Lady Edwina Mountbatten, wife of Lord Louis Mountbatten (Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command) visits hospitals and medical facilities in Bombay (Mumbai) and Poona (Pune), India.

Lady Mountbatten arrives at the Royal Indian Navy Hospital (RIN) at Sewri, Bombay, and is greeted by Admiral Rattray (Flag Officer). Lady Mountbatten visits a ward and speaks with patients. Lady Mountbatten, wearing sunglasses, inspects a white-tiled operating theatre. More shots from the ward. Exterior wide shot showing the modern-looking buildings of the RIN hospital with a sailor standing outside. Lady Mountbatten meets Indian nurses, wearing the badge of the Red Cross and St John Ambulance, and two Indian women in civilian dress. At the Cooperage sports ground in Bombay the St John Ambulance Brigade is on parade. Lady Mountbatten stands in a small white (chalk?) circle while a number of men in uniform salute and a civilian man in a tailcoat removes his hat. Lady Mountbatten meets nurses. Wide shot of the parade ground with Lady Mountbatten inspecting. Lady Mountbatten inspecting men wearing topis. View looking directly down the gangway of an unnamed Red Cross hospital ship; Lady Mountbatten and a British officer climb the gangway. Mountbatten is received by a (Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) ?) officer, possibly the senior medic aboard ship. Interior footage as Mountbatten visits the wards of the ship. She leaves the ship. Mountbatten and party walking alongside a hospital train; the carriage behind is marked 'Dispensary'. Lady Mountbatten boards the carriage; a marking ('G.I.P 4827') suggests the carriage was previously of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway). Interior carriage; Lady Mountbatten meets a male medical orderly. Outside Mountbatten speaks with an RAMC officer. At No.3 Indian Base General Hospital (IBGH) Lady Mountbatten meets nurses at the entrance. She walks around the grounds. Interior ward; Mountbatten meets a patient standing with the aid of a walking stick. She speaks with an RAMC officer. Outside she speaks with a number of nurses; they have the Maltese cross on their aprons, probably denoting the St John Ambulance (?). Interior footage from a Rehabilitation Centre. Lady Mountbatten meets patients, some of whom appear to be wearing civilian clothes. View of a ward. Talking to a patient. Exterior footage in the hospital grounds. Meeting nurses. Lady Mountbatten at No. 126 IBGH; she is received by officers and tours the grounds. Mountbatten departs by staff car. She visits an Artificial Limb Centre and sees prosthetic limbs in production. Two amputee patients with prosthetic legs walk stiffly towards the camera. A man flexes the knee joint of a prosthetic leg. Mountbatten talks to (an Indian?) man; a sign behind reads 'Machine Shop'. Interior footage; a blood transfusion in progress (this footage rather dark). At a Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) Lady Colville Club (a servicewomen's club) Lady Mountbatten is introduced to staff. They wear inverted triangular badges marked 'YWCA'. Lady Colville gives an address to an audience of women. Lady Mountbatten addresses the women. The audience applaud at the end of her speech. Mountbatten meets Indian Red Cross and St John Ambulance nurses, wearing saris over their blouses, who were apparently soon to be sent overseas. At a Rehabilitation Centre Lady Mountbatten meets an Indian man and watches a handloom being used. Two lines of Indian troops walking slowly on crutches. Outside No. 7 IBGH patients await the arrival of Lady Mountbatten. Inside a ward Mountbatten meets patients. Lady Mountbatten meets the patients seen waiting. Mountbatten visits No. 40 West African General Hospital. A West African cook takes a photograph of Lady Mountbatten with a camera on a tripod. Lady Mountbatten looks at a staff swimming pool. Lady Mountbatten's motorcade departs with motorcycle outrider escort.

Notes

While the often short shots of this film make it difficult to keep track of the rapidly changing locations, this is still a worthwhile record of Lady Mountbatten's extensive work, as superintendent of the St John Ambulance in visiting hospitals and relief work. After the war she would distinguish herself in efforts to recover Allied prisoners of war and internees throughout south east Asia. See related items.

The dopesheet for this film is undated. Dopesheet describes the contents of 16 rolls of film; this reel contains Rolls 1 - 10. Coverage continues in JIN 7.

The dopesheet for this film is marked 'Indian News Parade' but no corresponding edition appears to be held by the Imperial War Museum. However, an edition of British Movietone News (No. 832, from March 1945) uses this material.The dopesheet for this film is undated. Dopesheet describes the contents of 16 rolls of film; this reel contains Rolls 11 - 16. Coverage continues in JIN 7.