Made for the Admiralty in 1943, ADVANCED BASE provides exceptionally detailed coverage of the creation of a new port during wartime. When key naval operations extended beyond the reach of permanent naval bases such as Gibraltar and Alexandria, the navy required the rapid establishment of ‘Advanced Bases' where warships could rest, refuel and refit. Although both the RAF and the fleet played a role in the formation of such bases, the task of seizing, equipping and defending the new port fell largely to the Royal Marines. The first part of this film provides a detailed account of the many and varied roles Royal Marine detachments would be required to perform, while the second provides a dramatised film account of the establishing of a typical Advanced Base at ‘Port X'. The activities of the Royal Marines are shown in considerable detail, from engineering and signals through to manning the huge coastal batteries and anti-aircraft defences. The film culminates with a simulated attack on the Advanced Base by combined German naval and air forces. |