Royal Air Force Film Production Unit (typically abbreviated to the acronym RAFFPU) was a unit of the British Royal Air Force that produced propaganda films depicting RAF personnel and aircraft both on the ground and in aerial action during Second World War from 1941 to 1945.
The RAFFPU was formed in 1941 after it was recognised that captured film footage was being processed by civilian companies before it could be securely classified. Additionally, many civilian cameramen were not able to be taken on bombing raids, so service personnel were trained to be able to perform these tasks. [1] The RAFFPU had two main tasks; to document the RAF's work and to produce propaganda films involving the Royal Air Force. [2]
One of its early successful propaganda films was Target for Tonight. The aim of the film was to show the public how Bomber Command operated, especially with a varied crew drawn from Britain, Australia and Canada. The film followed a Wellington crew (F for Freddie) bombing railway infrastructure over Germany. The film was a big success with the British public and its investment of £6,000 was regained 12 times over as it took £73,000 at the cinemas. The film's director, Harry Watt, later regretted that most of the allied aircrew who starred in the film, did not survive the war. [3]
The RAFFPU mainly worked at Pinewood studios which is where Richard Attenborough was seconded. He starred in one of their films, Journey Together, which was directed by Flight lieutenant John Boulting. After the war, Attenborough went on to be directed by Boulting in the film Brighton Rock because of his connection with the RAFFPU. [4] Personnel from the film unit were present on many notable raids, such as Operation Jericho, the Amiens prison raid, which was flown to free members of the French Resistance under threat of execution. [5] The director, Lewis Gilbert, also served in the unit during the Second World War. [6]
The unit had access to Beaufort, Anson, Hudson, Havoc and Auster aircraft based at RAF Benson and RAF Langley. Whilst production stopped in 1945, the unit was officially stood down at RAF Stanmore Park in March 1947 when it became the Film Production Unit Library. [7]
FPU personnel included early commander Flight Lieutenant John Boulting as well as later director Richard Attenborough who flew camera missions over Europe. Noted dramatist Terence Rattigan, then a Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant, was posted in 1943 to the RAF Film Production Unit to work on The Way to the Stars and Journey Together . [8]
These were some of the films produced by the RAFFPU. [9]
John Edward Boulting and Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting, known collectively as the Boulting brothers, were English filmmakers and identical twins who became known for their series of satirical comedies in the 1950s and 1960s. They produced many of their films through their own production company, Charter Film Productions, which they founded in 1937.
The Handley Page HP.52 Hampden is a British twin-engine medium bomber that was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was part of the trio of large twin-engine bombers procured for the RAF, joining the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and Vickers Wellington. The Hampden was powered by Bristol Pegasus radial engines but a variant known as the Handley Page Hereford had in-line Napier Daggers.
No. 460 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force intelligence unit active within the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation (DIGO). It was first formed as a heavy bomber squadron during World War II on 15 November 1941 and disbanded on 10 October 1945 after seeing extensive combat over Europe. The squadron was a multinational unit, but most personnel were Australian. No. 460 Squadron was reformed on 2 July 2010 and is currently located in Canberra.
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No. 450 Squadron was a unit of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) that operated during World War II. Established at RAAF Station Williamtown, New South Wales, in February 1941, it was the first Australian Article XV squadron formed under the Empire Air Training Scheme.
No. 451 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force army cooperation and fighter squadron of World War II. It was formed at Bankstown, New South Wales, on 12 February 1941 and began flying operations on 1 July as part of the North African Campaign in Egypt and Libya. No. 451 Squadron was withdrawn for refitting in early January 1942 and spent the remainder of the year performing garrison duties in Syria. In January 1943, it was transferred to Egypt to contribute to local air defence but saw almost no combat. This inactivity caused morale among the squadron's personnel to greatly deteriorate.
No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron "Land of Pomerania" was a Polish World War II bomber (1940-1943) and special duties squadron (1944-1946), belonging to Polish Air Forces in Great Britain. It fought alongside the Royal Air Force and operated from RAF airfields in the United Kingdom and Italy.
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No. 467 Squadron RAAF was a Royal Australian Air Force bomber squadron, active over North West Europe during World War II. Formed in November 1942 as an Article XV Squadron in Britain, the squadron was notionally an Australian squadron under the command of the Royal Air Force, and consisted of a mixture of personnel from various Commonwealth nations. After becoming operational in early 1943, the squadron flew operations in Occupied Europe until the end of the war flying Avro Lancaster heavy bombers. It was scheduled to deploy to the Far East to take part in further operations against Japan, but the war ended before it could complete its training and the squadron was disbanded in September 1945.
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For Those in Peril is a 1944 British war film produced by Ealing Studios that marked the directorial debut of Charles Crichton. The film was developed from a short story by Richard Hillary, an RAF pilot killed in action in January 1943. The basic and relatively slight storyline of For Those in Peril was an end to produce a film with a documentary feel and an element of wartime propaganda. The film stars Ralph Michael and David Farrar.
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