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Interesting - I was just thinking about those old security films yesterday bearing in mind the Jeremy Corbyn "spying" discussion.
In TBT's reply about the RAF films available - is "Operation Intercept" the fictional film about a Herc being shot down on the way to FI because of all the minor security breaches moulded together with buckets of open-source material? & IIRC, the Harrier pilot crashing Flight Safety film was something like "Break The Chain"? - long sequence of events from problems at home to fried eggs in the Mess results in a fatality? |
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I never did get to see my stunning background performance in a security film made on 617 circa 1985, would love to see some of the old faces in that one.
#roommeat |
ISTR one that turned the usual "honeytrap" story on its head - so to speak.
A tasty WRAF officer - ADC to a VSO - was serviced by a Roosian (?) officer; tough work but someone's got to do it. Anyone else remember that one? |
Not a security film, but I appear very briefly in a WRAF officer recruiting film which was being shot at Feltwell in 1964. We were in the gym and were told to come and watch this young female cadet on the trampoline while they filmed her. I wasn't quite killed in the rush, and a young slim Officer Cadet TTN can be seen closely observing said girl bouncing up and down on the trampoline.
One of the better days at OCTU! |
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The Cadet receiving all the prizes from HRH Princess Elizabeth in this freebie film made in 1951 was later AVM Merriman.
Air Vice-Marshal Alan Merriman CB CBE AFC & Bar is the Queen's man in Hitchin and a YOPEY judge "I was evacuated from London on the outbreak of Second World War to a tiny village near Braughing and went to the school now known as Richard Hale. On leaving school, I started two years National Service with the Royal Air Force and decided to make that my career. After completing pilot training at the RAF College Cranwell I became a flying instructor on Meteor jets and a fighter pilot on a Hunter squadron before spending a year as a student at the Empire Test Pilots School. As a qualified test pilot I flew every fast jet fighter and trainer aeroplane destined for the Armed Forces, including the Canberra, Javelin, Lightning, Harrier, Jaguar, Gnat, Hawk and many American, French and Swedish aircraft. I was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. After Staff College training I became the Personal Secretary to the Government Minister for the RAF and later responsible for specifying the capabilities of all the future aircraft for the RAF. They included what is now known as the Eurofighter Typhoon. In my spare time I enjoyed playing rugby and sailing cruising yachts. On retiring I moved back to Hertfordshire and became chairman of the County Territorial and Volunteer Reserve Forces Committee, Representative of the RAF Benevolent Fund, Honorary President of 1066 (Hitchin) ATC Squadron, President of the Richard Hale Old Boys Association and a Deputy Lord Lieutenant. I have three married daughters, one of whom spent seven years with the Territorial Army." https://www.britishpathe.com/video/c...graduation-day |
With that number of films produced it's a wonder that we ever had time to do any flying!
I can remember catching one I "starred" in when channel surfing the TV on a boring afternoon. |
There was an episode of the BBC series Squadron in which a Harrier went missing and it was thought the pilot had defected to the other side. An intelligence officer played by, I think, Glyn Owen, was interrogating everyone about it, including the pilot's wife. In the end a farmer found the Harrier sitting in his yard and the pilot sat in his office, having suffered a breakdown.
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The Harrier FS film with Richard O,Sullivan was ‘Flight Safety Nothing to do with Me’ (1973) The Wg Cdr Spry IFS type who did the summing up was Nicholas Courtney (who was Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in Doctor Who).
The Security Film set at Wittering with the hitch-hiking clerk was ‘Open Secret’ (1973). Another FS film with people off the TV was ‘Oversight’ (1976), with Trevor Eve as a Phantom Pilot and Michael Sheard (who was Mr Bronson in Grange Hill), as an overloaded C/T. Frustrations has been made twice, the 60s one was a Javelin crew trying to get back to UK from the Far East. The 70s one was a Jaguar Sqn Exec who (after lots of triv to deal with), goes flying, has an engine failure on take-off and can’t clear the external stores due to missed switch selections. All the video resources that used to be in training and crew rooms, the first Sqn I joined had a mountain of UMatic tapes with ‘I Serve The Soviet Union’ recorded off air; fantastic for WP Target Reccie. Lots of FS videos too. Crew rooms today have little or none. The TV in the corner will have Homes Under The Hammer on or even worse Jeremy Kyle. At least there’s always Recignition Journal or Air Clues out monthly........oh no, that’s all gone too. Just piles of unread Pathfinder Mag and as for RAF News, that isn’t even any good for starting a BBQ . |
Crew rooms today have little or none. The TV in the corner will have Homes Under The Hammer on or even worse Jeremy Kyle. |
How many films did O'Sullivan make??
The story I recall from a long time ago was that he was tired, distracted, and when told to hold short of the runway, he entered it and lined up, causing another to go around. The biggest kick he should have received was for his haircut. |
What gets me about most of these films, is that despite our [cough, cough] advancing years and loss of brain cells through beer and who knows what else, we all still remember the films and their messages. Corny they may have been but they seem to have worked. When you compare the recent penchant for losing sensitive information and the ridiculous CBT of the modern versions, I wonder whether the younger generation will get the message and be reminiscing about their CBT in 30 years' time?
Are the 'Hissing Sid' security videos listed in the comprehensive list of films. I never could remember the titles of those, but do remember the main characters and the messages. |
The original 'Frustrations' was very good indeed. Interestingly, the frustrating events facing the Jav. crew would probably be considered quite acceptable to many of us today.
I recall that they turned up somewhere to find a dining-in night in progress, so were offered a waiter-served fry-up instead... Someone broke the navigator's duty-free perfume bottle which he was taking to his wife ( "Now everything will smell just wonderful"), but the succession of duck-nibbles eventually led to a go-around at minimum fuel, double flame out and ejection at Akrotiri (?). Is there a rattly old 16mm cine version still hiding in some corner of a FS empire? |
Sorry to hear about modern crew rooms. Similar story about messes - the only time I visited an officers' mess in recent years it was pretty well deserted and had all the atmosphere of a Travel Lodge. I am just so glad I did my service when I did.
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Regarding the "Operation Intercept". I remember being shown it at MPA as part of arrival procedure. I found it briefly interesting but when they showed the VC-10 flight deck it became a little sad. Reason the chap in the RH seat had only recently passed away, he was a Capt on 101 at the time and probably one of the better "touch/feel" pilots. One story was whilst doing fighter assim, the fighter could never find the "brown bomber". Why, because the combination of pointing the nose towards the fighter and the angle of attack of the VC-10K was raised sufficiently so that the wings blocked the compressor intakes making the good old VC-10 difficult for the fighter's radar to find it.
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Mind you, some of the films were good at clearing crewrooms....A good way to motivate staff in my old VGS was to put on a film called 'Flight checkers'*....all about ILS checking. Its amazing how suddenly people became motivated to go and clean A/C
or repair cables etc etc as soon as it started! *Apologies to 115 Sqn...I am sure it was skilled and obviously necessary work...but did not make the most interesting video for a bunch of Staff Cadets! |
I recall that the various first aid films were much better at clearing crewrooms. There was a (I think it was Canadian) film of a simulated passenger aircraft crash, and each person had a different but very realistic looking wound/broken bone. This usually got us all out in a couple of minutes!!
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CharlieJuliet
I remember watching that film in 1964. It was a Dakota, I think, that crashed. I fainted at the sight of some of those wound shots!
Aaron. |
I recall that movie, it was indeed an RCAF Dak. But the advice from that big, black chap to a survivor whose ruptured artery was spurting away, to "Hold on to that or you'll bleed to death!" was described as 'not exactly reassuring' by our instructor!
Some of the more unpleasant films were those shown to us at AMTC during AR5 training pre-GW1, which included shots of live animal experiments accompanied by the American instructor and audience laughing at the effects on the animals. Surely it didn't take the brains of a rocket scientist to expect that a cat which had been given LSD would suffer accordingly..:mad: ?? |
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