This piece of film shows members of an SAS patrol making their way through jungle and across streams - the soldiers look wary and are clearly concentrating on their surroundings. The presence of a camera, however, suggests that this was not a patrol in which the troops were in great danger. Among the most interesting scenes are those in which the troops meet local villagers with whom they share food and cigarettes. [AWM F03767]
[In black and white footage, soldiers in light tropical uniforms and small cloth hats move down a jungle slope and across a shallow stream. They hold their rifles ready. As he heads up a slope a soldier stops and looks around.
Local villagers - men, women and children - sit outside a palm-leaf hut with Australian soldiers. The soldiers are served cups of tea. A soldier hands a woman a cigarette packet. Puffing the cigarette, she examines the packet. A soldier shakes hands with a local man who stares at the camera. The villagers stand waving. A woman with dark curly hair holds a baby.
In thick jungle, soldiers file across a bridge made of three logs. More logs form a rough path past low huts. Holding their rifles ready, the soldiers wade along a stream. The legs of their uniforms are soaked. They scan the jungle warily. Soldiers file along a path through thick jungle. They hold their automatic weapons across their bodies. Sunlight shines through leaves onto a soldier. He wears a cloth around his neck. The soldiers pick their way through thick undergrowth. As one moves carefully across a log, he reaches down toward his knee. They move down a slope toward a stream, then wade across, through the clear knee-high water. In jungle, a soldier ducks under a log. Through long grass, the camera films palm-leaf huts in a clearing. One huts stands on stilts. An Australian soldier stands talking.]