“Guns at Batasi” (dir. John Guillermin, 1964) is set in an un-named African country just after it has gained independence from Britain.  A British military mission continues to train the army of the newly independent country.  It’s easy duty for the British officers and non-coms: peacetime soldiering in an exotic place in which their respective quarters provide the essential comforts of home along with inexpensive servants. 

The officers invite the white nurses from a local hospital to a formal dinner.  They palm off Miss Barker-Wise–a visiting old “battle-axe” Labour Member of Parliament with very progressive opinions—on the sergeants.  Soon, they are joined by Karen Eriksson, a UN secretary in transit, and Private Wilkes, a young soldier only too happy to be headed home at the end of his National Service.[1] 

            Yet all is not well.  It’s no easy job to make a “nation” where tribal identities remain powerful, and where the minority which struggled for independence fight over the prizes.[2]  A group of officers launches a coup against the government.  As part of this action, rebels at Batasi seize the base, attack the officers loyal to the government, and confine the British soldiers to their quarters. 

            From the moment of the coup onward, the film is driven by Regimental Sergeant Major Lauderdale, the senior non-com.[3]  Lauderdale is introduced as a hawk-eyed martinet, obsessed with hierarchy, tradition, and the perfection of form to be achieved by endless repetition of mindless tasks.  Behind his back, he is a figure of fun to the other non-coms. 

            Crisis reveals a much different and more complicated R.S.M. Lauderdale.  When the wounded and overthrown African commander of the base, Captain Abraham, stumbles into the Sergeants’ Mess, Lauderdale orders him to be hidden and cared for.  He then leads a raid on the armory to acquire a large number of weapons with which to defend the Mess.  Then the new commander and local coup-leader, Lieutenant Boniface arrives to demand the surrender of the weapons and to inquire if Captain Abraham has appeared.  Lauderdale backs him down with a combination of determination, citations from the rule book, and an insistence upon military formalities, all of it spiced with a rage that he can turn on and off at will. 

            Meanwhile, things bubble inside the Mess.  Lauderdale contends with Miss Barker-Wise, who knows Boniface from London and esteems him highly as a “civilized and cultivated man.”  Private Wilkes and Miss Ericsson fall for each other, but try to keep that a secret from the others.  Outside of Lauderdale’s hearing, the sergeants discuss what to do about Captain Abraham.  Each has his reason for liking Abraham or disliking Boniface.  Is it worth dying for? 

For Lauderdale, the motivations are different.  Abraham represents legitimate authority, Boniface represents mutiny.  Abraham is alone and wounded, Boniface and his men are a pack of wolves.  Lauderdale is the senior figure present so he feels responsible for safeguarding his charges.  And virtually all of the action takes place in the large front room of the Sergeants’ Mess of his regiment, which is filled with photographs of soldiers, trophies from peacetime athletics, and momentoes of wars.  Every aspect of his adult life commands his decisions. 

            Then, suddenly, the conflict is resolved by higher authority in a way that illustrates Bismark’s dictum on sausage-making.  The news arrives too late to prevent Lauderdale—and Wilkes—from showing what they’re really made of. 

            “Guns at Batasi” illustrates some of the difficulties in developing Western institutions in non-Western countries.  It also teaches its audience that effective soldiering depends less on technology than it does on things like hard training, experience, and a sense of “esprit de corps.” 

            You can watch the movie at Guns at Batasi (1964) HD 1080p with English & Portuguese subtitles – YouTube        

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[1] Barker-Wise is played by Flora Robson, Karen Ericsson by Mia Farrow, and Private Wilkes by John Leyton. 

[2] For another take on this problem, see Eric Ambler, State of Siege (1956).  While not directly related, Nicholas Freeling, Tsing-Boum (1969) centers on the loyalties and betrayals among veterans of France’s war in Indo-China. 

[3] Played by Richard Attenborough.