The RAF provides air cover and drops supplies for men of the 2nd Division as they cross the River Irrawaddy, Burma.

Distant shot of Spitfire taxiing. Two radio operators. Spitfires taking off and kicking up clouds of dust; the aircraft are Spitfire Mk VIII's AF:K and AF:S of RAF 607 (County of Durham) Squadron. Air-to-ground footage of buildings, some of them damaged, amongst trees. Vehicles on the bank of the River Irrawaddy. Men at work on a pontoon ferry on the Irrawaddy, possibly near Myinze, with a Spitfire passing overhead. Second shot of Spitfire overhead; camera tilts down to show men at work on the pontoon ferry with a number of DUKW amphibious trucks moored to it. Other men wait on the river bank and one of the DUKWs drives away. Shot from the ferry as it is towed across the river; a short distance away a DUKW tows another pontoon ferry loaded with lorries. Looking forward towards the towing DUKW. Airborne view of DUKWs towing pontoon ferries across the river. Three Chevrolet CMP lorries coming ashore. An RAF Douglas Dakota transport aircraft passes overhead. Supplies dropping by parachute. Shot from the opposite riverbank of various watercraft with men and vehicles on the bank and a Dakota overhead dropping supplies. Parachute supply bundles landing in a field. Series of shots of Dakotas dropping supplies from low altitute; the parachutes inflate and the supplies hit the ground shortly after. A man goes to retrieve a bundle. A Dakota dropping supplies from low altitude seen through the branches of a tree. Men detach a bundle from its parachute. Another shot of a Dakota through branches.

Notes

No slates, and no dates or cameraman named on dopesheet. Date and location both somewhat tentative and based on contemporary footage of British Army cameramen. See related items below.

Shot of crowded riverbank with Dakota overhead a good illustration of the logistical problems (and solutions) of operations in this region of Burma.