Calling Blighty

Last updated March 17, 2019

Produced by the Directorate for Army Welfare (DAK) in India from 1944 to 46, Calling Blighty was a series of ten-minute films which featured members of the British Armed Forces stationed in India and Southeast Asia speaking a personal message direct to camera. These films were shown back in the UK to a specially invited audience in a cinema in the area from which those featured came.

The British Raj was the rule by the British Crown in the Indian subcontinent from 1858 to 1947. The rule is also called Crown rule in India, or direct rule in India. The region under British control was commonly called British India or simply India in contemporaneous usage, and included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom, which were collectively called British India, and those ruled by indigenous rulers, but under British tutelage or paramountcy, and called the princely states. The whole was also informally called the Indian Empire. As India, it was a founding member of the League of Nations, a participating nation in the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1920, 1928, 1932, and 1936, and a founding member of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945.

British Armed Forces combined military forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The British Armed Forces, also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military services responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and the Crown dependencies. They also promote Britain's wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts and provide humanitarian aid.

Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China and Japan, east of India, west of Papua New Guinea, and north of Australia. Southeast Asia is bordered to the north by East Asia, to the west by South Asia and the Bay of Bengal, to the east by Oceania and the Pacific Ocean, and to the south by Australia and the Indian Ocean. The region is the only part of Asia that lies partly within the Southern Hemisphere, although the majority of it is in the Northern Hemisphere. In contemporary definition, Southeast Asia consists of two geographic regions:

Mainland Southeast Asia, also known historically as Indochina, comprising parts of Northeast India, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and West Malaysia.
Maritime Southeast Asia, also known historically as Nusantara, the East Indies and Malay Archipelago, comprises the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India, Indonesia, East Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, East Timor, Brunei, Christmas Island, and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Taiwan is also included in this grouping by many anthropologists.

Background

Poor welfare and especially length of tour duty, crystallised in the phrase "the Forgotten Army", led the War Office to investigate the significant issue of morale, which culminated in a tour of South East Asia Command (SEAC) by the Earl of Munster and his subsequent report in September 1944, although a Morale Committee had met regularly in the War Office since 1942.^[1]Calling Blighty was one of the steps introduced by the War Office to address concerns of low morale within the 14th Army stationed in India and SEAC during the latter stages of the Second World War.^[1]

The War Office was a Department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence. It was equivalent to the Admiralty, responsible for the Royal Navy, and the Air Ministry, which oversaw the Royal Air Force. The name "War Office" is also given to the former home of the department, the War Office building, located at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall in central London.

South East Asia Command (SEAC) was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allied operations in the South-East Asian Theatre during World War II.

Geoffrey William Richard Hugh FitzClarence, 5th Earl of Munster, KBE, PC was a British peer and Conservative politician.

The series title was probably derived from a Pathé Gazette newsreel issue of early 1944 featuring soldiers based in Italy and the first DAK Calling Blighty was issued in April 1944.^[1] The production was based at what was then the Training Film Centre in Bombay, already a film production centre for the making of training films for the Indian Army, (and later to become the Combined Kinematograph Services Film Production and Training Centre – CKS), with studio space rented at the Shree Sound Studios.^[2]

Pathé News was a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 until 1970 in the United Kingdom. Its founder, Charles Pathé, was a pioneer of moving pictures in the silent era. The Pathé News archive is known today as British Pathé. Its collection of news film and movies is fully digitised and available online.

The Indian Army (IA), often known since 1947 as the British Indian Army to distinguish it from the current Indian Army, was the principal military of the British Indian Empire before its decommissioning in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of both the British Indian Empire and the princely states, which could also have their own armies. The Indian Army was an important part of the British Empire's forces, both in India and abroad, particularly during the First World War and the Second World War.

Calling Blighty was produced in two different formats: one was studio-based and the other shot on location. In the studio a canteen set was built to provide a realistic and relaxing environment and personnel were brought in to deliver their messages. On location the unit had to find the personnel – and they travelled widely, through India, Burma and Malaya – whom they filmed outside, usually with some significant landmark behind them. The format was similar to the canteen set-up, with each person addressing their loved ones with a short message direct to camera.^[3]

British rule in Burma lasted from 1824 to 1948, from the Anglo-Burmese wars through the creation of Burma as a Province of British India to the establishment of an independently administered colony, and finally independence. The region under British control was known as British Burma. Various portions of Burmese territories, including Arakan, Tenasserim were annexed by the British after their victory in the First Anglo-Burmese War; Lower Burma was annexed in 1852 after the Second Anglo-Burmese War. The annexed territories were designated the minor province, British Burma, of British India in 1862.

The term "British Malaya" loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries. Unlike the term "British India", which excludes the Indian princely states, British Malaya is often used to refer to the Malay States under indirect British rule as well as the Straits Settlements that were under the sovereignty of the British Crown.

The equipment used by both studio and location units was broadly the same; 35mm camera, film and sound equipment. In 1945 the cumbersome separate sound camera was replaced by a sound-on-film camera similar to those used for newsreels. The studio had a permanent complement of staff consisting of Indian as well as British personnel. The location unit usually comprised a director, two cameramen, two sound recordists, two assistants and a welfare officer responsible for making the contacts. At least one of the location units operated as part of the Army Kinematograph Service (AKS) and had been sent out from the UK to assist.^[1]^:33^[3]^[4]

The Army Kinematograph Service (AKS) was established by the British government in August 1941 to meet the increasing training and recreational needs of an army at war. Created by the newly established Directorate of Army Kinematography, whose remit was "to be responsible for providing and exhibiting all films required by the Army for training, educational and recreational purposes", it expanded over the next few years to become the most prominent film production and exhibition section for a major part of the British Armed Forces.

Generally, people from one particular city, town or region were grouped together in order to facilitate screening back in the UK, and while personnel from all three services are featured, they are predominantly from the army.^[1] The completed negatives were sent by sea to the UK, a journey of about six weeks. On arrival the negative was sent to Denham Studios near Uxbridge, Middlesex, where a print was made for distribution, although a copy was kept in Bombay as a precaution against the negative being lost.^[1]^[5]

Denham Film Studios were a British film production studio operating from 1936 to 1952. Founded by Alexander Korda, notable films made at Denham include Brief Encounter and David Lean's Great Expectations. From the 1950s to the 1970s the studio became best known for recording film music, including the scores for Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Star Wars.

Uxbridge is a town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. 15.4 miles (24.8 km) west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbridge historically formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex, and was a significant local commercial centre from an early time. As part of the suburban growth of London in the 20th century it expanded and increased in population, becoming a municipal borough in 1955, and has formed part of Greater London since 1965. It is a significant retail and commercial centre, and is the location of Brunel University and the Uxbridge campus of Buckinghamshire New University. The town is close to the boundary with Buckinghamshire, which is locally the River Colne.

Middlesex is an ancient county in southeast England. It is now entirely within the wider urbanised area of London. Its area is now also mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in other neighbouring ceremonial counties. It was established in the Anglo-Saxon system from the territory of the Middle Saxons, and existed as an official unit until 1965. The historic county includes land stretching north of the River Thames from 17 miles (27 km) west to 3 miles (5 km) east of the City of London with the rivers Colne and Lea and a ridge of hills as the other boundaries. The largely low-lying county, dominated by clay in its north and alluvium on gravel in its south, was the second smallest county by area in 1831.

Each Calling Blighty screening took place at a cinema in the subjects local area and was usually organised by the regional Army Welfare Committee. The names and addresses of those to be invited were sent to the UK along with the films.^[1]

These films continued to be produced after the surrender of Japan in August 1945 as many thousands of service personnel were still needed in SEAC; transport and forces were still required for the occupation of Malaya, Java and the return of thousands of prisoners of war, as well as for the occupation of Japan. Production of Calling Blighty finally ceased in April 1946.^[1]

It is estimated that only slightly more than 10% of the Calling Blighty films have survived - some 52 issues.^[1] It is estimated some 400 issues were produced, the majority of the originals – 47 – are held by the Imperial War Museum Film Archive. An additional five are held by the British Film Institute National Film Archive. Copies of all Manchester issues are held by the North West Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University who are running a project to trace all family members.^[6] Individual copies relating to Norwich and Southampton are held by the relevant regional film archives.

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Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military war effort and sacrifice of Britain and its Empire during the First World War. The museum's remit has since expanded to include all conflicts in which British or Commonwealth forces have been involved since 1914. As of 2012, the museum aims "to provide for, and to encourage, the study and understanding of the history of modern war and 'wartime experience'."

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Sargent, Paul. November 1992, "'Keep Smiling. Keep those chins up and God bless': filmed messages home from service personnel in the Far East during the Second World War." Imperial War Museum Review No. 7.
↑ Dawson, Adam. Sound Archives 1991, Imperial War Museum ref 12358. Mr Dawson worked both as a director and supervising film editor at the CKS.
1 2 Atcheler, Jack. Sound Archives 1991, Imperial War Museum ref 12357 Mr Atcheler was a cameraman on the Calling Blighty location unit.
↑ The Indian documentary maker NS Thapa was a studio-based cameraman on Calling Blighty.
↑ Becket, Albert. Sound Archives 1991, Imperial War Museum ref 12356. Mr Becket was Production Manager at the CKS from May 1945 until August 1946
↑ "Messages Home: Lost Films of the British Army". North West Film Archive. Manchester Metropolitan University. 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.

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[sargent1992-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Sargent, Paul. November 1992, "'Keep Smiling. Keep those chins up and God bless': filmed messages home from service personnel in the Far East during the Second World War." Imperial War Museum Review No. 7.

[2] Dawson, Adam. Sound Archives 1991, Imperial War Museum ref 12358. Mr Dawson worked both as a director and supervising film editor at the CKS.

[atcheler1991-3] 1 2 Atcheler, Jack. Sound Archives 1991, Imperial War Museum ref 12357 Mr Atcheler was a cameraman on the Calling Blighty location unit.

[4] The Indian documentary maker NS Thapa was a studio-based cameraman on Calling Blighty.

[5] Becket, Albert. Sound Archives 1991, Imperial War Museum ref 12356. Mr Becket was Production Manager at the CKS from May 1945 until August 1946

[6] "Messages Home: Lost Films of the British Army". North West Film Archive. Manchester Metropolitan University. 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.