Amateur film without titles shot by Royal Engineer Lieutenant Archibald ("Archie") Jack of King George V's Own Bengal Sappers and Miners records mainly off-duty scenes of the Regiment while at Roorkee, United Provinces, India.

Unit workshops: turbaned sappers welding, fixing vehicles (tractor ?) and working with different mechanised tools. Muslim carpenters at work outside building (possibly No 4 bungalow in Roorkee, which was shared by Lieutenant Jack and other officers). Carpentry workshop. British NCO checks bricklaying. Indian soldiers climb into large boats on the Ganges Canal at Roorkee. Regimental band plays at garden party; turbaned soldiers assist with catering. Officers drinking and eating. Close-up of ox carts on road. Turbaned Indian troops variously marching, entering barracks, posing for the camera, smoking hookah, and eating at table (Hindu soldiers shown, using only their right hands). Exercises by the Ganges Canal: soldiers in folding boats, soldiers digging trenches (one of which is underneath a lorry - soldier climbs down under the vehicle's chassis and keeps watch). The preparation and loading onto lorries of wooden pontoons is also seen. An elephant pulls a large metal roller along a road. Lieutenant de Vere Hunt and his wife in the garden with Lieutenant Jack's pet dogs (terrier and greyhound). Long sequence showing the dogs - Pekinese, terrier, greyhound - retrieving balls and performing tricks. Group of three officers, including Lieutenant Jack and Lieutenant Ken Shepherd, are seen relaxing for the camera, drinking and eating. Team of British officers play polo on the ground in front of the Thomason College of Engineering; spectators sit at tables for tea and cakes whilst watching the match. Marchpast of Training Battalion recruits on parade ground. Lieutenant Jack's pet greyhound with its Indian keeper. Indian soldiers crossing stream on stepping stones; local agricultural workers walk past; truck drives through woods. Muslim soldier kills a captured black buck (?) for food, slitting its throat in correct halal ritual. Indians of the Regiment (potential PT instructors) training, with the Regimental War Memorial (inaugurated by Lord Kitchener in 1901) in the background: vaulting over a wooden horse (normal speed and slow motion).

Notes

Summary: Original film box marked "Roorkee".

Summary: the Thomason College of Engineering now houses the University of Roorkee. Colonel Lawrie notes that at this time, the Bengal Sappers and Miners still had four elephants on strength, for use in heavy tasks such as the rolling seen here and also notes that Lieutenant Jack's unit would not have had much motor transport, perhaps four 15-cwt Ford vans and six 30-cwt Albion trucks.

Remarks: grateful acknowledgement to Major D D Alexander, Colonel M B Adams, Colonel W G A Lawrie, Colonel D C S David and Lieutenant-Colonel M J J Rolt (members of King George V's Own Bengal Sappers and Miners Officers Association) for comments and additional information. Lieutenant-Colonel Rolt is one of the spectators (smoking a pipe) of the polo match. Polo was a popular sport in the area: the Roorkee unit only had one team, and rival teams would travel from other units in the region to compete.