At Thabeikkyin artillery and aircraft provide cover as troops of 19th Indian Division cross the River Irrawaddy, Burma.

View from high ground looking towards the east bank of the River Irrawaddy. A large cloud of dust hangs in the air with drifitng smoke and attacking RAF Hawker Hurricane fighter-bombers. Various shots of smoke and aircraft passing. View from behind an Ordnance QF 25-pounder field gun firing on Japanese targets on the far side of the river. More drifiting smoke. Indian troops sitting on a raft at the shore of the river. Shots of a raft in midstream.

Notes

19th Indian Division crossed the Irrawaddy at two points, namely Thabeikkyin and Kyaukmyaung. The Thabeikkyin bridgehead was established by 4th Battalion 4th Gurkha Rifles on 11 January 1945 and followed up by 8th Battalion 12th Frontier Force Regiment.

The dopesheet describes the contents of six rolls of film, but only the first four of them appear to have survived.

Details of this crossing can be found in the references below, copies of which are held by the Museum's Department of Printed Books.