IWM Evacuation of Special Force mules and men by waterborne craft made especially for the occasion (7.57) Object description In the aftermath of the second Chindit operation men, mules and eqiuipment are evacuated from around Kamaing, the Mogaung Valley, Pyindaw and Taungni, Kachin State, Burma. Full description British soldiers of 77th Brigade, 3rd Indian Division in bush hats board a raft as others on board wait. Two small boats lashed together and full of men use an outboard motor to make their way across the river between Warazup and Kamaing. A large, flat raft crewed by five men ties up alongside a similar craft. A mule is pulled - rather unwillingly - onto the raft and is followed by another. The raft with four mules aboard makes for the opposite bank. More mules are loaded. A close-up of the name of the raft it reads "Revenge". The raft with five mules on board moves off. A small Burmese child, held by her mother, has her eye swabbed. The mother receives the same treatment as does an older child. The whole family sit and watch the treatment. A brigade command conference takes place. All the British commanders have beards. They are Colonel A H G Ricketts, Colonel P M Hughes, Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon Upjohn, Major G A Mainprize, Major H Miles and they are joined by an American liaison officer with the Chinese Corps of Artillery supporting the Chindits, Colonel T N Dupuy. Close-up of a West African soldier of Nigerian Regiment (3rd West African Brigade) on a stretcher on the ground. Another African soldier on the ground. Another African soldier lies with his arm bandaged and in a sling. An ambulance arrives along a rough road. An African stretcher case is carried to the ambulance; he is lifted from his improvised bamboo stretcher onto a proper one and put into the ambulance. One of the men lifting him wears an American uniform and the stripes of a Sergeant First Class. Another man is loaded onto the ambulance. The doors are closed and it drives off. 22 July 1944, in the Pyindaw-Taungni area. A mule is prepared for an operation (after being hit by a shell fragment in the eye, in order to save the other eye, the damaged one must be removed). The mule is given an anaesthetic and is helped to the ground. Close-up of its head being held still. Cleaning the side of the head for the operation. Close-up of instruments in a bath of antiseptic solution. Various shots of the operation as clamps are added and incisions made. The surgeon, Captain R Lake of Royal Army Veterinary Corps, uses his finger to explore the eye socket. The eyeball is cut out and a dressing is placed over the wound. A Douglas Dakota transport plane flies over and drops supplies; the cameraman follows the supplies to the ground where they are gathered up. More supplies are dropped. Another Dakota flies over and drops sacks without parachutes. A field is littered with parachutes and supplies. Soldiers gather them up. A Dakota makes a low pass over a muddy road and drops more supplies. Four African troops pick up a supply package and help to get it onto the head of one of the men; he carries a large machete. Close-up of a machete being used to cut through parachute cords. Another pack is put onto a soldiers' head. Three men carry parcels. The supplies are piled up. Bread is taken out of a wicker basket. Supply sacks are put onto the back of a mule. The mule is lead away. Physical description 35mm Mike
