Boat Repairs - Sunderbans

Stunning colour footage showing colonial life in the hills of Assam and bustling activity on the lakes below

This stunning colour film begins with shots of military life in the hills of Assam, before descending to the lakes and mudflats for some lovely scenes of boats and steamers from which local people earned their livelihoods. It was shot by G. Mackrell, a tea planter and big game hunter who lived in India from the mid-1930s to the late-1950s with his wife, R.S. Mackrell. His amateur films provide some of the clearest records of the adventurous life that many British entrepreneurs and military personnel forged for themselves in India prior to Independence.

During WWII, Mackrell was also involved in rescuing refugees fleeing Upper Burma before the Japanese advance.