BURNING DOWN THE TOWN OF BEKASSI AS A PUNITIVE MEASURE BY THE ALLIES [Allocated Title]

After the murder of five RAF aircrew and twenty Indian soldiers by Indonesian nationalists, the village of Bekassi (Bekasi) in Java, Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) is burned in reprisal.

Buildings on fire. A sapper of the Bengal Sappers and Miners throws a tin can full of petrol onto a small fire burning inside a house; the fire flares up immediately. A corporal holds a jerry can. The sapper throws a second can of petrol through an open door and an entire room is set ablaze almost instantly; the soldier grins broadly as he retreats from the flames. Treeline with smoke rising. An aircraft circles overhead. A column of smoke in the distance. Chinese civilian inhabitants of the village who were evicted when the troops arrived. Four disarmed Indonesians, apparently members of the 'Black Buffaloes' nationalist group, who were held reponsible for the murders and were captured by Indian troops. Close-ups of the Indonesians. Smoke rising in the distance.

35mm