5TH FIELD COMPANY, GOLD COAST REGIMENT ON FOLDING BOAT EXERCISE; 3RD AUXILIARY GROUP SPORTS; THE GOVERNOR'S GARDEN PARTY

This film is held by the Imperial War Museum (ID: AYY 302).

Synopsis

I. 21 December. Opening with shots of African sappers unloading folding boats from a truck, the film shows the men working the winch and then carrying road bearers past the camera. The camera introduces nine different men within the unit in close up, all from different tribes – Ga, Twi, Awuna, Mushi, Filani, Farfar, Bazbarimi, Dagomba, Grunshi – panning along the line to show the last five of these. The road bearers, boats and decking are carried under European supervision, and then put into place. The Africans push the raft out and onto the trestle. The construction is shown – close ups of the power unit arriving and the propeller unit fixed in position – before British men drive the truck onto the raft. The footage concludes with the truck traveling down the Volta river on the raft.

II. 24 December. An African man hurls a ball across a field, watched by British figures who record the results and African women, children and military men. An African man runs through a finishing tape and is handed a piece of paper by a European man holding the tape. He is directed off screen. British officers look at the rope for the tug of war, as Africans – shot in close up – prepare to take part. Colonel D.N. Venning, the acting Brigade Commander ties the handkerchief in the rope. Filmed at the centre of the rope, the African men attempt to pull away. African and British men urge them on, before a foot is dragged over the line. The film then pans along a line of African women in dresses waiting for the ‘mammies race’. Two British men prepare to start the race, while the women pull up their dresses slightly. Shot at the finish, the women run with large tins of water on their head. One spills in front of the British man holding the tape. A close-up shows an African child being dried off.

III. 18 December. British N.C.Os arrive at Christiansborg Castle, the residence of the Governor of the Gold Coast. Each man shakes hands with the Governor, Sir Alan Burns, and his wife. The governor sits at a table talking to some NCOs over tea, while his wife talks on another table. Aerial shots of the ground show an African band playing. The governor and his wife lead tours of the grounds. NCOs are shown walking in the grounds, playing table-tennis and finally climbing the stone steps.

Footage of the 5th Field Company of the Gold Coast Regiment on folding boat exercise at Senchi on the Volta river, followed by scenes of West African troops taking part in the ‘Christmas sports of the 3rd Auxiliary group’ in Accra. Finally the Governor, Sir Alan Burns, and his wife, entertain NCOs at their residence, Christiansborg Castle.

Notes

Catalogue entry by Dr Tom Rice, AHRC Colonial Film Database 2010.

Context

December 1942 marks a shift in the function and organisation of the Gold Coast Regiments. During 1942, the 1st, 3rd and 4th battalions of the Gold Coast Regiment had been sent to Gambia, while the 2st, 3rd and 4th battalions of the Gold Coast Regiment had been sent to Gambia, while the 2nd Battalion went to Sierra Leone. All were responding to the perceived threat of the potentially hostile French colonies after the establishment of the Vichy regime. This ensured that between October 1941 and October 1942, the Gold Coast Regiment doubled in number to 25,000 (Killingray, 1982, 84). However, in November 1942, following the allied landings in North Africa, the AOF (Afrique Occidentale Française) ended its support of the Vichy Government, and the direct threat to the Gold Coast appeared to disappear. Shortly afterwards, in December 1942, General Giffard proposed that two West African Divisions – the 81st and 82nd Divisions of the West African Expeditionary Force – should be established for service in Burma. The 81st Division would comprise members from the Fifth, Seventh, and Eighth Battalions of the Gold Coast Regiment (Lawler, 2002, 227-228).

Gold Coast troops had also served in East Africa between June 1940 and October 1941. The 5^th Battalion of the Gold Coast Regiment had been responsible for the defence of Takoradi until May 1941, but many of the men featured in the film were, according to the cameraman Captain Feilmann, ‘veterans of the campaign in Abyssinia’ (Lawler, 2002, 56).

Feilmann’s dope sheets offer an insight into those depicted within the film. ‘The officers are, of course, European and there are a number of British NCOs acting as instructors’ wrote Feilmann. ‘In this instance’ he continued ‘many of them had only recently arrived from home and the exercise, which took place while they were out in the bush for a week’s training proved valuable in customising the instructors to the ways of the African soldier’.

Feilmann also noted the ‘troops of many tribes, both Northern and Coastal’ and listed the ‘many tribes’ from which the Africans within the unit were drawn. David Killingray noted that traditionally the Gold Coast Regiment had recruited from the Northern Territories and, ‘as an alien force in Asante and the southern Gold Coast, [it] was highly unpopular’. Yet, during the War, particularly with the demand for skilled men and artisans, recruitment extended further south, with chiefs often used to assist in the recruitment of troops (Killingray, 1982, 84).

The film also contains footage of a party – the third of its kind – for two hundred British NCOs stationed in and around Accra. The party is hosted by Sir Alan Burns, governor of the Gold Coast from 1941 until 1947.

Analysis

These three items, which judging by their construction and the commentaries on the dope sheets, were evidently intended to appear in newsreels, represent significant but vastly different aspects of the war experience in the Gold Coast.

The first self-contained item emphasises the manual and transportation work performed by the Africans within the Gold Coast. The film shows the entire construction process – often in close-up – performed for, and supervised by, the British. While the film shows the Africans working collectively, the cameraman also directly introduces a number of the Africans within the unit. On the dope sheets, Feilmann notes the nine different tribes represented, while the camera presents each individually in close-up. The British cameraman recognises the varied individual – or more specifically tribal – identities within the Gold Coast Regiments. This indicates both the broadening recruitment policy of the Regiment, but also shows an attempt on the part of the British to highlight these disparate tribal groups all working together to serve the British war effort.

The second item illustrates the transference and spread of British culture within Africa. The film depicts an archetypal British sports day put on for Africans, with British men recording the distances thrown, collecting the numbers of the runners and preparing the tug of war. Significantly though the film also contains, in the words of the dope sheet, a ‘mammies race’, which seemingly amalgamates British traditions with perceived African conventions. This represents a British interpretation of African life, as the African ‘mammies’ run with large tins of water on their head. Again within this sequence a clear narrative is formed within the camera as after the ladies spill the water, a shot reveals an African child drying off. Furthermore, the shots of the tug of war – which presents close-ups of the African torso – conclude with a close-up of a foot dragged over a line.

In contrast, the final item focuses entirely on the British establishment and does not feature any African soldiers. It does once more though highlight the soldiers at leisure – drinking tea, walking around the grounds and playing table-tennis – but now presents a ‘refined’ British world, seemingly closed off to the African soldiers.

Tom Rice (June 2008)

Works Cited

Jackson, Ashley, The British Empire and the Second World War (London: Hambledon Continuum, 2006).

Killingray, David, ‘Military and Labour Recruitment in the Gold Coast During the Second World War’, The Journal of African History, Vol. 23, No. 1 (1982), 83-95.

Lawler, Nancy, Soldiers Airmen Spies and Whisperers: The Gold Coast in World War II (Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2002).

See also the dope and shot sheets available at the Imperial War Museum.

Titles

5TH FIELD COMPANY, GOLD COAST REGIMENT ON FOLDING BOAT EXERCISE; 3RD AUXILIARY GROUP SPORTS; THE GOVERNOR'S GARDEN PARTY (Allocated)

Series Title:: BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Technical Data

Year:: 1942
Running Time:: 9 minutes
Film Gauge (Format):: 35mm
Colour:: B&W
Sound:: Silent
Footage:: 881 ft

Production Credits

Production Countries:: GB

cameraman: Feilmann, F P C (Captain)
Production company: War Office Film Unit

click to expand