Part 1: A man lying on his back in hospital bed raises his right leg several times; a pulley system lifts a weight. A medic massages a man’s calf. Outside the building a number of trestle tables; a sign reads ‘Occupational Therapy’ and men are at work on various handicrafts. A man shows the camera a painting he is working on, showing a crusader ship in full sail. A man demonstrates a small toy; a cut-out maid that ‘walks’ along a table top. Patients walking in hospital grounds with the building behind; described as a 'fine Lutyens building, so possibly the Forest Research Institute in Dehra Dun. A hospital band playing; their stands are marked ‘17th (London) B.G.H’; Indian patients listen. A pipe band of 9th Gurkha Rifles performs before a football match. Football match between British and Indian other ranks. British men lounge in wicker chairs (on a hilltop? footage murky); various shots of men chatting. British men singing around an upright piano. Men playing tennis. [214ft]

Part 2: Gurkhas training; they vault a gym horse. Dramatic angle; Gurkhas vault over the camera. Vaulting sideways. Handsprings. Ropeclimbing; one man climbs without using his feet. Gurkhas charge down a grassy hillside and jump down a steep embankment. They continue down the hillside. Men run to a stone wall as a smoke bomb explodes. Jumping down the wall. Crossing a stream on a rope. A soldier crosses a stream with a rope; a charge goes off and sends a plume of water up next to him. A Gurkha gunner with Vickers-Berthier light machine gun and his number two take up position behind a pile of rubble. Gurkhas advance through a smoke screen. They scramble into a covered trench. The ‘Japanese’ enemy (Gurkhas in costume) scramble away out of a 'funk hole' with a Gurkha in hot pursuit. Close-up as a ‘Japanese’ manning a trench turns and flees. Wider shot ‘Japanese’ fleeing; a smoke bomb explodes dramatically in the trench and Gurkhas run into shot. Putting a ladder against a farmhouse; a machine gun team climb onto the roof. Crossing barbed wire with drifting smoke. Bayoneting dummies with close-up Gurkha’s face as he does so. Scrambling over rocks. A smoke bomb explodes and Gurkhas charge forwards. [462ft]

Two-item film showing (1) 17 British General Hospital, housed in the Forest Research Institute in Dehra Dun, India, British and Indian patients are seen recuperating and (2) Gurkhas doing physical and battle training.

Notes

Dating this piece is difficult; part 1 must be between April 1942 and February 1944, as this is the period in which 17 BGH was at Dehra Dun. Part 2 is entirely undated, but the cameraman's commentary refers to the first Chindit expedition as a recent event, and so may date from the middle months of 1943.

Series note: The MWY series of films is believed to be part of a ‘pool’ of film received by the Government of India from various sources, including South East Asia Command, the Indian Inter-Service Public Relations Directorate, the Ministry of Information, and from Allied governments. This footage would have been considered for editing and release through the Indian Newsreel Parade; see INR series.