As promised:
The capture of Meiktila at the end of February (1945) was the key to victory. Kimura, the Japanese commander, constantly attacked the airfield. All our aircraft were targets for his guns. We lost seven Dakotas on 29 March. The RAF Regiment drove back two companies of Japanese, inflicting a loss of forty- eight killed. The regiments own casualties numbered seven. Supplies were maintained by parachute. Finally, it was April when landings became possible again.
Frank Wootton was at Meiktila in the weeks leading up to VJ day and two weeks afterwards. VJ day is Aug 15 1945.
This is the film description held by the IWM.
ACTIVITIES ON MEIKTILA AIRSTRIP (11/4/1945)
This film is held by the Imperial War Museum (ID: ABY 154).
Synopsis
RAF and US Army Air Force (USAAF) operations at and around Meiktila following its capture by British forces.
Bomb damage to buildings and railway rolling stock. A number of stone or plaster figures of the Buddha appear to have survived amongst one pile of rubble. American lorries at Meiktila airstrip. A lorry reverses up to a waiting Douglas Dakota transport aircraft and unloads ammunition boxes containing 25-pounder artillery rounds. A petrol bowser marked '100 Oct[ane]' passes parked Dakotas. A ground crewman passes a refuelling hose to another on the wing of a Dakota. A line-up of Dakotas on the perimeter track. A tent, apparently Flight HQ, with an unidentifiable squadron badge fixed to a nearby tree. Aerial view of the airstrip at Meiktila with gliders scattered about; the gliders are USAAF CG-4 Wacos ('Hadrian' in RAF service). An oil drum is unloaded from a Dakota. Dakota KJ916 is loaded from a lorry. Parked aircraft with gliders coming in to land; some of the parked aircraft are USAAF Curtiss C-46 Commandos. Wounded troops on stretchers are lifted onto a Dakota. Ambulances parked by a Dakota. Dakotas taking off. Waco gliders landing. Soldiers and local people attend to a tangled pile of parachutes. Close-ups of local Burmese people including women and children. A soldier examines an abandoned Japanese artillery piece on an archaic-looking wheeled carriage. An extremely brief shot of a wrecked Japanese light tank, probably a Type-95 Ha-Go. A wrecked Dakota with close-ups of a hole in its fuselage and a wrecked engine. A sign reads 'Meiktila Landing Strip'. Dakota take-off. A large pile of parachutes.
Notes
British Army films relating to the capture of Meiktila can be found under related items below.
2 minutes of silent B&W film and I wish it was available.
The wrecked Dakota may be KN232 of RAF 238 Squadron. This aircraft, laden with casualties, was hit by shellfire during take-off which knocked out an engine and collapsed an undercarriage leg. This aircraft and the crew can be seen in an IWM photograph referenced below.
Last edited by Tiger_mate; 17th Apr 2013 at 23:08.