The Cine Technician (1943 - 1945)

84 THE CINE-TECHNICIAN A PT. OSMOND H. BORRADAILE July — August, 1943 SHOOTING ACTION MOVIES IN THE AFRICAN DESERT* THEEE is little that I can add to what' has already been printed about military cinematography, but, nevertheless, here are a few of the difficulties I experienced in trying to get a photographic war record. Although I held an Army commission, I was very fortunate to have seen action in the three branches of the service, all of which offered different problems for the cinematographer. Those of the Army, I consider the most numerous and varied. If the cinematographer is permanently attached to one unit he is well established and his problems are fewer, for he has not to worry about such matters as rations, transportation, winning the good will of the senior officers (without which he will not achieve much during a campaign), but his scope is limited. When a roving cinematographer such as I was visits a unit — usually because he has been tipped off that interesting things might be happening there — he must, first of all, be able to definitely prove his identity; secondly — and this is not always an easy job — to convince the Commanding Officer, of the value of propaganda and of the importance of getting a historical record ; a i>ersuasive line that I often found successful was that the folks back home may have a chance of seeing his men in action on their local screen. This procedure is always easier if the visitor can assure his host that he has an understanding of military behaviour, and will not unnecessarily jeopardise the lives of his men. Another point of importance is that the visitor is self-sufficient as to rations and transportation. To give an idea of some of the problems the cameraman has to be prepared to face, I shall recall a typical Western Desert incident. Things had been comparatively quiet, when suddenly the enemy broke through the wire with two hundred tanks and three hundred supporting vehicles. I lost no time in collecting my driver : together, we drew thirty gallons of petrol, a week's rations, twenty gallons of water (which was plentiful at our base). We packed all this, together with our bedding and equipment, into our open *By courtesy of "The American Cinematographer" light truck, taking care to secure it well and endeavouring, by the use of tarpaulins, to do the almost impossible; protecting it against the penetrating desert dust. We drove to a famous Armoured Division where I was known and with whose tanks I hoped to go into battle — but they retired, hoping to coax the enemy into a more suitable place before giving him battle. That night we slept under the bright stars, feeling confident that with the coining of , dawn we would be busy, for surely the battle would be joined that day. Instead, dawn brought us signals that Jerry had already turned back to his own lines. No. he would not fall into our trap ! This was bad news to me, so I took leave of the CO. and with warnings and the latest information as to the enemy's position, we set out on a compass course into the desert. It was a hot windy day with poor visibility due to the dust. The wind was on our tail which, together with the soft sand frequently caused the old bus to over-heat and boil. At first I was generous with our precious water for I was anxious to reach the escarpment where I hoped to leave the dust and possibly see some signs of Jerry. But we soon found that radiator much too greedy, so after filling her up again, we tried a new tern of driving on our course until she began to boil, then swinging the car around into the wind. Slowly, she would cool off enough to allow us another run of perhaps a mile. This was slow going and it was a tired, dusty pair of soldiers who finally reached the escarpment and found a trail up just before sunset. 1 [ere we found tracks leading west ; we identified them as British, so we followed them. As dark overtook us, we drove into a wadi and were challenged by a friendly sentry. After I had established in\ identity to the satisfaction of the Intelligence Officer, I was paraded before the General a plucky little fellow who a tew weeks later was captured and succeeded in escaping. leading many of his men back through the enemy lines. After winning the General's confidence and asMiring him that I had my own water supply and