The South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA) is the regional film archive for the South West of England. Established in 1993, SWFTA's core collection comprises of the combined programme libraries of Westward Television and TSW (Television South West). The archive also cares for a significant number of donated film collections, both amateur and professional, dating back to the early 1900s.
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Flying boats visit Plymouth
Plymouth Sound serves as an aquatic airport for the RAF Far East Flight and its four Supermarine seaplanes en route to Australia and Singapore.
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Overview
You can almost hear the propellers, smell the fuel and feel the spray whilst watching this title. Seaplanes landing and taking off in Plymouth Sound is the main event of this thrilling film. This includes a spectacular flyby of Plymouth Hoe and a glimpse of the historic pier which was subsequently bombed into oblivion during the Blitz.
This film shows the first leg of the RAF Far East Flight landing in Plymouth from Felixstowe before taking off three days later to undertake the first long distance exploratory flight to Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong culminating in the setting up of 205 Squadron in Singapore, the first RAF unit to be permanently based there. Pilots and planes shown are: S1152 Group Captain H.M. Cave-Brown-Cave, S1151 Flight Lieutenant C.G. Wrigglesworth, S1150 Flight Lieutenant D.V. Carnegie and S1149 Squadron Leader G.E. Livock.
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