COMMANDOS LAND ON AKYAB [Allocated Title]

Scenes from the landings on Akyab Island, off the Arakan coast of Burma, by Commandos and other troops of XV Indian Corps.

Part 1, shot by Sergeant Marshall: Commandos, wearing full kit, sit and listen to a briefing at a tented camp. Cheerful commandos sitting on the ground. Troops passing camera. Chevrolet CMP lorry in water. Unloading a landing craft by human chain. Wheel driving through water. Man in water giving directions with hand signals. Lorry reversing. Landing craft being unloaded. Local people on a beach. Crowd of local people. A British soldier with 'official photographer' patches is mobbed by the crowd.

Part 2, shot by Sergeant Rayner: Piles of stores on the beach. Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun on the beach. Men standing and sitting by a Bofors. Ramp Cargo Lighter beaching. Royal Navy beachmaster directing a landing craft; a jeep reverses on a landing craft. More shots of jeep/s reversing onto the landing craft. Landing craft reverses away from the beach. Line of jeeps on the beach. Various shots of vehicles. A CMP is towed out of the water. Infantry moving off. Gurkha infantry. Shots of landing craft off shore. Bulldozer. Jeep revereses on landing craft. Landing craft reverses. Landing craft manoeuvring. Royal Navy beachmaster directing landing craft. Views of Akyab harbour. A squat stone building. Wreckage, apparently with a registration plate (WD 30905). Wrecked rolling stock. Vehicles on a road through grassland raise dust. More vehicles raise dust. Local people at roadside. Landing raft at beach; men and vehicles disembark. Landing craft reversing. Beachmaster with flags.

35mm