Rare world war time footage digitised, preserved at NFAI

Rare war-time footage including visual of Indian soldiers in action during the Second World War in several countries has been digitised and preserved at the National Film Archives of India (NFAI).
Some of the footage digitised are titled -- India Strikes, From India to Tunis, Battle of Britain, Fire over London, A Day with Indian Troops in Egypt, Johny Gurkha, Baluch Regiment, Madras Guards --and also selected sequences from Burma Campaign, among other material.
The digitised items also include visuals of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Muhammed Ali Jinnah and other national leaders.
According to a statement by Pune-based NFAI, it had received these rare footage, recently, from the Armed Forces Film and Photo Division, Ministry of Defence.

With a total duration of 30 hours, the films involved scenes of various war fronts across the world, including some related to Indian forces in action during the World War II.
"The material was in U-matic and 35 mm print format, which NFAI digitised them recently. This is an important acquisition for NFAI, as these rare footage would be safely stored in our vaults, at ideal temperature and humidity conditions, which would ensure their preservation for posterity", said Prakash Magdum, Director of NFAI.
He said that the NFAI is in touch with military historians and authors who have done studies on World War II, so that cataloguing of these footage can be taken up.

"Also we are exploring further possibility of getting more material from the Ministry of Defence, so that it can be preserved for posterity," he was quoted as saying.