[ca. 1931-1949]
VHS video copy of original cinefilms taken by G.W. Power during his Sudan service. The films, with some original captions, were edited on to video and a commentary added by G.W. Power. The film is mostly in black and white, interspersed with
short pieces in colour.
Construction of the railway from Kassala to SennarTravelling along railway track, past the site of a future station; approaching campsite at railhead where new track is being laid; water tank on railway; 2,500
Egyptian
fellahin workers; on one side of the track Sudanese workers are carrying construction material while on the other Egyptian workers are carrying rails; British engineers supervising the work; Sudanese foreman (in
white); clearing bush
KhartoumG.W. Power's Model T Ford (bought for £5); travelling along the Embankment;
saqiyah on bank of the Nile; Khartoum zoo; Gordon Avenue; Gordon statue, cathedral in background;
Kitchener statue and War Office building; [short section in colour] boats on Nile; grounds of Sudan Club; [reverts to black and white] flying boat landing at Gordon's tree (about 7 miles from Khartoum); passengers being brought ashore by ferry
Arrival of Governor-GeneralTroops marching out from barracks; arrival of Governor-General in white train; guard of honour; Governors dressed in white in background; Sir John Maffey inspecting guard of honour
before driving off past the Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratories up Victoria Avenue; 5 Gladiator planes flying past in salute; half company of British troops form guard of honour
King's Day, KhartoumParade marching past the Governor-General and Bishop Gwynne; Khartoum
suq; barber at work; construction of White Nile dam, built 1932/33; stone dressing; stone
quarried at Jebel Silitat; view of dam and lock, 3½ miles long; travelling up White Nile on boat;
suq scenes, Omdurman; silversmith
Rail journey, Khartoum-Port Sudan“Prairie” type locomotive in Khartoum station; leaving for Port Sudan; travelling by train across the Blue Nile bridge; working a hand windlass over
a new well at Silitat; bull teams treading millet near Kadaro; train approaching Kadaro, first station after Khartoum en route for Port Sudan; Jebel Gerri; Shendi station; inspection trolley; basket sellers at Mutmir station
Port SudanDhows in Flamingo Bay (15 miles from Port Sudan); fish swimming in Red Sea; King's Day sports, Port Sudan, 17 Jan 1934; [break] British and Egyptian flags flying at sports;
British Medical Officer winning long jump; canoe; view of harbour
Interval during which G.W. Power is seen sitting looking at a book on the Sudan. He describes the next section of the film which covers the south, starting from Kassala in
1935.
Kassala, 1935During the Italian war in Abyssinia; sending supplies through Kassala;
saqiyah in garden; watering cattle; River Gash in spate, Jebel Kassala in background; camels
crossing the Gash; carrying supplies from the railway across the Gash to the town; Dead Sea apple plants growing along the bank of the river; sowing
dhurrah near Kassala station, behind G.W. Power's house; 5 seeds
dropped in each hole; stick with peg used to make a conical hole for the seed; Hadanduwah mock fights; plate workers working on railway maintenance near Kassala; handling dom nuts for export at Derudeb (the nuts were exported to Marseilles for use
in making buttons); Arabs at well at Derudeb; building
hafirs to store water at Khashm el Girba, 1935; Arabs trekking in the Butana; sim sim oil mill near Qala 'en Nahl; crushing grain to get oil out; Mrs. Power by
railway bridge over the Dinder; railway bridge over the Rahad; Mrs. Power on mechanical trolley; commemorative tablet at site of the railway linkup between Dinder and Es Suki, Feb 1929
Journey south to JubaSawmill at Launi on the Blue Nile; cattle dragging felled trees on trolleys to saws to cut into railway sleepers (sunt wood); off-loading sunt sleepers (each weighing about 160 lbs) from Launi
at Es Suki; market scenes; Blue Nile; men in canoe;
dhahabiyah towing
gyassa; Rahad bridge; travelling by rail across swampy ground from Rahad; grass has to be cleared each season as it
reaches 12 feet high; repairing washouts on the railway in 1935 near Hamadnallah; Sennar dam and Blue Nile; White Nile bridge near Kosti;
falluka; steamer and barges; Kosti foreshore (lost after the construction of Jebel
Auliya dam;
suq at Kosti, 1932-33; silversmith at work; D.C.'s garden on the banks of the White Nile; building the quay wall at Kosti in 1937; Baqqarah Arabs riding bulls bear El Ein, Kordofan (the station before the
railway terminus at El Obeid); through the
sudd en route to Juba on board the MV
Melika, Jan 1949; Nuer picking mangoes at Shambe; river views, canoes, etc.; D.C.'s garden at Bor; British
child and pets; Shilluk cattle on riverbank; crocodiles; Nuer on riverbank; sawing and moving mahogany railway sleepers near Juba; British women; Yei; steamer; elephant herd and other scenes from the deck of the MV
Melika; villagers in
sudd; elephants in
sudd; ferry at Bentiu on the Bahr el Ghazal; landing at Yong Yang mission station;
ambach raft
Interval during which G.W. Power describes the film shown so far as documentary evidence from his life in the Sudan. He married in 1929 and his wife joined him in the Sudan. In 1931 they bought a cine camera and from then until 1949 they recorded
scenes illustrating their personal lives, as well as G.W. Power's official duties. The following scenes are of a more personal nature; G.W. Power and Mrs. Power feature frequently. There is no commentary, but there are numerous titles.
Sudan 1931-1939; a pictorial souvenirGordon statue, Khartoum 1931; Khartoum zoo; picnic breakfast on the banks of the Nile near Soba with “Jebels” and “Elk” (dogs); motorcar; herd of goats; Khartoum races, military band playing; Omdurman bridge;
fallukas; steamer; G.W. Power's garden at Khartoum-G.W. Power and Mrs. Power with dogs and child;
river picnics on the Blue Nile with Mabel and Dorothy Byford, the Browns, Crandle, Elk, the Furzes, the Henrys and the Pattersons;
saqiyah; Mrs. Power and
syce with “Brandy” and “Soda” (horses) at Kassala; station; pounding millet near house in Kassala; flowers in garden; tenicoits in the garden at Kassala with Rod Graham and the Birnies and Hoggs; lion
cub; horse rolling in dust; pony and cart in garden; swimming pool at Sennar and the dam; G.W. Power and Mrs. Power climbing rocks; view from top; travelling house and motor inspection trolley at Gebeit, Red Sea Hills; Shendi; Nile at Mutmir;
rolling stock in station at Port Sudan; tennis at the Red Sea Club, Port Sudan and harbour scenes; diving board at Port Sudan swimming pool; house and garden at Port Sudan
Homeward bound via the Red Sea, 1936Picking up shipwrecked Italian sailors; boat drill; Suez canal and Anzac memorial; [short section in colour] Port Said harbour and harbour front buildings, the old
Mauretania in the background; [reverts to black and white] coaling ship in Port Said; tug towing small boat; [colour] passing through the Strait of Messina; Stromboli, from the ship; [black and white and colour]
shipboard life and Sunday crew inspection; Marseilles, unloading cargo from ship; docks
Homeward bound down the Nile from Wadi Halfa via Egypt, Majorca, Spain and France[Black and white] Wadi Halfa from the steamer; banks of the Nile; Abu Simbel; Philae, Elephantine Island and Aswan; Cairo railway
station; Alexandria, ships in harbour; Naples; leaving the SS
Pegu at Palma, Majorca; with Uncle Egbert at his hotel and town scenes in Majorca; to Soller and back by car; horse and plough; Barcelona; Carcassone-women
washing clothes in river, street scenes and castle; market at Toulouse; train journey; arriving home