• Short Summary

    Teenage boys of the Infantry Junior Leaders Battalion are seen in training in the Plymouth countryside.

  • Description

    Plymouth, Devon.

    Great C/Us of a sergeant major, RSM Albert Young shouting orders (natural sound) to a troop of teenage boys of the Infantry Junior Leaders Battalion. They are inspected as they stand to attention on a parade ground.

    We then see several shots of the boys in training, abseiling down cliffs, walking across the weir of a river, canoeing and swimming across the river, sliding down a rope on a winch (instructors watch from the ground). Boys are instructed on the use of compasses; others are seen going through an assault course, carrying rifles and wearing backpacks.

    A group of boys approach a bridge; the instructor and a boy leap off the bridge into the river below - in their uniforms! Other boys are seen jumping in.

    Note: on file are notes about the film and booklets on the Battalion; one leaflet exclaims "...And leadership is a man's job"! Mute neg is missing for this issue.

  • Tags

  • Data

    Film ID:
    99.02
    Media URN:
    2571
    Group:
    Colour pictorials
    Archive:
    British Pathé
    Issue Date:
    30/11/1959
    Sound:
    Sound
    HD Format:
    Available on request
    Stock:
    Colour
    Duration:
    00:03:06:00
    Time in/Out:
    01:00:24:00 / 01:03:30:00
    Canister:
    CP 257

Comments (1)

  1. pnicholson says

    I joined in Sep' '59 and remember that RSM easily enough: his face, voice and that he was a Scots Guardsman. He retired not long after that film was shot, and I'll never forget the stench of after-shave when he came up close and barked in my face. The C.O. and one of the sergeants are vaguely familiar.
    The I.J.L.B. was a great experience in general, for discipline and confidence-building. Jumping off that bridge nearly got me killed as I couldn't swim, but some of the lads dived in down-stream and saved me. The only other non-swimmer that day was my pal Rob Hindmarch who, ironically, died in a river crossing while serving in the SAS 6 years later.

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