Irrawaddy river, Burma, 1 Apil 1942. View of various small civilian boats on the Irrawaddy, including "Sunlight". Wooden boom across the river. Men at work on the construction of the boom. Various small civilian boats including "Cameo". Portrait shot of a British Army officer (possibly Captain D Henderson of the 17th Indian Artisans and Works Company). View across the river. Brief portrait shot of an Indian soldier on guard.

Burma, 27 March 1942. Group of male civilians look on as a small contingent of the Second Burma Rifles pass though their village. Portrait shot of a corporal. Close-up shots of the faces of several of the men, including one who sticks his tongue out at the camera. View along a road. Shot of a signpost "SPEED 5 LIMIT" "BRIDGE UNDER REPAIR". View of troops of the 17th Indian Artisans and Works Company at work repairing the bridge. Long shot of a contingent of Indian troops standing in the shade of a large tree somewhere on the Prome Road. Close-up shots of the inoculation of these men. Various shots of lines of men being inoculated, all from the same syringe.

Burma, 27 March 1942. Various shots of Burmese civilians fishing in a river, many standing in the water using nets, some fishing with nets from small boats. Brief shot of a small Burmese child carrying a pot of his head

Burma, late March 1942. View along an empty railway line, in both directions. Seven soldiers from B Company, 1st Battalion of the Gloucester Regiment emerge from a trench dug in the line and point their rifles towards the camera. Portrait shot of Colonel C E K Bagot. Portrait shot of three of the soldiers, "Burst" Buston, "Taffy"Rees and William Buckle. An anti-tank crew set up for the camera, close-up shots of Arthur Toghill and Jack Godwin.

Burma, late March 1942. Small contingent of troops moving in single file along side a deserted road (identified by the cameraman's Dope Sheet as a patrol of the 3rd Colonial Frontier Force, Mobile Attachment no 6, consisting of Kumaonis (written "Kumaunis"). Portrait shot of the officer in command, Lieutenant (?) J O V Edwards of the East Surrey Regiment. Shots of troops moving in to the jungle. Rear view of line of troops moving in to the jungle. Unit passing through a small deserted jungle village.

Several shots of two railway locomotives, BR no 388 and BR no 336, both with blown-out engines. Close-up shot of railway station sign "GYOBINGAUK". Panning shots over a destroyed rice mill. View over damage and debris in a large area. Piles of damaged sheets of corrugated iron roofing (?). Contingent of the Gloucesters enter and search a deserted town situated by railway tracks. Numerous shots of the troops moving around the town and taking up various protective vantage points. There are no civilians visible in the village, only a stray dog. A small group of the Gloucesters cross the railway lines and climb into a four-wheeled wooden sided light truck.

Mute, unedited footage shot by British Paramount News cameraman Maurice Ford in Burma

Notes

The cameraman's Dope Sheets notes the damage to the locomotives and the destroyed rice mill as part of the British scorched earth policy.

Above stories relate to Maurice Ford's shipment numbers 158, 152, 153 and 154 (as noted on his original Dope Sheet).

The names of personalities are taken from the cameraman's original Dope Sheets.

For the British Paramount newsreel including footage shot by Maurice Ford in Burma, 1942, see issue no 1173, IWM film ref NPA 1173.

For other footage of the Irrawaddy river shot by Maurice Ford, see film ref BAY 253-6.

Kumaonis come from the area of Kumaon which is in the north eastern section of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.