Troops of 26th Indian Division, XV Indian Corps, seen making an amphibious landing on the banks of the Rangoon river, Burma, as part of Operation Dracula.

Landing Craft Assaults (LCAs) heading ashore, as seen from another landing craft alongside. LCA 1318 heading ashore. Landing craft in line astern. Columns of black smoke rising from the city of Rangoon on the horizon. LCAs make a sharp turn to port. The infantry aboard the cameraman's LCA open the bow doors and hurry ashore; those with rifles have their bayonets fixed and all run to get clear of the beach. The landing craft bears the name 'Tokyo Joe'. LCA 1177 alongside, also unloading. Fairmile B Class motor gun boats. An Ordnance QF 40mm Bofors gun elevating and traversing. LCAs going ashore under heavy monsoon overcast. Troops advancing across fields in heavy rain. Landing Craft Infantry (Large) (LCI(L)) 310 in the background. Men advancing across fields. Another LCI(L). An RAF De Havilland Mosquito makes a low pass over the advancing troops. Two men erect a pole with a loudspeaker attached to it, presumably for coordinating the landings. Another man carries a roll of matting for laying a temporary surface. A small dog follows him. Indian troops with pick axes at work on the landing beaches. A bulldozer tows a Chevrolet lorry off a Landing Craft Tank (LCT).

Notes

Both 36th and 71st Indian Infantry Brigades were landed during Operation Dracula, but it is not clear which brigade is seen in this film.

The Mosquito aircraft seen is likely of RAF 110 Squadron whose commanding officer, Wing Commander A E Saunders, had the distinction of being the first Briton into Rangoon. Flying over the city and seeing no sign of the Japanese, he landed at Mingaladon airfield but damaged his aircraft in the process. He proceeded to walk to the city gaol where, now unguarded, Allied prisoners of war advised him that the Japanese had quit the city a week before. Commandeering a wooden sampan at Rangoon docks, Saunders sailed down river and was picked up by a patrolling naval motor launch and reported his findings.

Other British Army and RAF (ABY-series) film of these landings can be found at the references below. See related items.