VARIOUS SCENES FROM 2ND DIVISION, 5TH INDIAN DIVISION, AND 81ST WEST AFRICAN DIVISION (5/9/1944)

This film is held by the Imperial War Museum (ID: JFU 146).

Synopsis

Part 1: Near Milestone 82 on the Manipur Road a signpost gives the distance to Worcester (5,100 miles, 'no way out') and Tokyo (2,800 miles, 'way out'). The top of the sign reads 'Stonehenge Camp'. A lorry reverses past the sign; a number of tents are pitched nearby. Panning views over the landscape. Various shots of a Chevrolet CMP ambulance of the 6th Ugandan Field Ambulance (81st West African Division) marked 'American Field Service' struggling in muddy conditions on the Tamu-Sittaung road. During a demonstration at XXXIII Corps (Imphal plain?) four RAF Hawker Hurricanes make a low-level flypast. They are fitted with smoke generators and lay a thick white smokescreen behind them as they pass. The smoke settles. Aircraft in the distance lay a smokescreen on a hillside.

Part 2: At Chiringa in Bengal, India, African troops of 81st West African Division attend a church service led by the Padre, Major G E Holderness of Yorkshire. Various views of the service, which is conducted under an open-sided bamboo basha (shelter). A number of British servicemen are present, presumably the officers of the Division. A noticeboard gives times for services and baptism and confirmation classes; it is marked with the Division's insignia (a black spider, representing Ananse, a cunning character in Ashanti mythology).

Part 3: A Japanese 150mm (Type 96?) artillery piece abandoned in the face of the advancing 5th Indian Division near Milestone 138 at Tongzang. A knocked out Japanese tank. Destroyed Japanese lorries. A Japanese prisoner, walking with the aid of a stick, is brought in by an Indian soldier and put aboard a lorry.

Scenes on the Manipur Road, road conditions, and smoke screen demonstration, an 81st West African Division church service, and captured Japanese weaponry and transport.

Notes

Part 1: The sign in this section was erected by men of 7th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment, (part of 2nd Division) hence the sign gives the distance to Worcester.

The American Field Service was a voluntary ambulance service formed in 1915 by Abram Piatt Andrew. It continues to exist as an international voluntary service organisation.

Part 2: Various individuals are identified on the dopesheet. They include:

NA/52539 Signalman Ernest L Oprah.

GC/13250 Regimental Sergeant Major E K Safo of Kwahu District, Gold Coast.

GC/13252 Company Sergeant Major J K Bonsu of Kumasi, Gold Coast.

NA/52465 Signalman F Games (an Igbo/Ibo/Ebo) from Aba, Owerri District, Nigeria.

NA/99391 Private Unogu Stephen of Nkwere, Orlu District, Owerri Province, Nigeria.

NA/90431 Signalman Abu Okoro, (an Igbo) from Abiriba, Owerri Province, Nigeria.

NA/59864 J Ucheidika of Ohafia, Owerri District, Nigeria.

NA/34034 Driver Yaka Madowa of Sokoto, Nigeria.

NA/25735 Company Sergeant Major M G Sokotu of Dobai, French Dahomey.

Two Burmese policemen are also named (892 Annes Tinu and 45 Taw Lu) but they are not apparent in this film.

Part 3: Tongzang, on the Tiddim Road, was abandoned by the Japanese on the night of 19/20 September 1944. 123rd Brigade of 5th Indian Division was close behind and over the next week found large quantities of abandoned Japanese heavy equipment and weaponry, and many graves.

General: an odd reel, seemingly of 'orphaned' footage, though probably useful when taken in conjunction with other films.

 

Titles

  • VARIOUS SCENES FROM 2ND DIVISION, 5TH INDIAN DIVISION, AND 81ST WEST AFRICAN DIVISION (5/9/1944) (Allocated)
Series Title:
BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR
 

Technical Data

Year:
1944
Running Time:
8 minutes
Film Gauge (Format):
35mm
Colour:
B&W
Sound:
Silent
Footage:
718 ft
 

Production Credits

Production Countries:
GB
Sponsor
War Office Directorate of Public Relations
cameraman.
Abbott, J (Sergeant)
cameraman.
Brown, T V (Sergeant)
cameraman.
Marshall, L W (Sergeant)
cameraman.
Watson, W (Sergeant)
Production company
SEAC Film Unit
Sergeant; cameraman.
MacTavish, Duncan
 

Countries

 

Production Organisations