Wide shot showing a very large structure built of Bailey bridging sections. Men of the Madras Sappers and Miners heaving the structure into position. A British officer directing operations. The bridge is run out across the canal; the whole structure appears to flex as it moves. The end of the structure is positioned on the far bank. Sappers at work. Sappers carrying a large girder and fastening various bridging sections together with close-ups.

A number of Sherman medium tanks of Probyn's Horse (of 255th Indian Tank Brigade) pass camera, some with infantry riding on top of them. The infantry wear capes against torrential monsoon rain. A number of parked Shermans. A tank commander speaks on a radio. Lashing rain churns a puddle of muddy water. The tanks traverse their turrets away from the road and fire their coaxial machine guns and main armament. British and Sikh tank commanders. The gun barrels are rammed clean after firing.

Film showing the construction of a large Bailey bridge over the Pegu Canal, and Sherman medium tanks of Probyn's Horse in action in monsoon weather near Waw, Burma.

Notes

A good piece of film with a number of useful close-ups showing methods of construction of the Bailey bridge. The footage of the Shermans is also useful for its illustration of the appalling monsoon weather, which to a large extent shaped operations during this phase of the war.

Pegu, 50 miles north of the capital Rangoon, was the last major town on the Rangoon - Meiktila road and was captured on 1 May 1945. Before quitting the town Japanese engineers demolished the bridges over the Pegu canal, a fact which when combined with the early onset of the monsoon, halted the advance of 17th Indian Division.