Reel 1: Two British sappers of 236th Field Company seen up to their waists in the fast-flowing Hopin Chaung (river). A man uses a hand drill. On the riverbank a group of engineers push a large wooden frame towards the water. The frame is lowered with ropes down the riverbank and into the water. The frame is pulled up into a vertical position before being allowed to drop into the water. Lying in the water the frame is manhandled, against the current, into position. Two men position a rail. Men hauling on a rope. Men positioning sleepers and rails. Group shot showing 80 or so members of 236th Field Company. A second group shot showing 12 men. Major-General Festing seen with Colonel T N Dupuy US Army, Lieutenant-Colonel Ritchie (Royal Scots Fusiliers) and Colonel Bastin ('Bustin' on the dopesheet; acting commander of 29th Brigade). Shots of Festing touring a camp and speaking with troops. The group walk along a railway line before boarding a jeep train. Jeep train rolls away. Close-ups of Festing and Dupuy. Festing and Ritchie (?). Festing looks in a small hut.

Reel 2: A jeep train carrying Festing and the others slowly passes camera. The jeep train crosses a bridge laden with men and ammunition. Indian Engineers at work on a bridge. A rail trolley is pushed along it.

Two-item film showing sappers of 236th Field Company Royal Engineers (36th Division) at work on a railway bridge over the Hopin Chaung in northern Burma, and a visit of Major-General Francis Festing, the divisional commander, to the 1st Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers.

Notes

At this point 36th Division (commanded by Festing) was part of Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) under the American Lieutenant-General Daniel Sultan. NCAC was a multi-national force comprising American and Chinese troops in addition to British 36th Division. The repair of the Mogaung-Mandalay railway line was an important part of improving communications in this area.

Colonel Dupuy was the commander of an American artillery battalion and apparently had the distinction of being the US soldier with longest service in Burma. After the war he went on to become an extremely prolific military historian.