RELIGIOUS LIFE AT CHANTHA, RIVER CROSSING AND ESTABLISHING WATER POINT IN CENTRAL BURMA

This film is held by the Imperial War Museum (ID: FUB 50).

Synopsis

Part 1a: Chinthes at pagoda entrance. Pan from pagoda to open green with buildings beyond. Monumental chinthes with British troops at their base; they are dwarfed by it. Tilt down from the spire of a Roman Catholic church. British soldiers with local people heading into chuch. Young boys bell-ringing. Women, with heads covered, filing out of the building. Two British soldiers, one a bare-headed captain (apparently a Roman Catholic padre) and the other wearing his bush hat, with a group of local people. Speaking to nuns. British soldier mobbed for biscuits. Sergeant Eugene Shortt, Burma Intelligence Corps, of Rangoon, talks with Mrs Cambell Burn of Toungoo, a barrister's wife.

Part 2: Water churning as a Universal carrier drives across the Mu River. Carriers and trailer on the beach. Another carrying moving. Man undoing a tow point or similar. Carrier and trailer drives into the water. Men wading into the water after the carrier. Wireless operator at his radio. Local people sitting on the riverbank; camera turns to the river and activity on the far bank. Bogged vehicle in midstream with the prow of a local boat in foreground. Local person washing clothes at riverside. Another shot of the bogged vehicle. Men around a parked Lee tank. Tank tracks driving into the water. Tank driving across river. Man with a drum of grease. Man whittling something. Grease is applied to parts of the tank. Close-up of something being sawn. Tightening a nut. Two men with small fire apparently brewing up; pan to Sherman tank driving in the river. Man points something out to the driver of a Universal carrier. Lee tank towing two jeeps. Entering the water. Carrier driving into the water. Brief shot tank tracks on muddy beach.

Part 1b: Local people walking along a dirt track and passing camera; pan to ox cart driving slowly away. Close-up middle-aged local woman. Two young children pass camera followed by an ox cart. Street scene; animals pass camera (slightly misframed). Jeep passes covered in local children.

Part 3: Light lorry parks on beach. Men unload equipment from the back including canvas water tank and pump. Good shots of pump, hose and water tank. [598ft - Racking changes here needs adjustment]

Film showing three distinct stories from Burma in 1945, firstly documenting the Christian community at Chantha on the Shwebo plain, secondly the improvised waterproofing of tanks and the use of them to tow vehicles across the Mu River at Ye-U, and the setting up of a water point by the Royal Engineers.

Notes

The cameraman's dopesheet relates that the Chantha community had existed for some 50 years, and received refugee Anglo-Burmese and Anglo-Indians after the Japanese invasion. The local priest, Mother Superior and two nuns were taken away by the Japanese some ten days before the arrival of British troops. These scenes form an interesting reflection of Burma's religious diversity.

 

Titles

  • RELIGIOUS LIFE AT CHANTHA, RIVER CROSSING AND ESTABLISHING WATER POINT IN CENTRAL BURMA (Allocated)
Series Title:
BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR
 

Technical Data

Year:
1945
Running Time:
7 minutes
Film Gauge (Format):
35mm
Colour:
B&W
Sound:
Silent
Footage:
609 ft
 

Production Credits

Production Countries:
GB
Sponsor
War Office Directorate of Public Relations
cameraman
Govan, H W (Sergeant)
Production company
SEAC Film Unit