Remembering the combat cameramen of the Indian Army

Clip from Film: IWM (JIN 10) 

Combat cameramen documented the frontline realities of the Indian Army in Burma

This clip is from a series of films in IWM's collections that show Indian Army operations in Burma, where they served alongside British and other colonial forces in the Second World War. 

The Indian Army Film Unit documented the final stages of the Burma campaign that resulted in Japan's most significant land defeat of the war, and the subsequent reoccupation of Southeast Asia. The footage was used to create films that served a propaganda purpose, both for the Indian Army's internal needs and for wider audiences at home and abroad.   

The "Irrawaddy Crossing" in February 1945 involved multiple Allied formations, including the 7th Indian Division (crossing at Nyaungu) and the 20th Indian Division (crossing at Myinmu), which was a key component of the Allied offensive to capture Mandalay and Meiktila.

The clip shows the Indian Army evacuating a wounded soldier. It is interesting in not only demonstrating the inherent dangers  but also a sense of camaraderie as a cigarette is lit for the grinning (possibly British) casualty by an Indian soldier. 

Captain Yavar Abbas, a 104-year-old British Indian Army veteran 

Captain Yavar Abbas made headlines as viewers watched the ceremony held at the National Memorial Arboretum to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, going ‘off script’ to address King Charles directly.  The 104-year-old veteran then spoke about his experiences fighting on the Asian front, after Japan entered the war with the bombing of Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and captured British territories.

Yavar was born in Charkhari in British India and, despite being an Indian Nationalist, enlisted in the British Indian Army to fight fascism, hoping that India would be granted independence after the war. He was one of around 2.5 million Indian soldiers to join up, initially serving in the 11th Sikh Regiment but later applying to train as a combat cameraman. As a keen and talented amateur cameraman, he was a natural fit for the newly-established Indian Army Film Unit (part of the Directorate of Public Relations, or DPR) and was instructed alongside other Indian cameramen, following the training guidelines of the Army Film and Photographic Unit. 

Footage shot by the Indian Army Film Unit is available to view and license on IWM Film 

IWM holds Yavar’s combat films which cover key events in the Allied fight against the Japanese, including the Battle for Mandalay and the Crossing of the Irrawaddy. We also hold the corresponding dope sheets (caption sheets) which cameramen were instructed to complete to detail what they had filmed. 

Find out More

Contact the licensing team for further information and help with archive research.

India's War: An IWM Collecting Project
India in the Second World War
Listen To 8 People Describe The War In Burma In Their Own Words

Image: IWM (IND 2917). An Indian infantry section of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Rajput Regiment about to go on patrol on the Arakan front, Burma.