After a sharp rain shower washes away a temporary diversion on the Sittang River south of Toungoo, Burma, engineers of IV Indian Corps build a replacement and bulldozers tow vehicles across the river.

Stationary motor transport attempting to cross the Sittang. A wrecker lorry with crane and a jeep. Indian Engineers constructing a new temporary structure with wooden planks. Chevrolet CMP lorries drive across the temporary structure. A jeep is hauled across the river by men of the 7th Battalion the York and Lancaster Regiment (123 Indian Infantry Brigade, 5th Indian Division). A casualty on a stretcher is carried across the temporary bridge. Indian Engineers at work. A Valentine Bridgelayer crosses the river. A bogged Stuart ('Honey') light tank is towed out. Indian Engineers carry a prefabricated Bailey bridge section with others at work in the background. Vehicles cross the temporary structure. A winch retracts a thick metal cable. Indian Engineers at work. A bulldozer tows three jeeps across the river. A bulldozer tries to pull a bogged Sherman medium tank out of the mud. Troops standing in the river carry a Bailey section.

Notes

Dopesheet preamble describes how 'a sudden foretaste of the coming [monsoon] season' led to miles of IV Corps vehicles being held up for some six hours while a replacment bridge was built. The Allied rush for Rangoon was motivated by both the need to beat the onset of the monsoon, and the impending withdrawal 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.

The first shot of this film appears at the end of JFU 210, while the footage at the end of the roll (from the shot of the man with the winch cable) appears after JFU 213. However, as JFU 210 - 213 all appear on the same reel for viewing purposes, this is not a major problem.

JFU 217 possibly shows the same bridge, completely rebuilt, a few days later. See related items.