News on Screen

Sid Bonnett began working as a cameraman for the Pathe Gazette in 1929. In 1933 he was cameraman on Squadron Leader Lord Clydesdale’s flight over Mount Everest, and shot the film ‘Wings Over Everest.' In November and December 1939 Bonnett filmed several stories for Gaumont British News - some relating to the RAF - which were not used, and were apparently censored. In 1940 he filmed the Norwegian campaign for Gaumont British News, in company with Leslie Murray [qv] of Universal News. Bonnett’s first report appeared as ‘NORTH WESTERN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE LEAVE’ in Gaumont British News No.660 of May 1940. By April 1941 Bonnett was filming in Ethiopia with Fred Bayliss [qv] of Paramount, and provided ‘THE FALL OF ASMARA’ for Gaumont British News No.770 of May 1941. By July 1941 Bonnett was in North Africa, where he filmed with a Newman and an Eyemo camera. In 1942 Bonnett was working in Singapore, and after the fall of Singapore in February 1942 he returned to Calcutta with Bryan Langley. In 1943 Bonnett was featured in Len Lye’s film ‘Cameramen At War.'

In 1944 Bonnett was a war cameraman for Gaumont British News, serving in France, Belgium and Holland. In August 1944 he supplied film of the liberation of Paris for ‘THE WESTERN FRONT - FURTHER PICTURES OF THE ALLIED ADVANCE’ in Gaumont British News No.1111, and in September 1944 filmed the liberation of Brussels for ‘BRUSSELS LIBERATED - ANOTHER EUROPEAN CAPITAL IS FREED BY THE ALLIES’ in No.1115. Bonnet remained a Gaumont British war correspondent until 1945. In June 1945 Gaumont filmed Churchill’s election tour for ‘PRELUDE TO THE ELECTION’ in Gaumont British News No.1199, and the camera team consisted of Bonnett shooting silent cut ins, with Eddie Edmonds [qv] and sound engineer Paul Alley [qv] shooting sound. In July 1947 Bonnett helped to film ‘AAA MEETING AT THE WHITE CITY’ for Gaumont British News No.1414, and in August 1947 he filmed part of ‘PRINCESS ELIZABETH IN CARMARTHEN’ for Gaumont British News No.1419. In November 1948 Bonnett was featured in the Light Plane as one of the Gaumont British aerial cameramen, and in September 1950 he was acknowledged by the Cinema as the Gaumont British ‘aerial photography expert.' The Cinema also showed Bonnett filming from the Gaumont British tower wagon, from which it was said he ‘often works.' In February 1953 Bonnett worked as silent cameraman on ‘MR CHURCHILL SPEAKS TO FARMERS’ in Gaumont British News No.1997, and in October 1953 he took silent shots for ‘THE QUEEN UNVEILS RUNNYMEADE MEMORIAL’ in No.2066.

Sources

BUFVC, British Paramount News files, Issue Number 1067 (S.R. Bonnett and F. W. Bayliss rota dopesheets, c.April 1941), Number 1095 (Bonnett’s rota dopesheet, 14/17 July 1941), Number 1412 (Bonnett’s rota dopesheet, 3/9/1944), Number 1414 (Bonnett’s rota dopesheet, 19/7/1947, Number 1496 (rota dopesheets, 25/6/1945), Number 1716 (Bonnett’s rota dopesheet, 6/8/1947), Number 2294 (Gaumont rota dopesheet, 17/2/1953), Gaumont British News dope sheet for A.A.A. Championships 1947 [BPN 1711]: B. Langley ‘Where Do I Go From Here?' Cine Technician September-October 1942, pp.87-88: S. Bonnett ‘The Liberation of Europe,' and L. Murray ‘The Norwegian Campaign,' in Journal of the British Kinematograph Society, January-March 1946, pp.21-5, 26-7: Light Plane, November 1948, pp.9-11, ‘Personal aircraft and their owner-operators - No. 5: Gaumont British News’: Cinema, 20/9/1950, p.15, ‘Newsreel Camera Aces’: J. Ballantyne (ed) ‘Researcher’s Guide to British Newsreels’ (BUFVC, 1983), p.91: Reg Sutton’s typescript autobiography, copy in BUFVC.