst trees. Hurricanes in flight. Pagodas and other buildings with smoke. Murky footage sees the camera aircraft roll left into a vertical dive. A bomb explodes between two buildings while a second bomb sets off a large explosion. Air-to-air footage of Hurricanes passing the camera aircraft, possibly a light aeroplane such as a Sentinel, Auster or Argus. The Hurricanes bear white-painted propeller spinners and white bands on their wings and tailplanes. Series of repeated shots of Hurricanes in flight, presumably for editing purposes. One of the aircraft is a Hurricane Mk IIC serial KX696. Panning shot over a wide river, likely the Irrawaddy.

Notes

A useful piece of film, both for illustrating the use of Hurricanes to drop supplies, and the dramatic low pass over Fort Dufferin.

Date from slates.