Infantry of the Assam Rifles seen preparing various traps during jungle warfare training at Sadiya, Assam, India.

Wide shot; two soldiers walk along a jungle track before hacking down a number of bamboo poles. Men punt a small raft along a river. Men chopping bamboo. Close-up of a man chopping down a bamboo pole with a kukri (knife); he makes three or four diagonal strokes and the bamboo falls easily. Men carrying a length of bamboo. Four soldiers digging a pit; the nearest to the camera has a slung Thompson submachine gun. Close-ups of the soldiers digging; each is wearing webbing (belt kit) and packs. Fixing sharp punji stakes (spelled 'panji' on the dopesheet) into the pit. A soldier, lying prone with a rifle slung on his back and partly-unsheathed kukri on his belt, fixes more stakes into the trap. The trap is camouflaged with foliage laid over the pit. A soldier with hammer and chisel carves a recess into a tree. A hand grenade is put into a tin and placed in the recess. The tree bark is replaced over the recess and secured. The dopesheet adds that the grenade would be connected to a trip wire. Nine or ten soldiers, some looking alert and others more nonchalant, walk along a track towards camera. Men patrol through dense undergrowth before sprinting across a clearing. Soldiers running through undergrowth. A group pose for the camera after the exercise. Two laughing soldiers; one is an officer with rank insignia on his epaulettes and carries a cane (the battalion commander?) the other is in plain dress. Soldiers chopping bamboo with kukris to make stakes. A soldier carries a bundle of stakes on his shoulder.

Notes

A good piece of film with the construction process of the two different traps clearly demonstrated and well shot. For other film relating to jungle warfare or survival training, see related items.

Dopesheet identifies the unit as 2nd Battalion, Assam Rifles. This seems likely as 2nd Battalion were raised from a region on the Indo-Nepalese border, and so the men's apparent ethnicity and use of kukris would fit with this. However, the 2nd Battalion does not appear in the Order of Battle provided in the official history, so it may be that this battalion was serving locally and not as part of Allied forces under South East Asia Command.

The Assam Rifles can trace their history to 1835 and the formation of the Cachar Levy. They were granted the title of 'Assam Rifles' in 1917 following service in the First World War. During the Second World War in Burma the Assam Rifles formed the nucleus of 'V Force', raised to raid Japanese communications, carry out special reconnaissance and foster resistance groups. Other units fought at Kohima and some were trained as paratroopers. Since then the Assam Rifles were the first troops in action during the 1962 Sino-Indian War and have been engaged in counter-insurgency in some of India's north eastern tribal areas.