Flying Officer Alligator
Series
- Series Name
- Colour Pictorial
Issue
Story
- Story No. within this Issue
- 3 / 3
- Summary
- Pathe synopsis: You will have to be very nippy indeed if you want to see this alligator later - for Flying Officer Frederick Lionel Bass-Worthing is the official mascot of No. 72 Squadron, RAF, and he travels by twin-jet Meteor night fighter. He is only a foot long at the moment but he will grow slowly but steadily until he is 80 years old. He may well be the first four-legged RAF officer to reach the moon.
SHOTLIST: MS officers relaxing on the grass in front of runway. Man runs in with couple of dogs. MS men seated on ground, one of them Flight Sergeant Fred Pitman has a poodle. Flight Lieutenant Gooding and the collie. MS another officer writing, he looks up and smiles. MS Flight Lieutenant Wood with a baby alligator seated next to him is Johnny Clegg. They are stroking the alligator. CU alligator. CU Wood. MS Johnny Clegg stroking the alligator. BCU siren hooting. MS company scramble towards their aeroplanes. MS Clegg runs out of picture and Wood plunges the alligator into a bucket. MS alligator looking over top of bucket. MSN men rush into their aeroplanes. MS ditto, pan from the nose of one aircraft to show the crew entering. MS Collie dog looking on. CU Alligator looking over the edge of bucket. MS one of the pilots putting on helmet. MS dog looking on. CU pilot giving OK signal. CU alligator looking over top of bucket. MS blocks being removed from wheels of aircraft. CU Collie puppy. MS meteor taxiing on runway. BCU alligator looking anxious. LS meteor taking off, pan with it as it flies away. MS radar instrument revolving. LS meteor aircraft taking off, pan with it as it takes off. MS alligator jumps out of bucket. MS Collie looking on. MS alligator crawling away to the undergrowth. - Keywords
- Aviation; Air force; Animals
- Locations
- Yorkshire; England; Tadcaster
- Written sources
- Pathe Colour Pictorial Lobby Cards Used for synopsis
- Credits:
-
- Commentator
- David De Keyser
- Length of story (in feet)
- 229
-
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- Name
- British Pathe Ltd
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- Address
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How to cite this record
'Flying Officer Alligator', Colour Pictorial Issue No. 151, 18 Nov 1957. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/newsonscreen/search/index.php/story/120474 (Accessed 31 Jan 2025)