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 coming ashore. A silver RAF De Havilland Mosquito, marked 'B', makes a very low pass over the landing beaches. A party of Royal Navy signallers on the riverbank with their radios and other equipment. Landing craft. A signaller operates a small battery-powered Aldis signal lamp to communicate with landing vessels. Landing Craft Infantry (Large) (LCI(L))115 with troops disembarking. Men wade ashore. Landing Craft Tank (LCT) 1144 comes ashore and drops its ramp. Men unroll a temporary surface in order to unload vehicles. A tracked Universal Carrier comes ashore. General scene with LCT 1330 unloading in the background. Murky footage shot in heavily overcast conditions of Landing Craft Assaults (LCAs) heading ashore. Men disembark from LCA 58. Men disembark from LCA 60. [The men appear to disembark from opposite directions, suggesting that the cameraman's landing craft is LCA 59]. Men disembarking; each has a three-round mortar ammunition carrier in addition to his personal weapon. A line of LCAs with A1582 nearest, then A1250, and A1177 in the background. More landing craft (A1558 and A1591). Men cross a sodden paddy field. Thick black smoke rises from the city in the distance. Men cross a field; one of them appears to be carrying a mortar barrel.

Notes

Both 36 and 71 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.

At the same time as this film was shot, units of IV Corps, led by 17th Indian Division, were advancing overland and had reached Pegu, 50 miles from Rangoon. They were prevented from reaching the city by a combination of blown bridges and the early onset of the monsoon.

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