An interview, recorded with live sound, given by Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, Governor-in-exile of Burma to an American officer of South East Asia Command.

Slate with a seated American technical sergeant at a desk with wall map of the Bay of Bengal behind. An American major wearing the patch of South East Asia Command, sitting at a desk, rehearses a number of questions and someone off-camera provides the last line of each of Dorman-Smith’s answers. He repeats the questions to Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, the Governor-in-exile of Burma. The questions include Dorman-Smith’s escape from Burma, the attitude of the Burmese to the retreating British, the question of ‘fifth columnist’ activity, Japanese motivation for the invasion, Burma’s prewar government, Burmese serving with the Allies, and plans for postwar reconstruction. The interview is filmed twice from a wide angle, and once in medium close-up of Dorman-Smith, who occasionally turns to point out locations on a wall map behind him.

Notes

When this film was shot, Allied forces were well inside Burma’s borders having weathered the Japanese assault into India and would reoccupy Rangoon in a little over six months. However, Dorman-Smith would not return until October 1945, a year after this interview. This film, showing Dorman-Smith defending himself and British administration to an obviously cooperative American interviewer is fascinating. It shows Dorman-Smith as being very much ‘on message’ and his denial that Burma was a British colony is extraordinary. The fact that he is speaking to an American is significant; Dorman-Smith was a colonial governor and the United States was utterly disinterested in supporting the war in Burma simply to restore British imperial prestige. By the time this film was shot, the US operational objective of securing the ‘Hump’ air route to China was complete with the capture of Myitkyina and the construction of the Ledo Road to Kunming was in progress. It is also interesting that Dorman-Smith should mention Burma as ‘stepping stone’ to India first, when the Japanese priority had been to close the American land supply route to China, which he mentions second, though he refers, importantly, to ‘the United Nations’.

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.