At 30 West African Field Dressing Station at Kyaukpyu, volunteers from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines give blood for transfusion to the wounded men of the 82nd West African Division.

Five men, all shirtless, get off a jeep outside a tent. A tourniquet is tied around an arm and a needle and tube are inserted; blood flows into a bottle. The donor outside the tent with a tin cup of rum (according to the dopesheet each donor gives a pint of blood and receives iced rum). A cotton ball is shown on his arm where the needle was inserted. More blood is taken. The men drive off in their jeep past tents; one of the men has his hat blown off. Two bottles of blood are carried across the camp and placed in a refridgerator. A sign reads "Field Transfusion Unit 185". Three doctors, two white and one African, stand around a patient in their white smocks. The patient has his pulse taken then his blood pressure is taken; both figures are noted down. A blood sample is taken for typing. The pathologist examines the blood on a slide under a microscope. The patient is given a drink from a spouted mug; the orderly holds the patient's head up. A splint is bandaged to the arm of the patient. Glass beads are dropped into the blood in the bottle to act as a filter. The tubes and a bung are put into the blood bottle and the blood is given to the patient. Various shots of the transfusion in progress.

Notes

The Royal Marines seen are probably of 3rd Special Service Brigade, therefore either 42 or 44 Royal Marine Commando. These men apparently sustained their wounds in action north of Taungup.

Field blood transfusion, along with air evacuation of casualties, was a new concept in military medicine during the Second World War. It would develop considerably by the time of the Vietnam War and did much to reduce the proportion of soldiers who died of their wounds.

For other film of field blood transfusion in this theatre, see related items.