Helicopters operate from RFA Stromness(?) en route to the Falklands; aircraft arriving and departing at Ascension Island.

A Lynx helicopter is filmed from the deck of the ship as it lands, takes off, manoeuvres around. A Hercules aircraft flies over watched by the men on deck. Various shots show scenes on the bridge. Filmed from the interior of an airborne helicopter, a machine gunner fires practice rounds at an unseen target. The camera helicopter circles around an RFA vessel (Stromness or Fort Austin ?). At Ascension Island, a Nimrod aircraft takes off, a Victor tanker aircraft lands.

Notes

Summary: footage was received with no documentation and little identification. Information is partly based on the recollections of DPR(N) cameraman, Alan Fowler, in 1993, and otherwise on a cursory viewing of the reels. (See note to ADM 4821). A note in the original film can reads: "Falklands 17.5.82 Air drop to RFA Fort Austin cut from print for possible use on BBC + ITN News"

Remarks: the camera work is fairly undistinguished.