Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia, visits the battlefield of Myitkyina, in northern Burma, taken by Chinese and American forces a month before.

At Imphal; low-angle medium shot of Gurkha troops of 3rd Battalion, 8th Gurkha Rifles (20th Indian Division). Wider shot showing Gurkhas lining the road and Mountbatten inspecting them. Mountbatten, with an entourage of Chinese and Americans (including a Tommy gun-toting Military Policeman), goes to see the wreckage of rolling stock on the Myitkyina-Mandalay railway line. Short pan of derailed wagons. Mountbatten meeting Lieutenant-Colonel Dr Gordon Seagrave at his missionary hospital at Myitkyina. Entering the hospital. Mountbatten meets two female Burmese nurses seated at a table with microscopes. Mountbatten and entourage back at the railway line. Looking back at Mountbatten and others aboard a jeep train on the railway line. The cameraman, onboard the leading jeep, films as his jeep passes through a somewhat shanty-looking Chinese Army camp along the railway line. Looking back at Mountbatten’s jeep behind, passing through the camp. As the jeep runs along the track Chinese troops, some carrying heavy loads, dart out the way of the oncoming jeep. A column of Chinese troops, evidently marching along the line, clear out of the way. Looking back at troops at the trackside. Looking up at aircraft in the distance. More troops clear the track. Aerial views looking down on the airstrip at Myitkyina, with low drifting cloud. Mountbatten on airstrip at Myitkyina, being met by Brigadier General Lewis A Pick (probably the thick-set officer in steel helmet) and Major John Jones, American aide de camp. Mountbatten’s aircraft is an RAF Dakota serial FL510. Mountbatten talking to Chinese Lieutenant-General Sun and walking to jeep. Mountbatten in jeep (with British and American pennants) with Sun and Pick; it drives away. Mountbatten with Sun in the ruins of Myitkyina; a very fast pan to a tiered pagoda. Small buildings in Myitkyina. More footage from the jeep train, including a spectacular shot showing a Dakota making a low pass over Mountbatten’s jeep, growing from a small speck in the distance. At a rail yard, showing the jeep train next to a wagon that has been entirely destroyed down to its bogeys. Passing a Chinese mule train by the side of the track. Chinese troops riding three elephants two of them somewhat smaller (juveniles?).

Notes

A very interesting film in both visual and historical terms. The capture of Myitkyina, which fell a month prior to this film. was a key strategic objective for Chinese and American forces in northern Burma. The capture of the airfield would prevent Japanese aircraft interdicting American transports flying over the Himalayan 'Hump' to supply nationalist China. The denial of Myitkyina, meanwhile, as a base for Japanese troops was important to allow the construction of the Ledo Road, an alternative land route to China from India, to continue. Brigadier General Pick was responsible for the progress of construction. The use of the jeep railway is an effective demonstration of the difficulties of transport in this theatre, and the premium placed on improvisation, while the footage from the moving jeep is visually striking. The footage of Seagrave and his hospital records the valuable medical work done in Burma by missionaries in general, and Seagrave's enormous efforts in particular. The noticeable absence of British personnel (with the obvious exception of Mountbatten himself) perhaps reflects the great political-strategic tension that existed in the conduct of the campaign in northern Burma.

For other footage relating to operations at or near Pinwe, see related items.

Series note: The MWY series of films is believed to be part of a ‘pool’ of film received by the Government of India from various sources, including South East Asia Command, the Indian Inter-Service Public Relations Directorate, the Ministry of Information, and from Allied governments. This footage would have been considered for editing and release through the Indian Newsreel Parade; see INR series.