Artillery and infantry of 123 Brigade, 5th Indian Division, on the road to Toungoo (Taungoo), Burma, 140 miles north of Rangoon.

Self-propelled artillery pieces, probably 105mm Priests of 18th (Self-Propelled) Field Regiment Royal Artillery, making their way along a muddy road. A file of soldiers of the York and Lancaster Regiment walk along a road; one is carrying a Bren light machine gun over his shoulder. A wrecked building smoulders as a lorry passes. A soldier crouching by a tree. Smoke rising above a treeline in the distance.

Notes

Most of this reel is somewhat murky and indistinct, though this is probably due to the shooting conditions rather than any fault of the cameraman. Also a number of shots are described on the dopesheet that are not apparent in the viewing copy.

These troops form part of a headlong Allied rush for Rangoon which was motivated by two considerations, namely the need to reach the city before the onset of the monsoon, expected in mid-May, and the impending withdrawal on 1 June 1945 of US Army Air Force transport squadrons supplying 14th Army. Ultimately successful, Rangoon fell without a fight to a combined airborne and amphibious invasion in the first week of May 1945.

Toungoo was captured on the day this film was shot after a race to take it by both British and Japanese troops. In the event, harassing action by the Karen Guerillas so delayed the Japanese that the 5th Indian Division were able to win this 'race', catching the Japanese in such disarray that (according to Lieutenant-General Slim's memoir) the leading tank actually ran over a Japanese traffic policeman, who was still directing traffic when they arrived.