Views of bomb-damaged buildings on Akyab Island, in the Arakan coastal region of Burma, with British troops coming ashore.

Two shots of a large building with a roof covered in hemispherical domes surmounted by spires of round or oval shapes. Roofless building. Open girder clock tower (probably in Akyab Town). Street with buildings and British servicemen. More ruined buildings, and a building with pagoda spire alongside. Cluster of tiered pagodas. Buddha figure in alcove. Tilt up an apparently overgrown spire, with a tower with pitched rooves behind. Building complex with tall chimney. Two Indian men (engineers?) with a bulldozer. A Landing Ship Tank (LST) a short distance off shore. Wrecker lorry wading ashore; it drives up the beach and a body of men can be seen walking in the distance. Close-up of cable running over a pulley on the wrecker lorrys crane jib. Indian troops walking the cable out to the beached LST. A derelict building, possible a ticket office or similar. Wrecked buildings; a wonky sign reads Exit Saloon passengers. Another roofless building. Building with first floor balcony (aperture slightly closed). An entranceway with handpainted inscription Akyab Hotel. More derelict and overgrown buildings. Looking down an overgrown road; a bird flies across shot. Building which appears to have a tree growing through it. Armed British troops walking down the road. Assembled group of (ethnic Indian?) civilians, apparently all men of various ages; a seated, curly-haired Caucasian man in civilian dress appears to be the centre of attention, and he drinks tea from a china cup. Sitting on his left is a civilian man wearing a sleeveless jumper and gloves. Closer shot; another Caucasian man also with tea appears to have his face blackened, and is wearing what looks to be a British issue wool cap and civilian longyi. Also with them is a uniformed Indian (?) soldier with a bandolier of pistol ammunition across his chest. Group of male civilians. Group of children. The Caucasian man in wool cap shakes hands with a man wearing a fez; the curly-haired man shakes the hand of the man wearing gloves. They appear warm and genuine. Looking out to sea with distant headland. Troops stepping carefully off the ramp of a Landing Craft Mechanised. British troops in bush hats walking on the beach; one man waves to the camera. More men walking ashore. A formed unit of men in steel helmets marches past. A ruined brick building. A church, apparently intact. Closer shot. More views of the church with interiors. An inscription inside the church: The GOD of Jacob is our Refuge. Party of (senior?) officers on a jetty. Ruined dock equipment. The mast and jibs of a sunken ship stick out of the water; landing craft in the background. Part-submerged vessel. A (new?) crane on the jetty. Union flag flying from a pole.

Notes

No dopesheet for this film, so details are unclear. However, internal evidence identifies the location as Akyab, and context would suggest a date in early January 1945. The nature of the scene with the Caucasian men in mixed dress is ambiguous.

For other film of activity at Akyab, see related items.