An undocumented film showing a girder bridge under construction by Indian Engineers, presumably in a forward area of India or Burma, probably in 1943.

View of a bridge under construction; girders are placed on wooden uprights. Indian sapper tightening a nut with a long spanner. Tilt up of the site with lorries moving in background. British officer directing. Pan to a pile of wooden beams in a stream. Indian sappers with a small steel frame. Stream; pan right to British officer pointing at something in a bush. Looking into the stream teaming with small fish. Sappers position a beam. Lorries passing over the diversion. More lorries pass. Bridge site. Wooden decking with a girder laid on small logs for rolling. Rolling the girder out with a chain. Positioning girders. Winch on a lorry. Tilt up a girder with officer and sappers behind. Close-up British captain with REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) shoulder title. A sapper carrying a metal pole in a blanket dumps it into a pool of water. Other poles in the water. Using a two-man saw. Moving a girder onto logs. Running out a girder. Team of sappers moving a large log. More of positioning girder. Lorry reversing. Adjusting girder and fitting it to correct position. Close-up shows fitting of the girder. Another shot taken from same position as an earlier shot of the lorries using the diversion, showing the girder bridge taking shape in the foreground. Shots of a bulldozer at work. Various shots of elephants being used to build a bridge. The elephants position heavy logs.

Notes

No dopesheet survives for this film, so details of all kinds are unclear.

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.