Footage of gunners of the Indian Mountain Artillery, probably of 5th Indian Division, manning their 3.7-inch howitzers in action on the Tiddim Road in India/Burma in September 1944.

10:19:34 Footage of a battery of 3.7-inch mountain howitzers of the Indian Mountain Artillery in action in grassy, wooded area near a road. Panning landscape shots. The smoking beams of a wooden hut, apparently destroyed by the batterys shelling. A group of officers (two British, one Indian) in conversation; one of the British officers may be quite senior. An officer sitting in a folding chair with map. A group of Sikh signallers with their equipment. Close-up Sikh man with bushy beard talking on radio. Three in discussion over a map. Gun crews dismantle their weapons, with good views of the various parts being detached and loaded onto mules. Mules pass with various loads. Group of waiting mules and drivers. Mule train moving off and walking through mud. A stone marks the border between Burma and India, with men and mules passing into Burma. Various shots of mules passing. Men and mules walking across a river. The gun crews reassemble their weapons. Close-ups of the firing handle and sight unit. A gun in position; one of the crew pulls up saplings for camouflage. Close-up opening limber and taking out ammunition. Close-up of a shell; 3.7 can be read on it. Preparing to fire with more camouflage being added. Two guns of the battery position with crews leaping out of bashas to go into action (presumably obliging the cameraman with this display). Gun position with a man digging with a pick axe so the gun can be fired at high elevation. Views of another gun being employed in direct fire against an opposite hillside. Hillside with a small cloud of smoke. 10:28:41

Notes

The dopesheet for this film is somewhat lacking in details. The location is presumably somewhere along the Tiddim Road, and probably 5th Indian Division, which would make the unit seen the 24th Indian Mountain Regiment. The only date on the sheet is the date the film passed the censor, 13 September 1944, a date consistent with operations on the Tiddim Road.

Despite the lack of detailed information on the dopesheet, this film is an excellent depiction of mountain artillery in action, though the framing of certain shots suggests that a proportion of the activity was laid on for the camera.

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.