Scenes from Tiddim, Burma, showing reconstruction, aerial casualty evacuation and staged footage of the the assault on Kennedy Peak, as 5th Indian Division advances down the Tiddim Road.

Indian soldiers inspect an abandoned Stuart (Honey) light tank, apparently an earlier model with riveted hull. Tank seen from the front. In Tiddim; local people at work on repairs. Man sawing wood. Man planing a table. An Indian officer speaking to a shirtless British officer, apparently a Civil Administration Officer. Allied transport aircraft passing overhead. A soldier lights anothers cigarette. Lee medium tanks passing. A bulldozer towing a jeep. Dozer improving a road. Local people, including a number of children, working on an improvised airstrip, probably at Saizang. Windsock; pan to an RAF Auster aircraft and along the strip. Pan along a long line of local people. Wide shot shows a United States Army Air Forces L5 Sentinel light aircraft coming in to land on the strip; white stripes on the stabiliser suggest 1st Air Commando. An Indian (?) man stands on the airstrip watching another aircraft land. Wreckage of a broken bridge with Indian Engineers (?) at work. River seen through foliage. Camera follows a wire (or a fuse?). Pair of hands (holding the fuse?) and a box of matches. A prolonged series of shots, apparently showing Indian troops in action at Kennedy Peak, but some are quite clearly staged and the cameraman states as much on his dopesheet. Indian troops in close country; one points in various directions before men rise and run forward; they disappear behind foliage. Troops lying prone with rifles, Bren gun and Thompson submachine guns firing before rising and disappearing over a ridge. Troops in cover rise to their feet, walk forward then break into a run. A firing line. Troops walking through vegetation towards camera. Company officers in discussion. Troops skirting open ground; one has a two-inch mortar, another a wireless set and camera pans to an Indian officer with binoculars. A British officer (probably a major) going forward with his signaller. Troops rising out of cover and going forward towards camera (the men are quite well concealed before they move). The British major, apparently leading from the front, gestures to someone; camera pans back to see one man fix his bayonet. Troops cautiously advancing (backs to camera, towards an enemy trench?). The men continue uphill, the major with them. Troops going forward, supposedly in action; one man falls as if hit, but quite clearly puts one hand out to break his fall, and then writhes unconvincingly. Ambiguous shot of dense foliage. A Bren gun fires from a shelter. An Indian soldier runs into shot and throws a grenade; he lies flat and others run past him before he too goes forward. Foliage; some smoke drifts but no real movement is seen. A soldier with fixed bayonet investigates a shelter as some Indian officers, apparently unconcerned, sit comfortably down in the open (one takes his helmet off). The officers share cigarettes as the soldier returns from the shelter with trophies; a Japanese rifle and a flag which he opens out and, dancing about a bit, proudly shows off. Closer shot shows two soldiers squabbling over trophies; one has the flag and the other some Japanese money. Troops advancing; they disappear into a treeline. Signaller with wireless; an Indian officer arrives and takes the headset. Speaking on wireless. The officer speaks to the men around him. More shots of men going forward (downhill) through thick vegetation. Back on the airstrip casualties for evacuation are led out of a tent to a bench; each casualty has a label attached. A medical officer checks their labels. Close-up of a B Co[mpan]y Admission and Discharge Book which is marked 15 Indian Field Amb[ulance]; looking in the book. Indian soldier; medical officer (possibly Captain E Q Lim, a Chinese officer of the Royal Army Medical Corps) looks at his label (Diary of Transferrance and Ship label on either side).

Notes

The dopesheet does not identify any units below brigade level, specifying 123rd Indian Infantry Brigade of 5th Indian Division. The dopesheet refers to the infantry as Punjabs, suggesting 2nd Battalion 1st Punjab Regiment.

Corresponding footage by British cameramen can be found at the reference below.

Series note: The MWY series of films is believed to be part of a ‘pool’ of film received by the Government of India from various sources, including South East Asia Command, the Indian Inter-Service Public Relations Directorate, the Ministry of Information, and from Allied governments. This footage would have been considered for editing and release through the Indian Newsreel Parade; see INR series.