RELIGIOUS LIFE AT CHANTHA, RIVER CROSSING AND ESTABLISHING WATER POINT IN CENTRAL BURMA [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: RELIGIOUS LIFE AT CHANTHA, RIVER CROSSING AND ESTABLISHING WATER POINT IN CENTRAL BURMA [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: FUB 50
  • Other titles: BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: Film showing three distinct stories from Burma in 1945, firstly documenting the Christian community at Chantha on the Shwebo plain, secondly the improvised waterproofing of tanks and the use of them to tow vehicles across the Mu River at Ye-U, and the setting up of a water point by the Royal Engineers.
  • Description: Part 1a: Chinthes at pagoda entrance. Pan from pagoda to open green with buildings beyond. Monumental chinthes with British troops at their base; they are dwarfed by it. Tilt down from the spire of a Roman Catholic church. British soldiers with local people heading into chuch. Young boys bell-ringing. Women, with heads covered, filing out of the building. Two British soldiers, one a bare-headed captain (apparently a Roman Catholic padre) and the other wearing his bush hat, with a group of local people. Speaking to nuns. British soldier mobbed for biscuits. Sergeant Eugene Shortt, Burma Intelligence Corps, of Rangoon, talks with Mrs Cambell Burn of Toungoo, a barrister's wife. Part 2: Water churning as a Universal carrier drives across the Mu River. Carriers and trailer on the beach. Another carrying moving. Man undoing a tow point or similar. Carrier and trailer drives into the water. Men wading into the water after the carrier. Wireless operator at his radio. Local people sitting on the riverbank; camera turns to the river and activity on the far bank. Bogged vehicle in midstream with the prow of a local boat in foreground. Local person washing clothes at riverside. Another shot of the bogged vehicle. Men around a parked Lee tank. Tank tracks driving into the water. Tank driving across river. Man with a drum of grease. Man whittling something. Grease is applied to parts of the tank. Close-up of something being sawn. Tightening a nut. Two men with small fire apparently ‘brewing up’; pan to Sherman tank driving in the river. Man points something out to the driver of a Universal carrier. Lee tank towing two jeeps. Entering the water. Carrier driving into the water. Brief shot tank tracks on muddy beach. Part 1b: Local people walking along a dirt track and passing camera; pan to ox cart driving slowly away. Close-up middle-aged local woman. Two young children pass camera followed by an ox cart. Street scene; animals pass camera (slightly misframed). Jeep passes covered in local children. Part 3: Light lorry parks on beach. Men unload equipment from the back including canvas water tank and pump. Good shots of pump, hose and water tank. [598ft - Racking changes here – needs adjustment]
  • Alternative Title: BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: FUB 50
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-01-04
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: War Office Directorate of Public Relations (Production sponsor) SEAC Film Unit (Production company) Govan, Harold WilliamBritish Army sergeant-cameraman with South East Asia Command Film Unit (British) and No.9 Army Film & Photographic Unit, formerly Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), service number 7662913, BEM in London Gazette 37576 published 21 May 1946, pg 2. (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Indian Army, 254th Indian Tank Brigade (regiment/service) British Army, Royal Army Chaplains Department (regiment/service) British Army, Royal Engineers (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: Mu (River), Burma (geography) Chantha, Burma (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 609 ft; Running time: 7 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    FUB 50

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    Documents.5834 (System.Xml.XmlElement)
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