The Longcloth Roll Call
Surname A-E
This section is an alphabetical roll of the men from Operation Longcloth. It takes its inspiration from other such formats available on the Internet, websites such as Special Forces Roll of Honour and of course the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). The information shown comes from various different documents related to the first Chindit Operation in 1943. Apart from more obvious data, such as the serviceman's rank, number and regimental unit, other detail has been taken from associated war diaries, missing in action files and casualty witness statements. The vast majority of this type of information has been located at the National Archives and the relevant file references can be found in the section Sources and Knowledge on this website.
Sometimes, if the man in question became a prisoner of war more detail can be displayed showing his time whilst in Japanese hands. Other avenues for additional information are: books, personal diaries, veteran audio accounts and subsequent family input via letter, email and phone call.
The idea behind this page, is to include as many Longcloth participants as possible, even if there is only a small amount of information about their contribution to hand. Please click on any of the images to hopefully bring them forward on the page.
All information contained on this page is Copyright © Steve Fogden April 2014.
Sometimes, if the man in question became a prisoner of war more detail can be displayed showing his time whilst in Japanese hands. Other avenues for additional information are: books, personal diaries, veteran audio accounts and subsequent family input via letter, email and phone call.
The idea behind this page, is to include as many Longcloth participants as possible, even if there is only a small amount of information about their contribution to hand. Please click on any of the images to hopefully bring them forward on the page.
All information contained on this page is Copyright © Steve Fogden April 2014.
Abdul Khaliq, RIAOC.
Abdul Khaliq
Rank: Armourer
Service No: Not known
Regiment/Service: Royal Indian Army Ordinance Corps att. The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
From the book 'Beyond the Chindwin', by Bernard Fergusson:
"We had collected at Jhansi a young Indian Armourer called Abdul Khaliq, a handsome, cheerful but helpless youth who was dubbed Abdul the Armourer, Abdul the Bulbul (by Tommy Roberts), or Abdul the Damned (by Duncan Menzies) as the fancy of the moment suggested.
Abdul was always one big grin, he spoke no English; but the men with whom he marched, not far behind me, taught him to call out whenever they were feeling tired, "Blow the bugle, Mr. Brookes," a refrain which Duncan and I incorporated into some frivolous verse"
NB. Mr. Brookes was in fact Lance Corporal Charles Brookes, the Column bugler in 1943. Brookes was captured at the Shweli River in April, but survived his time as a POW and returned home to Manchester.
Abdul was wounded in the shoulder from Japanese mortar fire at the engagement in the village of Hintha. He had been looking after Lieutenant Campbell Menzies horse, but had been caught up in some cross fire, the horse had also been hit and had to be destroyed.
From here on, until the dispersal groups from Column 5 re-crossed the Chindwin River in late April, Abdul struggled both physically and emotionally with the exertions of the operation. He was pained by his injured shoulder and found most of the last one hundred miles very hard going indeed and almost gave up with some of the other men at the Shweli River crossing on April 1st. However, on the afternoon of the 24th April, between the villages of Myene and Sahpe, Abdul finally reached the west bank of the Chindwin and the safety of Allied held territory.
After some rest and their first hot meal in over a month the dispersal parties from Column 5 were moved back to the town of Tamu on the Assam/Burma border. Here at Tamu they were given more hot food, a bath, shave and a welcome change of clothes.
Rank: Armourer
Service No: Not known
Regiment/Service: Royal Indian Army Ordinance Corps att. The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
From the book 'Beyond the Chindwin', by Bernard Fergusson:
"We had collected at Jhansi a young Indian Armourer called Abdul Khaliq, a handsome, cheerful but helpless youth who was dubbed Abdul the Armourer, Abdul the Bulbul (by Tommy Roberts), or Abdul the Damned (by Duncan Menzies) as the fancy of the moment suggested.
Abdul was always one big grin, he spoke no English; but the men with whom he marched, not far behind me, taught him to call out whenever they were feeling tired, "Blow the bugle, Mr. Brookes," a refrain which Duncan and I incorporated into some frivolous verse"
NB. Mr. Brookes was in fact Lance Corporal Charles Brookes, the Column bugler in 1943. Brookes was captured at the Shweli River in April, but survived his time as a POW and returned home to Manchester.
Abdul was wounded in the shoulder from Japanese mortar fire at the engagement in the village of Hintha. He had been looking after Lieutenant Campbell Menzies horse, but had been caught up in some cross fire, the horse had also been hit and had to be destroyed.
From here on, until the dispersal groups from Column 5 re-crossed the Chindwin River in late April, Abdul struggled both physically and emotionally with the exertions of the operation. He was pained by his injured shoulder and found most of the last one hundred miles very hard going indeed and almost gave up with some of the other men at the Shweli River crossing on April 1st. However, on the afternoon of the 24th April, between the villages of Myene and Sahpe, Abdul finally reached the west bank of the Chindwin and the safety of Allied held territory.
After some rest and their first hot meal in over a month the dispersal parties from Column 5 were moved back to the town of Tamu on the Assam/Burma border. Here at Tamu they were given more hot food, a bath, shave and a welcome change of clothes.
Map of the Chindwin River showing the villages of Myene and Sahpe, where Column 5 re-crossed to safety.
Rangoon Memorial Face 5.
ADEY, GEORGE
Rank: Private
Service No: 3780025
Date of Death: 10/04/1943
Age: 31
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery, Face 5.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2130500/ADEY,%20GEORGE
Chindit Column: 7
Other details:
Witness Reports from surviving members of Column 7:
Statement extract of Captain Leslie Cottrell: "On April 10th the Column commander (Major K. Gilkes) decided for various tactical and administrative reasons to split the Column. This was mid-way between the towns of Mongmit and Myitson, just east of the Nammit and Mongmit/Myitson Road. Lieutenant R. Walker was ordered to take charge of a party of three officers and twenty-one other ranks."
For more information about the fate of this dispersal party led by Lieutenant Rex Walker, please follow the link below: Dispersal Group 4
This dispersal group did not fare well and none of the men made it back to India in 1943. The few survivors from the party who did eventually make it home would have to endure nearly two years as prisoners in Japanese hands. George Adey was not one of these fortunate few. From a very short statement provided by Corporal J. Kennedy, we now know that Pte. Adey fell out of the line of march ten days after the dispersal group was formed. Kennedy does not say why this happened, simply informing the investigatory authorities that it occurred on or about the 20th April 1943. It is quite possible that George may have become a prisoner of war and was held captive by the Japanese at some point during those ten unaccounted for days.
You may notice that George Adey is given the 10th April as his date of death by the CWGC. This is because the Commission would have used the last date that his whereabouts were officially known to a superior officer, in this case, the day the dispersal groups were allocated by Major Gilkes.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3780025
Date of Death: 10/04/1943
Age: 31
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery, Face 5.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2130500/ADEY,%20GEORGE
Chindit Column: 7
Other details:
Witness Reports from surviving members of Column 7:
Statement extract of Captain Leslie Cottrell: "On April 10th the Column commander (Major K. Gilkes) decided for various tactical and administrative reasons to split the Column. This was mid-way between the towns of Mongmit and Myitson, just east of the Nammit and Mongmit/Myitson Road. Lieutenant R. Walker was ordered to take charge of a party of three officers and twenty-one other ranks."
For more information about the fate of this dispersal party led by Lieutenant Rex Walker, please follow the link below: Dispersal Group 4
This dispersal group did not fare well and none of the men made it back to India in 1943. The few survivors from the party who did eventually make it home would have to endure nearly two years as prisoners in Japanese hands. George Adey was not one of these fortunate few. From a very short statement provided by Corporal J. Kennedy, we now know that Pte. Adey fell out of the line of march ten days after the dispersal group was formed. Kennedy does not say why this happened, simply informing the investigatory authorities that it occurred on or about the 20th April 1943. It is quite possible that George may have become a prisoner of war and was held captive by the Japanese at some point during those ten unaccounted for days.
You may notice that George Adey is given the 10th April as his date of death by the CWGC. This is because the Commission would have used the last date that his whereabouts were officially known to a superior officer, in this case, the day the dispersal groups were allocated by Major Gilkes.
Rangoon Memorial, Face 5.
AINDOW, HENRY WILLIAM
Rank: Private
Service No: 4206334
Date of Death: 01/06/1943
Age:21
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery, Face 5.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2130644/AINDOW,%20HENRY%20WILLIAM
Chindit Column: 7
Other details:
Henry Aindow just like George Adey (see entry above), was also part of the Column 7 dispersal group led by Rex Walker. This former Royal Welch Fusilier had joined Chindit training in late September 1942 along with a small draft of other men from this unit. Not much is known about Henry's movements after the 10th of April and there seems to be conflicting evidence from two separate witness statements concerning his fate in 1943. For a more detailed account in regard to Lieutenant Walker's dispersal group, please click on the link below: Dispersal Group 4
From the evidence given in the witness statements it seems fairly certain that Pte. Aindow had fallen in to Japanese hands in April 1943, but that he had not survived for long as a POW and certainly did not make the journey down to Rangoon Jail with the other Chindit prisoners. The official information given for his last known whereabouts states: "Pte. Aindow was last seen marching westward towards the Irrawaddy, but failed to make the planned rendezvous with other dispersal groups."
The first witness statement was given by Pte. Thomas Worthington, a Liverpudlian by birth and another member of Column 7. Thomas was also captured by the Japanese during Operation Longcloth and had survived his two years as a POW in Rangoon. On his return home Thomas had taken the trouble to write down everything he could remember about his lost and fallen comrades from the expedition in 1943. His five page letter included this short sentence concerning Henry Aindow:
"Pte. Aindow, formerly with the R.W.F. was from Crosby near Liverpool. I last saw him in a hospital in either Calore or Kalawa, he was suffering from dysentery. The fittest of his party were sent on to Rangoon via Maymyo. Major Ramsay-R.A.M.C. our Medical Officer was in charge."
NB. Thomas Worthington obviously could not be sure which was the correct spelling for the transit camp at Kalawa where many captured Chindits were held for a short time before being sent on to the main concentration camp at Maymyo. Once collected together at Maymyo, the 200 or so Chindit men were put through a vicious and brutal POW acclimatisation regime, before finally being sent down to Rangoon Jail. Major Raymond Ramsay was the senior Medical Officer on Operation Longcloth in 1943.
The inference from Thomas Worthington's statement is that Henry Aindow never left the camp at Kalawa. The second witness statement also comes in the form of a letter written back in England after the war was over. Corporal John Kennedy survived his time in Rangoon Jail and returned home to his family, in his letter dated 17th November 1945 he recalls what another Chindit POW had told him about the fate of Henry Aindow.
Lance Corporal Ernest Burgess was another member of Column 7 in 1943 and was, like Kennedy and Aindow, a member of Dispersal Group 4 that year. Ernest Burgess had told Kennedy what had happened to Pte. Aindow shortly before his own sad death in Block 6 of Rangoon Jail in March 1944. The disturbing information given by Burgess, stated that Henry had been killed by Burmese villagers who had been helping the Japanese at that time. He added that this murder took place on the 6th May 1943. It is difficult to speculate what actually happened to Pte. Aindow, but it seems likely that he may have become so ill or exhausted that the Japanese ordered the treacherous Burmese to dispose of him on their behalf.
NB. You may notice that the CWGC information gives Henry Aindow's date of death as 01/06/1943. This date I have found during my research, seems to be universally applied to all men known to have been prisoners of war at some stage in 1943, but of whom, none make it to the main Chindit POW Camps, either at Maymyo or Rangoon Jail.
Rank: Private
Service No: 4206334
Date of Death: 01/06/1943
Age:21
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery, Face 5.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2130644/AINDOW,%20HENRY%20WILLIAM
Chindit Column: 7
Other details:
Henry Aindow just like George Adey (see entry above), was also part of the Column 7 dispersal group led by Rex Walker. This former Royal Welch Fusilier had joined Chindit training in late September 1942 along with a small draft of other men from this unit. Not much is known about Henry's movements after the 10th of April and there seems to be conflicting evidence from two separate witness statements concerning his fate in 1943. For a more detailed account in regard to Lieutenant Walker's dispersal group, please click on the link below: Dispersal Group 4
From the evidence given in the witness statements it seems fairly certain that Pte. Aindow had fallen in to Japanese hands in April 1943, but that he had not survived for long as a POW and certainly did not make the journey down to Rangoon Jail with the other Chindit prisoners. The official information given for his last known whereabouts states: "Pte. Aindow was last seen marching westward towards the Irrawaddy, but failed to make the planned rendezvous with other dispersal groups."
The first witness statement was given by Pte. Thomas Worthington, a Liverpudlian by birth and another member of Column 7. Thomas was also captured by the Japanese during Operation Longcloth and had survived his two years as a POW in Rangoon. On his return home Thomas had taken the trouble to write down everything he could remember about his lost and fallen comrades from the expedition in 1943. His five page letter included this short sentence concerning Henry Aindow:
"Pte. Aindow, formerly with the R.W.F. was from Crosby near Liverpool. I last saw him in a hospital in either Calore or Kalawa, he was suffering from dysentery. The fittest of his party were sent on to Rangoon via Maymyo. Major Ramsay-R.A.M.C. our Medical Officer was in charge."
NB. Thomas Worthington obviously could not be sure which was the correct spelling for the transit camp at Kalawa where many captured Chindits were held for a short time before being sent on to the main concentration camp at Maymyo. Once collected together at Maymyo, the 200 or so Chindit men were put through a vicious and brutal POW acclimatisation regime, before finally being sent down to Rangoon Jail. Major Raymond Ramsay was the senior Medical Officer on Operation Longcloth in 1943.
The inference from Thomas Worthington's statement is that Henry Aindow never left the camp at Kalawa. The second witness statement also comes in the form of a letter written back in England after the war was over. Corporal John Kennedy survived his time in Rangoon Jail and returned home to his family, in his letter dated 17th November 1945 he recalls what another Chindit POW had told him about the fate of Henry Aindow.
Lance Corporal Ernest Burgess was another member of Column 7 in 1943 and was, like Kennedy and Aindow, a member of Dispersal Group 4 that year. Ernest Burgess had told Kennedy what had happened to Pte. Aindow shortly before his own sad death in Block 6 of Rangoon Jail in March 1944. The disturbing information given by Burgess, stated that Henry had been killed by Burmese villagers who had been helping the Japanese at that time. He added that this murder took place on the 6th May 1943. It is difficult to speculate what actually happened to Pte. Aindow, but it seems likely that he may have become so ill or exhausted that the Japanese ordered the treacherous Burmese to dispose of him on their behalf.
NB. You may notice that the CWGC information gives Henry Aindow's date of death as 01/06/1943. This date I have found during my research, seems to be universally applied to all men known to have been prisoners of war at some stage in 1943, but of whom, none make it to the main Chindit POW Camps, either at Maymyo or Rangoon Jail.
13th King's War diary November 1944.
ALCOCK, GEORGE FRANCIS
Rank: Private
Service No: 3603372
Date of Death: 21/11/1944
Age:29
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Karachi War Cemetery, Grave Reference1.B.12.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2178005/ALCOCK,%20GEORGE%20FRANCIS
Chindit Column: Not known.
Other details:
George Alcock is another of the soldiers of whom I can find no confirmation or details in relation to service on Operation Longcloth. It may well be that he was a reinforcement for the beleagued battalion and only joined them after they returned to India in mid-1943. I do know that Pte. Alcock served with the 13th King's whilst they were stationed at Napier Barracks in Karachi.
In November 1944, Pte. Alcock contracted malaria and was admitted to the British General Hospital at Karachi. Sadly, his was a very virulent strain of the disease which had developed in to the cerebral condition and affected his brain. George Alcock died in hospital on 21st November and was buried at Karachi Military Cemetery.
Diseases such as malaria affected almost all of the returning Chindits in 1943, indeed, most men who served in Burma suffered for many years with the after effects of the various diseases they had picked up, with symptoms often baffling their hometown GP's.
Returning to the 13th King's and their time at the Napier Barracks in Karachi, there follows a short extract from the memoirs of another Kingsman, Pte. Frank Holland who served with Column 8 on Operation Longcloth. Frank remembers suffering with malaria around the same period of time as George Alcock.
"After a month we set off for Karachi. During the journey I developed malaria and by the time we arrived I was an ambulance case and went to hospital. Your first dose of malaria really puts you down, temperatures you’ve never heard of, deliriums and the quinine playing havoc with everything. The hospital in Karachi was a nice place and they did some important operations in the main building. Malaria, jaundice, typhoid and dysentery cases were kept in detached huts, but not isolated from one another.
If you could walk with malaria you had to fetch your bedding and mattress from the store and make the bed. There was one bright thing to it, malaria cases were given one bottle of beer each day for free. Back in barracks you were allowed one bottle per month on a coupon which you paid for. Napier Barracks were old regular Army barracks. They were two storey brick buildings with verandahs upstairs and down to draw the air in, because we had no fans or punkhas. Life was pretty good there, as we so called convalescents had been built up to full fitness."
Some time later Frank Holland recalls:
"Malaria was still pestering me, in and out of hospital quite regular. We buried a few of our lads as a result of it. We agreed to have photos taken of their graves and sent back to relatives, small comfort, but we always got letters of thanks back."
NB: By matching up the date of death and with location of burial noted as Karachi War Cemetery, I believe the following men from the 13th King's all died from malaria as described in Frank Holland's memoir:
Francis Ball
Thomas Charles Grigg
William George Jones
George Thomas Puckett
John Francis Wright
Update 12/09/2014. From information found in the India Office records for burials, I now know that George did indeed die from the effects cerebral malaria, he was buried at Karachi and his funeral service was conducted by Chaplain G. Huntley who served at the General Hospital in the city.
Update 24/03/2015. Thanks to the kind permission of the TWGPP, seen below is a photograph of George Alcock's gravestone at Karachi War Cemetery. Please click on either image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3603372
Date of Death: 21/11/1944
Age:29
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Karachi War Cemetery, Grave Reference1.B.12.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2178005/ALCOCK,%20GEORGE%20FRANCIS
Chindit Column: Not known.
Other details:
George Alcock is another of the soldiers of whom I can find no confirmation or details in relation to service on Operation Longcloth. It may well be that he was a reinforcement for the beleagued battalion and only joined them after they returned to India in mid-1943. I do know that Pte. Alcock served with the 13th King's whilst they were stationed at Napier Barracks in Karachi.
In November 1944, Pte. Alcock contracted malaria and was admitted to the British General Hospital at Karachi. Sadly, his was a very virulent strain of the disease which had developed in to the cerebral condition and affected his brain. George Alcock died in hospital on 21st November and was buried at Karachi Military Cemetery.
Diseases such as malaria affected almost all of the returning Chindits in 1943, indeed, most men who served in Burma suffered for many years with the after effects of the various diseases they had picked up, with symptoms often baffling their hometown GP's.
Returning to the 13th King's and their time at the Napier Barracks in Karachi, there follows a short extract from the memoirs of another Kingsman, Pte. Frank Holland who served with Column 8 on Operation Longcloth. Frank remembers suffering with malaria around the same period of time as George Alcock.
"After a month we set off for Karachi. During the journey I developed malaria and by the time we arrived I was an ambulance case and went to hospital. Your first dose of malaria really puts you down, temperatures you’ve never heard of, deliriums and the quinine playing havoc with everything. The hospital in Karachi was a nice place and they did some important operations in the main building. Malaria, jaundice, typhoid and dysentery cases were kept in detached huts, but not isolated from one another.
If you could walk with malaria you had to fetch your bedding and mattress from the store and make the bed. There was one bright thing to it, malaria cases were given one bottle of beer each day for free. Back in barracks you were allowed one bottle per month on a coupon which you paid for. Napier Barracks were old regular Army barracks. They were two storey brick buildings with verandahs upstairs and down to draw the air in, because we had no fans or punkhas. Life was pretty good there, as we so called convalescents had been built up to full fitness."
Some time later Frank Holland recalls:
"Malaria was still pestering me, in and out of hospital quite regular. We buried a few of our lads as a result of it. We agreed to have photos taken of their graves and sent back to relatives, small comfort, but we always got letters of thanks back."
NB: By matching up the date of death and with location of burial noted as Karachi War Cemetery, I believe the following men from the 13th King's all died from malaria as described in Frank Holland's memoir:
Francis Ball
Thomas Charles Grigg
William George Jones
George Thomas Puckett
John Francis Wright
Update 12/09/2014. From information found in the India Office records for burials, I now know that George did indeed die from the effects cerebral malaria, he was buried at Karachi and his funeral service was conducted by Chaplain G. Huntley who served at the General Hospital in the city.
Update 24/03/2015. Thanks to the kind permission of the TWGPP, seen below is a photograph of George Alcock's gravestone at Karachi War Cemetery. Please click on either image to bring it forward on the page.
King's Regiment Cap Badge.
ALLNUTT, STANLEY
Rank: Private
Service No: not known
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 7
Other details:
Pte. Stanley Allnutt travelled to India with the original 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment aboard the troopship Oronsay in December 1941. According to several sources, Stanley served with C' Company within the battalion and was allocated to Chindit column No. 7 during training in the Central Provinces of India. He must have settled quickly into the training regime, as by December 1942, he was selected to take part in a pre-operational reconnaissance mission across the Burmese border, in order to ascertain the numbers of Japanese present in the Chindwin area and the disposition of the local Burmese towards the British.
One of the main reasons for his selection on this mission was Stanley's ability to speak some Burmese phrases, which he had learned during his time training with the Burma Rifles section of 7 Column. His recce party led by Captain Herring, alongside Sgt. Tony Aubrey and Sgt. Tommy Vann, spent some time behind enemy lines in early January 1943, before returning to the main Chindit Brigade to report on their findings from across the Chindwin River. To read more about this mission and the other men involved, please click on the following link:
Pre-Operational Reconnaissance
Pte. Allnutt's best friend from his time with the 13th King's was Pte. Charles Aves. Both men had served with the battalion since the second half of 1940 and both were part of Rifle Platoon No. 13 within 7 Column on Operation Longcloth. Charles Aves remembered Stan Allnutt as 77th Brigade finally made their way to the Chindwin River in February 1943:
First we left Saugor by train to Comilla, then on to Dimapur. After this we marched at night to Kohima through the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. We then camped at Imphal and awaited our final orders before marching down to the Chindwin River. My best pal, Stan Allnutt was one of the men sent on pre-operational reconnaissance into Burma in January. Stan had taken the time to learn some useful Burmese phrases and this was probably why he was chosen for this short trip over the Chindwin. After he came back he taught me many of these words and phrases. No one was afraid when we first went into Burma, it was all an adventure and we were confident we could deal with the jungle at least.
After a week or so Wingate made plans to attack a Japanese garrison at a place called Pinlebu, but this was called off. A while later, I remember Major Gilkes was chastised by Wingate for setting camp at the foot of a small hill instead of on top of it; Wingate explained that we would be vulnerable to enemy mortar fire if we camped in the lower ground. Not much more happened during the next few weeks. When I look back on those days now, I realise I was very fortunate to be one of the lucky men who avoided direct contact with the Japanese during the outward journey across Burma.
We finally arrived at the Irrawaddy and my own personal view was, if we crossed over now, we might as well be in Japan proper. But cross we did, just north of a town called Inywa. By this time fatigue had set in with some of our men, many were beginning to fall ill, including my friend Stan Allnutt. Fortunately, after a few days on the east side of the river, Brigadier Wingate decided it was time to return to India.
Seen in the gallery below are some of the men mentioned in the first section of this story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: not known
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 7
Other details:
Pte. Stanley Allnutt travelled to India with the original 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment aboard the troopship Oronsay in December 1941. According to several sources, Stanley served with C' Company within the battalion and was allocated to Chindit column No. 7 during training in the Central Provinces of India. He must have settled quickly into the training regime, as by December 1942, he was selected to take part in a pre-operational reconnaissance mission across the Burmese border, in order to ascertain the numbers of Japanese present in the Chindwin area and the disposition of the local Burmese towards the British.
One of the main reasons for his selection on this mission was Stanley's ability to speak some Burmese phrases, which he had learned during his time training with the Burma Rifles section of 7 Column. His recce party led by Captain Herring, alongside Sgt. Tony Aubrey and Sgt. Tommy Vann, spent some time behind enemy lines in early January 1943, before returning to the main Chindit Brigade to report on their findings from across the Chindwin River. To read more about this mission and the other men involved, please click on the following link:
Pre-Operational Reconnaissance
Pte. Allnutt's best friend from his time with the 13th King's was Pte. Charles Aves. Both men had served with the battalion since the second half of 1940 and both were part of Rifle Platoon No. 13 within 7 Column on Operation Longcloth. Charles Aves remembered Stan Allnutt as 77th Brigade finally made their way to the Chindwin River in February 1943:
First we left Saugor by train to Comilla, then on to Dimapur. After this we marched at night to Kohima through the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. We then camped at Imphal and awaited our final orders before marching down to the Chindwin River. My best pal, Stan Allnutt was one of the men sent on pre-operational reconnaissance into Burma in January. Stan had taken the time to learn some useful Burmese phrases and this was probably why he was chosen for this short trip over the Chindwin. After he came back he taught me many of these words and phrases. No one was afraid when we first went into Burma, it was all an adventure and we were confident we could deal with the jungle at least.
After a week or so Wingate made plans to attack a Japanese garrison at a place called Pinlebu, but this was called off. A while later, I remember Major Gilkes was chastised by Wingate for setting camp at the foot of a small hill instead of on top of it; Wingate explained that we would be vulnerable to enemy mortar fire if we camped in the lower ground. Not much more happened during the next few weeks. When I look back on those days now, I realise I was very fortunate to be one of the lucky men who avoided direct contact with the Japanese during the outward journey across Burma.
We finally arrived at the Irrawaddy and my own personal view was, if we crossed over now, we might as well be in Japan proper. But cross we did, just north of a town called Inywa. By this time fatigue had set in with some of our men, many were beginning to fall ill, including my friend Stan Allnutt. Fortunately, after a few days on the east side of the river, Brigadier Wingate decided it was time to return to India.
Seen in the gallery below are some of the men mentioned in the first section of this story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Later on after dispersal was called, Charles Aves and Stan Allnutt became separated and their journeys back to Allied held territory took different paths. Aves managed to re-cross the Irrawaddy on the 29th March 1943 and he with most of his group succeeded in reaching India a few weeks later. Pte. Allnutt, along with the majority of 7 Column exited Burma via the Yunnan Province of China in late May and were eventually flown back to India aboard USAAF Dakotas in early June.
From the book, Wingate's Lost Brigade and based on the Column 7 War diary for the period:
By 23rd May, the column was reunited with its commander at Tantzu-Pa. A message had been sent to the nearest Chinese Divisional Headquarters and a couple of days later the reply came back that three officers should proceed to the headquarters and make arrangements for the movement of the rest of the column. Gilkes decided to take Petersen and Cottrell with him and before he left he gave Commander Wong, the guerrilla commander, a present of 30 rifles, two tommy guns, a revolver, 1,500 rounds of ammunition and ten grenades. The old veteran was very pleased as his men only had one rifle between every six men. As his men were now under Chinese protection, Gilkes considered it only reasonable to help their new Allies in view of the food and assistance given to them. Before they departed the commander told them, 'We are glad to meet Allied Officers who neither have creases in their trousers, nor ask for beds on which to sleep.'
The journey was beginning to take its toll on some of the men and Lance Corporals Brown and Short, and Privates Allnutt, Dwyer, Rowley, Perrett and McArthur were left at Tantzu-Pa to recover. The next day Sergeant Thompson, Privates Coulson, Rubbock, Sykes and Thornton were left at Hou-Tien under Lieutenant Heald who himself was suffering recurrent bouts of fever.
Later, on 3rd June, and after a strenuous march of 32 miles they finally reached Paoshan at 1945 hours. They were greeted with flags flying and a band playing military music, and were lodged in the best building in town. They were given baths, new clothes and haircuts, and the Chinese General even advanced Gilkes enough money to pay his men. Then followed a grand feast, given by the General commanding Seventy-First Chinese Army.
The men began the last leg of their journey home on 5th June when they boarded lorries for a drive along the Burma Road to Kunming and thence to Yunani where the American Air Force offered to fly them to Assam at once. On 9th June, Major Gilkes stepped off the train at Manipur Road, heading for Brigade Headquarters, while the rest of his men carried on to Shillong for a well-deserved rest and hospitalisation.
Sadly, not all of the men mentioned in the column War diary were able to make the journey back to India; with Frank Rowley, Robert Brown, Alfred Short and Maurice Dwyer all perishing in the Chinese hospital at Paoshan. Stan Allnutt eventually re-joined the 13th King's at their new base, located within the Napier Barracks in Karachi.
Seen below are two maps showing 7 Column's journey through northern Burma and into the Yunnan Province of China. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
From the book, Wingate's Lost Brigade and based on the Column 7 War diary for the period:
By 23rd May, the column was reunited with its commander at Tantzu-Pa. A message had been sent to the nearest Chinese Divisional Headquarters and a couple of days later the reply came back that three officers should proceed to the headquarters and make arrangements for the movement of the rest of the column. Gilkes decided to take Petersen and Cottrell with him and before he left he gave Commander Wong, the guerrilla commander, a present of 30 rifles, two tommy guns, a revolver, 1,500 rounds of ammunition and ten grenades. The old veteran was very pleased as his men only had one rifle between every six men. As his men were now under Chinese protection, Gilkes considered it only reasonable to help their new Allies in view of the food and assistance given to them. Before they departed the commander told them, 'We are glad to meet Allied Officers who neither have creases in their trousers, nor ask for beds on which to sleep.'
The journey was beginning to take its toll on some of the men and Lance Corporals Brown and Short, and Privates Allnutt, Dwyer, Rowley, Perrett and McArthur were left at Tantzu-Pa to recover. The next day Sergeant Thompson, Privates Coulson, Rubbock, Sykes and Thornton were left at Hou-Tien under Lieutenant Heald who himself was suffering recurrent bouts of fever.
Later, on 3rd June, and after a strenuous march of 32 miles they finally reached Paoshan at 1945 hours. They were greeted with flags flying and a band playing military music, and were lodged in the best building in town. They were given baths, new clothes and haircuts, and the Chinese General even advanced Gilkes enough money to pay his men. Then followed a grand feast, given by the General commanding Seventy-First Chinese Army.
The men began the last leg of their journey home on 5th June when they boarded lorries for a drive along the Burma Road to Kunming and thence to Yunani where the American Air Force offered to fly them to Assam at once. On 9th June, Major Gilkes stepped off the train at Manipur Road, heading for Brigade Headquarters, while the rest of his men carried on to Shillong for a well-deserved rest and hospitalisation.
Sadly, not all of the men mentioned in the column War diary were able to make the journey back to India; with Frank Rowley, Robert Brown, Alfred Short and Maurice Dwyer all perishing in the Chinese hospital at Paoshan. Stan Allnutt eventually re-joined the 13th King's at their new base, located within the Napier Barracks in Karachi.
Seen below are two maps showing 7 Column's journey through northern Burma and into the Yunnan Province of China. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Stan Allnutt remained with the battalion at Karachi for the rest of his war service. On the 30th January 1944, he was mentioned in the 13th King's War diary as having competed in the battalion's Down the Range shooting competition and had finished in third place alongside his partner, Corporal Basson in the Light Machine Gun category. Many of the original soldiers from the 13th King's, those who had made the voyage to India aboard the troopship Oronsay in late 1941, were repatriated to the United Kingdom in August 1945. It would seem likely that Stanley was amongst these men.
To conclude this story, I would like to transcribe the testimony of Pte. Charles Aves, as he remembered the friends and companions from his time with the 13th King's during the years of WW2. His words, taken from the pages of the Burma Star Association magazine, Dekho! in 1993, truly show the strong bond of comradeship built up between these men during those difficult and sometimes tragic times:
I would like to dedicate these memoirs; they are not complete, but I think there is sufficient there to state my own position. I would like to dedicate them to my friends from that time.
Dick Manion, who introduced me to many of the great tenor operatic arias and shared the monsoons with me. Freddy Raffo, a great footballer, and the first northerner to offer me friendship. Stan Allnutt, who remained a friend all through and helped me with his (Burmese) linguistic skills. David Ogden, tenor saxophonist from Irlam and Cadishead, patient, tolerant, logical and deep thinking, I always hoped some of that rubbed off on me. David Hastings, Captain, killed in the Irrawaddy crossing, my first experience in meeting an officer and a gentleman.
Smudger Smith, an honourable private, a dustman in real life. One of the eleven who stayed and didn't run. Extremely religious and helped us each day with a verse from the bible. A very kind man. Corporal Bert Fitton, left-half company football team, helped Lt.-Colonel Cooke and the sick and the wounded into the only get out plane. Found himself locked in and about to take off, pleaded with the pilot to let him out. I wonder if his family ever knew about that? I was on patrol with him once, just he and I. He was too brave for me and I had tears when I heard of his death.
There are many more now I come to think of it. But we will finish with Corporal Stan Hickman, who stopped me running away when he said don't go. I've always been pleased that I did not run away, but it really wasn't my fault. Stan Hickman was good man to be with.
To conclude this story, I would like to transcribe the testimony of Pte. Charles Aves, as he remembered the friends and companions from his time with the 13th King's during the years of WW2. His words, taken from the pages of the Burma Star Association magazine, Dekho! in 1993, truly show the strong bond of comradeship built up between these men during those difficult and sometimes tragic times:
I would like to dedicate these memoirs; they are not complete, but I think there is sufficient there to state my own position. I would like to dedicate them to my friends from that time.
Dick Manion, who introduced me to many of the great tenor operatic arias and shared the monsoons with me. Freddy Raffo, a great footballer, and the first northerner to offer me friendship. Stan Allnutt, who remained a friend all through and helped me with his (Burmese) linguistic skills. David Ogden, tenor saxophonist from Irlam and Cadishead, patient, tolerant, logical and deep thinking, I always hoped some of that rubbed off on me. David Hastings, Captain, killed in the Irrawaddy crossing, my first experience in meeting an officer and a gentleman.
Smudger Smith, an honourable private, a dustman in real life. One of the eleven who stayed and didn't run. Extremely religious and helped us each day with a verse from the bible. A very kind man. Corporal Bert Fitton, left-half company football team, helped Lt.-Colonel Cooke and the sick and the wounded into the only get out plane. Found himself locked in and about to take off, pleaded with the pilot to let him out. I wonder if his family ever knew about that? I was on patrol with him once, just he and I. He was too brave for me and I had tears when I heard of his death.
There are many more now I come to think of it. But we will finish with Corporal Stan Hickman, who stopped me running away when he said don't go. I've always been pleased that I did not run away, but it really wasn't my fault. Stan Hickman was good man to be with.
Pte. Arthur Almond.
ALMOND, ARTHUR
Pte. 3780082 Arthur Almond travelled to India with the original 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment aboard the troopship 'Oronsay' in December 1941. He was posted to Wingate's Brigade Head Quarters on Operation Longcloth and was last seen on the eastern banks of the Irrawaddy on the 30th March 1943. Arthur was captured by the Japanese on the 30th April, close to the small Burmese village of Twinnge and was eventually transported to Rangoon Jail where he was given the POW number 316. Pte. Almond was liberated with some of his Chindit colleagues near the Burmese town of Pegu on the 29th April 1945.
On his return to the United Kingdom he assisted the Army Investigation Bureau based at the Blue Coat School, Wavertree in Liverpool, by giving information about many of the men missing and lost on the first Chindit expedition. From the various documents detailing Arthur's time in Burma, his Army service number is sometimes recorded as 3789082 as opposed to 3780082.
To read more about his time with Wingate's Brigade HQ and his possible membership of Captain Graham Hosegood's dispersal party, please click on the following link and scroll down towards the foot of the page.
In March 2016, I was fortunate to receive an email contact from Jo Walsh, the great niece of Pte. Arthur Almond:
Dear Steve,
Thank you so much for your wonderful website which has settled a family argument that has been running now for over 40 years, maybe even longer. I am the great niece of Private Arthur Almond, whom I see from your website was captured with Graham Hosegood. Uncle Arthur died in 1973 or 1974 at about the age of 65. Sadly, he had only just retired and died of bowel cancer which may have been in part due to what happened to him in Rangoon Jail.
I was about 14 when he died. I saw him all the time because after the war he came to live with my own Gran, who was his sister. My Gran was a widow and lived with her two children one of whom was my father, in a council house in Burnage an area to the south of Manchester city centre. We stayed there a lot at weekends, but Uncle Arthur rarely spoke to us other than when he came downstairs to go out in the morning, when he would say "morning" and exactly the same when he came back in the evening. Otherwise he used to remain in his room only venturing downstairs to eat in the kitchen or use the toilet.
My cousins and I were told he had been a Japanese POW and that his fingernails had been pulled out because he was a Signaller and Radio Operator. I am afraid to say that we spent all our time trying to catch a glimpse of these and indeed they were jagged stumps of nails. However, he did become a "parky" after the war and this would have been hard on his hands too.
At Christmas, when he came to our house , he would speak a little and we remember him saying after a few drinks, that the mules were the heroes in Burma. My Aunt recalls him saying that he survived being a prisoner of war because he came from a very poor family and hadn't been used to eating much food anyway, and it was those who thought of pork chops and were used to lots of food who found it hard and sometimes perished.
We were all aware that he had been captured and that he had said he was a Chindit. He also said he was attached to Ord Wingate's group too. That was pretty much all we ever knew. My mother always believed that he couldn't have been a Chindit, because he was too small and not tough enough. Well your website has proved that he clearly was extremely tough and that he was indeed a Chindit.
Sadly, his experience as a POW resonated throughout the rest of his life. He was a very solitary figure and tended to hoard everything he found during his workdays at the park, storing everything in his very small room at home. When he died my father found his demob suit and some old bully beef in his wardrobe, along with many other odd items. He was clearly suffering from what we now know as PTSD, but of course there was no help on offer back then.
The only other thing I remember is reading a beautifully written letter to my Gran which Arthur had sent home from India. He was a short man, with a slim wiry build and very quick when he walked. We now know he was a very tough man, I feel so proud him. Learning more about Uncle Arthur, has made me realise what a saint my Gran was too. How typical of her to take in and look after her step-brother after his terrible experiences in WW2. Thank you so much for what you have done in ensuring these men are remembered.
Jo's memories of her uncle resonated strongly with my own thoughts in relation to those Chindits who returned home to their families and everyday lives, and how their experiences in Burma and as prisoners of war affected them as men from that moment on. Like many other soldiers, Arthur, seemingly fortunate to survive his time in Rangoon Jail, would carry the experience with him for the rest of his life and suffer the emotions associated with his ordeal, conditions such as 'survivors syndrome.'
After the war, Arthur Almond assisted the Army Investigation Bureau in their attempt to discover what had happened to other casualties from the first Wingate expedition. This included a witness statement, where he listed the other men with whom he had shared his time as a prisoner of war. Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to Pte. Almond, including these witness statement documents. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jo Walsh for all her help in bringing the story of her Uncle Arthur to these website pages.
Pte. 3780082 Arthur Almond travelled to India with the original 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment aboard the troopship 'Oronsay' in December 1941. He was posted to Wingate's Brigade Head Quarters on Operation Longcloth and was last seen on the eastern banks of the Irrawaddy on the 30th March 1943. Arthur was captured by the Japanese on the 30th April, close to the small Burmese village of Twinnge and was eventually transported to Rangoon Jail where he was given the POW number 316. Pte. Almond was liberated with some of his Chindit colleagues near the Burmese town of Pegu on the 29th April 1945.
On his return to the United Kingdom he assisted the Army Investigation Bureau based at the Blue Coat School, Wavertree in Liverpool, by giving information about many of the men missing and lost on the first Chindit expedition. From the various documents detailing Arthur's time in Burma, his Army service number is sometimes recorded as 3789082 as opposed to 3780082.
To read more about his time with Wingate's Brigade HQ and his possible membership of Captain Graham Hosegood's dispersal party, please click on the following link and scroll down towards the foot of the page.
In March 2016, I was fortunate to receive an email contact from Jo Walsh, the great niece of Pte. Arthur Almond:
Dear Steve,
Thank you so much for your wonderful website which has settled a family argument that has been running now for over 40 years, maybe even longer. I am the great niece of Private Arthur Almond, whom I see from your website was captured with Graham Hosegood. Uncle Arthur died in 1973 or 1974 at about the age of 65. Sadly, he had only just retired and died of bowel cancer which may have been in part due to what happened to him in Rangoon Jail.
I was about 14 when he died. I saw him all the time because after the war he came to live with my own Gran, who was his sister. My Gran was a widow and lived with her two children one of whom was my father, in a council house in Burnage an area to the south of Manchester city centre. We stayed there a lot at weekends, but Uncle Arthur rarely spoke to us other than when he came downstairs to go out in the morning, when he would say "morning" and exactly the same when he came back in the evening. Otherwise he used to remain in his room only venturing downstairs to eat in the kitchen or use the toilet.
My cousins and I were told he had been a Japanese POW and that his fingernails had been pulled out because he was a Signaller and Radio Operator. I am afraid to say that we spent all our time trying to catch a glimpse of these and indeed they were jagged stumps of nails. However, he did become a "parky" after the war and this would have been hard on his hands too.
At Christmas, when he came to our house , he would speak a little and we remember him saying after a few drinks, that the mules were the heroes in Burma. My Aunt recalls him saying that he survived being a prisoner of war because he came from a very poor family and hadn't been used to eating much food anyway, and it was those who thought of pork chops and were used to lots of food who found it hard and sometimes perished.
We were all aware that he had been captured and that he had said he was a Chindit. He also said he was attached to Ord Wingate's group too. That was pretty much all we ever knew. My mother always believed that he couldn't have been a Chindit, because he was too small and not tough enough. Well your website has proved that he clearly was extremely tough and that he was indeed a Chindit.
Sadly, his experience as a POW resonated throughout the rest of his life. He was a very solitary figure and tended to hoard everything he found during his workdays at the park, storing everything in his very small room at home. When he died my father found his demob suit and some old bully beef in his wardrobe, along with many other odd items. He was clearly suffering from what we now know as PTSD, but of course there was no help on offer back then.
The only other thing I remember is reading a beautifully written letter to my Gran which Arthur had sent home from India. He was a short man, with a slim wiry build and very quick when he walked. We now know he was a very tough man, I feel so proud him. Learning more about Uncle Arthur, has made me realise what a saint my Gran was too. How typical of her to take in and look after her step-brother after his terrible experiences in WW2. Thank you so much for what you have done in ensuring these men are remembered.
Jo's memories of her uncle resonated strongly with my own thoughts in relation to those Chindits who returned home to their families and everyday lives, and how their experiences in Burma and as prisoners of war affected them as men from that moment on. Like many other soldiers, Arthur, seemingly fortunate to survive his time in Rangoon Jail, would carry the experience with him for the rest of his life and suffer the emotions associated with his ordeal, conditions such as 'survivors syndrome.'
After the war, Arthur Almond assisted the Army Investigation Bureau in their attempt to discover what had happened to other casualties from the first Wingate expedition. This included a witness statement, where he listed the other men with whom he had shared his time as a prisoner of war. Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to Pte. Almond, including these witness statement documents. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jo Walsh for all her help in bringing the story of her Uncle Arthur to these website pages.
Cap badge of 2 Gurkha Rifles.
ANDA RAM GURUNG
Rank: Jemadar
Service No: 1033
Date of Death: 24/06/1943
Age: 34
Regiment/Service: 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles).
Memorial: Face 57 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2503458/ANDA%20RAM%20GURUNG
Chindit Column: 3
Other details:
Anda Ram Gurung was the son of Dharam Sing and Sarkiseon, of Ghan Pokhra in Nepal. He was a junior platoon commander within the Gurkha Section of 3 Column led by Captain George Silcock. This unsung hero of Mike Calvert's unit led his men with great commitment and passion, gaining the well-meaning nickname of Under Arm from the British Gurkha officers in the column. Jemadar Anda Ram Gurung took control of a section of men at the Nankan rail station engagement with the Japanese on the 6th March 1943. He led his men in support of another Gurkha soldier, Subedar Kumba Sing, as he attempted to deal with an enemy ambush on the northern outskirts of the town.
Lieutenant Harold James, also a member of 3 Column on Operation Longcloth, remembered the young and trustworthy Jemadar in his book, Across the Threshold of Battle:
I was glad to be given a decent job and also that 13 Platoon was to be in my charge. The platoon's Gurkha Officer was Jemadar Anda Ram Gurung. He was universally liked and affectionately called 'Under Arm'. Slim, plucky, ugly but with a transforming smile when he laughed, which was very often, he was a man I came to know well and could really trust.
Sadly, having successfully reached the safety of India with 3 Column in April, Anda Ram Gurung later succumbed to a severe bout of malignant malaria whilst at home in Nepal and died on 24th June 1943. He is remembered upon Face 57 of the Rangoon Memorial, located as the centre piece of Taukkyan War Cemetery on the outskirts of Rangoon.
Seen below are a selection of images in relation to this short story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Jemadar
Service No: 1033
Date of Death: 24/06/1943
Age: 34
Regiment/Service: 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles).
Memorial: Face 57 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2503458/ANDA%20RAM%20GURUNG
Chindit Column: 3
Other details:
Anda Ram Gurung was the son of Dharam Sing and Sarkiseon, of Ghan Pokhra in Nepal. He was a junior platoon commander within the Gurkha Section of 3 Column led by Captain George Silcock. This unsung hero of Mike Calvert's unit led his men with great commitment and passion, gaining the well-meaning nickname of Under Arm from the British Gurkha officers in the column. Jemadar Anda Ram Gurung took control of a section of men at the Nankan rail station engagement with the Japanese on the 6th March 1943. He led his men in support of another Gurkha soldier, Subedar Kumba Sing, as he attempted to deal with an enemy ambush on the northern outskirts of the town.
Lieutenant Harold James, also a member of 3 Column on Operation Longcloth, remembered the young and trustworthy Jemadar in his book, Across the Threshold of Battle:
I was glad to be given a decent job and also that 13 Platoon was to be in my charge. The platoon's Gurkha Officer was Jemadar Anda Ram Gurung. He was universally liked and affectionately called 'Under Arm'. Slim, plucky, ugly but with a transforming smile when he laughed, which was very often, he was a man I came to know well and could really trust.
Sadly, having successfully reached the safety of India with 3 Column in April, Anda Ram Gurung later succumbed to a severe bout of malignant malaria whilst at home in Nepal and died on 24th June 1943. He is remembered upon Face 57 of the Rangoon Memorial, located as the centre piece of Taukkyan War Cemetery on the outskirts of Rangoon.
Seen below are a selection of images in relation to this short story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
ANSTEE, JOHN RICHARD
Rank: Private
Service No: 5627575
Date of Death: 29/04/1943
Age:28
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 6 Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2503523/anstee,-john-richard/#&gid=null&pid=1
Chindit column: 7
Other details:
John Richard Anstee was born on the 18th May 1914 and was the son of John and Florence Anstee from Wembley in North London. John was a Gas Company employee in civilian life and married Ellen A. Evans from Stoke Newington in 1939. John Anstee was originally posted to the Devonshire Regiment early in WW2 and served with the 12th Battalion up until July 1942 before being sent overseas to India. After a short period at the British Base Reinforcement Centre in Deolali, he and a small draft of soldiers from the Devonshire Regiment were transferred to the 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment and joined 77th Brigade at their Chindit training camp in Saugor on the 26th September 1942.
To read more about the men from the Devonshire Regiment who became Chindits in September 1942, please click on the following link:
The Devonshire's Journey
John was allocated to No. 7 Column at Saugor and fell under the command of Major Kenneth Gilkes, formerly of the North Staffordshire Regiment. Gilkes was a well-liked and respected leader and during the weeks of Operation Longcloth his column generally shadowed Brigadier Wingate and his Brigade Head Quarters. Once the order to disperse was called in late March 1943, Gilkes decided to make for the Chinese borders in order to exit Burma. No. 7 Column were fully re-fitted with new uniforms and equipment in early April and enjoyed a supply drop of food and ammunition shortly after crossing the Shweli River. Gilkes was confident that his men should have the means to make the longer, but hopefully safer route out of Burma that year. The trip out into China and then hugging the borders until the grain of the country led them to Fort Hertz would take on average 4-6 weeks longer than marching directly west towards the Chindwin River.
Along the way the dispersal groups from 7 Column would endure great hardship as they combatted the wild and exposed terrain of the Chinese borders. Eventually many of Gilkes' men reached areas occupied by Chinese troops and were well treated and more importantly well fed by their Allies. On reaching their final safe haven at Yunnani the column enjoyed the very great luxury of a lift home in the USAAF Dakotas that were present in the area, arriving back in India in some cases as late as mid-June.
Sadly, John Anstee did not succeed in reaching the Chinese Yunnan Province in 1943, falling out of the line of march on the 29th April 1943 near a Kachin village named Sanpu (Map reference SH4433). Frustratingly, this is all we know of his last known movements and for this reason he was listed as missing in action as of the 29th April. When no further information came forward after the war and no grave for John Anstee could be identified, his name was added to the Rangoon War Memorial located at Taukkyan War Cemetery. This memorial contains the names of over 26,000 casualties from the Burma Campaign who have no known grave. John Anstee is also remembered within the pages of the Wembley Town Book of Remembrance, compiling the names of WW2 casualties from the local area and details of their service.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a photograph of John's inscription upon Face 6 of the Rangoon Memorial. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 5627575
Date of Death: 29/04/1943
Age:28
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 6 Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2503523/anstee,-john-richard/#&gid=null&pid=1
Chindit column: 7
Other details:
John Richard Anstee was born on the 18th May 1914 and was the son of John and Florence Anstee from Wembley in North London. John was a Gas Company employee in civilian life and married Ellen A. Evans from Stoke Newington in 1939. John Anstee was originally posted to the Devonshire Regiment early in WW2 and served with the 12th Battalion up until July 1942 before being sent overseas to India. After a short period at the British Base Reinforcement Centre in Deolali, he and a small draft of soldiers from the Devonshire Regiment were transferred to the 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment and joined 77th Brigade at their Chindit training camp in Saugor on the 26th September 1942.
To read more about the men from the Devonshire Regiment who became Chindits in September 1942, please click on the following link:
The Devonshire's Journey
John was allocated to No. 7 Column at Saugor and fell under the command of Major Kenneth Gilkes, formerly of the North Staffordshire Regiment. Gilkes was a well-liked and respected leader and during the weeks of Operation Longcloth his column generally shadowed Brigadier Wingate and his Brigade Head Quarters. Once the order to disperse was called in late March 1943, Gilkes decided to make for the Chinese borders in order to exit Burma. No. 7 Column were fully re-fitted with new uniforms and equipment in early April and enjoyed a supply drop of food and ammunition shortly after crossing the Shweli River. Gilkes was confident that his men should have the means to make the longer, but hopefully safer route out of Burma that year. The trip out into China and then hugging the borders until the grain of the country led them to Fort Hertz would take on average 4-6 weeks longer than marching directly west towards the Chindwin River.
Along the way the dispersal groups from 7 Column would endure great hardship as they combatted the wild and exposed terrain of the Chinese borders. Eventually many of Gilkes' men reached areas occupied by Chinese troops and were well treated and more importantly well fed by their Allies. On reaching their final safe haven at Yunnani the column enjoyed the very great luxury of a lift home in the USAAF Dakotas that were present in the area, arriving back in India in some cases as late as mid-June.
Sadly, John Anstee did not succeed in reaching the Chinese Yunnan Province in 1943, falling out of the line of march on the 29th April 1943 near a Kachin village named Sanpu (Map reference SH4433). Frustratingly, this is all we know of his last known movements and for this reason he was listed as missing in action as of the 29th April. When no further information came forward after the war and no grave for John Anstee could be identified, his name was added to the Rangoon War Memorial located at Taukkyan War Cemetery. This memorial contains the names of over 26,000 casualties from the Burma Campaign who have no known grave. John Anstee is also remembered within the pages of the Wembley Town Book of Remembrance, compiling the names of WW2 casualties from the local area and details of their service.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a photograph of John's inscription upon Face 6 of the Rangoon Memorial. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
ARRIES, MANSFIELD ROBERT
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 843526
Date of Death: 30/04/1943
Age:26
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2503698/ARRIES,%20MANSFIELD%20ROBERT
Chindit column: Northern Group Head Quarters.
Other details:
Lance Corporal Mansfield Arries was born in Morpeth, Northumberland during the first quarter of 1917. He married Annie Eastley in the first quarter of 1936 and was originally a soldier with the Royal Artillery, holding a post at the Royal Citadel in Plymouth from before the years of WW2. It would seem by all accounts that Gunner Mansfield was a bit of a scallywag; from the pages of the Western Morning News dated 2nd April 1938:
Charged with having stolen two cheques to the value of 4d. Mansfield Robert Arries aged 21, a Gunner stationed at the Royal Citadel, Plymouth, was remanded in the charge of the Military authorities for one week by Plymouth Magistrates yesterday. Detective Sergeant Cheffers gave evidence of the arrest and in reply to Superintendent W.T. Hutchings said additional charges would be preferred.
Three years later, Mansfield was in trouble again. From the Western Times dated 26th September 1941and under the headline,
Borrowed Car Leads to Summonses:
A kindly act had an unfortunate sequel for a soldier and car owner, who were summoned at Wonford Sessions (Exeter) on Tuesday. The soldier, Pte. Mansfield Robert Arries, borrowed a car from Herbert Frank Baker, a Home guard instructor from Otterton. Arries wife was seriously ill in hospital, and she wanted clothing brought from her home in Plympton. The soldier was returning from Plympton when the car ran out of petrol at Exminister. Police Constable Clements asked Arries if he was in trouble. In the course of the conversation the soldier gave a false name, but afterwards owned up that he was driving a borrowed car, for which he had neither licence nor third party insurance cover.
Defending, Mr. TJW. Templeman described the facts as unusual, and asked the Bench not to deprive either defendant from holding a driving licence. The Justices heeded the plea, but fined Baker £3 for permitting the soldier to drive the car when not covered by insurance. They then fined Arries £1 for driving the car while unlicensed and having no insurance. "In some ways we are sorry for you both," said the Chairman (Mrs. Willing), "but there are other people to be considered, and if there had been an accident while this car was uninsured the consequences would have been serious."
From the pages of the Western Morning News dated 14th October 1941 and under the headline,
Radio Set Theft, Soldier Sent to Prison at Exmouth:
For stealing a wireless set value £7 7s. the property of Pte. H. Harvey on March 25th last. Pte. Mansfield Robert Arries was sentenced to one month's hard labour at Exmouth yesterday, with a case of stealing a wristlet watch value £2 to be taken into consideration. Inspector Abrahams said that Pte. Harvey was formerly billeted at Exmouth and was transferred to the Plymouth District. He owned a wireless set and asked a Sgt. Hancock to send it on to him. On March 25th, hearing that the accused was going to Plymouth on leave the Sergeant asked him to deliver the set to Harvey. Harvey did not receive the wireless set and inquiries showed that Arries had sold it to a wireless dealer from Exeter for £1. The theft of the watch by Arries from a comrade was a mean trick. He took the watch to Exeter, and had it put into a new case.
Not long after his release from Exmouth Jail, Mansfield was posted overseas to India and eventually transferred to the 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment at Secunderabad. He became part of Northern Group Head Quarters on Operation Longcloth under the command of Lt-Colonel S.A. Cooke formerly of the Lincolnshire Regiment. It is believed that before his transfer to the King's, that Pte. Arries had served on the North West Frontier in some capacity.
Mansfield Arries became a casualty on Operation Longcloth during 8 Column's engagement with the Japanese at the Kaukkwe Chaung, a fast flowing river close to the village of Okthaik. From a witness statement given by several Chindit comrades after retuning to India in 1943:
The above mentioned British Other Rank (Arries) was reported as missing and wounded after an engagement on the Kaukkwe Chaung, half a mile east of Okthaik on the 30th April 1943. No. 7011253 RSM W. Livingstone stated that shortly after firing had opened at 16.15hrs., he saw L/Cpl. Arries lying on the ground saying as he did so, "they've hit me." He was still lying on the ground when the RSM last saw him. L/Cpl. F. Lea stated that he saw Arries lying on the ground; his fingers moved slightly for a few seconds and after that he lay motionless. Parties were in the area till that evening, but did not see L/Cpl. Arries. Statement certified as true by Lt. G.H. Borrow, 13th King's Regiment.
To read more about the battle at the Kaukkwe Chaung, please click on the following link: Frank Lea, Ellis Grundy and the Kaukkwe Chaung
From another statement, this time from returning POW, Corporal Fred Morgan of 7 Column:
The last time I saw Arries (who was six foot tall with a ruddy complexion) was on the east side of the Irrawaddy River on the 29th March 1943. He was in Company HQ with the C.O. from the 13th King's. I believe he served in India before the war on the Frontier.
Pte. Mansfield Arries was never heard of again after the engagement with the Japanese at the Kaukkwe Chaung and his body was never recovered after the war. For this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, located within the grounds of Taukkyan War Cemetery in Burma. The memorial contains the names of over 26,000 casualties from the Burma Campaign who have no known grave. Seen below is a Gallery of images in relation to this story, please click on any image to bring forward on the page.
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 843526
Date of Death: 30/04/1943
Age:26
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2503698/ARRIES,%20MANSFIELD%20ROBERT
Chindit column: Northern Group Head Quarters.
Other details:
Lance Corporal Mansfield Arries was born in Morpeth, Northumberland during the first quarter of 1917. He married Annie Eastley in the first quarter of 1936 and was originally a soldier with the Royal Artillery, holding a post at the Royal Citadel in Plymouth from before the years of WW2. It would seem by all accounts that Gunner Mansfield was a bit of a scallywag; from the pages of the Western Morning News dated 2nd April 1938:
Charged with having stolen two cheques to the value of 4d. Mansfield Robert Arries aged 21, a Gunner stationed at the Royal Citadel, Plymouth, was remanded in the charge of the Military authorities for one week by Plymouth Magistrates yesterday. Detective Sergeant Cheffers gave evidence of the arrest and in reply to Superintendent W.T. Hutchings said additional charges would be preferred.
Three years later, Mansfield was in trouble again. From the Western Times dated 26th September 1941and under the headline,
Borrowed Car Leads to Summonses:
A kindly act had an unfortunate sequel for a soldier and car owner, who were summoned at Wonford Sessions (Exeter) on Tuesday. The soldier, Pte. Mansfield Robert Arries, borrowed a car from Herbert Frank Baker, a Home guard instructor from Otterton. Arries wife was seriously ill in hospital, and she wanted clothing brought from her home in Plympton. The soldier was returning from Plympton when the car ran out of petrol at Exminister. Police Constable Clements asked Arries if he was in trouble. In the course of the conversation the soldier gave a false name, but afterwards owned up that he was driving a borrowed car, for which he had neither licence nor third party insurance cover.
Defending, Mr. TJW. Templeman described the facts as unusual, and asked the Bench not to deprive either defendant from holding a driving licence. The Justices heeded the plea, but fined Baker £3 for permitting the soldier to drive the car when not covered by insurance. They then fined Arries £1 for driving the car while unlicensed and having no insurance. "In some ways we are sorry for you both," said the Chairman (Mrs. Willing), "but there are other people to be considered, and if there had been an accident while this car was uninsured the consequences would have been serious."
From the pages of the Western Morning News dated 14th October 1941 and under the headline,
Radio Set Theft, Soldier Sent to Prison at Exmouth:
For stealing a wireless set value £7 7s. the property of Pte. H. Harvey on March 25th last. Pte. Mansfield Robert Arries was sentenced to one month's hard labour at Exmouth yesterday, with a case of stealing a wristlet watch value £2 to be taken into consideration. Inspector Abrahams said that Pte. Harvey was formerly billeted at Exmouth and was transferred to the Plymouth District. He owned a wireless set and asked a Sgt. Hancock to send it on to him. On March 25th, hearing that the accused was going to Plymouth on leave the Sergeant asked him to deliver the set to Harvey. Harvey did not receive the wireless set and inquiries showed that Arries had sold it to a wireless dealer from Exeter for £1. The theft of the watch by Arries from a comrade was a mean trick. He took the watch to Exeter, and had it put into a new case.
Not long after his release from Exmouth Jail, Mansfield was posted overseas to India and eventually transferred to the 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment at Secunderabad. He became part of Northern Group Head Quarters on Operation Longcloth under the command of Lt-Colonel S.A. Cooke formerly of the Lincolnshire Regiment. It is believed that before his transfer to the King's, that Pte. Arries had served on the North West Frontier in some capacity.
Mansfield Arries became a casualty on Operation Longcloth during 8 Column's engagement with the Japanese at the Kaukkwe Chaung, a fast flowing river close to the village of Okthaik. From a witness statement given by several Chindit comrades after retuning to India in 1943:
The above mentioned British Other Rank (Arries) was reported as missing and wounded after an engagement on the Kaukkwe Chaung, half a mile east of Okthaik on the 30th April 1943. No. 7011253 RSM W. Livingstone stated that shortly after firing had opened at 16.15hrs., he saw L/Cpl. Arries lying on the ground saying as he did so, "they've hit me." He was still lying on the ground when the RSM last saw him. L/Cpl. F. Lea stated that he saw Arries lying on the ground; his fingers moved slightly for a few seconds and after that he lay motionless. Parties were in the area till that evening, but did not see L/Cpl. Arries. Statement certified as true by Lt. G.H. Borrow, 13th King's Regiment.
To read more about the battle at the Kaukkwe Chaung, please click on the following link: Frank Lea, Ellis Grundy and the Kaukkwe Chaung
From another statement, this time from returning POW, Corporal Fred Morgan of 7 Column:
The last time I saw Arries (who was six foot tall with a ruddy complexion) was on the east side of the Irrawaddy River on the 29th March 1943. He was in Company HQ with the C.O. from the 13th King's. I believe he served in India before the war on the Frontier.
Pte. Mansfield Arries was never heard of again after the engagement with the Japanese at the Kaukkwe Chaung and his body was never recovered after the war. For this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, located within the grounds of Taukkyan War Cemetery in Burma. The memorial contains the names of over 26,000 casualties from the Burma Campaign who have no known grave. Seen below is a Gallery of images in relation to this story, please click on any image to bring forward on the page.
George Atkinson.
ATKINSON, GEORGE
Rank: Sergeant
Service No: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit column: Unknown
Other details:
In August 2020, I was delighted to receive an email contact from Judith Atkinson:
There are two photographs of my father on your Gallery ID page. Under the update for 19/10/2013, the image of Henry Ackerman, my father is standing next to him. His name was George Atkinson. Before that there is another photograph of four Sergeants possibly at Karachi. My father is on this one as well, second from the left as we look. Unfortunately, my mother did not keep much in the way of paperwork, all we have are his medals. I'm now going to try to find out more about his WW2 experience. Thank you for posting these pictures.
I replied:
Dear Judith,
Thank you for you email contact via my website in relation to your father, George Atkinson. I would very much like to know as much about George as you can tell me as he is a new name for my research; things like where he grew up, school and work. The first photograph you mention belonged to the family of Henry Ackerman, who sadly did not return home after the first Chindit expedition and died as a prisoner of war in Rangoon. The other photo came from a collection held by Chindit Dennis Brown and these were sent to me a few years ago. If you have any other photos of George, then I would very much like to see them, even if they are from later on in life. I look forward to hearing from you shortly.
Best wishes, Steve.
Judith told me:
Many thanks for your reply. I am attaching a group photograph of my father with some other soldiers and wondered if you could throw any light on the picture. We don't even know what regiment he belonged to. He was born and brought up in South Shields in County Durham. He never talked about the war and would never join any association like the Burma Star. As I watched the VJ Day 75 tributes on the TV I had doubts whether, had he been alive, he would have enjoyed watching it. Perhaps the memories from back then were so awful that not talking about it all was his way of coping. I know he suffered from malaria and can also remember hearing him having nightmares when I was young. I suppose today we would call it P.T.S.D. Both my sister and brother are older than me, I will see what they can remember of it all; if only we asked questions at the time. Thanks again, Judith.
I replied:
Hi Judith,
Thank you for sending the photograph (shown in the gallery below) to me. I can tell you a few things about it. Firstly, it was taken after the first Chindit expedition probably in late 1943 or early 1944. It was taken at Karachi, probably at the Napier Barracks, where the 13th Battalion of the King's Liverpool Regiment were based after returning from Burma.
George was with the 13th King's in 1942, which is confirmed by his presence in the other photos on my website. In the image you sent he is wearing his medal ribbons and a Senior Warrant Officer's wrist band on his right wrist. The Army insignia patch worn by all the men in the photograph is that of the Sind District (example also shown in the gallery below). This was a large area of western India (now Pakistan) of which Karachi was the capital city. The 13th King's remained at Karachi until they were disbanded in December 1945 and the majority of the men were repatriated to the UK. I would imagine that George was the senior Non Commissioned Officer in the photograph and judging by the trophy and medallions in front of the officer, my guess it would be for a shooting competition or something similar.
I hope this information will be of use. Steve
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to George Atkinson and his time with the 13th King's. Please click on any image to bring on forward on the page. I would like to thank Judith Atkinson for contacting the website and for sending the new photograph of her father and his Army comrades.
Rank: Sergeant
Service No: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit column: Unknown
Other details:
In August 2020, I was delighted to receive an email contact from Judith Atkinson:
There are two photographs of my father on your Gallery ID page. Under the update for 19/10/2013, the image of Henry Ackerman, my father is standing next to him. His name was George Atkinson. Before that there is another photograph of four Sergeants possibly at Karachi. My father is on this one as well, second from the left as we look. Unfortunately, my mother did not keep much in the way of paperwork, all we have are his medals. I'm now going to try to find out more about his WW2 experience. Thank you for posting these pictures.
I replied:
Dear Judith,
Thank you for you email contact via my website in relation to your father, George Atkinson. I would very much like to know as much about George as you can tell me as he is a new name for my research; things like where he grew up, school and work. The first photograph you mention belonged to the family of Henry Ackerman, who sadly did not return home after the first Chindit expedition and died as a prisoner of war in Rangoon. The other photo came from a collection held by Chindit Dennis Brown and these were sent to me a few years ago. If you have any other photos of George, then I would very much like to see them, even if they are from later on in life. I look forward to hearing from you shortly.
Best wishes, Steve.
Judith told me:
Many thanks for your reply. I am attaching a group photograph of my father with some other soldiers and wondered if you could throw any light on the picture. We don't even know what regiment he belonged to. He was born and brought up in South Shields in County Durham. He never talked about the war and would never join any association like the Burma Star. As I watched the VJ Day 75 tributes on the TV I had doubts whether, had he been alive, he would have enjoyed watching it. Perhaps the memories from back then were so awful that not talking about it all was his way of coping. I know he suffered from malaria and can also remember hearing him having nightmares when I was young. I suppose today we would call it P.T.S.D. Both my sister and brother are older than me, I will see what they can remember of it all; if only we asked questions at the time. Thanks again, Judith.
I replied:
Hi Judith,
Thank you for sending the photograph (shown in the gallery below) to me. I can tell you a few things about it. Firstly, it was taken after the first Chindit expedition probably in late 1943 or early 1944. It was taken at Karachi, probably at the Napier Barracks, where the 13th Battalion of the King's Liverpool Regiment were based after returning from Burma.
George was with the 13th King's in 1942, which is confirmed by his presence in the other photos on my website. In the image you sent he is wearing his medal ribbons and a Senior Warrant Officer's wrist band on his right wrist. The Army insignia patch worn by all the men in the photograph is that of the Sind District (example also shown in the gallery below). This was a large area of western India (now Pakistan) of which Karachi was the capital city. The 13th King's remained at Karachi until they were disbanded in December 1945 and the majority of the men were repatriated to the UK. I would imagine that George was the senior Non Commissioned Officer in the photograph and judging by the trophy and medallions in front of the officer, my guess it would be for a shooting competition or something similar.
I hope this information will be of use. Steve
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to George Atkinson and his time with the 13th King's. Please click on any image to bring on forward on the page. I would like to thank Judith Atkinson for contacting the website and for sending the new photograph of her father and his Army comrades.
Kirkee War Cemetery. Photo courtesy TWGPP.
AULT, NOBLE
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 3781605
Date of Death: 05/07/1943
Age: 31
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Kirkee War Cemetery, Grave Reference 9.K.15.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2189775/AULT,%20NOBLE
Chindit column: Not known.
Other details:
Lance Corporal Noble Ault was the son of John William and Annie Ault of Openshaw, Manchester and the husband of May Ault, also from Openshaw. Noble is registered as having been born in Chorlton in early 1915, after he married May Lloyd in 1935, they went to live at 4 Hughes Street, Manchester. Sadly, nothing is known about his time during Chindit training and it seems unlikely that he took part on Operation Longcloth.
Noble died on the 5th July 1943 and was buried at Kirkee War Cemetery. It is possible that he may of died of some illness contracted during training at Saugor, as Kirkee was the cemetery where most of the casualties from this period were buried. At the time of his death, the returning Chindits and the main balance of the 13th King's battalion were on leave in Bombay.
To read more about those men who died during training and were buried at Kirkee War Cemetery, please click on the link below:
Men Who Died During Training
Update 12/09/2014. From information found in the India Office records for burials, I now know that Noble Ault had transferred from the 13th King's to the British Corps of Military Police. He was serving with the Military Police in Bombay when he died, according to the burial records from a 'fractured skull and other wounds', he was originally buried at Sewree Cemetery, his funeral service was conducted by the Chaplain of Colaba, J. Ruddell.
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 3781605
Date of Death: 05/07/1943
Age: 31
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Kirkee War Cemetery, Grave Reference 9.K.15.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2189775/AULT,%20NOBLE
Chindit column: Not known.
Other details:
Lance Corporal Noble Ault was the son of John William and Annie Ault of Openshaw, Manchester and the husband of May Ault, also from Openshaw. Noble is registered as having been born in Chorlton in early 1915, after he married May Lloyd in 1935, they went to live at 4 Hughes Street, Manchester. Sadly, nothing is known about his time during Chindit training and it seems unlikely that he took part on Operation Longcloth.
Noble died on the 5th July 1943 and was buried at Kirkee War Cemetery. It is possible that he may of died of some illness contracted during training at Saugor, as Kirkee was the cemetery where most of the casualties from this period were buried. At the time of his death, the returning Chindits and the main balance of the 13th King's battalion were on leave in Bombay.
To read more about those men who died during training and were buried at Kirkee War Cemetery, please click on the link below:
Men Who Died During Training
Update 12/09/2014. From information found in the India Office records for burials, I now know that Noble Ault had transferred from the 13th King's to the British Corps of Military Police. He was serving with the Military Police in Bombay when he died, according to the burial records from a 'fractured skull and other wounds', he was originally buried at Sewree Cemetery, his funeral service was conducted by the Chaplain of Colaba, J. Ruddell.
CWGC certificate for Leslie Aves.
AVES, DONALD LESLIE ERNEST
Rank: Private
Service No: 3968812
Date of Death: 23/10/1943
Age: 27
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Rangoon War Cemetery Grave reference 5. C. 5.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2259681/AVES,%20DONALD%20LESLIE%20ERNEST
Chindit column: 8
Other details:
Pte. Donald Leslie Ernest Aves, was the son of John and Phoebe Elizabeth Aves and husband of Ruby Jane Aves from Newmarket in Suffolk. Leslie, as he was more commonly known, married Ruby in the summer months of 1939 and they lived together at Warren Lodge, Old Station Road in Mildenhall. On enlistment into the British Army, Leslie was originally posted to the Welch Regiment before being transferred to the 13th Battalion, the King's (Liverpool) Regiment on arrival in India. After joining Chindit training at the Saugor Camp in the Central Provinces of the country, Leslie took his place amongst the men of 8 Column, commanded by Major Walter Purcell Scott.
From my research into the actions involving 8 Column during Operation Longcloth, I believe that Pte. Leslie Aves was one of the men lost at the Shweli River on the 1st April 1943, when the two RAF dinghies being used by the column to cross the river were accidentally cut adrift and swept downstream. Most of the men aboard these craft managed to make landfall a few miles further on, but although some succeeded in making it back to India, most fell into Japanese hands and became prisoners of war.
Here is how Major Scott remembered the incident at the Shweli River from within the pages of 8 Column's War diary:
Entry dated 1st April 1943:
Recce of the River Shweli carried out this afternoon, decided to attempt a crossing tonight at point 2563, Wingba Cliffs. Column moved down to the riverbanks at dusk. Rope was got across the fast flowing near side. Captain Williams, Lieutenants Hobday and Horton and 29 Other Ranks crossed to form a protective bridgehead. The next group led by Sergeant Scruton immediately got into difficulties mid-stream and had to cut the rope away from the main line. This boat drifted away downstream. The crossing was subsequently called off. Captain Williams’s party was ordered to move off west under his leadership.
To read more about this incident and the men involved, please click on the following link: Eric Allen and the Lost Boat on the Shweli
Unfortunately, it is not known how Pte. Aves became a prisoner or war, or when he was captured. Sadly, we do know that he perished inside Block 6 of Rangoon Jail on the 23rd October 1943 and was buried in the first instance at the English Cantonment Cemetery, located in the eastern sector of the city close to the Royal Lakes. From a listing of casualties for Block 6 of the jail, Leslie Aves was recorded as being POW no. 544 inside Rangoon and states his grave reference at the Cantonment Cemetery as no. 113. On the 14th June 1946, Leslie Aves was re-interred at the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery and this is where he rests to this day.
From my searches on the internet, I was pleased to discover this mention of Leslie Aves on the website, Mildenhall Remembers, please click on the following link to read more: www.undyingmemory.net/Mildenhall/aves%20leslie.html
From the pages of the Bury Free Press and Post, dated Friday 19th October 1945 and under the headline, Roll of Honour:
Rank: Private
Service No: 3968812
Date of Death: 23/10/1943
Age: 27
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Rangoon War Cemetery Grave reference 5. C. 5.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2259681/AVES,%20DONALD%20LESLIE%20ERNEST
Chindit column: 8
Other details:
Pte. Donald Leslie Ernest Aves, was the son of John and Phoebe Elizabeth Aves and husband of Ruby Jane Aves from Newmarket in Suffolk. Leslie, as he was more commonly known, married Ruby in the summer months of 1939 and they lived together at Warren Lodge, Old Station Road in Mildenhall. On enlistment into the British Army, Leslie was originally posted to the Welch Regiment before being transferred to the 13th Battalion, the King's (Liverpool) Regiment on arrival in India. After joining Chindit training at the Saugor Camp in the Central Provinces of the country, Leslie took his place amongst the men of 8 Column, commanded by Major Walter Purcell Scott.
From my research into the actions involving 8 Column during Operation Longcloth, I believe that Pte. Leslie Aves was one of the men lost at the Shweli River on the 1st April 1943, when the two RAF dinghies being used by the column to cross the river were accidentally cut adrift and swept downstream. Most of the men aboard these craft managed to make landfall a few miles further on, but although some succeeded in making it back to India, most fell into Japanese hands and became prisoners of war.
Here is how Major Scott remembered the incident at the Shweli River from within the pages of 8 Column's War diary:
Entry dated 1st April 1943:
Recce of the River Shweli carried out this afternoon, decided to attempt a crossing tonight at point 2563, Wingba Cliffs. Column moved down to the riverbanks at dusk. Rope was got across the fast flowing near side. Captain Williams, Lieutenants Hobday and Horton and 29 Other Ranks crossed to form a protective bridgehead. The next group led by Sergeant Scruton immediately got into difficulties mid-stream and had to cut the rope away from the main line. This boat drifted away downstream. The crossing was subsequently called off. Captain Williams’s party was ordered to move off west under his leadership.
To read more about this incident and the men involved, please click on the following link: Eric Allen and the Lost Boat on the Shweli
Unfortunately, it is not known how Pte. Aves became a prisoner or war, or when he was captured. Sadly, we do know that he perished inside Block 6 of Rangoon Jail on the 23rd October 1943 and was buried in the first instance at the English Cantonment Cemetery, located in the eastern sector of the city close to the Royal Lakes. From a listing of casualties for Block 6 of the jail, Leslie Aves was recorded as being POW no. 544 inside Rangoon and states his grave reference at the Cantonment Cemetery as no. 113. On the 14th June 1946, Leslie Aves was re-interred at the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery and this is where he rests to this day.
From my searches on the internet, I was pleased to discover this mention of Leslie Aves on the website, Mildenhall Remembers, please click on the following link to read more: www.undyingmemory.net/Mildenhall/aves%20leslie.html
From the pages of the Bury Free Press and Post, dated Friday 19th October 1945 and under the headline, Roll of Honour:
In ever-loving memory of our dear son and brother, Private Donald L. E. Aves (Les), 13th King's Regiment, who died in Burma while a prisoner in Japanese hands. "Always in our thoughts." From Mum and Cecil.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Corporal George Bagot.
BAGOT, GEORGE
Private 3719102 George Bagot enlisted into the British Army in June 1942 and was posted originally to the King's Own Royal Regiment. I was fortunate to receive an email contact in January 2017, from George's son, Alan Bagot. Alan told me:
I am researching my Dad's Army records and came across your website, which included a photograph showing the Officers and NCOs from the Administration Company of the 13th King's.
My Dad, who was a bricklayer in civilian life, is the soldier standing in the back row on the far right as we look. I was hoping that we could communicate further about his time in India. Like so many other men, he never really talked about his Army days, in fact, he didn't even claim his medals for WW2.
The photograph referred to came into my possession from the collection of another soldier, Sgt. Dennis Brown. I believe that the image was taken in 1945, at the Napier Baracks in Karachi. To view the photograph in question, please click on the following link and scroll down to the second section of images: Gallery-ID Parade
After exchanging several emails, Alan sent over some very interesting and informative family photographs and documents in relation to George Bagot's service during WW2. After his initial infantry training with the King's Own Royal Regiment, George was posted overseas and voyaged to India in the summer of 1943, taking part in the 'Crossing the Line' ceremony in June that year. On the reverse of his Crossing the Line certificate, George recorded the names of some of the other soldiers with whom he shared the voyage. These included Tommy Yoxall from Garston, fellow bricklayer Pte. F. McNally from Chorley, Pte. J. Ryan from Bury, Pte. G. E. Phillips from Liverpool, W. Tait from Wigan, CSM Wheeler from Salford and Jock Huddleston, who George described as the toothless tenor from Glasgow. From other records I have come across on my research travels, I know that the first three soldiers mentioned above, all ended up serving with the 1st Battalion of the King's Regiment by November 1945.
Shortly after arriving in India, Pte. Bagot was posted to D' Company (No. 16 Platoon) of the 13th King's, linking up with the battalion at the Napier Barracks in Karachi. He was in effect, one of the many reinforcements sent to the battalion in late 1943, that replaced the numerous casualties suffered on the first Wingate expedition in Burma. The 13th King's role at Karachi centred around normal garrison duties, with some local policing of events and ceremonial occasions. The battalion also took part in further jungle warfare training. On the 24th November 1943, Pte. George Bagot sent this short message home from the King's barracks in Karachi, in the form of a standard Airgraph letter to his young son Alan:
Greetings from India Alan and Edith (George's wife). To baby Alan, from his Daddy in India with lots of love and best wishes xxxxx.
We know from his placement in the battalion's Administration Company, commanded by Captain R. Wilkinson, that George had achieved the rank of Corporal probably sometime in 1944. By the winter of 1945, he had reached the rank of Lance Sergeant and had qualified as a Physical Training Instructor, after completing the necessary courses at Ambala. This is about all the information we have in regards to George's time in India. I know that on the 29th November 1945 the 13th King's were disbanded and all remaining men were amalgamated into the 1st King's at Dehra Dun. It is unclear whether George went with them to Dehra Dun, or continued in his new role as a P.T. Instructor with another unit? We do know that although he was asked to continue his service in the Army, George decided against this and returned to the UK in 1946.
Seen below is a Gallery of images in relation to this story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Private 3719102 George Bagot enlisted into the British Army in June 1942 and was posted originally to the King's Own Royal Regiment. I was fortunate to receive an email contact in January 2017, from George's son, Alan Bagot. Alan told me:
I am researching my Dad's Army records and came across your website, which included a photograph showing the Officers and NCOs from the Administration Company of the 13th King's.
My Dad, who was a bricklayer in civilian life, is the soldier standing in the back row on the far right as we look. I was hoping that we could communicate further about his time in India. Like so many other men, he never really talked about his Army days, in fact, he didn't even claim his medals for WW2.
The photograph referred to came into my possession from the collection of another soldier, Sgt. Dennis Brown. I believe that the image was taken in 1945, at the Napier Baracks in Karachi. To view the photograph in question, please click on the following link and scroll down to the second section of images: Gallery-ID Parade
After exchanging several emails, Alan sent over some very interesting and informative family photographs and documents in relation to George Bagot's service during WW2. After his initial infantry training with the King's Own Royal Regiment, George was posted overseas and voyaged to India in the summer of 1943, taking part in the 'Crossing the Line' ceremony in June that year. On the reverse of his Crossing the Line certificate, George recorded the names of some of the other soldiers with whom he shared the voyage. These included Tommy Yoxall from Garston, fellow bricklayer Pte. F. McNally from Chorley, Pte. J. Ryan from Bury, Pte. G. E. Phillips from Liverpool, W. Tait from Wigan, CSM Wheeler from Salford and Jock Huddleston, who George described as the toothless tenor from Glasgow. From other records I have come across on my research travels, I know that the first three soldiers mentioned above, all ended up serving with the 1st Battalion of the King's Regiment by November 1945.
Shortly after arriving in India, Pte. Bagot was posted to D' Company (No. 16 Platoon) of the 13th King's, linking up with the battalion at the Napier Barracks in Karachi. He was in effect, one of the many reinforcements sent to the battalion in late 1943, that replaced the numerous casualties suffered on the first Wingate expedition in Burma. The 13th King's role at Karachi centred around normal garrison duties, with some local policing of events and ceremonial occasions. The battalion also took part in further jungle warfare training. On the 24th November 1943, Pte. George Bagot sent this short message home from the King's barracks in Karachi, in the form of a standard Airgraph letter to his young son Alan:
Greetings from India Alan and Edith (George's wife). To baby Alan, from his Daddy in India with lots of love and best wishes xxxxx.
We know from his placement in the battalion's Administration Company, commanded by Captain R. Wilkinson, that George had achieved the rank of Corporal probably sometime in 1944. By the winter of 1945, he had reached the rank of Lance Sergeant and had qualified as a Physical Training Instructor, after completing the necessary courses at Ambala. This is about all the information we have in regards to George's time in India. I know that on the 29th November 1945 the 13th King's were disbanded and all remaining men were amalgamated into the 1st King's at Dehra Dun. It is unclear whether George went with them to Dehra Dun, or continued in his new role as a P.T. Instructor with another unit? We do know that although he was asked to continue his service in the Army, George decided against this and returned to the UK in 1946.
Seen below is a Gallery of images in relation to this story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Alan (aged 4) with his Dad in 1946.
I would like to thank Alan Bagot for all his help in bringing this short narrative about his father to these website pages. I invited Alan to tell me a little more about his father and his life; here is what he had to say:
Steve, thanks for all the information you have sent about Dad, reading through your site it seems that other families have experienced much the same as me, in that their fathers never talked about their Army days when they came home; I think we can understand why.
My Dad was born on the 16th December 1912 in Blackpool and went to the Waterloo and Tyldesley Schools. On leaving school at 14, he started work as a bricklayer which he continued with until he enlisted into the Army on the 18th June 1942. He had also served in the Home Guard, guarding a railway bridge on the line into Blackpool, although Mum used to say they spent more time guarding the local pub.
I was born on the 1st June 1942 and Dad enlisted on the 12th June into the The King's Own Royal Regiment and went off for training before going to India in March of 1943. He returned home in 1946 when I was 4 years old, I can't recall too much from back then, but Mum always used to say that it had been hard for both of us while he was away. I don't know much about his war time service as he wouldn't talk about it, he went in as Private, was made up to a Corporal and came out as a Sergeant. I think the Sergeant came about because he did a short course and became a Physical Training Instructor and the Army wanted him to stay on as a regular, but after nearly four years service, he'd had enough.
On returning home he went back to his job as a bricklayer, which he did until retirement at 65. During his life he suffered from bouts of malaria which he eventually grew out of, but were distressing to witness when they came on. He was a keen fisherman both sea and freshwater, he also loved fell walking in the Lake District. I have a younger brother called Graham who was born in 1949 and took after Dad, being keen on sport, especially football and cricket. After retirement Dad took up gardening and had an allotment where he grew fruit & vegetables for the family and all the neighbours. He had a good life and enjoyed eleven years of retirement and went away on holiday to Spain several times. He worked hard for his family and we were all very happy. Dad was great outwardly, but I never really knew what he was like inside, especially after what he had been through in India and Burma. He died in 1989 aged just 76.
Steve, thanks for all the information you have sent about Dad, reading through your site it seems that other families have experienced much the same as me, in that their fathers never talked about their Army days when they came home; I think we can understand why.
My Dad was born on the 16th December 1912 in Blackpool and went to the Waterloo and Tyldesley Schools. On leaving school at 14, he started work as a bricklayer which he continued with until he enlisted into the Army on the 18th June 1942. He had also served in the Home Guard, guarding a railway bridge on the line into Blackpool, although Mum used to say they spent more time guarding the local pub.
I was born on the 1st June 1942 and Dad enlisted on the 12th June into the The King's Own Royal Regiment and went off for training before going to India in March of 1943. He returned home in 1946 when I was 4 years old, I can't recall too much from back then, but Mum always used to say that it had been hard for both of us while he was away. I don't know much about his war time service as he wouldn't talk about it, he went in as Private, was made up to a Corporal and came out as a Sergeant. I think the Sergeant came about because he did a short course and became a Physical Training Instructor and the Army wanted him to stay on as a regular, but after nearly four years service, he'd had enough.
On returning home he went back to his job as a bricklayer, which he did until retirement at 65. During his life he suffered from bouts of malaria which he eventually grew out of, but were distressing to witness when they came on. He was a keen fisherman both sea and freshwater, he also loved fell walking in the Lake District. I have a younger brother called Graham who was born in 1949 and took after Dad, being keen on sport, especially football and cricket. After retirement Dad took up gardening and had an allotment where he grew fruit & vegetables for the family and all the neighbours. He had a good life and enjoyed eleven years of retirement and went away on holiday to Spain several times. He worked hard for his family and we were all very happy. Dad was great outwardly, but I never really knew what he was like inside, especially after what he had been through in India and Burma. He died in 1989 aged just 76.
BAKER, JAMES
Rank: Private
Service No: 3780084
Date of Death: 29/03/1943
Age: 33
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2504446/baker,-james/
Chindit column: 7
Other details:
James Baker was born in September 1910 and was the son of James and Elizabeth Baker from Salford near Manchester. James became a Chindit in July 1942 and was allocated to No. 7 Column, commanded by Major Kenneth Gilkes formerly of the North Staffordshire Regiment. James was reported missing on the 29th March 1943, after a boat he was in was fired upon by a Japanese patrol from the west bank of the Irrawaddy River close to the Burmese town of Inywa.
Wingate had ordered his Brigade to disperse a few days earlier and as his own Brigade Head Quarters alongside No. 7 & No. 8 columns approached Inywa, he sent a bridgehead party across the river in small Burmese country boats they had discovered hidden on the eastern shoreline. As the men prepared to cross, some enemy activity was seen on the far bank. Wingate and his commanders felt that the Japanese posed little threat in their present numbers, and so pressed on with the crossing. Some lead boats did manage to get over, but others came under heavy mortar and machine gun fire and began to get into difficulties.
One such boat contained Captain David Hastings of the King's Regiment along with Sergeant William Royle, Corporal Harold Hodgkinson and Ptes. James Baker and Edward Kitchen. This boat was struggling to make the western bank and was continuously under heavy fire from the Japanese positions. From witness statements given after the operation, it would seem that Hastings, Royle and the other men in the boat did not reach the west bank and were probably killed that day. Here is an eye witness account from Pte. J.S. Critchley of the 13th King's and No. 7 Column, given in late March 1944:
"About three weeks before I was left behind by the column, I saw Captain David Hastings together with Sgt. W. Royle, both of the 13th Bn. King's Liverpool Regiment, carried down the Irrawaddy on a dinghy. They were never heard of again. This incident took place during an opposed crossing of the Irrawaddy near Inyawa."
Another witness statement in relation to Captain Hastings and his fate at Inywa was given by Major Kenneth Gilkes, the commander of No. 7 Column in 1943. Gilkes remembered:
"The last time I saw this officer he was with Sgt. Royle and Cpl. Hodgkinson on the 28th March. They were detailed to cross the Irrawaddy and were not seen again after they had got half way across. We were engaged by the enemy upstream and I imagine their boat was carried downstream by the strong current. To the best of my knowledge the boat was not sunk."
The crossing at Inywa was duly abandoned, the remaining columns and Wingate's HQ melted back into the jungle on the eastern banks of the Irrawaddy. The three units agreed there and then to split up and make their own way back to Allied held territory individually. No. 7 Column retraced their steps and set off toward the Chinese Yunnan borders. No. 8 Column under Major Scott eventually crossed the Irrawaddy two weeks later with the help of some native boats, while Wingate held back in the jungle at Inywa for over a week, hoping that the Japanese activity in the area would die down and their progress to India could resume unmolested.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a photograph of the Irrawaddy River's confluence with the Shweli River at Inywa taken in 2016. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. To read more about the abandoned crossing at Inywa and in particular the boat containing Captain Hastings, James Baker and the other men, please click on the following link: Captain David Hastings
Rank: Private
Service No: 3780084
Date of Death: 29/03/1943
Age: 33
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2504446/baker,-james/
Chindit column: 7
Other details:
James Baker was born in September 1910 and was the son of James and Elizabeth Baker from Salford near Manchester. James became a Chindit in July 1942 and was allocated to No. 7 Column, commanded by Major Kenneth Gilkes formerly of the North Staffordshire Regiment. James was reported missing on the 29th March 1943, after a boat he was in was fired upon by a Japanese patrol from the west bank of the Irrawaddy River close to the Burmese town of Inywa.
Wingate had ordered his Brigade to disperse a few days earlier and as his own Brigade Head Quarters alongside No. 7 & No. 8 columns approached Inywa, he sent a bridgehead party across the river in small Burmese country boats they had discovered hidden on the eastern shoreline. As the men prepared to cross, some enemy activity was seen on the far bank. Wingate and his commanders felt that the Japanese posed little threat in their present numbers, and so pressed on with the crossing. Some lead boats did manage to get over, but others came under heavy mortar and machine gun fire and began to get into difficulties.
One such boat contained Captain David Hastings of the King's Regiment along with Sergeant William Royle, Corporal Harold Hodgkinson and Ptes. James Baker and Edward Kitchen. This boat was struggling to make the western bank and was continuously under heavy fire from the Japanese positions. From witness statements given after the operation, it would seem that Hastings, Royle and the other men in the boat did not reach the west bank and were probably killed that day. Here is an eye witness account from Pte. J.S. Critchley of the 13th King's and No. 7 Column, given in late March 1944:
"About three weeks before I was left behind by the column, I saw Captain David Hastings together with Sgt. W. Royle, both of the 13th Bn. King's Liverpool Regiment, carried down the Irrawaddy on a dinghy. They were never heard of again. This incident took place during an opposed crossing of the Irrawaddy near Inyawa."
Another witness statement in relation to Captain Hastings and his fate at Inywa was given by Major Kenneth Gilkes, the commander of No. 7 Column in 1943. Gilkes remembered:
"The last time I saw this officer he was with Sgt. Royle and Cpl. Hodgkinson on the 28th March. They were detailed to cross the Irrawaddy and were not seen again after they had got half way across. We were engaged by the enemy upstream and I imagine their boat was carried downstream by the strong current. To the best of my knowledge the boat was not sunk."
The crossing at Inywa was duly abandoned, the remaining columns and Wingate's HQ melted back into the jungle on the eastern banks of the Irrawaddy. The three units agreed there and then to split up and make their own way back to Allied held territory individually. No. 7 Column retraced their steps and set off toward the Chinese Yunnan borders. No. 8 Column under Major Scott eventually crossed the Irrawaddy two weeks later with the help of some native boats, while Wingate held back in the jungle at Inywa for over a week, hoping that the Japanese activity in the area would die down and their progress to India could resume unmolested.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a photograph of the Irrawaddy River's confluence with the Shweli River at Inywa taken in 2016. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. To read more about the abandoned crossing at Inywa and in particular the boat containing Captain Hastings, James Baker and the other men, please click on the following link: Captain David Hastings
As mentioned previously, James Baker was officially reported missing in action as of the 29th March 1943 and last seen at the Irrawaddy River. His body was never recovered after the war and for this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial located within the grounds of Taukkyan War Cemetery.
On the 24th July 1943, another former member of No. 7 Column on Operation Longcloth, CSM 3188508 Andrew Burns gave a witness statement in relation to Pte. James Baker and his Chindit comrades, William Royle and Edward Kitchen:
I was CSM of No. 7 Column during the Wingate Burma expedition. During the morning of 29th March, 7 Column with other Brigade troops attempted to cross the Irrawaddy River from east to west just below the Shweli junction. A number of troops succeeded in crossing when the Japanese appeared on the west bank and the crossing was abandoned.
I had seen the above mentioned men on the east bank that morning, but they were not present when the remainder of 7 Column dispersed eastwards again that same day. I know that part of the column succeeded in crossing the river and proceeded westwards to Assam, but the above mentioned men were not with any of these parties. It is assumed therefore that they were missing due to enemy action on this day (29th). The circumstances in which they went missing are not known, or whether they crossed the river or not, as no one actually saw them after the early morning.
They possessed arms, ammunition and other equipment but very few rations. They were at that point, about eighteen days march from the Chindwin River and nothing has been heard of them since.
Signed A. Burns (King's Liverpool Regiment).
Seen below is a final gallery of images in relation to James Baker and his Chindit pathway in 1943, including a photograph of his name upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial and the three pages of CSM Burns witness statement. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
On the 24th July 1943, another former member of No. 7 Column on Operation Longcloth, CSM 3188508 Andrew Burns gave a witness statement in relation to Pte. James Baker and his Chindit comrades, William Royle and Edward Kitchen:
I was CSM of No. 7 Column during the Wingate Burma expedition. During the morning of 29th March, 7 Column with other Brigade troops attempted to cross the Irrawaddy River from east to west just below the Shweli junction. A number of troops succeeded in crossing when the Japanese appeared on the west bank and the crossing was abandoned.
I had seen the above mentioned men on the east bank that morning, but they were not present when the remainder of 7 Column dispersed eastwards again that same day. I know that part of the column succeeded in crossing the river and proceeded westwards to Assam, but the above mentioned men were not with any of these parties. It is assumed therefore that they were missing due to enemy action on this day (29th). The circumstances in which they went missing are not known, or whether they crossed the river or not, as no one actually saw them after the early morning.
They possessed arms, ammunition and other equipment but very few rations. They were at that point, about eighteen days march from the Chindwin River and nothing has been heard of them since.
Signed A. Burns (King's Liverpool Regiment).
Seen below is a final gallery of images in relation to James Baker and his Chindit pathway in 1943, including a photograph of his name upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial and the three pages of CSM Burns witness statement. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
BALDWIN, EDGAR
Rank: Private
Service No: 5116537
Date of Death: 20/04/1943
Age: 28
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2504634/baldwin,-edgar/#&gid=null&pid=1
Chindit column: 5
Other details:
Edgar Baldwin was born on the 24th April 1915 and was the son of Ellen Baldwin and brother of Bertie Baldwin from Hereford in the west country of England. He was employed as an agricultural worker before the war and on enlistment was posted to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. After being sent overseas in 1942, Edgar and a small draft of Warwick's were transferred to the 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment that autumn, joining the ranks of No. 5 Column at the Saugor training camp on the 26th September.
No. 5 Column were commanded by Major Bernard Fergusson formerly of the Black Watch Regiment and had one significant objective on Operation Longcloth, the demolition of the railway and gorge at Bonchaung. Edgar Baldwin would have participated in the actions at Bonchaung and indeed all of 5 Column's adventures over the coming weeks. On the official lists of the missing, he is stated as having been lost (20th April 1943) on the line of march towards Fort Hertz, a town still held by the Allies in northern Burma.
Major Fergusson and his column had fought a major engagement with the Japanese on the 28th March, at a place called Hintha. After breaking away from the clash at Hintha, the column were ambushed the next morning as they headed north towards the Irrawaddy River in the hope of re-joining the main body of the Chindit Brigade. During this second action the Japanese managed to cut across the column's line and around 100 men were separated from their comrades.
On the 3rd April, the lost men from No. 5 Column were extremely fortunate to bump into a party from No. 7 Column close to the Shweli River. Major Gilkes, the 7 Column commander took these men under his wing and distributed them amongst his own pre-arranged dispersal parties. He had already made the decision that his column would attempt to exit Burma via the northern Kachin territories and make for either Fort Hertz in the far north of the country, or the Chinese borders.
For the stragglers recently lost to 5 Column, this much longer dispersal journey proved too much and many dropped out as the rigours and strains of the march took their toll. According to records written by the Army Graves Registration Unit after the end of the Burma campaign: Pte. Edgar Baldwin was lost on the 20th April 1943, whilst making his way to Fort Hertz from the Kachin Hills. No grave or final resting place was ever found for Edgar and for this reason he is remembered upon the Rangoon Memorial, located within the grounds of Taukkyan War Cemetery.
On the 19th November 1945, Pte. Norman Fowler who was with Edgar Baldwin during the dispersal march compiled a letter listing several men and their last known whereabouts on Operation Longcloth:
Dear Sir,
On receiving the list of 'Missing Personnel' from the King's Regiment, 2nd Burma Campaign. I find I recollect many of the names included, but of these my information is based largely around about the time of being reported missing myself and what I pieced together whilst I was a POW in Rangoon. Also about their regimental numbers, I'm afraid I could never remember these for sure, but here is what I recall about Edgar Baldwin:
5116537 Pte. E. Baldwin. Slim built and a corn thrasher/agricultural worker from Hereford. Last seen by myself about the 20th April 1943 during the crossing of the Shweli River in a party of about 30 men. They were heading North towards Assam. Late of the 1/7th Royal Warwickshire's.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including Edgar's inscription upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. To read more about Pte. Norman Fowler and his time as a Chindit and as a prisoner of war, please click on the following link: Pte. Norman John Fowler
Rank: Private
Service No: 5116537
Date of Death: 20/04/1943
Age: 28
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2504634/baldwin,-edgar/#&gid=null&pid=1
Chindit column: 5
Other details:
Edgar Baldwin was born on the 24th April 1915 and was the son of Ellen Baldwin and brother of Bertie Baldwin from Hereford in the west country of England. He was employed as an agricultural worker before the war and on enlistment was posted to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. After being sent overseas in 1942, Edgar and a small draft of Warwick's were transferred to the 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment that autumn, joining the ranks of No. 5 Column at the Saugor training camp on the 26th September.
No. 5 Column were commanded by Major Bernard Fergusson formerly of the Black Watch Regiment and had one significant objective on Operation Longcloth, the demolition of the railway and gorge at Bonchaung. Edgar Baldwin would have participated in the actions at Bonchaung and indeed all of 5 Column's adventures over the coming weeks. On the official lists of the missing, he is stated as having been lost (20th April 1943) on the line of march towards Fort Hertz, a town still held by the Allies in northern Burma.
Major Fergusson and his column had fought a major engagement with the Japanese on the 28th March, at a place called Hintha. After breaking away from the clash at Hintha, the column were ambushed the next morning as they headed north towards the Irrawaddy River in the hope of re-joining the main body of the Chindit Brigade. During this second action the Japanese managed to cut across the column's line and around 100 men were separated from their comrades.
On the 3rd April, the lost men from No. 5 Column were extremely fortunate to bump into a party from No. 7 Column close to the Shweli River. Major Gilkes, the 7 Column commander took these men under his wing and distributed them amongst his own pre-arranged dispersal parties. He had already made the decision that his column would attempt to exit Burma via the northern Kachin territories and make for either Fort Hertz in the far north of the country, or the Chinese borders.
For the stragglers recently lost to 5 Column, this much longer dispersal journey proved too much and many dropped out as the rigours and strains of the march took their toll. According to records written by the Army Graves Registration Unit after the end of the Burma campaign: Pte. Edgar Baldwin was lost on the 20th April 1943, whilst making his way to Fort Hertz from the Kachin Hills. No grave or final resting place was ever found for Edgar and for this reason he is remembered upon the Rangoon Memorial, located within the grounds of Taukkyan War Cemetery.
On the 19th November 1945, Pte. Norman Fowler who was with Edgar Baldwin during the dispersal march compiled a letter listing several men and their last known whereabouts on Operation Longcloth:
Dear Sir,
On receiving the list of 'Missing Personnel' from the King's Regiment, 2nd Burma Campaign. I find I recollect many of the names included, but of these my information is based largely around about the time of being reported missing myself and what I pieced together whilst I was a POW in Rangoon. Also about their regimental numbers, I'm afraid I could never remember these for sure, but here is what I recall about Edgar Baldwin:
5116537 Pte. E. Baldwin. Slim built and a corn thrasher/agricultural worker from Hereford. Last seen by myself about the 20th April 1943 during the crossing of the Shweli River in a party of about 30 men. They were heading North towards Assam. Late of the 1/7th Royal Warwickshire's.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including Edgar's inscription upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. To read more about Pte. Norman Fowler and his time as a Chindit and as a prisoner of war, please click on the following link: Pte. Norman John Fowler
The 13th King's War diary, August 1944.
BALL, FRANCIS
Rank: Private
Service No: 3773791
Date of Death: 23/08/1944
Age: 26
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Karachi War Cemtery, Grave Reference 1.A.16.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2178030/BALL,%20FRANCIS
Chindit Column: Not known.
Other details:
Francis Ball is another of the soldiers of whom I can find no confirmation or details in relation to service on Operation Longcloth. It may well be that he was a reinforcement for the beleagued battalion and only joined them after they returned to India in mid-1943. I do know that Pte. Ball served with the 13th King's whilst they were stationed at Napier Barracks in Karachi.
Very much like Pte. George Alcock, Francis Ball died in the British General Hospital at Karachi suffering it must be presumed from malaria. There had been several cases of cerebral malaria in the 13th King's barracks during the latter months of 1944. The men had previously been training at a place called 'Chinna Creek', which is a large sea channel and mangrove swamp. It is possible that this area was infested with the malarial mosquitos responsible for the deaths of the 13th Kingsmen.
NB: By matching up the date of death and with location of burial noted as Karachi War Cemetery, I believe the following men from the 13th King's all died from malaria as described in Frank Holland's memoir, see also George Alcock's story on this page:
George Alcock
Thomas Charles Grigg
William George Jones
George Thomas Puckett
John Francis Wright
Seen below is a photograph of Francis Ball's gravestone at Karachi War Cemetery. This image comes courtesy of the The War Graves Photographic Project. Please click on the photo to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3773791
Date of Death: 23/08/1944
Age: 26
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Karachi War Cemtery, Grave Reference 1.A.16.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2178030/BALL,%20FRANCIS
Chindit Column: Not known.
Other details:
Francis Ball is another of the soldiers of whom I can find no confirmation or details in relation to service on Operation Longcloth. It may well be that he was a reinforcement for the beleagued battalion and only joined them after they returned to India in mid-1943. I do know that Pte. Ball served with the 13th King's whilst they were stationed at Napier Barracks in Karachi.
Very much like Pte. George Alcock, Francis Ball died in the British General Hospital at Karachi suffering it must be presumed from malaria. There had been several cases of cerebral malaria in the 13th King's barracks during the latter months of 1944. The men had previously been training at a place called 'Chinna Creek', which is a large sea channel and mangrove swamp. It is possible that this area was infested with the malarial mosquitos responsible for the deaths of the 13th Kingsmen.
NB: By matching up the date of death and with location of burial noted as Karachi War Cemetery, I believe the following men from the 13th King's all died from malaria as described in Frank Holland's memoir, see also George Alcock's story on this page:
George Alcock
Thomas Charles Grigg
William George Jones
George Thomas Puckett
John Francis Wright
Seen below is a photograph of Francis Ball's gravestone at Karachi War Cemetery. This image comes courtesy of the The War Graves Photographic Project. Please click on the photo to bring it forward on the page.
The gravestone of Francis Ball, Karachi War Cemetery.
BALL, JOHN SYDNEY
Rank: Private
Service No: 3531174
Date of Death: 03/05/1943
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2504680/ball,-john-sydney/
Chindit column: 6
Other details:
John Sydney Ball was the son of John Sydney and Evelyn May Ball from Trowbridge in Wiltshire. Very little is known about John or indeed his Chindit pathway on Operation Longcloth. We do know that he was posted to the Manchester Regiment upon enlistment into the British Army and that he was sent overseas in 1942. According to the lists for those reported missing on the first Wingate expedition, John was originally a soldier with No. 6 Column. This unit, commanded by Major Gilmour Menzies-Anderson, was disbanded on the 26th December 1942 just as training was drawing to a conclusion. The remaining personnel from No. 6 Column were distributed amongst the other King's columns just before the Brigade set off for their pre-operational rendezvous location at Imphal.
It is difficult to say which column John was posted to in January 1943. The only information available about his time on Operation Longcloth comes from the missing personnel lists collated by the Army Graves Registration Unit after the war. His entry simply states that: Pte. JS. Ball was last seen on the 2nd May 1943, in the water after an ambush.
John's entry on the Graves Registration list (shown in the gallery below) falls amongst a group of casualties from No. 8 Column, who were lost just before, or just after the 2nd/3rd May 1943. This may well be a clue as to his unit on Operation Longcloth, but of course this cannot confirmed. No. 8 Column, led by Major Walter Purcell Scott had recently suffered a severe mauling by a Japanese patrol as it was crossing a fast flowing river called the Kaukkwe Chaung. Many men were lost at the river, before the column moved off westwards in preparation to cross the main railway line, yet another obstacle between the Chindts and the safety of the Chindwin.
During the time that Pte. Ball was reported missing, No. 8 Column were marching between the railway valley at Kadu and the area around the Namsang Chaung. It is possible that this could be the water feature mentioned in the Army Graves Registration report? No grave or final resting place was ever found for John Sydney Ball and for this reason he is remembered upon the Rangoon Memorial, located within the grounds of Taukkyan War Cemetery.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including John's inscription upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial and page two of his Army Will. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Update 31/05/2020.
From information gained from the official Army Will of John Sydney Ball, I can tell you that in March 1941, he was a soldier with the 8th Battalion of the King's (Liverpool) Regiment and that he completed his Army Will on the 27th March that same year. On page two of the document, John states that:
In the event of my death, I give the whole of my property and effects to my mother: Mrs. Evelyn Ball of No. 7 Market Street, Tyldesley in Manchester.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3531174
Date of Death: 03/05/1943
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2504680/ball,-john-sydney/
Chindit column: 6
Other details:
John Sydney Ball was the son of John Sydney and Evelyn May Ball from Trowbridge in Wiltshire. Very little is known about John or indeed his Chindit pathway on Operation Longcloth. We do know that he was posted to the Manchester Regiment upon enlistment into the British Army and that he was sent overseas in 1942. According to the lists for those reported missing on the first Wingate expedition, John was originally a soldier with No. 6 Column. This unit, commanded by Major Gilmour Menzies-Anderson, was disbanded on the 26th December 1942 just as training was drawing to a conclusion. The remaining personnel from No. 6 Column were distributed amongst the other King's columns just before the Brigade set off for their pre-operational rendezvous location at Imphal.
It is difficult to say which column John was posted to in January 1943. The only information available about his time on Operation Longcloth comes from the missing personnel lists collated by the Army Graves Registration Unit after the war. His entry simply states that: Pte. JS. Ball was last seen on the 2nd May 1943, in the water after an ambush.
John's entry on the Graves Registration list (shown in the gallery below) falls amongst a group of casualties from No. 8 Column, who were lost just before, or just after the 2nd/3rd May 1943. This may well be a clue as to his unit on Operation Longcloth, but of course this cannot confirmed. No. 8 Column, led by Major Walter Purcell Scott had recently suffered a severe mauling by a Japanese patrol as it was crossing a fast flowing river called the Kaukkwe Chaung. Many men were lost at the river, before the column moved off westwards in preparation to cross the main railway line, yet another obstacle between the Chindts and the safety of the Chindwin.
During the time that Pte. Ball was reported missing, No. 8 Column were marching between the railway valley at Kadu and the area around the Namsang Chaung. It is possible that this could be the water feature mentioned in the Army Graves Registration report? No grave or final resting place was ever found for John Sydney Ball and for this reason he is remembered upon the Rangoon Memorial, located within the grounds of Taukkyan War Cemetery.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including John's inscription upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial and page two of his Army Will. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Update 31/05/2020.
From information gained from the official Army Will of John Sydney Ball, I can tell you that in March 1941, he was a soldier with the 8th Battalion of the King's (Liverpool) Regiment and that he completed his Army Will on the 27th March that same year. On page two of the document, John states that:
In the event of my death, I give the whole of my property and effects to my mother: Mrs. Evelyn Ball of No. 7 Market Street, Tyldesley in Manchester.
BANNISTER, HARRY
Rank: Private
Service No: 5119068
Date of Death: 06/06/1943
Age: 28
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2504784/bannister,-harry/
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Harry Bannister was the son of James and Emily Bannister, from Brook's Bar in Manchester. Harry was born on the 28th April 1915 and according to parish records was baptised at St. Philip Church in Hulme. The 1939 Register places Harry at home with his parents at 160 Dukes Street, Brook's Bar and records his employment as a railway goods carter, a role he shared with his father, John.
Harry enlisted into the British Army and was originally posted to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. In the spring of 1942, Harry and a large draft of men from his unit were sent overseas to India and it was from here that they were transferred across to the 13th King's, joining the battalion at the Saugor training camp in the Central Provinces of the country. He was evidently good friends with another soldier from the Royal Warwick's, Pte. Thomas Shurden, as Harry was chosen by Tommy to witness his Army Will on June 7th 1942.
The two men however, did not remain together for very long at Saugor, with Tommy Shurden being posted to No. 8 Column and Harry to No. 5 Column under the command of Major Bernard Fergusson. To read more about Thomas Shurden and his experiences with No. 8 Column on Operation Longcloth, please click on the following link: Captain Williams and Platoon 18
Harry Bannister was a member of a Rifle Platoon in Burma and would have been involved at all of 5 Column's major engagements with the Japanese on the first Wingate expedition in 1943. These included the demolitions at the Bonchaung Gorge on March 6th, crossing the Irrawaddy River at Tigyaing, the ambush at Hintha village and the subsequent secondary ambush a few miles north of Hintha on the 29th March. Please use the text box located in the top right hand corner of this page to search for information about the places mentioned in this narrative.
It is my belief that Harry was lost to his column at the second Japanese ambush on the outskirts of Hintha on 29th March 1943. This sadly cannot be confirmed, but 100 men from No. 5 column were lost that day. To read more about the ambush and what happened to many of the men afterwards, please click on the following link: Pte. Edward Barrett
Pte. Bannister was officially listed as missing in action on Operation Longcloth and it is recorded on the listing for men from No. 5 Column, that he died from exhaustion on the 6th June 1943, location unknown. The fact that some details are given (exhaustion) and the very late date recorded, makes me believe that he may of been a prisoner of war at the time of his death. By June 1943, all but a few Chindits were either safely back in Allied territory, or had fallen into Japanese hands. It is possible that Harry was a POW, but that he never made the journey down to Rangoon where most Chindit POWs were held after being captured during the first Wingate expedition. He may have died at the first Chindit concentration camp located at Maymyo, or on the roadside as the Japanese moved prisoners from one camp to another.
After the war, no grave for Harry Bannister could be found and for this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. This memorial is the centre piece structure at Taukkyan War Cemetery and lists the names of 26,000 casualties from the Burma campaign that have no known grave.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a photograph of Harry Bannister's name on Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 5119068
Date of Death: 06/06/1943
Age: 28
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2504784/bannister,-harry/
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Harry Bannister was the son of James and Emily Bannister, from Brook's Bar in Manchester. Harry was born on the 28th April 1915 and according to parish records was baptised at St. Philip Church in Hulme. The 1939 Register places Harry at home with his parents at 160 Dukes Street, Brook's Bar and records his employment as a railway goods carter, a role he shared with his father, John.
Harry enlisted into the British Army and was originally posted to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. In the spring of 1942, Harry and a large draft of men from his unit were sent overseas to India and it was from here that they were transferred across to the 13th King's, joining the battalion at the Saugor training camp in the Central Provinces of the country. He was evidently good friends with another soldier from the Royal Warwick's, Pte. Thomas Shurden, as Harry was chosen by Tommy to witness his Army Will on June 7th 1942.
The two men however, did not remain together for very long at Saugor, with Tommy Shurden being posted to No. 8 Column and Harry to No. 5 Column under the command of Major Bernard Fergusson. To read more about Thomas Shurden and his experiences with No. 8 Column on Operation Longcloth, please click on the following link: Captain Williams and Platoon 18
Harry Bannister was a member of a Rifle Platoon in Burma and would have been involved at all of 5 Column's major engagements with the Japanese on the first Wingate expedition in 1943. These included the demolitions at the Bonchaung Gorge on March 6th, crossing the Irrawaddy River at Tigyaing, the ambush at Hintha village and the subsequent secondary ambush a few miles north of Hintha on the 29th March. Please use the text box located in the top right hand corner of this page to search for information about the places mentioned in this narrative.
It is my belief that Harry was lost to his column at the second Japanese ambush on the outskirts of Hintha on 29th March 1943. This sadly cannot be confirmed, but 100 men from No. 5 column were lost that day. To read more about the ambush and what happened to many of the men afterwards, please click on the following link: Pte. Edward Barrett
Pte. Bannister was officially listed as missing in action on Operation Longcloth and it is recorded on the listing for men from No. 5 Column, that he died from exhaustion on the 6th June 1943, location unknown. The fact that some details are given (exhaustion) and the very late date recorded, makes me believe that he may of been a prisoner of war at the time of his death. By June 1943, all but a few Chindits were either safely back in Allied territory, or had fallen into Japanese hands. It is possible that Harry was a POW, but that he never made the journey down to Rangoon where most Chindit POWs were held after being captured during the first Wingate expedition. He may have died at the first Chindit concentration camp located at Maymyo, or on the roadside as the Japanese moved prisoners from one camp to another.
After the war, no grave for Harry Bannister could be found and for this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. This memorial is the centre piece structure at Taukkyan War Cemetery and lists the names of 26,000 casualties from the Burma campaign that have no known grave.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a photograph of Harry Bannister's name on Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Pte. Albert Barnes.
BARNES, ALBERT
Rank: Private
Service No: 3861126
Date of Death: Between 01/06/1943 and 20/06/1943
Age: 29
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2504907/BARNES,%20ALBERT
Chindit Column: 2
Other details:
Albert Barnes was the son of Charles and Mary Ann Barnes and husband of Bertha Barnes from Penwortham in Lancashire.
Pte. Barnes was a member of 142 Commando in 1943 and was attached to Chindit Column 2 under the original command of Major Arthur Emmett. Albert was formerly with the Loyal Regiment, before being posted to the 13th King's in 1942 and undertaking Chindit training.
He entered Burma in mid-February 1943, crossing the Chindwin River at a place called Auktaung. Column 2 were part of Southern Section on Operation Longcloth, ordered by Brigadier Wingate to act as a decoy for the other units crossing the river further north. After the disastrous engagement with the Japanese at the rail station of Kyaikthin, he and a few other men joined up with Column 1 and became part of Major George Dunlop's Commando Platoon. The photograph seen above was found in the 'War Illustrated' magazine, and formed part of the periodicals 1939-45 Roll of Honour. Alongside the photograph was this simple caption stating:
Pte. A. Barnes, aged 29, King's Liverpool Regiment, died of wounds at Kalewa, June 1943.
This information immediately helps confirm his POW status, as the village of Kalewa was one of the holding camps for captured Chindits in 1943, before they were all collected together and taken up to the Maymyo Concentration Camp. Ironically, Kalewa sits on the western banks of the Chindwin River at the confluence with the smaller Myittha River. Whilst held here, Albert and his Chindit comrades were only a few short miles from the safety of Allied held territory.
More details about Albert materialised from the 'missing in action' files for the 13th King's, now held at the National Archives, where a short report had been submitted by Lieutenant P.W. MacLagan, an officer in the 142 Commando Platoon of Column 2:
Regarding Pte. E. Belcher and Pte. A. Barnes amongst others, who were recorded as missing on the 9th May, 1943 in Burma:
"On the 8th May 1943 at mid-day, the party under Major Dunlop was attacked on the Katun Chaung about 3 miles from the Chindwin River. Major Dunlop led the party up a dry nullah into the surrounding hills. The above mentioned men were in a group led by Lance Corporal McMurran which went on with Major Dunlop."
The report then goes on to recommend that a statement is obtained from Major Dunlop in order to further clarify what happened to these men. In Dunlop's own debrief documents for 1943 he mentions that in the area close to the east banks of the Chindwin there were many Japanese and Burmese fighting patrols, all on the lookout for the Chindits attempting to escape back to India.
It seems highly likely that Albert Barnes was captured shortly after the engagement on the 8th May, as both Ernest Belcher, also formerly of the Loyal Regiment and William George McMurrin are recorded as being prisoners of war. It also seems certain that Albert had been wounded in some way during the attack at the Katun Chaung, where he was only a few short miles from the relative safety of the Chindwin River. According to the dates given on the CWGC website, Albert died sometime between the 1st and 20th June 1943. This matches up with the criteria for men who perished whilst POW's in Japanese hands, but had never made it down to Rangoon Jail.
To read more about men who died as POW's before reaching Rangoon Jail, please look at the Chindit POW's page and the story of Maymyo Concentration Camp. The short story of Ernest Bradley, seen further down this page also holds great relevance to Albert's time on Operation Longcloth, in fact it is highly likely that the two men were long time comrades, having both come originally from the Loyal Regiment before joining the 13th King's at the Chindit training camp near Saugor.
Albert Barnes is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial at Taukkyan War Cemetery, he his also remembered upon his home town War Memorial at Penwortham. On the 15th August 1941, Albert decided to make his Army Will, leaving all his estate and effects to his wife, Bertha, then living at 42 Studholme Avenue, Penwortham.
Seen below are some more images related to the story of Pte. Albert Barnes:
Rank: Private
Service No: 3861126
Date of Death: Between 01/06/1943 and 20/06/1943
Age: 29
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2504907/BARNES,%20ALBERT
Chindit Column: 2
Other details:
Albert Barnes was the son of Charles and Mary Ann Barnes and husband of Bertha Barnes from Penwortham in Lancashire.
Pte. Barnes was a member of 142 Commando in 1943 and was attached to Chindit Column 2 under the original command of Major Arthur Emmett. Albert was formerly with the Loyal Regiment, before being posted to the 13th King's in 1942 and undertaking Chindit training.
He entered Burma in mid-February 1943, crossing the Chindwin River at a place called Auktaung. Column 2 were part of Southern Section on Operation Longcloth, ordered by Brigadier Wingate to act as a decoy for the other units crossing the river further north. After the disastrous engagement with the Japanese at the rail station of Kyaikthin, he and a few other men joined up with Column 1 and became part of Major George Dunlop's Commando Platoon. The photograph seen above was found in the 'War Illustrated' magazine, and formed part of the periodicals 1939-45 Roll of Honour. Alongside the photograph was this simple caption stating:
Pte. A. Barnes, aged 29, King's Liverpool Regiment, died of wounds at Kalewa, June 1943.
This information immediately helps confirm his POW status, as the village of Kalewa was one of the holding camps for captured Chindits in 1943, before they were all collected together and taken up to the Maymyo Concentration Camp. Ironically, Kalewa sits on the western banks of the Chindwin River at the confluence with the smaller Myittha River. Whilst held here, Albert and his Chindit comrades were only a few short miles from the safety of Allied held territory.
More details about Albert materialised from the 'missing in action' files for the 13th King's, now held at the National Archives, where a short report had been submitted by Lieutenant P.W. MacLagan, an officer in the 142 Commando Platoon of Column 2:
Regarding Pte. E. Belcher and Pte. A. Barnes amongst others, who were recorded as missing on the 9th May, 1943 in Burma:
"On the 8th May 1943 at mid-day, the party under Major Dunlop was attacked on the Katun Chaung about 3 miles from the Chindwin River. Major Dunlop led the party up a dry nullah into the surrounding hills. The above mentioned men were in a group led by Lance Corporal McMurran which went on with Major Dunlop."
The report then goes on to recommend that a statement is obtained from Major Dunlop in order to further clarify what happened to these men. In Dunlop's own debrief documents for 1943 he mentions that in the area close to the east banks of the Chindwin there were many Japanese and Burmese fighting patrols, all on the lookout for the Chindits attempting to escape back to India.
It seems highly likely that Albert Barnes was captured shortly after the engagement on the 8th May, as both Ernest Belcher, also formerly of the Loyal Regiment and William George McMurrin are recorded as being prisoners of war. It also seems certain that Albert had been wounded in some way during the attack at the Katun Chaung, where he was only a few short miles from the relative safety of the Chindwin River. According to the dates given on the CWGC website, Albert died sometime between the 1st and 20th June 1943. This matches up with the criteria for men who perished whilst POW's in Japanese hands, but had never made it down to Rangoon Jail.
To read more about men who died as POW's before reaching Rangoon Jail, please look at the Chindit POW's page and the story of Maymyo Concentration Camp. The short story of Ernest Bradley, seen further down this page also holds great relevance to Albert's time on Operation Longcloth, in fact it is highly likely that the two men were long time comrades, having both come originally from the Loyal Regiment before joining the 13th King's at the Chindit training camp near Saugor.
Albert Barnes is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial at Taukkyan War Cemetery, he his also remembered upon his home town War Memorial at Penwortham. On the 15th August 1941, Albert decided to make his Army Will, leaving all his estate and effects to his wife, Bertha, then living at 42 Studholme Avenue, Penwortham.
Seen below are some more images related to the story of Pte. Albert Barnes:
BARRETT, JOHN
Rank: Private
Service No: 3768150
Date of Death: 07/04/1943
Age: 26
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2504927/barrett,-john/#&gid=null&pid=1
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
John Barrett was the son of John and Elizabeth Barrett from Kinsale, a town in County Cork, Ireland. Judging from his Army service number, it is likely that John was with the original battalion of the 13th King's Regiment, that travelled to India in December 1941 aboard the troopship Oronsay. During the first half of 1942, the 13th King's performed internal security and garrison duties at Secunderabad, before being given over to Brigadier Orde Wingate to make up the British Infantry section of his newly raised 77th Indian Infantry Brigade.
At the Saugor training camp in the Central Provinces of India, Pte. Barrett was allocated to No. 5 Column under the command of Major Bernard Fergusson, formerly of the Black Watch Regiment. John Barrett was a member of a Rifle Platoon in Burma and would have been involved at all of 5 Column's major engagements with the Japanese on the first Wingate expedition in 1943. These included the demolitions at the Bonchaung Gorge on March 6th, crossing the Irrawaddy River at Tigyaing, the ambush at Hintha village and the subsequent secondary ambush a few miles north of Hintha on the 29th March. Please use the text box located in the top right hand corner of this page to search for information about the places mentioned in this narrative.
It is my belief that John was lost to his column at the second Japanese ambush on the outskirts of Hintha on 29th March 1943. This sadly cannot be confirmed, but 100 men from No. 5 Column were lost that day. To read more about the ambush and what happened to many of the men afterwards, please click on the following link: Pte. Edward Barrett
The only witness statement relating to the fate of John Barrett, comes in the form of a letter written by another soldier from No. 5 Column, Pte. Norman Fowler who was also one of the men separated from the main body of No. 5 Column at the second ambush outside Hintha. It should be noted that Norman Fowler was captured by the Japanese on the 11th May 1943 and spent the next two years as a prisoner of war in Rangoon Jail. The details he gave in the statement below where written in November 1945, some six months after his liberation.
Pte. Fowler recalled:
Pte. Barrett 3768150: I cannot remember a lot about this man, but I believe I last saw this fellow on approximately 20th April 1943, after we got attacked whilst in a party of about 30 men in the Ker Chin (Kachin) Hills. Later I heard that he and two or three more men where in some part of China, but what followed I don't know.
The official Army missing in action date for John Barrett was the 7th April 1943 and places him two miles east of the village of Seiktha on the banks of the Irrawaddy, presumably this was the last time an officer commanding his dispersal unit remembered seeing him. Many men had given up attempting to reach the border area between the Kachin Hills and the Yunnan Province of China and had turned westward in the hope of reaching the Chindwin River. Many, as was the case with John, were never seen or heard of again and it is for this reason that he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. This memorial is the centre piece structure at Taukkyan War Cemetery and lists the names of 26,000 casualties from the Burma campaign that have no known grave.
John Barrett had completed his official Army Will on the 10th November 1941, shortly before the 13th King's voyaged to India. In this simple two page document he agrees to leave all his property and effects to his mother, Elizabeth Barrett.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a photograph of Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial showing John Barrett's inscription. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3768150
Date of Death: 07/04/1943
Age: 26
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2504927/barrett,-john/#&gid=null&pid=1
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
John Barrett was the son of John and Elizabeth Barrett from Kinsale, a town in County Cork, Ireland. Judging from his Army service number, it is likely that John was with the original battalion of the 13th King's Regiment, that travelled to India in December 1941 aboard the troopship Oronsay. During the first half of 1942, the 13th King's performed internal security and garrison duties at Secunderabad, before being given over to Brigadier Orde Wingate to make up the British Infantry section of his newly raised 77th Indian Infantry Brigade.
At the Saugor training camp in the Central Provinces of India, Pte. Barrett was allocated to No. 5 Column under the command of Major Bernard Fergusson, formerly of the Black Watch Regiment. John Barrett was a member of a Rifle Platoon in Burma and would have been involved at all of 5 Column's major engagements with the Japanese on the first Wingate expedition in 1943. These included the demolitions at the Bonchaung Gorge on March 6th, crossing the Irrawaddy River at Tigyaing, the ambush at Hintha village and the subsequent secondary ambush a few miles north of Hintha on the 29th March. Please use the text box located in the top right hand corner of this page to search for information about the places mentioned in this narrative.
It is my belief that John was lost to his column at the second Japanese ambush on the outskirts of Hintha on 29th March 1943. This sadly cannot be confirmed, but 100 men from No. 5 Column were lost that day. To read more about the ambush and what happened to many of the men afterwards, please click on the following link: Pte. Edward Barrett
The only witness statement relating to the fate of John Barrett, comes in the form of a letter written by another soldier from No. 5 Column, Pte. Norman Fowler who was also one of the men separated from the main body of No. 5 Column at the second ambush outside Hintha. It should be noted that Norman Fowler was captured by the Japanese on the 11th May 1943 and spent the next two years as a prisoner of war in Rangoon Jail. The details he gave in the statement below where written in November 1945, some six months after his liberation.
Pte. Fowler recalled:
Pte. Barrett 3768150: I cannot remember a lot about this man, but I believe I last saw this fellow on approximately 20th April 1943, after we got attacked whilst in a party of about 30 men in the Ker Chin (Kachin) Hills. Later I heard that he and two or three more men where in some part of China, but what followed I don't know.
The official Army missing in action date for John Barrett was the 7th April 1943 and places him two miles east of the village of Seiktha on the banks of the Irrawaddy, presumably this was the last time an officer commanding his dispersal unit remembered seeing him. Many men had given up attempting to reach the border area between the Kachin Hills and the Yunnan Province of China and had turned westward in the hope of reaching the Chindwin River. Many, as was the case with John, were never seen or heard of again and it is for this reason that he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. This memorial is the centre piece structure at Taukkyan War Cemetery and lists the names of 26,000 casualties from the Burma campaign that have no known grave.
John Barrett had completed his official Army Will on the 10th November 1941, shortly before the 13th King's voyaged to India. In this simple two page document he agrees to leave all his property and effects to his mother, Elizabeth Barrett.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a photograph of Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial showing John Barrett's inscription. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
BAYLISS, W.P.
Rank: Warrant Officer 2
Service No: 3770687
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: Unknown
Other details:
Warrant Officer Bayliss does not appear in any records, war diaries or documents in relation to the Chindits of 1943, but his service number does correspond with the battalions sequence for WW2 and we do know that he served in India/Burma during the war. His medals came up for sale on eBay in February 2019 and included the Burma Star and his Army Long Service medal. The WW2 medals had been privately engraved, probably in the Boots naming style, with his Army Long Service Good Conduct medal being officially impressed in the correct way. I am hoping that more information about WO Bayliss might come along in the near future.
Rank: Warrant Officer 2
Service No: 3770687
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: Unknown
Other details:
Warrant Officer Bayliss does not appear in any records, war diaries or documents in relation to the Chindits of 1943, but his service number does correspond with the battalions sequence for WW2 and we do know that he served in India/Burma during the war. His medals came up for sale on eBay in February 2019 and included the Burma Star and his Army Long Service medal. The WW2 medals had been privately engraved, probably in the Boots naming style, with his Army Long Service Good Conduct medal being officially impressed in the correct way. I am hoping that more information about WO Bayliss might come along in the near future.
The medal entitlement of Warrant Officer II, W.P. Bayliss.
The famous Chindit image from the 1943 expedition.
BEER, PETER FRANCIS SNELL
In late 2011, I came across a post on the Commando Veterans Forum in regard to the above mentioned soldier. It was placed on the forum by the daughter of Peter Beer, Mrs. Kate Albert and centred around one of the most iconic images from the first Chindit operation in 1943.
The image of the beleagued Chindit (pictured left), cigarette in mouth and staring forlornly into the camera is one of the more memorable images from the Longcloth campaign. I have attempted to contact Kate using her CVA forum details, but to no avail. However, with this story being of such pertinence to my Operation Longcloth research, I sincerely hope that Kate will not mind me repeating it on these pages.
To view the original thread on the CVA Forum, please click on the following link:
http://forum.commandoveterans.org/cdoForum/posts/list/3148.page
The photograph in question featured in several periodicals of the time and in the World War II magazine series from the 1970's. It was taken on the 28th April 1943 during an unexpected airlift of 17 sick and wounded Chindits from Major Walter Scott's 8 Column. Scott's men had emerged from a long and arduous march through dense jungle and found themselves on the perimeter of a large and fairly flat open space. He wondered if a plane could land on this site and at least pick up the more desperate cases from his unit. Miraculously this was achieved and 17 Chindits were flown back to India in a RAF Dakota.
Although the information with the photograph suggests that the man in the picture was one of the fortunate ones to by flown out in April 1943, this man does not feature in the photographs of the rescued men inside the body of the Dakota and perhaps more importantly, Peter Beer's name does not appear on the list of casualties airlifted to India. It is likely that the soldier in the photograph was one of the men from 8 Column that was asked to continue marching after the plane had gone and spent several more weeks behind enemy lines before exiting Burma on foot.
Lieutenant Beer was commissioned into the Wiltshire Regiment on the 9th November 1940. He was posted to Lochailort in Scotland, known for its involvement in the training of Special Forces, then in late 1941 he was sent to Highworth in Wiltshire, taking up the role of Scout Section Officer. He then travelled overseas to India in March 1942 and served in Burma the following year. It is unclear which unit Lieutenant Beer served with in India, but it seems likely to have been one or other of the more clandestine forces. Kate remembers her father telling her that he fought alongside the Gurkhas and that he had forged a very high regard for these soldiers. His Army papers state that he was 'specially employed' and that he worked for Military Intelligence. After 1943, Peter was sent from the Deolali Reinforcement Camp to Cape Town in South Africa, he was suffering from dysentery, malaria and tuberculosis at that time.
Seen below are some photographs of Lieutenant Beer from his time in India. The first shows him wearing his Wiltshire Regiment cap badge and looking very thin and frail, Kate suspects this photograph was taken while he was recuperating from his exertions in 1943. This photograph also clearly shows a skin blemish on his left forearm, something that matches up nicely with the arm of the man shown in the iconic Chindit image. Also featured in the gallery below is a photograph of Peter Beer taken sometime after the war and some of the other members of 8 Column who were asked to give a 'silent cheer' for the camera, before continuing their march out in April 1943. Finally, there is a photograph of the Dakota Air crew which rescued the 17 Chindits that year, also pictured with them is William Vandivert, the war correspondent responsible for both the story and the photographs of the famous incident during Operation Longcloth. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
In late 2011, I came across a post on the Commando Veterans Forum in regard to the above mentioned soldier. It was placed on the forum by the daughter of Peter Beer, Mrs. Kate Albert and centred around one of the most iconic images from the first Chindit operation in 1943.
The image of the beleagued Chindit (pictured left), cigarette in mouth and staring forlornly into the camera is one of the more memorable images from the Longcloth campaign. I have attempted to contact Kate using her CVA forum details, but to no avail. However, with this story being of such pertinence to my Operation Longcloth research, I sincerely hope that Kate will not mind me repeating it on these pages.
To view the original thread on the CVA Forum, please click on the following link:
http://forum.commandoveterans.org/cdoForum/posts/list/3148.page
The photograph in question featured in several periodicals of the time and in the World War II magazine series from the 1970's. It was taken on the 28th April 1943 during an unexpected airlift of 17 sick and wounded Chindits from Major Walter Scott's 8 Column. Scott's men had emerged from a long and arduous march through dense jungle and found themselves on the perimeter of a large and fairly flat open space. He wondered if a plane could land on this site and at least pick up the more desperate cases from his unit. Miraculously this was achieved and 17 Chindits were flown back to India in a RAF Dakota.
Although the information with the photograph suggests that the man in the picture was one of the fortunate ones to by flown out in April 1943, this man does not feature in the photographs of the rescued men inside the body of the Dakota and perhaps more importantly, Peter Beer's name does not appear on the list of casualties airlifted to India. It is likely that the soldier in the photograph was one of the men from 8 Column that was asked to continue marching after the plane had gone and spent several more weeks behind enemy lines before exiting Burma on foot.
Lieutenant Beer was commissioned into the Wiltshire Regiment on the 9th November 1940. He was posted to Lochailort in Scotland, known for its involvement in the training of Special Forces, then in late 1941 he was sent to Highworth in Wiltshire, taking up the role of Scout Section Officer. He then travelled overseas to India in March 1942 and served in Burma the following year. It is unclear which unit Lieutenant Beer served with in India, but it seems likely to have been one or other of the more clandestine forces. Kate remembers her father telling her that he fought alongside the Gurkhas and that he had forged a very high regard for these soldiers. His Army papers state that he was 'specially employed' and that he worked for Military Intelligence. After 1943, Peter was sent from the Deolali Reinforcement Camp to Cape Town in South Africa, he was suffering from dysentery, malaria and tuberculosis at that time.
Seen below are some photographs of Lieutenant Beer from his time in India. The first shows him wearing his Wiltshire Regiment cap badge and looking very thin and frail, Kate suspects this photograph was taken while he was recuperating from his exertions in 1943. This photograph also clearly shows a skin blemish on his left forearm, something that matches up nicely with the arm of the man shown in the iconic Chindit image. Also featured in the gallery below is a photograph of Peter Beer taken sometime after the war and some of the other members of 8 Column who were asked to give a 'silent cheer' for the camera, before continuing their march out in April 1943. Finally, there is a photograph of the Dakota Air crew which rescued the 17 Chindits that year, also pictured with them is William Vandivert, the war correspondent responsible for both the story and the photographs of the famous incident during Operation Longcloth. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
It is intriguing to think that the identity of the man in the famous Chindit image from 1943 is in fact Lieutenant Peter Francis Snell Beer. His daughter Kate certainly believes this to be the case, but sadly, I suppose we will never really know for sure. Peter Beer died from cancer in 1962; it is thought that his illness was in some way connected to the amoebic dysentery he contracted in Burma during the war.
George William Bell.
BELL, GEORGE WILLIAM
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 4612800
Age: 33 (at the time of the first Chindit expedition).
Regiment/Service: 2nd Battalion, the Duke of Wellington Regiment.
Chindit Column: Unknown.
Other details:
In March 2017, I was delighted to receive an email contact from the family of George William Bell, a former Chindit who served on both Wingate expeditions in Burma. Daughter-in-law, Wendy Bell told me:
I have come across a photograph on your website that I think includes my father-in-law, George William Bell, who took part in both Chindits missions. George, who was always known a as Bill was in the Duke of Wellington Regiment originally, but we know he fought with the Gurkhas at some point before he reached the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major. Eventually, he was sent back to England where he joined the Military Police for the remainder of the war. This is what we know of his Army service from before and during WW2:
George William Bell was born on the 11th September 1909.
He joined the Duke of Wellington Regiment aged 24 on the 11th October 1933 and was given the Army service number 4612800. He was then posted to Malta in early 1935, before moving on to India just over a year later. After a period in India, Bill was all set to return to Britain when the war intervened and he was sent into Burma to fight the Japanese.
Bill’s Regiment (2nd Battalion Duke of Wellington's) met the Japanese in February 1942 and he told us the story of a bridge being blown up, causing him to have to swim across the Sittang River as he was caught on the wrong side. Bill possessed a gold watch which he felt was a lucky charm, he put it into his mouth when he swam the river in the hope of saving it, he succeeded and we still have the watch to this day. He would later repeat this feat in Burma, swimming the Irrawaddy River twice over with the watch in his mouth. Following the action at Sittang, Bill was assigned to the Chindits, where we know he fought with the Gurkhas as he often spoke of his deep respect for these soldiers as a fighting force.
NB. Between the 19th and 24th February 1942, the 2nd DWR were assigned as additional troops in the defence of the Sittang Bridge. Here they joined the 17th Indian Infantry Division in attempting to keep the Japanese invaders from crossing the river. Many men from the 2nd DWR's were killed during this battle, with many more being captured by the enemy and becoming prisoners of war.
Wendy continues:
Bill told us stories of life fighting in the jungle with the Chindits and how the leeches were particularly problematic. Lack of food caused almost unforgettable hunger and Bill and his fellow Chindits would eat anything edible they could find and he would often discuss how to kill and eat snakes. Bill always said it was kill or be killed and anyone in the jungle had to sleep with one eye open or they would not see the morning.
Following Operation Longcloth Bill needed to recuperate and he did some training on driving military vehicles, he was then asked to take part in the training and preparation for Operation Thursday which he volunteered to do.
Following Operation Thursday Bill’s health was so poor that he was eventually put on stand by to be transferred back to Britain. The ship transporting him home was bombed and sunk, Bill unfortunately lost all his personal possessions (except his lucky gold watch), but survived and returned to Britain where he served out the rest of the war in the Military Police. For his Army service he was awarded the 1939-1945 Star, Burma Star, Defence Medal and the Indian Defence Medal. Later on he was awarded the British Empire Medal.
_______________________________________________________
I would like to thank Wendy and her husband John for sending me the above information about Chindit George William Bell. George certainly had an arduous experience whilst serving in India and then Burma during the years of WW2 and indeed before. I can certainly see why he would have been an obvious choice as a Chindit, after his survival at the Sittang Bridge in 1942 and his longstanding service in India with the Dukes. George William Bell passed away in 1979. Seen below is a Gallery of images in relation to the story, please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 4612800
Age: 33 (at the time of the first Chindit expedition).
Regiment/Service: 2nd Battalion, the Duke of Wellington Regiment.
Chindit Column: Unknown.
Other details:
In March 2017, I was delighted to receive an email contact from the family of George William Bell, a former Chindit who served on both Wingate expeditions in Burma. Daughter-in-law, Wendy Bell told me:
I have come across a photograph on your website that I think includes my father-in-law, George William Bell, who took part in both Chindits missions. George, who was always known a as Bill was in the Duke of Wellington Regiment originally, but we know he fought with the Gurkhas at some point before he reached the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major. Eventually, he was sent back to England where he joined the Military Police for the remainder of the war. This is what we know of his Army service from before and during WW2:
George William Bell was born on the 11th September 1909.
He joined the Duke of Wellington Regiment aged 24 on the 11th October 1933 and was given the Army service number 4612800. He was then posted to Malta in early 1935, before moving on to India just over a year later. After a period in India, Bill was all set to return to Britain when the war intervened and he was sent into Burma to fight the Japanese.
Bill’s Regiment (2nd Battalion Duke of Wellington's) met the Japanese in February 1942 and he told us the story of a bridge being blown up, causing him to have to swim across the Sittang River as he was caught on the wrong side. Bill possessed a gold watch which he felt was a lucky charm, he put it into his mouth when he swam the river in the hope of saving it, he succeeded and we still have the watch to this day. He would later repeat this feat in Burma, swimming the Irrawaddy River twice over with the watch in his mouth. Following the action at Sittang, Bill was assigned to the Chindits, where we know he fought with the Gurkhas as he often spoke of his deep respect for these soldiers as a fighting force.
NB. Between the 19th and 24th February 1942, the 2nd DWR were assigned as additional troops in the defence of the Sittang Bridge. Here they joined the 17th Indian Infantry Division in attempting to keep the Japanese invaders from crossing the river. Many men from the 2nd DWR's were killed during this battle, with many more being captured by the enemy and becoming prisoners of war.
Wendy continues:
Bill told us stories of life fighting in the jungle with the Chindits and how the leeches were particularly problematic. Lack of food caused almost unforgettable hunger and Bill and his fellow Chindits would eat anything edible they could find and he would often discuss how to kill and eat snakes. Bill always said it was kill or be killed and anyone in the jungle had to sleep with one eye open or they would not see the morning.
Following Operation Longcloth Bill needed to recuperate and he did some training on driving military vehicles, he was then asked to take part in the training and preparation for Operation Thursday which he volunteered to do.
Following Operation Thursday Bill’s health was so poor that he was eventually put on stand by to be transferred back to Britain. The ship transporting him home was bombed and sunk, Bill unfortunately lost all his personal possessions (except his lucky gold watch), but survived and returned to Britain where he served out the rest of the war in the Military Police. For his Army service he was awarded the 1939-1945 Star, Burma Star, Defence Medal and the Indian Defence Medal. Later on he was awarded the British Empire Medal.
_______________________________________________________
I would like to thank Wendy and her husband John for sending me the above information about Chindit George William Bell. George certainly had an arduous experience whilst serving in India and then Burma during the years of WW2 and indeed before. I can certainly see why he would have been an obvious choice as a Chindit, after his survival at the Sittang Bridge in 1942 and his longstanding service in India with the Dukes. George William Bell passed away in 1979. Seen below is a Gallery of images in relation to the story, please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
BERTENSHAW, FRED
Rank: Private
Service No: 3781619
Date of Death: 01/08/1943
Age: 32
Regiment/Service: Army Catering Corps, att.The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Grave 17.A.17 at Taukkyan War Cemetery
CWGC link:
www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2084311/bertenshaw,-fred/
Chindit Column: Unknown
Other details:
Fred Bertenshaw was the son of Alfred and Emma Bertenshaw and the husband of Mary Bertenshaw from Abbey Hey in Manchester. Fred was one of two men from the Army Catering Corps that became attached to the 13th King's on Operation Longcloth, the other being Pte. 4192665 Alfred Ronald Jones, the son of David and Phyllis Jones from Tonyrefail in Glamorganshire, South Wales. Very little is known about Fred other than he was listed as missing in action as of the 30th April 1943. This date is associated with No. 8 Column's engagement with the Japanese at the Kaukkwe Chaung during their return journey to India that year. However, it cannot be confirmed that Fred was part of this unit on the first Wingate expedition.
Fred Bertenshaw is buried today at Taukkyan War Cemetery, located on the northern outskirts of Rangoon. From documents found on the CWGC website, I discovered that he was originally buried at Mandalay War Cemetery. Several Chindits were interred at this cemetery after their original burial locations in northern Burma were deemed unsustainable for care and maintenance by the War Graves Commission. All graves from Mandalay War Cemetery were brought down to Taukkyan in the early 1950's. Other Chindits that were originally buried at Mandalay War Cemetery include, Harold Evans, Leslie Simnet Peace and John Masland. All of these soldiers were lost or captured in the Kachin Hill tracts in late April or early May 1943. This detail may also be a relevant to the eventual fate of Fred Bertenshaw?
Seen below is a small gallery of images in relation to this story, including a photograph of Fred's grave at Taukkyan War Cemetery. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
After the war, the family of Fred Bertenshaw were asked if they would like to add an epitaph to his grave at Taukkyan War Cemetery. They decided upon the following:
Rank: Private
Service No: 3781619
Date of Death: 01/08/1943
Age: 32
Regiment/Service: Army Catering Corps, att.The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Grave 17.A.17 at Taukkyan War Cemetery
CWGC link:
www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2084311/bertenshaw,-fred/
Chindit Column: Unknown
Other details:
Fred Bertenshaw was the son of Alfred and Emma Bertenshaw and the husband of Mary Bertenshaw from Abbey Hey in Manchester. Fred was one of two men from the Army Catering Corps that became attached to the 13th King's on Operation Longcloth, the other being Pte. 4192665 Alfred Ronald Jones, the son of David and Phyllis Jones from Tonyrefail in Glamorganshire, South Wales. Very little is known about Fred other than he was listed as missing in action as of the 30th April 1943. This date is associated with No. 8 Column's engagement with the Japanese at the Kaukkwe Chaung during their return journey to India that year. However, it cannot be confirmed that Fred was part of this unit on the first Wingate expedition.
Fred Bertenshaw is buried today at Taukkyan War Cemetery, located on the northern outskirts of Rangoon. From documents found on the CWGC website, I discovered that he was originally buried at Mandalay War Cemetery. Several Chindits were interred at this cemetery after their original burial locations in northern Burma were deemed unsustainable for care and maintenance by the War Graves Commission. All graves from Mandalay War Cemetery were brought down to Taukkyan in the early 1950's. Other Chindits that were originally buried at Mandalay War Cemetery include, Harold Evans, Leslie Simnet Peace and John Masland. All of these soldiers were lost or captured in the Kachin Hill tracts in late April or early May 1943. This detail may also be a relevant to the eventual fate of Fred Bertenshaw?
Seen below is a small gallery of images in relation to this story, including a photograph of Fred's grave at Taukkyan War Cemetery. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
After the war, the family of Fred Bertenshaw were asked if they would like to add an epitaph to his grave at Taukkyan War Cemetery. They decided upon the following:
As Time Flies By, His Memories Are Blest. God, Keep Him In Your Heavenly Rest.
WW2 Commemorative Scroll for Percy Biggs.
BIGGS, PERCY FREDERICK STANLEY
Rank: Private
Service No: 5116761
Date of Death: 09/12/1943
Age: 23
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Rangoon War Cemetery, Grave Reference: Special Memorial 9. A. 3.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war dead/casualty/2259728/BIGGS,%20PERCY%20FREDERICK%20STANLEY
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Pte. Percy Biggs was the son of Frederick Stanley and Martha Biggs, from the town of March in Cambridgeshire. After enlistment into the British Army, Percy was originally posted into the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, in 1942 he was sent overseas, joining the 13th King's at their Chindit training camp in Saugor on the 26th September.
Pte. Biggs was placed into Chindit Column 5 under the command of Major Bernard Fegusson. The unit entered Burma and crossed over the Chindwin River at a place called Hwematte on the 15th February 1943.
Column 5 were one of the units designated by Wingate to demolish the Myitkhina-Mandalay Railway at a place called Bonchaung. The column moved quickly over the next few weeks to reach their objective. They succeeded in demolishing the railway line and the bridge at Bonchaung before moving on eastwards towards the Irrawaddy River. Once across this river and after three further weeks inside Burma, the Chindits were instructed to return to India and dispersal was ordered by Brigadier Wingate.
Whilst attempting the return journey Column 5 had to re-cross not one, but two of the great and expansive Burmese rivers. On April 1st the unit were fording the fast flowing Shweli River. They had managed to reach what they thought was the far bank, but discovered to their horror that they were actually on a large sandbank in the middle of the river, with still some 80 yards of fast flowing water between them and their ultimate goal.
Exhausted, malnourished and now demoralised, this proved too much for some of the men and they slumped down on to the sands to rest. Fergusson and his officers urged the men to rise up and attempt the final crossing, as, by this time a Japanese patrol had closed in on the now desperate Chindits. A section of Burma Riflemen decide to attempt the crossing, but two were quickly swept away by the foaming waters, never to be seen again, this was the final straw for the other men and they refused to carry on.
Unfortunately, Percy Biggs was one of these 40 or so men. There are two surviving witness statements given by men after the operation, that describe the situation at the Shweli on the 1st April 1943. One is from Lieutenant Bill Edge and the other from Pte. W. Ryan.
Bill Edge recalled:
In the small hours of the 1st April 1943, a dispersal group commanded by Major B. Fergusson crossed the Shweli River from west to east at a point near Tokkin village. Some men were ferried half-way across by boat to a sandbank, but failed to complete the crossing, which involved wading breast-high some fifty yards in a very fast current. These men did not rejoin the Column and have not been seen since.
Pte. Ryan remembered:
I was with No. 5 Column at the crossing of the River Shweli on the 1st April 1943. With Pte. Pierce, I was one of the last to leave the sandbank. On reaching the east bank we lost our way and did not finally leave the river bank until daybreak. Before leaving I saw a group of approximately 40 to 50 British Other Ranks and Gurkhas still on the sandbank. They did not seem to be attempting to cross. They had arms and ammunition.
I had not gone more than thirty yards inland, when I heard a volley of shots close at hand, but I could not tell who was firing. There were Japs in the village just two miles away. We re-joined the Column which was approximately two miles away and were the last men to do so.
Seen below are two images in relation to the Shweli sandbank incident on April 1st 1943. Firstly, a map showing Column 5's journey during the days leading up to the Shweli crossing at Tokkin and secondly, an aerial photograph of the same general area. The sandbank shown in the photograph cannot be confirmed as being the one in question. Also shown is the Missing in Action listing for Column 5, which includes information for Pte. Biggs. Please click on either image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 5116761
Date of Death: 09/12/1943
Age: 23
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Rangoon War Cemetery, Grave Reference: Special Memorial 9. A. 3.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war dead/casualty/2259728/BIGGS,%20PERCY%20FREDERICK%20STANLEY
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Pte. Percy Biggs was the son of Frederick Stanley and Martha Biggs, from the town of March in Cambridgeshire. After enlistment into the British Army, Percy was originally posted into the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, in 1942 he was sent overseas, joining the 13th King's at their Chindit training camp in Saugor on the 26th September.
Pte. Biggs was placed into Chindit Column 5 under the command of Major Bernard Fegusson. The unit entered Burma and crossed over the Chindwin River at a place called Hwematte on the 15th February 1943.
Column 5 were one of the units designated by Wingate to demolish the Myitkhina-Mandalay Railway at a place called Bonchaung. The column moved quickly over the next few weeks to reach their objective. They succeeded in demolishing the railway line and the bridge at Bonchaung before moving on eastwards towards the Irrawaddy River. Once across this river and after three further weeks inside Burma, the Chindits were instructed to return to India and dispersal was ordered by Brigadier Wingate.
Whilst attempting the return journey Column 5 had to re-cross not one, but two of the great and expansive Burmese rivers. On April 1st the unit were fording the fast flowing Shweli River. They had managed to reach what they thought was the far bank, but discovered to their horror that they were actually on a large sandbank in the middle of the river, with still some 80 yards of fast flowing water between them and their ultimate goal.
Exhausted, malnourished and now demoralised, this proved too much for some of the men and they slumped down on to the sands to rest. Fergusson and his officers urged the men to rise up and attempt the final crossing, as, by this time a Japanese patrol had closed in on the now desperate Chindits. A section of Burma Riflemen decide to attempt the crossing, but two were quickly swept away by the foaming waters, never to be seen again, this was the final straw for the other men and they refused to carry on.
Unfortunately, Percy Biggs was one of these 40 or so men. There are two surviving witness statements given by men after the operation, that describe the situation at the Shweli on the 1st April 1943. One is from Lieutenant Bill Edge and the other from Pte. W. Ryan.
Bill Edge recalled:
In the small hours of the 1st April 1943, a dispersal group commanded by Major B. Fergusson crossed the Shweli River from west to east at a point near Tokkin village. Some men were ferried half-way across by boat to a sandbank, but failed to complete the crossing, which involved wading breast-high some fifty yards in a very fast current. These men did not rejoin the Column and have not been seen since.
Pte. Ryan remembered:
I was with No. 5 Column at the crossing of the River Shweli on the 1st April 1943. With Pte. Pierce, I was one of the last to leave the sandbank. On reaching the east bank we lost our way and did not finally leave the river bank until daybreak. Before leaving I saw a group of approximately 40 to 50 British Other Ranks and Gurkhas still on the sandbank. They did not seem to be attempting to cross. They had arms and ammunition.
I had not gone more than thirty yards inland, when I heard a volley of shots close at hand, but I could not tell who was firing. There were Japs in the village just two miles away. We re-joined the Column which was approximately two miles away and were the last men to do so.
Seen below are two images in relation to the Shweli sandbank incident on April 1st 1943. Firstly, a map showing Column 5's journey during the days leading up to the Shweli crossing at Tokkin and secondly, an aerial photograph of the same general area. The sandbank shown in the photograph cannot be confirmed as being the one in question. Also shown is the Missing in Action listing for Column 5, which includes information for Pte. Biggs. Please click on either image to bring it forward on the page.
The men on the sandbank were taken prisoner by the Japanese on the 1st April. By early June the survivors of this group had joined the other Chindit prisoners of war at Rangoon Central Jail. Sadly, Percy died in Block 6 of the jail on the 9th December 1943. No POW index card exists for Pte. Biggs, but we do know that his POW number was 588.
Percy was originally buried at the English Cantonment Cemetery in the eastern sector of the city, close to the Royal Lakes. This was the initial resting place for many of the Chindits that perished inside Rangoon Jail. After the war was over the Imperial War Grave Commission removed all these burials and re-interred them at the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery.
Almost all of the men captured on the sandbank on the 1st April 1943 perished inside Rangoon Jail. In fact, most of the men from Column 5 who became prisoners of war did not return home to their families. On Percy's memorial plaque at Rangoon War Cemetery, there is the inscription "Buried Near This spot", this relates to the fact that when some of the burials were transferred from the original place of internment, the remains of each man could not be precisely identified and so they were all re-buried together.
Seen below are some more images in relation to Pte. Biggs and his story. These include photographs of his hometown memorial in March which are courtesy of idler from the WW2Talk Forum. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Percy was originally buried at the English Cantonment Cemetery in the eastern sector of the city, close to the Royal Lakes. This was the initial resting place for many of the Chindits that perished inside Rangoon Jail. After the war was over the Imperial War Grave Commission removed all these burials and re-interred them at the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery.
Almost all of the men captured on the sandbank on the 1st April 1943 perished inside Rangoon Jail. In fact, most of the men from Column 5 who became prisoners of war did not return home to their families. On Percy's memorial plaque at Rangoon War Cemetery, there is the inscription "Buried Near This spot", this relates to the fact that when some of the burials were transferred from the original place of internment, the remains of each man could not be precisely identified and so they were all re-buried together.
Seen below are some more images in relation to Pte. Biggs and his story. These include photographs of his hometown memorial in March which are courtesy of idler from the WW2Talk Forum. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
I have decided to leave the last word in this story to Bernard Fergusson. On the 1st April 1943 he agonised for many hours whether to stay longer on the east bank of the Shweli, in the hope that the men still stranded on the sandbank would find it in their hearts to attempt that final short, but dangerous crossing. In his book, 'Beyond the Chindwin' he wrote:
In the end I made the decision to come away. I have it on my conscience for as long as live; but stand by that decision and believe it to have been the correct one. Those who think otherwise may well be right. Some of my officers volunteered to stay, but I refused them permission to do so.
Nevertheless, the crossing of the Shweli River will haunt me all my life; and to my mind the decision which fell to me there, was as cruel as any which could fall on the shoulders of a junior commander.
In the end I made the decision to come away. I have it on my conscience for as long as live; but stand by that decision and believe it to have been the correct one. Those who think otherwise may well be right. Some of my officers volunteered to stay, but I refused them permission to do so.
Nevertheless, the crossing of the Shweli River will haunt me all my life; and to my mind the decision which fell to me there, was as cruel as any which could fall on the shoulders of a junior commander.
BIRCH, JOHN HENRY
Rank: Private
Service No: 3777367
Date of Death: 22/06/1944
Age: 31
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 30th Bn.
Memorial: Kirkee War Cemetery. Grave 7.B.3.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2189865/john-henry-birch/
Chindit Column: Unknown.
Other details:
John Henry Birch was the son of John and Amelia Birch from Liverpool. Little is known about this soldier, other than he died on the 22nd June 1944 whilst serving at or on leave in Bombay. John was originally buried at the Sewri Cemetery in Bombay, but his cause of death is unknown at this time. It possible that he was suffering from one of the many tropical diseases prevalent in India at that time, or perhaps from some form of training accident.
Later, in November 1956 John's grave along with all British burials at the Sewri Christian Cemetery, was moved to the newly constructed, Kirkee War Cemetery situated near the Indian city of Pune, formerly known as Poona during the WW2 period. After this move, the Birch family were asked if they would like to add an epitaph to his new gravestone at Kirkee. The family chose the following:
Rank: Private
Service No: 3777367
Date of Death: 22/06/1944
Age: 31
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 30th Bn.
Memorial: Kirkee War Cemetery. Grave 7.B.3.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2189865/john-henry-birch/
Chindit Column: Unknown.
Other details:
John Henry Birch was the son of John and Amelia Birch from Liverpool. Little is known about this soldier, other than he died on the 22nd June 1944 whilst serving at or on leave in Bombay. John was originally buried at the Sewri Cemetery in Bombay, but his cause of death is unknown at this time. It possible that he was suffering from one of the many tropical diseases prevalent in India at that time, or perhaps from some form of training accident.
Later, in November 1956 John's grave along with all British burials at the Sewri Christian Cemetery, was moved to the newly constructed, Kirkee War Cemetery situated near the Indian city of Pune, formerly known as Poona during the WW2 period. After this move, the Birch family were asked if they would like to add an epitaph to his new gravestone at Kirkee. The family chose the following:
HAPPY AND SMILING ALWAYS CONTENT, LOVED AND RESPECTED WHEREVER HE WENT.
Seen below is a small gallery of images in relation to this story, including a photograph of John's gravestone at Kirkee War Cemetery. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rangoon Memorial Face 5.
BLAY, THOMAS PEARSON
Rank: Private
Service No:3780055
Date of Death: 15/03/1943
Age: 31
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery, Face 5.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2506116/BLAY,%20THOMAS%20PEARSON
Chindit Column: Northern Group Head Quarters.
Other details:
13th King's War Diary, 15th March 1943:
"Supply drops carried out successfully with seven days rations dropped. Columns had just cleared the drop zone and were moving out, when the Japs opened up with mortar fire. The Columns moved up in to the hills to the east, defensive patrols were posted and formed a protective perimeter.
After Jap firing had died down, Brigade and Columns moved further up the hills and on to the western slopes of the Wun-U-Taung and settled down for the night. Except for a small amount of paddy, all the supplies purchased by the foraging parties was lost and left behind at the supply drop field."
Rank: Private
Service No:3780055
Date of Death: 15/03/1943
Age: 31
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery, Face 5.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2506116/BLAY,%20THOMAS%20PEARSON
Chindit Column: Northern Group Head Quarters.
Other details:
13th King's War Diary, 15th March 1943:
"Supply drops carried out successfully with seven days rations dropped. Columns had just cleared the drop zone and were moving out, when the Japs opened up with mortar fire. The Columns moved up in to the hills to the east, defensive patrols were posted and formed a protective perimeter.
After Jap firing had died down, Brigade and Columns moved further up the hills and on to the western slopes of the Wun-U-Taung and settled down for the night. Except for a small amount of paddy, all the supplies purchased by the foraging parties was lost and left behind at the supply drop field."
BLOW, THOMAS H.
Rank: Lieutenant
Service No: Not known.
Age: 22
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
From the book, Beyond the Chindwin, by Bernard Fergusson:
Of my last minute officers, Tommy Blow was the last to arrive at Jhansi. He was a tall and powerful builder from Hertfordshire, who was in the Indian Army, and had not the slightest idea what he was coming to, but was delighted when he knew what it was.
Tommy Blow had come across to 77 Brigade from the 16th Punjab Regiment on the 21st December 1942. He arrived with a small draft of five other officers from the Indian Army at the Jhansi holding camp and was posted to No. 5 Column as a junior Rifle Platoon commander. During his early moments with Bernard Fergusson's column he was befriended by another young Lieutenant, Gerry Roberts and the two men enjoyed each others company on the long journey by rail from Jhansi to Dimapur.
After No. 5 Column's entry into Burma on the 16th February 1943, Lt. Blow remained in Fergusson's head quarters section up until the column's main demolition work at Bonchaung on the Mandalay-Myitkhina railway. It was here that Lt. John Kerr, one of the three Rifle Platoon commanders was wounded on the 6th March after an engagement with the enemy to the north of Bonchaung. Kerr had to be left behind with several other badly wounded men and Major Fergusson ordered Tommy Blow to take over what was left of Kerr's platoon.
A few days later, Lt. Blow was given the task of securing the western banks of the Irrawaddy River at Tigyaing, as 5 Column prepared to cross the largest of all obstacles encountered during Operation Longcloth. He was sent out again on the 27th March, alongside Lt. Stibbe on a scouting mission to assess Japanese strength and positions to the north of Hintha village. He would return a few hours later minus one of his platoon sections led by Corporal William McGee. This section had become separated when acting as rearguard on the journey back to Hintha.
Fergusson's men would have their own personal Waterloo at Hintha, losing several men killed on the 28/29th March after a prolonged engagement with the enemy. Major Fergusson was wounded at Hintha, taking a grenade fragment to his hip during a close-quarter skirmish with the enemy. Tommy Blow had held a quantity of medical supplies throughout the expedition and tended the wounds of several of the Hintha casualties including his commander. Over the next period Lt. Blow gave first aid to many of the men marching with 5 Column after the order to return to India had been given by Brigadier Wingate and India Command.
Tommy Blow had become the column Adjutant by the time the remnants of Fergusson's unit approached the Irrawaddy for the second time and remained with Fergusson's party after the column broke up into three dispersal groups around the 10th April 1943. Two weeks later, on the 24th April, he was first over the Chindwin River with Burma Rifleman Maung Kyan to liaise with British forces patrolling the area at that time. This was the end of 5 Column's time behind Japanese lines and the survivors were taken up to Imphal for their first rest and recuperation at the 19th Casualty Clearing Station.
Tommy Blow must have returned to his former unit relatively quickly after Operation Longcloth, for by the time 1944 had come around he was in the Italy theatre with the 4/16 Punjab Regiment and taking part in the fighting for the Monastery position at Cassino. From the book, Solar Punjab, the History of the 16th Punjab Regiment (paraphrased quote):
February 17th 1944: In regards whether or not the Monastery was occupied by the enemy, it can be said that from a distance of just a few hundred yards observers in the battalion could clearly see small arms tracer coming from the lower walls. For those taking part in the battle, the immediate tragedy was that the great effort of the bombardment was not co-ordinated with a ground attack and therefore completely valueless. Despite the utmost valour and determination by all units involved, enemy fire exacted a high toll of killed and wounded.
The Regimental Medical Officer, Captain Stephens and his section worked miracles among the wounded, which subsequently won him the Military Cross and one of his stretcher-bearers the Indian Distinguished Service Medal. During this period William Popple, hitherto thought to be indestructible, was evacuated wounded. Of the several officers who had recently joined the battalion, Lts. Ajaib Gul and Tom Blow (C Company) were also wounded, the latter having survived Wingate's 1943 Chindit expedition.
Seen below is a photograph taken during Operation Longcloth in 1943. Many of the photographs that survive from the first Wingate expedition belonged to and were taken by Lieutenant Tommy Blow.
Rank: Lieutenant
Service No: Not known.
Age: 22
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
From the book, Beyond the Chindwin, by Bernard Fergusson:
Of my last minute officers, Tommy Blow was the last to arrive at Jhansi. He was a tall and powerful builder from Hertfordshire, who was in the Indian Army, and had not the slightest idea what he was coming to, but was delighted when he knew what it was.
Tommy Blow had come across to 77 Brigade from the 16th Punjab Regiment on the 21st December 1942. He arrived with a small draft of five other officers from the Indian Army at the Jhansi holding camp and was posted to No. 5 Column as a junior Rifle Platoon commander. During his early moments with Bernard Fergusson's column he was befriended by another young Lieutenant, Gerry Roberts and the two men enjoyed each others company on the long journey by rail from Jhansi to Dimapur.
After No. 5 Column's entry into Burma on the 16th February 1943, Lt. Blow remained in Fergusson's head quarters section up until the column's main demolition work at Bonchaung on the Mandalay-Myitkhina railway. It was here that Lt. John Kerr, one of the three Rifle Platoon commanders was wounded on the 6th March after an engagement with the enemy to the north of Bonchaung. Kerr had to be left behind with several other badly wounded men and Major Fergusson ordered Tommy Blow to take over what was left of Kerr's platoon.
A few days later, Lt. Blow was given the task of securing the western banks of the Irrawaddy River at Tigyaing, as 5 Column prepared to cross the largest of all obstacles encountered during Operation Longcloth. He was sent out again on the 27th March, alongside Lt. Stibbe on a scouting mission to assess Japanese strength and positions to the north of Hintha village. He would return a few hours later minus one of his platoon sections led by Corporal William McGee. This section had become separated when acting as rearguard on the journey back to Hintha.
Fergusson's men would have their own personal Waterloo at Hintha, losing several men killed on the 28/29th March after a prolonged engagement with the enemy. Major Fergusson was wounded at Hintha, taking a grenade fragment to his hip during a close-quarter skirmish with the enemy. Tommy Blow had held a quantity of medical supplies throughout the expedition and tended the wounds of several of the Hintha casualties including his commander. Over the next period Lt. Blow gave first aid to many of the men marching with 5 Column after the order to return to India had been given by Brigadier Wingate and India Command.
Tommy Blow had become the column Adjutant by the time the remnants of Fergusson's unit approached the Irrawaddy for the second time and remained with Fergusson's party after the column broke up into three dispersal groups around the 10th April 1943. Two weeks later, on the 24th April, he was first over the Chindwin River with Burma Rifleman Maung Kyan to liaise with British forces patrolling the area at that time. This was the end of 5 Column's time behind Japanese lines and the survivors were taken up to Imphal for their first rest and recuperation at the 19th Casualty Clearing Station.
Tommy Blow must have returned to his former unit relatively quickly after Operation Longcloth, for by the time 1944 had come around he was in the Italy theatre with the 4/16 Punjab Regiment and taking part in the fighting for the Monastery position at Cassino. From the book, Solar Punjab, the History of the 16th Punjab Regiment (paraphrased quote):
February 17th 1944: In regards whether or not the Monastery was occupied by the enemy, it can be said that from a distance of just a few hundred yards observers in the battalion could clearly see small arms tracer coming from the lower walls. For those taking part in the battle, the immediate tragedy was that the great effort of the bombardment was not co-ordinated with a ground attack and therefore completely valueless. Despite the utmost valour and determination by all units involved, enemy fire exacted a high toll of killed and wounded.
The Regimental Medical Officer, Captain Stephens and his section worked miracles among the wounded, which subsequently won him the Military Cross and one of his stretcher-bearers the Indian Distinguished Service Medal. During this period William Popple, hitherto thought to be indestructible, was evacuated wounded. Of the several officers who had recently joined the battalion, Lts. Ajaib Gul and Tom Blow (C Company) were also wounded, the latter having survived Wingate's 1943 Chindit expedition.
Seen below is a photograph taken during Operation Longcloth in 1943. Many of the photographs that survive from the first Wingate expedition belonged to and were taken by Lieutenant Tommy Blow.
Lieutenant Tommy Blow (centre) in a Burmese village on Operation Longcloth. Also shown, Rfm. Maung Kyan (left) and Lt. Jim Harman (beard).
BOWDERY R.J.
This man came to light whilst searching through some of the local newspaper archives on line. The article shown was first published in the Surrey Advertiser and County Times, dated Saturday 23rd June 1945:
A Chindit Home
One of the original Chindits, Sergeant R. J. Bowdery (Royal Artillery), of Ladran, York Road, Camberley is home on leave after four years in India and Burma. He represents the third generation of his family to see active service in India. His father, Mr. Oliver R. Bowdery, of Obelisk Street, Camberley, was in the Rifle Brigade, and fought in the Tochi Valley campaign on the North West Frontier from 1896-98. Grandfather, John Bowdery, a former Bagshot man, was in the Royal Scots and fought during the Indian Mutiny.
This man came to light whilst searching through some of the local newspaper archives on line. The article shown was first published in the Surrey Advertiser and County Times, dated Saturday 23rd June 1945:
A Chindit Home
One of the original Chindits, Sergeant R. J. Bowdery (Royal Artillery), of Ladran, York Road, Camberley is home on leave after four years in India and Burma. He represents the third generation of his family to see active service in India. His father, Mr. Oliver R. Bowdery, of Obelisk Street, Camberley, was in the Rifle Brigade, and fought in the Tochi Valley campaign on the North West Frontier from 1896-98. Grandfather, John Bowdery, a former Bagshot man, was in the Royal Scots and fought during the Indian Mutiny.
Herbert Boston.
BOSTON, HERBERT HORATIO
Rank: Private
Service No: 5116524
Date of Death: 07/08/1943
Age: 27
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2506197/boston,-herbert-horatio/
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Herbert Boston was the son of Sydney and Emma Boston and husband of Dorothy Boston from Heath Hayes, near Cannock in Staffordshire. He enlisted into the British Army and was posted in the first instance to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, before being transferred, after travelling to India, to the 13th King's on the 26th September 1942. A member of 5 Column under the overall command of Major Bernard Fergusson, Herbert was last seen at the Burmese village of Lewein on the 30th April 1943, as part of the dispersal group led by Lt. Musgrave-Wood of the Burma Rifles.
Pte. Boston had been separated from his comrades in 5 Column during the early hours of 29th March, close to the village of Hintha. Here the column suffered an ambush and around 100 men were cut away from the main body of the column by a Japanese patrol. With a stroke of great fortune, Major Gilkes, the commander of 7 Column, took these ailing Chindits from 5 Column under his wing, after bumping in to the them at the Shweli River and divided them amongst his already pre-arranged dispersal groups. One of these dispersal parties, of roughly thirty-five men was led by Lt. Musgrave-Wood. Amongst this group was my own grandfather (Pte. Arthur Howney), who had also been separated from 5 Column after the ambush outside Hintha. Lt. Musgrave-Wood's dispersal group headed south, keeping the Shweli visible on their left hand side, until they reached the town of Myitson, here they turned sharply to the east where the river strikes out for the Chinese borders.
On the 14th April they found the river less formidable and finally crossed the Shweli near the village of Nayok. They shared this crossing with the dispersal party of Lieutenant Campbell-Paterson, formerly of the Royal Scots. Soon after the two dispersal parties had crossed the River Shweli at Nayok, they ran into enemy patrols and had to lie low in the surrounding scrub-jungle for several days. Finding food and water was becoming an issue for the now exhausted and desperate Chindits, the two groups realised that they would be better off apart and separated not long after. Lieutenant Campbell-Paterson's group did not fair well, with most of the men, including their leader, being captured by the Japanese within a few short days.
Nothing much is mentioned in books or diaries about the experiences of Lt. Musgrave-Wood's dispersal party after they had crossed the Shweli close to the village of Nayok. The group spent the next week or so moving around the area close to the villages of Lewein, Lonsa and Konkha (see map below). They managed to find food in these villages, but help was not given freely by the villagers, who now feared Japanese reprisals for aiding the British soldiers. During the last few days of April the party was bivouacked on the outskirts of Lewein when it was ambushed by a Japanese patrol and five men became separated from the main group. After the operation, information was given to the Army Investigation Bureau by Pte. F. J. Rowlands, who was a member of the dispersal party commanded by Lieutenant Musgrave-Wood in 1943:
I was with No. 9 Platoon in Column 5, 77th Indian Infantry Brigade during the operations in Burma in 1943. On the way out of Burma I was with a dispersal group commanded by Lieut. Musgrave-Wood and knew the following men : Ptes. Brown, Boston, Dennett, Smith and Orr. We were ambushed in the village of Lewein. These five men did not rejoin the group and I never saw them again. They all had rifles, ammunition and food. They were last seen on about the 30th April 1943.
NB. Pte. Rowlands was a member of the small party of men, led by Lieutenant Musgrave-Wood that reached the safety of Allied held territory in 1943. In fact of the original group present with the Lieutenant at the village of Lewein on the 30th April, only five made it back to India that year, with another three soldiers surviving just over two years in the hands of the Japanese as prisoners of war.
With the exception of William Henry Orr, who was never seen again after the ambush at Lewein, the other soldiers were all taken prisoner by the Japanese on the 30th April or shortly thereafter. Herbert Boston died inside Block 6 of Rangoon Jail on the 7th August 1943, suffering from the effects of the disease beri beri. Herbert was issued with the POW number 524 in Rangoon. Although he perished in Block 6 of the prison, Herbert does not have a memorial grave plaque in Rangoon War Cemetery. He is remembered instead upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial at Taukkyan War Cemetery, situated on the northern outskirts of the city. It is possible that he was buried alongside his Chindit comrades in the English Cantonment Cemetery in 1943, but that any details for the location of his grave were lost and so his remains could not be accurately identified when the burials here were moved over to Rangoon War Cemetery after the war.
NB: Herbert Boston is also remembered upon the Heath Hayes War Memorial for those men lost during the years of WW2.
Rank: Private
Service No: 5116524
Date of Death: 07/08/1943
Age: 27
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2506197/boston,-herbert-horatio/
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Herbert Boston was the son of Sydney and Emma Boston and husband of Dorothy Boston from Heath Hayes, near Cannock in Staffordshire. He enlisted into the British Army and was posted in the first instance to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, before being transferred, after travelling to India, to the 13th King's on the 26th September 1942. A member of 5 Column under the overall command of Major Bernard Fergusson, Herbert was last seen at the Burmese village of Lewein on the 30th April 1943, as part of the dispersal group led by Lt. Musgrave-Wood of the Burma Rifles.
Pte. Boston had been separated from his comrades in 5 Column during the early hours of 29th March, close to the village of Hintha. Here the column suffered an ambush and around 100 men were cut away from the main body of the column by a Japanese patrol. With a stroke of great fortune, Major Gilkes, the commander of 7 Column, took these ailing Chindits from 5 Column under his wing, after bumping in to the them at the Shweli River and divided them amongst his already pre-arranged dispersal groups. One of these dispersal parties, of roughly thirty-five men was led by Lt. Musgrave-Wood. Amongst this group was my own grandfather (Pte. Arthur Howney), who had also been separated from 5 Column after the ambush outside Hintha. Lt. Musgrave-Wood's dispersal group headed south, keeping the Shweli visible on their left hand side, until they reached the town of Myitson, here they turned sharply to the east where the river strikes out for the Chinese borders.
On the 14th April they found the river less formidable and finally crossed the Shweli near the village of Nayok. They shared this crossing with the dispersal party of Lieutenant Campbell-Paterson, formerly of the Royal Scots. Soon after the two dispersal parties had crossed the River Shweli at Nayok, they ran into enemy patrols and had to lie low in the surrounding scrub-jungle for several days. Finding food and water was becoming an issue for the now exhausted and desperate Chindits, the two groups realised that they would be better off apart and separated not long after. Lieutenant Campbell-Paterson's group did not fair well, with most of the men, including their leader, being captured by the Japanese within a few short days.
Nothing much is mentioned in books or diaries about the experiences of Lt. Musgrave-Wood's dispersal party after they had crossed the Shweli close to the village of Nayok. The group spent the next week or so moving around the area close to the villages of Lewein, Lonsa and Konkha (see map below). They managed to find food in these villages, but help was not given freely by the villagers, who now feared Japanese reprisals for aiding the British soldiers. During the last few days of April the party was bivouacked on the outskirts of Lewein when it was ambushed by a Japanese patrol and five men became separated from the main group. After the operation, information was given to the Army Investigation Bureau by Pte. F. J. Rowlands, who was a member of the dispersal party commanded by Lieutenant Musgrave-Wood in 1943:
I was with No. 9 Platoon in Column 5, 77th Indian Infantry Brigade during the operations in Burma in 1943. On the way out of Burma I was with a dispersal group commanded by Lieut. Musgrave-Wood and knew the following men : Ptes. Brown, Boston, Dennett, Smith and Orr. We were ambushed in the village of Lewein. These five men did not rejoin the group and I never saw them again. They all had rifles, ammunition and food. They were last seen on about the 30th April 1943.
NB. Pte. Rowlands was a member of the small party of men, led by Lieutenant Musgrave-Wood that reached the safety of Allied held territory in 1943. In fact of the original group present with the Lieutenant at the village of Lewein on the 30th April, only five made it back to India that year, with another three soldiers surviving just over two years in the hands of the Japanese as prisoners of war.
With the exception of William Henry Orr, who was never seen again after the ambush at Lewein, the other soldiers were all taken prisoner by the Japanese on the 30th April or shortly thereafter. Herbert Boston died inside Block 6 of Rangoon Jail on the 7th August 1943, suffering from the effects of the disease beri beri. Herbert was issued with the POW number 524 in Rangoon. Although he perished in Block 6 of the prison, Herbert does not have a memorial grave plaque in Rangoon War Cemetery. He is remembered instead upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial at Taukkyan War Cemetery, situated on the northern outskirts of the city. It is possible that he was buried alongside his Chindit comrades in the English Cantonment Cemetery in 1943, but that any details for the location of his grave were lost and so his remains could not be accurately identified when the burials here were moved over to Rangoon War Cemetery after the war.
NB: Herbert Boston is also remembered upon the Heath Hayes War Memorial for those men lost during the years of WW2.
Map showing the route taken by Lt. Musgrave-Wood's dispersal party during the month of April 1943.
Update 17/09/2017.
I recently came across another document pertaining to Herbert Boston's time as a prisoner of war. This came in the form of a POW Liberation Questionnaire for fellow Chindit, Norman Fowler. The one page document (shown in the Gallery below) gives in the first instance Pte. Fowler's Army particulars, including his date of enlistment, the 16th October 1939 and his home town address in Birmingham.
The really interesting piece of information from the questionnaire, is his original place of capture in 1943 stated as the village of Aseurgi (Asugyi), followed by mention of a secondary outpost POW camp at Kunchaung. Both these places are located in the Shan States and match up with the direction of travel for Lt. Musgrave-Wood's dispersal party from mid-April to mid-May 1943.
Norman Fowler then confirms his presence at Rangoon Jail from July 1943 until May 1945. In the section asking about any attempted escapes whilst in Japanese hands, he states the following:
Captured by Burmese, attempted escape (whilst journeying from) Aseurgi to Kunchaung, fought hand to hand.
He then mentions two other men as being his companions at this time:
L/Cpl. Kaye (Kay) and Pte. Boston of the 13th King's, both of whom died inside Rangoon Jail.
Unfortunately, there are no other details recorded on the questionnaire, but at least we now know a little more about Pte. Boston's POW journey after his initial capture.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including some of the official Army documents pertaining to the fate of Pte. Herbert Boston. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
I recently came across another document pertaining to Herbert Boston's time as a prisoner of war. This came in the form of a POW Liberation Questionnaire for fellow Chindit, Norman Fowler. The one page document (shown in the Gallery below) gives in the first instance Pte. Fowler's Army particulars, including his date of enlistment, the 16th October 1939 and his home town address in Birmingham.
The really interesting piece of information from the questionnaire, is his original place of capture in 1943 stated as the village of Aseurgi (Asugyi), followed by mention of a secondary outpost POW camp at Kunchaung. Both these places are located in the Shan States and match up with the direction of travel for Lt. Musgrave-Wood's dispersal party from mid-April to mid-May 1943.
Norman Fowler then confirms his presence at Rangoon Jail from July 1943 until May 1945. In the section asking about any attempted escapes whilst in Japanese hands, he states the following:
Captured by Burmese, attempted escape (whilst journeying from) Aseurgi to Kunchaung, fought hand to hand.
He then mentions two other men as being his companions at this time:
L/Cpl. Kaye (Kay) and Pte. Boston of the 13th King's, both of whom died inside Rangoon Jail.
Unfortunately, there are no other details recorded on the questionnaire, but at least we now know a little more about Pte. Boston's POW journey after his initial capture.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including some of the official Army documents pertaining to the fate of Pte. Herbert Boston. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Update 23/08/2020.
I was delighted to receive the following email contact from Michael Rose who is the grandson of Herbert Boston:
Steve, I am the grandson of Herbert Boston and I would like to get my grandad's picture added to your website. I'm sorry to say that I have only scant information about my grandad and his life before the war, other than I know that he worked at the large Dunlop tyre plant in Birmingham.
The details on your site have given me more information than my late mother ever told me, and I can only suppose that she didn't know much about his service history either. I have sent you a photo of him in his uniform and also a picture of him with an unnamed comrade. I have also sent you a copy of an original newspaper cutting explaining what happened to him in Burma and some family tributes.
From the newspaper report of Herbert Boston's sad death in Burma:
Reported missing in July 1943. Private Herbert Boston, whose wife lives at 191 Hednesford Road, Heath Hayes, is now known to have died on August 7th the same year while a prisoner of war in Japanese hands. Official news to this effect was received on Thursday of last week by Mrs. Boston, who last heard from her husband in January 1943. She had received no news of him since he was reported missing and the War Office have received no information concerning the date of his capture.
Private Boston, whose parents live at King's Norton, Birmingham, was twenty-seven and before joining up in April 1940, worked in a rubber factory and was sent to the Far East (Burma) in July 1942. In addition to his wife, he leaves a daughter who was only three weeks old when he went abroad. His youngest brother is still serving in India.
Seen below is s new gallery of images as described above including the heartfelt tributes expressed by Herbert's family. I would like to thank Michael Rose for allowing me to include these images on this page and to help uncover more of Herbert's story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
I was delighted to receive the following email contact from Michael Rose who is the grandson of Herbert Boston:
Steve, I am the grandson of Herbert Boston and I would like to get my grandad's picture added to your website. I'm sorry to say that I have only scant information about my grandad and his life before the war, other than I know that he worked at the large Dunlop tyre plant in Birmingham.
The details on your site have given me more information than my late mother ever told me, and I can only suppose that she didn't know much about his service history either. I have sent you a photo of him in his uniform and also a picture of him with an unnamed comrade. I have also sent you a copy of an original newspaper cutting explaining what happened to him in Burma and some family tributes.
From the newspaper report of Herbert Boston's sad death in Burma:
Reported missing in July 1943. Private Herbert Boston, whose wife lives at 191 Hednesford Road, Heath Hayes, is now known to have died on August 7th the same year while a prisoner of war in Japanese hands. Official news to this effect was received on Thursday of last week by Mrs. Boston, who last heard from her husband in January 1943. She had received no news of him since he was reported missing and the War Office have received no information concerning the date of his capture.
Private Boston, whose parents live at King's Norton, Birmingham, was twenty-seven and before joining up in April 1940, worked in a rubber factory and was sent to the Far East (Burma) in July 1942. In addition to his wife, he leaves a daughter who was only three weeks old when he went abroad. His youngest brother is still serving in India.
Seen below is s new gallery of images as described above including the heartfelt tributes expressed by Herbert's family. I would like to thank Michael Rose for allowing me to include these images on this page and to help uncover more of Herbert's story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Joseph Box in Karachi 1944.
BOX, JOSEPH
Rank: Sergeant
Service No: 5952036
Age: 33
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Originally the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment.
Chindit Column: 8 (unconfirmed).
Other details:
Joseph Box appears in a Company photograph (seen below) from the collection of Sgt Dennis Brown a former Chindit with No. 8 Column on Operation Longcloth. The photograph was taken at the Napier Barracks in Karachi, which is where the 13th King's relocated after the end of their service in Burma. By the time of the photograph, Joseph had been promoted to the rank of Regimental Quartermaster for the battalion.
Nothing is really known about his service on the first Wingate expedition apart from his association with Sgt. Brown. Joseph was a member of the Burma Star Association after the war and attended meetings at the Slough Branch, with his address given as 4 Canada Road, Slough on his association membership form. Joseph's sad death was recorded by the Burma Star Association magazine (Dekho) in the Winter 1985 issue.
Seen below is the photograph showing Joseph Box (front row, third right) and Sgt. Dennis Brown (second row, first right) at the Napier Barracks in Karachi. Please click on the image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Sergeant
Service No: 5952036
Age: 33
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Originally the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment.
Chindit Column: 8 (unconfirmed).
Other details:
Joseph Box appears in a Company photograph (seen below) from the collection of Sgt Dennis Brown a former Chindit with No. 8 Column on Operation Longcloth. The photograph was taken at the Napier Barracks in Karachi, which is where the 13th King's relocated after the end of their service in Burma. By the time of the photograph, Joseph had been promoted to the rank of Regimental Quartermaster for the battalion.
Nothing is really known about his service on the first Wingate expedition apart from his association with Sgt. Brown. Joseph was a member of the Burma Star Association after the war and attended meetings at the Slough Branch, with his address given as 4 Canada Road, Slough on his association membership form. Joseph's sad death was recorded by the Burma Star Association magazine (Dekho) in the Winter 1985 issue.
Seen below is the photograph showing Joseph Box (front row, third right) and Sgt. Dennis Brown (second row, first right) at the Napier Barracks in Karachi. Please click on the image to bring it forward on the page.
Company photograph at the Napier Barracks, Karachi in 1944.
Delhi War Cemetery.
BRADBURY, STANLEY
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 3444792
Date of Death: 23/06/1944
Age: 36
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Grave Reference 2.K.10. Delhi War Cemetery.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2177003/BRADBURY,%20STANLEY
Chindit Column: Unknown.
Other details:
Lance Corporal Stanley Bradbury was the son of Charles and Mary Ellen Bradbury and husband of Edith Bradbury, of Farnworth, Lancashire. Hardly anything else is known about his time with the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade in 1942-43 and it seems unlikely to me that he took part in Operation Longcloth.
The 13th King's War diary for the period of June and July 1944 has the battalion busy with mortar and light machine gun training exercises. It might be the case that Stanley was injured in some way in a training accident, but this is pure supposition on my part. Please click on the gravestone image to enlarge.
Update 12/09/2014. From information found in the India Office records for burials, I now know that Stanley had transferred from the 13th King's to the Corps of Military Police. According to the burial records he died from 'multiple injuries (accidental)' and was buried at New Delhi. His funeral service was conducted by Methodist Chaplain, Cyril James Davey.
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 3444792
Date of Death: 23/06/1944
Age: 36
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Grave Reference 2.K.10. Delhi War Cemetery.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2177003/BRADBURY,%20STANLEY
Chindit Column: Unknown.
Other details:
Lance Corporal Stanley Bradbury was the son of Charles and Mary Ellen Bradbury and husband of Edith Bradbury, of Farnworth, Lancashire. Hardly anything else is known about his time with the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade in 1942-43 and it seems unlikely to me that he took part in Operation Longcloth.
The 13th King's War diary for the period of June and July 1944 has the battalion busy with mortar and light machine gun training exercises. It might be the case that Stanley was injured in some way in a training accident, but this is pure supposition on my part. Please click on the gravestone image to enlarge.
Update 12/09/2014. From information found in the India Office records for burials, I now know that Stanley had transferred from the 13th King's to the Corps of Military Police. According to the burial records he died from 'multiple injuries (accidental)' and was buried at New Delhi. His funeral service was conducted by Methodist Chaplain, Cyril James Davey.
Pte. Ernest Bradley.
BRADLEY, ERNEST
Rank: Private
Service No: 3861103
Date of Death: 02/02/1944
Age: 30
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Rangoon War Cemetery, Grave Reference 5.B.4.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2259752/BRADLEY,%20ERNEST
Chindit Column 2.
Other details:
Pte. Ernest Bradley was the husband of Lily Christina Bradley and lived in the town of Reddish, near Stockport in Cheshire. Ernest, formerly with the Loyal Regiment, joined Chindit training at the Saugor Camp and was posted in to the 142 Commando section and ultimately attached to Chindit Column number 2.
Column 2 was part of Southern Section and made up mainly from Gurkha Rifle troops, Ernest would have been one of only a handful of British soldiers present in the column. Southern Section were designated the role of decoy by Brigadier Wingate in 1943, with orders to march through Burmese villages quite overtly and to purposely attract the attention of the locals. This, Wingate hoped, would draw all Japanese attention to the south of where he and the main section of his Chindits were heading, namely the railway station towns at Nankan and Bonchaung.
Southern Group crossed the Chindwin on 15/16th February 1943 at a place called Auktang. Their orders were to march toward their own prime target, the rail station at Kyaikthin. They marched openly along well known local trails and paths and also received a large supply drop from the air, which must have announced their presence in the area to the Japanese.
The decoy group were accompanied at this time by a Company of Sikh Mountain Artillery and a section of Seaforth Highlanders. This supplementary unit were to create a further diversion for Wingate by attacking the town of Pantha and alerting the enemy to the possibility that there might well be a full-scale re-invasion taking place. To all intents and purposes these tactics succeeded and Northern Group did proceed unmolested toward their objectives.
On the 2nd March Chindit Columns 1 and 2 had reached the outskirts of Kyaikthin, Major Dunlop, commander of Column 1 was given the order to blow up the railway bridge, whilst Column 2 under the command of Major Arthur Emmett along with Group HQ were to head on towards the rail station itself. What neither group realised was that the Japanese had by now closed in on the unsuspecting Chindits and lay in wait just a short way up the tracks. To make matters worse the two Gurkha columns had now lost radio contact with each other. Column 2 and Group Head Quarters marching in the black of night stumbled into an enemy ambush which straddled both sides of the railway line embankment.
Here is how Lieutenant Ian MacHorton, a young Gurkha officer recalls that moment:
"We shuffled to a halt as the guides probed forward. There came the sound of just one bang up front, then an inferno of noise engulfed the world around me. There came the high-pitched staccato scream of a machine gun, then overwhelmingly many others joined in, the crash and ping of rifle bullets, the banging of grenades as the battle reached a fearful crescendo. Men and mules were lying, twisted and contorted, twitching and writhing, others were still erect, stark in the moonlight, heaving and jerking in the midst of this chaos. Then a sinister scuffling noise made by men of all kinds in close combat. The close combat of bayonet and kukri, the fanatical, personal slaughter with blood-dripping cold steel."
In the confusion of battle many of the men from Column 2 misunderstood the dispersal call given and moved away to the west, eventually a large number of the survivors from Kyaikthin, including column commander Major Emmett decided to make their way back to India. The remnants of Column 2, including Lieutenant MacHorton and presumably Pte. Bradley joined up with Column 1 and marched off toward the Irrawaddy River which they crossed on about the 10th March.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3861103
Date of Death: 02/02/1944
Age: 30
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Rangoon War Cemetery, Grave Reference 5.B.4.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2259752/BRADLEY,%20ERNEST
Chindit Column 2.
Other details:
Pte. Ernest Bradley was the husband of Lily Christina Bradley and lived in the town of Reddish, near Stockport in Cheshire. Ernest, formerly with the Loyal Regiment, joined Chindit training at the Saugor Camp and was posted in to the 142 Commando section and ultimately attached to Chindit Column number 2.
Column 2 was part of Southern Section and made up mainly from Gurkha Rifle troops, Ernest would have been one of only a handful of British soldiers present in the column. Southern Section were designated the role of decoy by Brigadier Wingate in 1943, with orders to march through Burmese villages quite overtly and to purposely attract the attention of the locals. This, Wingate hoped, would draw all Japanese attention to the south of where he and the main section of his Chindits were heading, namely the railway station towns at Nankan and Bonchaung.
Southern Group crossed the Chindwin on 15/16th February 1943 at a place called Auktang. Their orders were to march toward their own prime target, the rail station at Kyaikthin. They marched openly along well known local trails and paths and also received a large supply drop from the air, which must have announced their presence in the area to the Japanese.
The decoy group were accompanied at this time by a Company of Sikh Mountain Artillery and a section of Seaforth Highlanders. This supplementary unit were to create a further diversion for Wingate by attacking the town of Pantha and alerting the enemy to the possibility that there might well be a full-scale re-invasion taking place. To all intents and purposes these tactics succeeded and Northern Group did proceed unmolested toward their objectives.
On the 2nd March Chindit Columns 1 and 2 had reached the outskirts of Kyaikthin, Major Dunlop, commander of Column 1 was given the order to blow up the railway bridge, whilst Column 2 under the command of Major Arthur Emmett along with Group HQ were to head on towards the rail station itself. What neither group realised was that the Japanese had by now closed in on the unsuspecting Chindits and lay in wait just a short way up the tracks. To make matters worse the two Gurkha columns had now lost radio contact with each other. Column 2 and Group Head Quarters marching in the black of night stumbled into an enemy ambush which straddled both sides of the railway line embankment.
Here is how Lieutenant Ian MacHorton, a young Gurkha officer recalls that moment:
"We shuffled to a halt as the guides probed forward. There came the sound of just one bang up front, then an inferno of noise engulfed the world around me. There came the high-pitched staccato scream of a machine gun, then overwhelmingly many others joined in, the crash and ping of rifle bullets, the banging of grenades as the battle reached a fearful crescendo. Men and mules were lying, twisted and contorted, twitching and writhing, others were still erect, stark in the moonlight, heaving and jerking in the midst of this chaos. Then a sinister scuffling noise made by men of all kinds in close combat. The close combat of bayonet and kukri, the fanatical, personal slaughter with blood-dripping cold steel."
In the confusion of battle many of the men from Column 2 misunderstood the dispersal call given and moved away to the west, eventually a large number of the survivors from Kyaikthin, including column commander Major Emmett decided to make their way back to India. The remnants of Column 2, including Lieutenant MacHorton and presumably Pte. Bradley joined up with Column 1 and marched off toward the Irrawaddy River which they crossed on about the 10th March.
Map of area around Kyaikthin and the general direction of Column 1 towards the Irrawaddy River.
Major Dunlop's group moved south-east towards Mongmit and by the time that general dispersal had been called, found themselves the furthest Chindit column from home. Their journey back to India was long and tortuous with many men lost or taken prisoner. Nothing is known about Pte. Bradley's time with Column 1, but we do know that he ended up as a POW in Rangoon Jail.
We do have one possible clue as to how Ernest was captured; from a witness statement written by Lieutenant P.W. MacLagan, an officer attached to 142 Commando in Column 2:
Regarding Pte. E. Belcher and Pte. A. Barnes amongst others, who were recorded as missing on the 9th May, 1943 in Burma:
"On the 8th May 1943 at mid-day, the party under Major Dunlop was attacked on the Katun Chaung about 3 miles from the Chindwin River. Major Dunlop led the party up a dry nullah into the surrounding hills. The above mentioned men were in a group led by Lance Corporal McMurran which went on with Major Dunlop."
The report then goes on to recommend that a statement is obtained from Major Dunlop in order to further clarify what happened to these men. In Dunlop's own debrief documents for 1943 he mentions that in the area close to the east banks of the Chindwin there were many Japanese and Burmese fighting patrols, all on the lookout for the Chindits attempting to escape back to India. Pte. Barnes and Lance Corporal McMurran were both members of 142 Commando and both these two men and Pte. Belcher ended up as prisoners of war. It seems likely that Ernest Bradley was with this group that became trapped in the nullah by the enemy forces in early May.
Ernest was held in Block 6 of Rangoon Jail, his POW number was 609, this very high number also points to his capture being fairly late on during the operation. If Pte. Bradley was with McMurran's group it would mean that he was only a few short miles from the safety of the Chindwin River when he was captured by the Japanese.
No Japanese index card exists for Pte. Bradley, but we do know that he died in Block 6 on the 2nd February 1944. The lists of deaths in Rangoon Jail held at the Imperial War Museum tell us that he was originally buried at the English Cantonment Cemetery on the outskirts of the city near the Royal Lakes. He is recorded as being buried in Grave 149 (see cemetery map below). After the war was over the Imperial War Graves Commission removed all the Allied graves from the Cantonment Cemetery and re-interred them at the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery, which is where Ernest now lies at peace in Plot 5.
A few years ago there was a Facebook community page with posts entered from various Chindit related families, sadly, this page has since been deleted. The photograph of Ernest Bradley was placed on to this Facebook page by Mark Darby, I did try to make contact with Mark, but never did succeed, I hope that he will not mind me using the image of Ernest to help illustrate this story.
Seen below are some more images in regard to Pte. Ernest Bradley's story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
We do have one possible clue as to how Ernest was captured; from a witness statement written by Lieutenant P.W. MacLagan, an officer attached to 142 Commando in Column 2:
Regarding Pte. E. Belcher and Pte. A. Barnes amongst others, who were recorded as missing on the 9th May, 1943 in Burma:
"On the 8th May 1943 at mid-day, the party under Major Dunlop was attacked on the Katun Chaung about 3 miles from the Chindwin River. Major Dunlop led the party up a dry nullah into the surrounding hills. The above mentioned men were in a group led by Lance Corporal McMurran which went on with Major Dunlop."
The report then goes on to recommend that a statement is obtained from Major Dunlop in order to further clarify what happened to these men. In Dunlop's own debrief documents for 1943 he mentions that in the area close to the east banks of the Chindwin there were many Japanese and Burmese fighting patrols, all on the lookout for the Chindits attempting to escape back to India. Pte. Barnes and Lance Corporal McMurran were both members of 142 Commando and both these two men and Pte. Belcher ended up as prisoners of war. It seems likely that Ernest Bradley was with this group that became trapped in the nullah by the enemy forces in early May.
Ernest was held in Block 6 of Rangoon Jail, his POW number was 609, this very high number also points to his capture being fairly late on during the operation. If Pte. Bradley was with McMurran's group it would mean that he was only a few short miles from the safety of the Chindwin River when he was captured by the Japanese.
No Japanese index card exists for Pte. Bradley, but we do know that he died in Block 6 on the 2nd February 1944. The lists of deaths in Rangoon Jail held at the Imperial War Museum tell us that he was originally buried at the English Cantonment Cemetery on the outskirts of the city near the Royal Lakes. He is recorded as being buried in Grave 149 (see cemetery map below). After the war was over the Imperial War Graves Commission removed all the Allied graves from the Cantonment Cemetery and re-interred them at the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery, which is where Ernest now lies at peace in Plot 5.
A few years ago there was a Facebook community page with posts entered from various Chindit related families, sadly, this page has since been deleted. The photograph of Ernest Bradley was placed on to this Facebook page by Mark Darby, I did try to make contact with Mark, but never did succeed, I hope that he will not mind me using the image of Ernest to help illustrate this story.
Seen below are some more images in regard to Pte. Ernest Bradley's story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Update 09/06/2014.
I am pleased to say that with a few short weeks of this story being added to the website, I received this email contact from Peter Darby, the great nephew of Ernest Bradley.
I happened to be searching the internet for information about my great uncle Ernest Bradley, who was captured during Operation Longcloth and I came across this site.
I was shocked to see how much information you had found out about Ernest, as we his family knew nothing. I passed the picture you are using onto my cousin Mark, we found it with a selection of photographs belonging to my grandmother, it was mixed up with some Manchester Regiment items and my grandad informed me it was his uncle.
I have collected the information you sent over and printed it out so my grandad could look at it, he was over the moon with the new details about his Uncle Ernest. My fiancé and I looked up his medals and it seems he was awarded the standard ones.
Thank you so much for the information, I would like to stay in touch and will try and find out if there is more that the family can tell you.
Kind regards,
Peter Darby
I am pleased to say that with a few short weeks of this story being added to the website, I received this email contact from Peter Darby, the great nephew of Ernest Bradley.
I happened to be searching the internet for information about my great uncle Ernest Bradley, who was captured during Operation Longcloth and I came across this site.
I was shocked to see how much information you had found out about Ernest, as we his family knew nothing. I passed the picture you are using onto my cousin Mark, we found it with a selection of photographs belonging to my grandmother, it was mixed up with some Manchester Regiment items and my grandad informed me it was his uncle.
I have collected the information you sent over and printed it out so my grandad could look at it, he was over the moon with the new details about his Uncle Ernest. My fiancé and I looked up his medals and it seems he was awarded the standard ones.
Thank you so much for the information, I would like to stay in touch and will try and find out if there is more that the family can tell you.
Kind regards,
Peter Darby
Pte. Albert Barnes.
Update 30/07/2014.
On the 5th December 1942 Ernest Bradley decided to make his Army Will. In this document and not surprisingly, he left all his estate and effects to his wife, Lily. His will was witnessed and signed by two men; Pte. Albert Barnes, who is mentioned in the above narrative and was a fellow Column 2 Commando on Operation Longcloth and a man named Kenneth Ashworth, who was presumably another member of the 13th King's that year.
It seems likely to me that Ernest Bradley and Albert Barnes were friends during their time in India and Burma, not only had they shared Chindit training together and both been members of Column 2 Commando, but they were both formerly with the Loyal Regiment, before being posted to the 13th King's in the summer of 1942.
Update 08/04/2017.
From the Manchester Evening News, dated 11th June 1945, and under the headline, Roll of Honour:
Pte. Ernest Bradley (3861103 King's Regiment), reported missing on May 2nd 1943, now known to have died while a prisoner of war in Japanese hands on February 2nd 1944. His memory to us a golden treasure. Sadly missed by his loving wife Lily, and children, Ernest and Christina. 17 Somers Road, Reddish, Stockport.
Ernest Bradley. We who have loved you can never forget, a broken link we can never replace. From brother Frank, sister-in-law Martha and your mother-in-law. You died in the noblest of causes. From Vera and Walt. Happy memories. Blessed Virgin Mary, grant him eternal rest. From Flo and Sam. Worthy of everlasting remembrance and God's greatest gift, eternal rest. From Frances, Frank, Mary and Bill.
On the 5th December 1942 Ernest Bradley decided to make his Army Will. In this document and not surprisingly, he left all his estate and effects to his wife, Lily. His will was witnessed and signed by two men; Pte. Albert Barnes, who is mentioned in the above narrative and was a fellow Column 2 Commando on Operation Longcloth and a man named Kenneth Ashworth, who was presumably another member of the 13th King's that year.
It seems likely to me that Ernest Bradley and Albert Barnes were friends during their time in India and Burma, not only had they shared Chindit training together and both been members of Column 2 Commando, but they were both formerly with the Loyal Regiment, before being posted to the 13th King's in the summer of 1942.
Update 08/04/2017.
From the Manchester Evening News, dated 11th June 1945, and under the headline, Roll of Honour:
Pte. Ernest Bradley (3861103 King's Regiment), reported missing on May 2nd 1943, now known to have died while a prisoner of war in Japanese hands on February 2nd 1944. His memory to us a golden treasure. Sadly missed by his loving wife Lily, and children, Ernest and Christina. 17 Somers Road, Reddish, Stockport.
Ernest Bradley. We who have loved you can never forget, a broken link we can never replace. From brother Frank, sister-in-law Martha and your mother-in-law. You died in the noblest of causes. From Vera and Walt. Happy memories. Blessed Virgin Mary, grant him eternal rest. From Flo and Sam. Worthy of everlasting remembrance and God's greatest gift, eternal rest. From Frances, Frank, Mary and Bill.
BRENNAN, JOHN
Rank: Private
Service No: 3781620
Date of Death: 08/05/1943
Age: 32
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2506278/brennan,-john/#&gid=null&pid=1
Chindit Column: Northern Group Head Quarters
Other details:
John Brennan was the son of John William and Anne Brennan and the husband of Winifred Brennan from Greenhays in Manchester. He is likely to have been one of the original members of the 13 King's that voyaged to India aboard the troopship Oronsay, which left Liverpool Docks on the 8th December 1941
Northern Group Head Quarters commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel S.A. Cooke, was the central command centre for Chindit columns 4, 5, 7 and 8 during Operation Longcloth. This HQ worked in close proximity to No. 8 Column for almost the entire expedition and it was with this column, commanded by Major Walter Purcell Scott of the King's Regiment, that the Head Quarters returned to India. It was during the return journey to India that Pte. Brennan was lost to his unit on the 8th May 1943. The missing in action listings for the group simply state that Pte. Brennan alongside Pte. Hyman Farber were missing from the line of march on the above date approximately two miles from the Burmese village of Haungpa, located close to the Uyu River.
One of the officers present with the unit, Lt. Peter Bennett gave the following witness statement:
In regards: 3781620 J. Brennan and 3781622 H. Farber.
The above mentioned men were last seen on the afternoon of May 8th 1943, about two miles from the village of Haungpa (SB. 7054) on the River Uyu. The column had proceeded about half a mile along the side track off the main Kamaing-Haungpa Road, two miles east of the village (Haungpa), when it was reported that the two missing men were not with the party.
A section returned to the main track and searched half a mile in each direction for about an hour without success. It is possible that the two missing men did not see the column turn off and walked on down the main track towards the village which was occupied by the Japanese.
This statement is certified as true by Lt. George Henry Borrow, 2/IC Northern Group Head Quarters.
No further information was ever gained about these two men and for this reason, they are remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial at Taukkyan War Cemetery. The memorial was constructed to remember the 26,000 casualties who perished during the Burma Campaign, but who have no known grave or resting place.
NB. I noticed whilst collating this short story, that the Army service numbers of Hyman Farber and John Brennan are only two digits apart and that both men came from Manchester. This makes me wonder whether these two men were already long-time friends from their original enlistment into the King's Regiment in 1941 and that it is no coincidence that they served together in Burma during Operation Longcloth and became lost together on the 8th May 1943. I suppose this is something that we will never really know for sure.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a map of the area around Haungpa on the Uyu River and a photograph of Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial showing John Brennan's inscription. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3781620
Date of Death: 08/05/1943
Age: 32
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2506278/brennan,-john/#&gid=null&pid=1
Chindit Column: Northern Group Head Quarters
Other details:
John Brennan was the son of John William and Anne Brennan and the husband of Winifred Brennan from Greenhays in Manchester. He is likely to have been one of the original members of the 13 King's that voyaged to India aboard the troopship Oronsay, which left Liverpool Docks on the 8th December 1941
Northern Group Head Quarters commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel S.A. Cooke, was the central command centre for Chindit columns 4, 5, 7 and 8 during Operation Longcloth. This HQ worked in close proximity to No. 8 Column for almost the entire expedition and it was with this column, commanded by Major Walter Purcell Scott of the King's Regiment, that the Head Quarters returned to India. It was during the return journey to India that Pte. Brennan was lost to his unit on the 8th May 1943. The missing in action listings for the group simply state that Pte. Brennan alongside Pte. Hyman Farber were missing from the line of march on the above date approximately two miles from the Burmese village of Haungpa, located close to the Uyu River.
One of the officers present with the unit, Lt. Peter Bennett gave the following witness statement:
In regards: 3781620 J. Brennan and 3781622 H. Farber.
The above mentioned men were last seen on the afternoon of May 8th 1943, about two miles from the village of Haungpa (SB. 7054) on the River Uyu. The column had proceeded about half a mile along the side track off the main Kamaing-Haungpa Road, two miles east of the village (Haungpa), when it was reported that the two missing men were not with the party.
A section returned to the main track and searched half a mile in each direction for about an hour without success. It is possible that the two missing men did not see the column turn off and walked on down the main track towards the village which was occupied by the Japanese.
This statement is certified as true by Lt. George Henry Borrow, 2/IC Northern Group Head Quarters.
No further information was ever gained about these two men and for this reason, they are remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial at Taukkyan War Cemetery. The memorial was constructed to remember the 26,000 casualties who perished during the Burma Campaign, but who have no known grave or resting place.
NB. I noticed whilst collating this short story, that the Army service numbers of Hyman Farber and John Brennan are only two digits apart and that both men came from Manchester. This makes me wonder whether these two men were already long-time friends from their original enlistment into the King's Regiment in 1941 and that it is no coincidence that they served together in Burma during Operation Longcloth and became lost together on the 8th May 1943. I suppose this is something that we will never really know for sure.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a map of the area around Haungpa on the Uyu River and a photograph of Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial showing John Brennan's inscription. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
George Bell.
Update 12/12/2020.
From the Chindit memoirs of Lance Corporal George Bell, comes a more detailed explanation of where and when John Brennan and Hyman Farber were lost to their column on Operation Longcloth:
After recrossing the Irrawaddy, we marched sometimes 20 miles in a day, crossing the railway and two more minor rivers. One day we came across a Burmese man who could speak English, his story did not ring true to us and so we kept him with us under guard. After collecting more rice in the next village the headman warned us that this man had recently been in the company of a Jap patrol. It was decide that it was too dangerous to let him go and that he should be shot. My section took him away from the main group and one of the Burma Rifle soldiers shot him through the head. This left us with the feeling of being judge, jury and executioner.
We slogged on for a few more days, by which time our food supplies had completely run out. I brewed up with a tea bag that must have been used at least twenty times before. Around midday we were walking along a dried-up river bed when we saw some parachutes caught up in a group of trees. We approached them carefully concerned it might be a Jap ambush or booby trap, but it was a definite ration dropping, presumably for another of our parties. The packs gave us eight days rations per man, exactly eight days later we were in a small village when a British plane came over and spotted us on the ground. They dropped a message canister asking if we needed supplies, we answered them using cut parachute strips to mark out our numbers and needs. We waited for almost two days hoping they would return, but reluctantly we moved on, worried about the dangers of staying put in one place for too long.
Not long after that incident two of our lads whose feet were in an awful state needed time to rest and bathe their feet in a stream. The order was given to move off, but the two men said they wanted to remain for a short while longer and would attempt to catch us up later. They never returned to the main group and we heard later that they had been killed by the Japanese.
From the Chindit memoirs of Lance Corporal George Bell, comes a more detailed explanation of where and when John Brennan and Hyman Farber were lost to their column on Operation Longcloth:
After recrossing the Irrawaddy, we marched sometimes 20 miles in a day, crossing the railway and two more minor rivers. One day we came across a Burmese man who could speak English, his story did not ring true to us and so we kept him with us under guard. After collecting more rice in the next village the headman warned us that this man had recently been in the company of a Jap patrol. It was decide that it was too dangerous to let him go and that he should be shot. My section took him away from the main group and one of the Burma Rifle soldiers shot him through the head. This left us with the feeling of being judge, jury and executioner.
We slogged on for a few more days, by which time our food supplies had completely run out. I brewed up with a tea bag that must have been used at least twenty times before. Around midday we were walking along a dried-up river bed when we saw some parachutes caught up in a group of trees. We approached them carefully concerned it might be a Jap ambush or booby trap, but it was a definite ration dropping, presumably for another of our parties. The packs gave us eight days rations per man, exactly eight days later we were in a small village when a British plane came over and spotted us on the ground. They dropped a message canister asking if we needed supplies, we answered them using cut parachute strips to mark out our numbers and needs. We waited for almost two days hoping they would return, but reluctantly we moved on, worried about the dangers of staying put in one place for too long.
Not long after that incident two of our lads whose feet were in an awful state needed time to rest and bathe their feet in a stream. The order was given to move off, but the two men said they wanted to remain for a short while longer and would attempt to catch us up later. They never returned to the main group and we heard later that they had been killed by the Japanese.
Frank Brierley.
BRIERLEY, FRANK
Rank: Private (Lance Corporal)
Service No: 3781718
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: Unknown
Other details:
In August 2020, I received an email contact from Adrian Heywood in relation to his grandfather, Frank Brierley and his Chindit experience. Adrian had spotted a group photograph on my website that contained his grandfather and matched a similar image contained within his own family's collection. The photograph (shown below) was of a group of men from the 13th King's Regiment who had provided a Guard of Honour for the visit of the Viceroy Archibald Wavell to the battalion's barracks at Karachi in February 1944.
Adrian, who is himself a serving soldier (Royal Engineers) in today's British Army told me:
I have been researching my family history recently and came cross the photograph of my grandfather on your website. My grandfather did not talk about the war very much as he found it too upsetting. From his Army records I can tell you that he joined the King's Regiment on the 26th July 1940 and served with the 13th battalion in India until early 1943 when he was posted to the Cameronians. He then returned to the King's in February 1944, before completing his war service with the Border Regiment.
Frank married Eva, my grandmother before war broke out, his own father was a retired professional soldier who told Frank not to volunteer for war service in 1940. Frank lived in a place called Cholton-Cum-Hardy in Manchester and was a furrier making a good living in the fur coat trade. He also played football for a local team, they trained on Wednesdays and played on Saturdays. On a play day he turned up at the club to find the Army there and trying to enlist the whole team into the 13th Kings. At the time he didn’t mind too much because they told them they would be doing home defence duties, however not long after that they ended up aboard a ship. He told me he didn’t know where they were going and that one of the men from the battalion died onboard and was buried at sea which really upset him.
He didn’t talk about India or Burma very much apart from saying literally all his friends died out there and he was as you can understand, very anti-war. He had contracted malaria and spent time in hospital recovering from his jungle activities. On discharge he went back to Manchester and had two daughters with Eva, my auntie Shiela and my mother Christine. He, like many Mancunians from that time worked in factories until he retired, he loved his football and was a definitely a blue supporter. Sadly, Frank passed away in the late 1980’s aged 76 years. He was a fantastic grandfather who always had a smile and a bar of chocolate on hand for us when we saw him.
NB. The unfortunate soldier mentioned by Frank was Pte. 3781551 Sinclair Smith, who is now remembered on the Brookwood Memorial. Here is a link to his CWGC details: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2148166/SMITH,%20SINCLAIR
Rank: Private (Lance Corporal)
Service No: 3781718
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: Unknown
Other details:
In August 2020, I received an email contact from Adrian Heywood in relation to his grandfather, Frank Brierley and his Chindit experience. Adrian had spotted a group photograph on my website that contained his grandfather and matched a similar image contained within his own family's collection. The photograph (shown below) was of a group of men from the 13th King's Regiment who had provided a Guard of Honour for the visit of the Viceroy Archibald Wavell to the battalion's barracks at Karachi in February 1944.
Adrian, who is himself a serving soldier (Royal Engineers) in today's British Army told me:
I have been researching my family history recently and came cross the photograph of my grandfather on your website. My grandfather did not talk about the war very much as he found it too upsetting. From his Army records I can tell you that he joined the King's Regiment on the 26th July 1940 and served with the 13th battalion in India until early 1943 when he was posted to the Cameronians. He then returned to the King's in February 1944, before completing his war service with the Border Regiment.
Frank married Eva, my grandmother before war broke out, his own father was a retired professional soldier who told Frank not to volunteer for war service in 1940. Frank lived in a place called Cholton-Cum-Hardy in Manchester and was a furrier making a good living in the fur coat trade. He also played football for a local team, they trained on Wednesdays and played on Saturdays. On a play day he turned up at the club to find the Army there and trying to enlist the whole team into the 13th Kings. At the time he didn’t mind too much because they told them they would be doing home defence duties, however not long after that they ended up aboard a ship. He told me he didn’t know where they were going and that one of the men from the battalion died onboard and was buried at sea which really upset him.
He didn’t talk about India or Burma very much apart from saying literally all his friends died out there and he was as you can understand, very anti-war. He had contracted malaria and spent time in hospital recovering from his jungle activities. On discharge he went back to Manchester and had two daughters with Eva, my auntie Shiela and my mother Christine. He, like many Mancunians from that time worked in factories until he retired, he loved his football and was a definitely a blue supporter. Sadly, Frank passed away in the late 1980’s aged 76 years. He was a fantastic grandfather who always had a smile and a bar of chocolate on hand for us when we saw him.
NB. The unfortunate soldier mentioned by Frank was Pte. 3781551 Sinclair Smith, who is now remembered on the Brookwood Memorial. Here is a link to his CWGC details: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2148166/SMITH,%20SINCLAIR
Guard of Honour for the Viceroy Archibald Wavell. Frank Brierley can be seen in the middle row, second right.
From studying Frank Brierley's war service record, it is clear that he had been involved in the first Chindit expedition and quite possibly the second operation in 1944. Even the small amount of information provided by his grandson Adrian, illustrates the great effect Frank's experiences in Burma had on his life and how he still felt the pain of losing so many of his mates almost to the day he died.
On leaving the Army in January 1946, the presiding officer recorded Frank's military conduct and service as exemplary and stated:
Pte. Brierley joined the Army on the 26th July 1940 and has been on active service in India and Burma. He is a clean, smart soldier willing and hardworking. He has proved himself reliable and trustworthy and has been a credit to the service.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this short story including many photographs of Frank Brierley and some of his Chindit comrades. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. I would like to thank Adrian Heywood for sending me all the information and photographs of his grandfather and for allowing these to be shown on these website pages.
On leaving the Army in January 1946, the presiding officer recorded Frank's military conduct and service as exemplary and stated:
Pte. Brierley joined the Army on the 26th July 1940 and has been on active service in India and Burma. He is a clean, smart soldier willing and hardworking. He has proved himself reliable and trustworthy and has been a credit to the service.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this short story including many photographs of Frank Brierley and some of his Chindit comrades. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. I would like to thank Adrian Heywood for sending me all the information and photographs of his grandfather and for allowing these to be shown on these website pages.
Pte. John Bromley.
BROMLEY, JOHN
Rank: Private
Service No: 3781395
Date of Death: Between 17/04/1943 and 18/04/1943
Age: 30
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery, Face Panel 5.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2506326/BROMLEY,%20JOHN
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
Pte. John Bromley was the husband of Sara Elizabeth Bromley, of Chorley, Lancashire. I was very fortunate to make contact with the Bromley family back in April 2009, where I was able to speak in person to his son, Jim and his granddaughter Elaine. The family were generous enough to provide me with a photograph of John and three other men from the 13th King's, from their time aboard the troopship 'Oronsay' in late 1941 and early 1942. Elaine also transcribed entries from John's pocket diary, which proved invaluable to me, especially in regards to the early movements of the battalion on arrival in India.
Here is a run down of the Oronsay voyage according to John's diary, including interesting information concerning the battalion's short stay at Durban in South Africa and having to change ship, not once, but twice for the final leg of the journey to Bombay:
"Went to Liverpool to board the Oronsay on 05/12/1941. Sailed 08/12/1941. Started to wear tropical kit on the 18th December. Arrived Freetown 21/12/1941, not allowed off of boat, no blackout. On guard 24/12/41 from 0900 hours to 0900 hours on the 25th, very hot day, winter season. Left Freetown 25/12/41 at 1200 hours, ceremony of crossing the line on 28/12/41. Landed Durban, South Africa 08/01/42, went to Clairwood Camp. Left 11/01/42, Sunday, went onto the Duchess of Athol, sailed Tuesday the 13th, turned back after four hours. Went on the Andes (new ship), sailed Wednesday the 14th, caught up convoy Friday morning the 16th. Landed Bombay 21/01/42. Disembarked on 30/01/42. Went to Secunderabad on the 4pm train on Friday. Arrived at 9.30 pm Saturday at the Gough Barracks".
These barracks were to be the 13th King's home whilst they performed garrison and policing duties in the region, this was right up until Wingate took them as his British Infantry element for Operation Longcloth. According to the diaries of Leon Frank the battalion also spent some time at the Meadows Barracks too, which also formed part of the Secunderabad Cantonment in 1942.
Pte. John Bromley, known to all as 'Jack', was a member of Column 8 on Operation Longcloth. After dispersal was called in late March, he was with a platoon of soldiers commanded by Captain Raymond Edward Williams. In early April this group had forded the Shweli River as the bridgehead protection platoon for Column 8 in order to protect the further crossing of the rest of the unit. The boats which were ferrying the other men across were lost and swept away down stream, leaving Captain Williams and his men stranded on the opposite bank.
As daylight was running out and the chance of enemy interference was high, Williams moved his men away in to the jungle scrub a few yards from the river, where they remained overnight. The next morning there was no sign of Major Scott, or the rest of Column 8, so Williams decided to push on with his men in the general direction previously agreed amongst the officers of Column 8. They never saw Major Scott or the main group again.
After several days march the group reached the banks of the Irrawaddy River near the town of Zinbon (see map in the photograph gallery below) here they deiced to attempt a crossing. The story is now taken up by the only surviving member of Captain Williams party to reach the safety of India that year, Corporal A. McCann of the 13th King's. McCann informed the investigation bureau for Operation Longcloth about the fate of Captain Williams platoon in the form of a witness statement, which is shown below. Please click on the image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3781395
Date of Death: Between 17/04/1943 and 18/04/1943
Age: 30
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery, Face Panel 5.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2506326/BROMLEY,%20JOHN
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
Pte. John Bromley was the husband of Sara Elizabeth Bromley, of Chorley, Lancashire. I was very fortunate to make contact with the Bromley family back in April 2009, where I was able to speak in person to his son, Jim and his granddaughter Elaine. The family were generous enough to provide me with a photograph of John and three other men from the 13th King's, from their time aboard the troopship 'Oronsay' in late 1941 and early 1942. Elaine also transcribed entries from John's pocket diary, which proved invaluable to me, especially in regards to the early movements of the battalion on arrival in India.
Here is a run down of the Oronsay voyage according to John's diary, including interesting information concerning the battalion's short stay at Durban in South Africa and having to change ship, not once, but twice for the final leg of the journey to Bombay:
"Went to Liverpool to board the Oronsay on 05/12/1941. Sailed 08/12/1941. Started to wear tropical kit on the 18th December. Arrived Freetown 21/12/1941, not allowed off of boat, no blackout. On guard 24/12/41 from 0900 hours to 0900 hours on the 25th, very hot day, winter season. Left Freetown 25/12/41 at 1200 hours, ceremony of crossing the line on 28/12/41. Landed Durban, South Africa 08/01/42, went to Clairwood Camp. Left 11/01/42, Sunday, went onto the Duchess of Athol, sailed Tuesday the 13th, turned back after four hours. Went on the Andes (new ship), sailed Wednesday the 14th, caught up convoy Friday morning the 16th. Landed Bombay 21/01/42. Disembarked on 30/01/42. Went to Secunderabad on the 4pm train on Friday. Arrived at 9.30 pm Saturday at the Gough Barracks".
These barracks were to be the 13th King's home whilst they performed garrison and policing duties in the region, this was right up until Wingate took them as his British Infantry element for Operation Longcloth. According to the diaries of Leon Frank the battalion also spent some time at the Meadows Barracks too, which also formed part of the Secunderabad Cantonment in 1942.
Pte. John Bromley, known to all as 'Jack', was a member of Column 8 on Operation Longcloth. After dispersal was called in late March, he was with a platoon of soldiers commanded by Captain Raymond Edward Williams. In early April this group had forded the Shweli River as the bridgehead protection platoon for Column 8 in order to protect the further crossing of the rest of the unit. The boats which were ferrying the other men across were lost and swept away down stream, leaving Captain Williams and his men stranded on the opposite bank.
As daylight was running out and the chance of enemy interference was high, Williams moved his men away in to the jungle scrub a few yards from the river, where they remained overnight. The next morning there was no sign of Major Scott, or the rest of Column 8, so Williams decided to push on with his men in the general direction previously agreed amongst the officers of Column 8. They never saw Major Scott or the main group again.
After several days march the group reached the banks of the Irrawaddy River near the town of Zinbon (see map in the photograph gallery below) here they deiced to attempt a crossing. The story is now taken up by the only surviving member of Captain Williams party to reach the safety of India that year, Corporal A. McCann of the 13th King's. McCann informed the investigation bureau for Operation Longcloth about the fate of Captain Williams platoon in the form of a witness statement, which is shown below. Please click on the image to bring it forward on the page.
Witness statement of Corporal A. McCann.
Ironically, by the time the men had reached the smaller tributary of the Irrawaddy mentioned in McCann's report and had been ambushed by the Japanese, they were only a few miles south of Major Scott and the rest of Column 8. From McCann's witness statement, we can see that John Bromley was present at the Irrawaddy crossing on the 18th April, although not mentioned in McCann's statement it is known that the group were attacked by a Japanese patrol at this location and this is probably where John was killed. His date of death on the CWGC website is stated as between the 18th and 19th April 1943, this is of course quite possible as this period would have been very confused and lacking in eye-witness accounts to verify the exact place and time of death.
In the book 'With Wingate in Burma' by David Halley, Corporal McCann provides a more detailed description of the incident on the 23rd April. McCann was discovered by another dispersal party from Column 8 a few weeks later on in a deserted Burmese village where he had been hiding out:
"Just at first, we had our doubts about his reality, but we soon recognised him. He was a Corporal who had been with Captain Williams at the crossing of the Shweli, on the occasion when the rope had parted, and they had been safely over the river, while we were left on the far bank.
He told us the story of that ill-fated party. They had gone, as arranged, to the rendezvous on the mountain top, and had waited there forty-eight hours for us to arrive. When we hadn't come by then, they made up their minds that either the Shweli had been too much for us, or the Japs had got us, and they decided to proceed independently.
We must have reached the rendezvous only a short time after they had pulled out. They proceeded northwards for two days, and then struck west, towards the Irrawaddy. They were, you will remember, about thirty-five strong, and at that time they were well-off for food. They made good time, and they found no traces of the enemy.
On the fourth day after leaving the mountain top, they struck a deep river-bed, with rocky and precipitous sides and still a fair-sized body of water flowing along it. This cut their path at right angles, and as they were anxious to keep as straight a path to the Irrawaddy as they could, they decided to cross it, there and then. They tied their packs on their heads, slung their rifles, hung their boots round their necks, and proceeded to ford the river.
It was not very deep, they found, and the current, though strong, was not strong enough to make their foothold insecure. Everything went merrily as a marriage-bell, until they were in mid-stream. Then the Japs opened fire on them from cover on the opposite bank. Light machine guns and rifles blazed at them, and about half of them were killed by the first burst. They were absolutely helpless. The only cover available to them was the water, and if they made use of that, they would drown.
Their rifles were slung. Before they could get at them, they would all be massacred. The position was utterly hopeless. Captain Williams did the only possible thing, he surrendered. The Japs held their fire, and the party or what was left of it moved dejectedly across the stream to give itself up. But apparently, one or two men on one of the flanks thought they saw a chance of making a break.
Probably they thought that anything was to be preferred to a Japanese prison camp, or Japanese playfulness. They never thought what their attempt might mean to the rest. They made a sudden dash for freedom. At the first move, the enemy opened fire again on the whole party, and in a few seconds it was all over. There was not a single survivor, except this Corporal, who had been the last man into the river-bed, and had managed to regain the shelter of the jungle on his own side. He saw the whole thing happen, before making his own getaway, with a bullet hole through both cheeks."
In the book 'With Wingate in Burma' by David Halley, Corporal McCann provides a more detailed description of the incident on the 23rd April. McCann was discovered by another dispersal party from Column 8 a few weeks later on in a deserted Burmese village where he had been hiding out:
"Just at first, we had our doubts about his reality, but we soon recognised him. He was a Corporal who had been with Captain Williams at the crossing of the Shweli, on the occasion when the rope had parted, and they had been safely over the river, while we were left on the far bank.
He told us the story of that ill-fated party. They had gone, as arranged, to the rendezvous on the mountain top, and had waited there forty-eight hours for us to arrive. When we hadn't come by then, they made up their minds that either the Shweli had been too much for us, or the Japs had got us, and they decided to proceed independently.
We must have reached the rendezvous only a short time after they had pulled out. They proceeded northwards for two days, and then struck west, towards the Irrawaddy. They were, you will remember, about thirty-five strong, and at that time they were well-off for food. They made good time, and they found no traces of the enemy.
On the fourth day after leaving the mountain top, they struck a deep river-bed, with rocky and precipitous sides and still a fair-sized body of water flowing along it. This cut their path at right angles, and as they were anxious to keep as straight a path to the Irrawaddy as they could, they decided to cross it, there and then. They tied their packs on their heads, slung their rifles, hung their boots round their necks, and proceeded to ford the river.
It was not very deep, they found, and the current, though strong, was not strong enough to make their foothold insecure. Everything went merrily as a marriage-bell, until they were in mid-stream. Then the Japs opened fire on them from cover on the opposite bank. Light machine guns and rifles blazed at them, and about half of them were killed by the first burst. They were absolutely helpless. The only cover available to them was the water, and if they made use of that, they would drown.
Their rifles were slung. Before they could get at them, they would all be massacred. The position was utterly hopeless. Captain Williams did the only possible thing, he surrendered. The Japs held their fire, and the party or what was left of it moved dejectedly across the stream to give itself up. But apparently, one or two men on one of the flanks thought they saw a chance of making a break.
Probably they thought that anything was to be preferred to a Japanese prison camp, or Japanese playfulness. They never thought what their attempt might mean to the rest. They made a sudden dash for freedom. At the first move, the enemy opened fire again on the whole party, and in a few seconds it was all over. There was not a single survivor, except this Corporal, who had been the last man into the river-bed, and had managed to regain the shelter of the jungle on his own side. He saw the whole thing happen, before making his own getaway, with a bullet hole through both cheeks."
John Bromley (second left) aboard the troopship 'Oronsay'. With L-R, Eric Horton, Pte. Williams and Stanley Howard.
So, these are the details in regards to the death of Pte. John Bromley. Contrary to the witness reports given, Captain Williams dispersal party were definitely ambushed by the Japanese on at least two separate occasions, once on the 18th April and then again on the 23rd. Shown above is the wonderful photograph sent to me by the family back in 2009. It was taken aboard the troopship 'Oronsay' and judging by the presence of the men's solar topee headgear on the deck in front of them, I would say it was taken sometime in early January 1942. Present are, from left to right as we look; Pte. Eric Horton, John Bromley, Pte. Williams and Pte. Stanley Howard.
Eric Horton was also with Column 8 on Operation Longcloth and also present in Captain Williams dispersal party. Eric was killed according to his CWGC entry, on the 17th April 1943.
Here are his CWGC details: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2511582/HORTON,%20ERIC
As there were no fewer than seven Pte. Williams present in the 13th King's in 1943 it is impossible to accurately identify the man in this photograph.
Pte. Stanley Howard was a member of Column 7 in 1943. Pte. Howard went missing on the 26th February very soon after the column had taken a supply drop near a village called Didauk on the Pinlebu Road.
Here are his CWGC details: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2511605/HOWARD,%20STANLEY
Featured below are some more photographs and images in relation to John Bromley and his time in Burma in 1943. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Eric Horton was also with Column 8 on Operation Longcloth and also present in Captain Williams dispersal party. Eric was killed according to his CWGC entry, on the 17th April 1943.
Here are his CWGC details: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2511582/HORTON,%20ERIC
As there were no fewer than seven Pte. Williams present in the 13th King's in 1943 it is impossible to accurately identify the man in this photograph.
Pte. Stanley Howard was a member of Column 7 in 1943. Pte. Howard went missing on the 26th February very soon after the column had taken a supply drop near a village called Didauk on the Pinlebu Road.
Here are his CWGC details: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2511605/HOWARD,%20STANLEY
Featured below are some more photographs and images in relation to John Bromley and his time in Burma in 1943. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
In an email dated 13th April 2009, granddaughter Elaine told me:
Hi Steve
I am most grateful for your email and information. My Dad has most of the letters my Grandad sent to my Nan and I am slowly going through them to put them in some sort of order. My Nan seems to have kept most things in relation to my Grandad, including the letter from King George expressing his sympathy and a letter almost 18 months later saying that they had received information from a POW who had been released, saying he was next to my Grandad when he was killed by machine gun fire on 17/18th April 1943. It would be nice to know who that was but I guess we will never know.
It is probably true to say that we will never know for sure who this liberated POW was, but here are the five possible candidates, taken from the men who were with Captain Williams Platoon in April 1943 and survived their time in Rangoon Jail :
Pte. John William Tippey. John was was from Birkenhead near Liverpool. He was reported captured by the Japanese on the 20th April 1943, his POW number was 327, he survived his time in Rangoon Jail and was liberated in late April 1945.
Pte. Joseph Thompson. Liverpudlian Joseph Thompson was an original member of the 13th King's battalion which left Liverpool Docks in December 1941. He too was reported captured by the Japanese on the 20th April 1943, his POW number was 318, he also survived his time in Rangoon Jail and was liberated in late April 1945.
Corporal John Albert Usher. From Wrexham and a former soldier with the Royal Welch Fusiliers, John Usher, was reported captured by the Japanese on the 17th April 1943. He was given the POW number 105 whilst in Rangoon Jail, where he survived his two years of imprisonment, but not before losing a leg to the ravages of infected jungle sores which developed into large and incurable ulcerations.
Sergeant Harold Palmer. From Droylesden in Manchester, Harold was captured on the 17th April 1943. He was given the POW number 96 in Rangoon Jail where he spent two years as a prisoner in Japanese hands, before being liberated in late April 1945. To read more about Harold and his experiences in Burma and as a POW, please click on the following link: Sgt. Harold Palmer
Pte. Joseph Grisedale. From St. Helen's in Lancashire, Joseph was captured on the 23rd April 1943. He was given the POW number 313 whilst in Rangoon Jail, where he spent nearly two years before being liberated in late April 1945.
My thanks go to Jim Bromley and his daughter Elaine for all their help in bringing this story to these pages. I would also like to thank Steve Williams for his help in providing the images of the Chorley War Memorial, which appear courtesy of the Chorley Remembers Project.
Update 29/05/2016.
In late February 2016, I received an email contact via my website from Harold Palmer's granddaughter, Claire McHenry:
I was looking though your website and I saw that my Grandad, Harold Palmer was mentioned in relation to the story Pte. John Bromley and the members of Captain Raymond Williams' platoon. I can see that there is a contribution by John Bromley's son and granddaughter, and I wondered if they would be interested in seeing a copy of my Grandad's diary, which I suspect gives the details of the occasion when John was killed.
I am extremely pleased to say that the two families have now spoken to each other and passed on information, photographs and anecdotes in regards to their Chindit soldiers, it has also transpired that Harold Palmer took the trouble of meeting up with Sara Elizabeth Bromley after the war, to pass on his condolences and to explain what had happened to Jack Bromley back in April 1943. As I write this today, it made me wonder if one of the returning Chindit soldiers took the time to visit my own Nan, and offer her the same kindness. I sincerely hope so.
By another piece of good fortune; in June 2015, I was contacted by the daughter of Sergeant Thomas Vann, who was an original member of the 13th Battalion the King's Regiment in 1941, when they voyaged to India aboard the troopship 'Oronsay'. Joyce has just recently shared several photographs from her father's time in India and Burma, one of which depicts a group of Kingsmen having a laugh and a joke whilst sitting on a wall. The image, shown below was probably taken in Bombay on the Chindt's last leave before departing for Burma. Jack Bromley is the dark haired man taking centre stage in the photograph.
To view more photographs from the album of Sgt. Tommy Vann, please click on the following link: Tommy Vann, a Photographic Album
I have also had another email from Elaine, the granddaughter of Jack Bromley, in which she explains more about the families recent correspondence and the photograph already mentioned:
Hi Steve
Hope you are well. As you know I've been in contact with Harold Palmer's family and it was lovely to hear of their stories and the fact my Nan had actually been to meet Harold after the war was amazing and quite emotional.
My sister has been going through Grandad's letters and has typed these up and put them into order. She contacted me this morning saying she had looked at your website in particular looking at the photos, as she is trying to match up some photos we have. Whilst reading about Tommy Vann, she spotted a photo (see attached) which is of my Grandad and we have the exact same photo. Also we have a photo of the swimming baths showing John Aspinall, Tommy Vann & Grandad and are not sure if Tommy's family have the same photo, I will try and get copies of all the photos when my sister visits me next weekend and send them to you.
Also, my Grandad, who was known as 'Jack', was batman to Captain Williams. He mentions in one of his letters that Captain McDonald had also asked him to be his batman and he wasn't sure what to do, but decided to go with Captain Williams. It appears he must of enjoyed being 'batman' as in earlier letters he mentions being batman to Lt. Carroll from January 1941 - October 1941.
Not sure if any of this helps, but if I find any more info I'll let you know.
Best wishes, Elaine.
Hi Steve
I am most grateful for your email and information. My Dad has most of the letters my Grandad sent to my Nan and I am slowly going through them to put them in some sort of order. My Nan seems to have kept most things in relation to my Grandad, including the letter from King George expressing his sympathy and a letter almost 18 months later saying that they had received information from a POW who had been released, saying he was next to my Grandad when he was killed by machine gun fire on 17/18th April 1943. It would be nice to know who that was but I guess we will never know.
It is probably true to say that we will never know for sure who this liberated POW was, but here are the five possible candidates, taken from the men who were with Captain Williams Platoon in April 1943 and survived their time in Rangoon Jail :
Pte. John William Tippey. John was was from Birkenhead near Liverpool. He was reported captured by the Japanese on the 20th April 1943, his POW number was 327, he survived his time in Rangoon Jail and was liberated in late April 1945.
Pte. Joseph Thompson. Liverpudlian Joseph Thompson was an original member of the 13th King's battalion which left Liverpool Docks in December 1941. He too was reported captured by the Japanese on the 20th April 1943, his POW number was 318, he also survived his time in Rangoon Jail and was liberated in late April 1945.
Corporal John Albert Usher. From Wrexham and a former soldier with the Royal Welch Fusiliers, John Usher, was reported captured by the Japanese on the 17th April 1943. He was given the POW number 105 whilst in Rangoon Jail, where he survived his two years of imprisonment, but not before losing a leg to the ravages of infected jungle sores which developed into large and incurable ulcerations.
Sergeant Harold Palmer. From Droylesden in Manchester, Harold was captured on the 17th April 1943. He was given the POW number 96 in Rangoon Jail where he spent two years as a prisoner in Japanese hands, before being liberated in late April 1945. To read more about Harold and his experiences in Burma and as a POW, please click on the following link: Sgt. Harold Palmer
Pte. Joseph Grisedale. From St. Helen's in Lancashire, Joseph was captured on the 23rd April 1943. He was given the POW number 313 whilst in Rangoon Jail, where he spent nearly two years before being liberated in late April 1945.
My thanks go to Jim Bromley and his daughter Elaine for all their help in bringing this story to these pages. I would also like to thank Steve Williams for his help in providing the images of the Chorley War Memorial, which appear courtesy of the Chorley Remembers Project.
Update 29/05/2016.
In late February 2016, I received an email contact via my website from Harold Palmer's granddaughter, Claire McHenry:
I was looking though your website and I saw that my Grandad, Harold Palmer was mentioned in relation to the story Pte. John Bromley and the members of Captain Raymond Williams' platoon. I can see that there is a contribution by John Bromley's son and granddaughter, and I wondered if they would be interested in seeing a copy of my Grandad's diary, which I suspect gives the details of the occasion when John was killed.
I am extremely pleased to say that the two families have now spoken to each other and passed on information, photographs and anecdotes in regards to their Chindit soldiers, it has also transpired that Harold Palmer took the trouble of meeting up with Sara Elizabeth Bromley after the war, to pass on his condolences and to explain what had happened to Jack Bromley back in April 1943. As I write this today, it made me wonder if one of the returning Chindit soldiers took the time to visit my own Nan, and offer her the same kindness. I sincerely hope so.
By another piece of good fortune; in June 2015, I was contacted by the daughter of Sergeant Thomas Vann, who was an original member of the 13th Battalion the King's Regiment in 1941, when they voyaged to India aboard the troopship 'Oronsay'. Joyce has just recently shared several photographs from her father's time in India and Burma, one of which depicts a group of Kingsmen having a laugh and a joke whilst sitting on a wall. The image, shown below was probably taken in Bombay on the Chindt's last leave before departing for Burma. Jack Bromley is the dark haired man taking centre stage in the photograph.
To view more photographs from the album of Sgt. Tommy Vann, please click on the following link: Tommy Vann, a Photographic Album
I have also had another email from Elaine, the granddaughter of Jack Bromley, in which she explains more about the families recent correspondence and the photograph already mentioned:
Hi Steve
Hope you are well. As you know I've been in contact with Harold Palmer's family and it was lovely to hear of their stories and the fact my Nan had actually been to meet Harold after the war was amazing and quite emotional.
My sister has been going through Grandad's letters and has typed these up and put them into order. She contacted me this morning saying she had looked at your website in particular looking at the photos, as she is trying to match up some photos we have. Whilst reading about Tommy Vann, she spotted a photo (see attached) which is of my Grandad and we have the exact same photo. Also we have a photo of the swimming baths showing John Aspinall, Tommy Vann & Grandad and are not sure if Tommy's family have the same photo, I will try and get copies of all the photos when my sister visits me next weekend and send them to you.
Also, my Grandad, who was known as 'Jack', was batman to Captain Williams. He mentions in one of his letters that Captain McDonald had also asked him to be his batman and he wasn't sure what to do, but decided to go with Captain Williams. It appears he must of enjoyed being 'batman' as in earlier letters he mentions being batman to Lt. Carroll from January 1941 - October 1941.
Not sure if any of this helps, but if I find any more info I'll let you know.
Best wishes, Elaine.
Jack Bromley, third right as we look, shares a joke with his Chindit comrades.
Cap badge of the King's Regiment.
BROOKES, CHARLES
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 3780031
Age: 33
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Charles Brookes was the 5 Column bugler on Operation Longcloth. He was the son of Charles John and Martha Brookes from Manchester and was captured at the Shweli River on the 2nd April 1943 and spent just over two years inside Rangoon Jail where his POW number was 339. He was liberated on the 29th April 1945 at the village of Waw. Lt. Philip Stibbe a platoon commander with No 5 Column and fellow prisoner inside the jail, remembered Brookes in his book, Return via Rangoon:
A figure that pops up in almost all my memories of 5 Column is the imperturbable stocky form of Brookes, the bugler. Always with Column Head Quarters, it was he who transmitted the Major’s orders to the rest of the column, whether by bugle or by whistle. At a signal from him we loaded the mules; at another signal we moved off; at another we halted. He sometimes summoned the officers to conference with the Major, and at other times he blew the call which told us to disperse into the jungle and meet again at a pre-arranged rendezvous. We all knew what each of his signals meant, and we all took it for granted that he would be at hand to blow his bugle with impeccable clarity.
Column commander, Major Bernard Fergusson relied heavily on Lance Corporal Brookes during the battle at Hintha on the 28th March, including calling upon the trustworthy bugler to sound for the column to withdraw from the village that evening. Fergusson recalled:
As we moved away from Hintha I gave the order for everyone to congregate in a nearby paddy field. I asked Duncan Menzies if he was quite sure everybody knew the next rendezvous point. "Absolutely," he answered and with that assurance I told Brookes the bugler to blow on his instrument, as he always called it, the call known as second dispersal, on hearing which every group in the column was trained to break off from the main body and make its way independently to the following rendezvous.
Back home in Manchester, Lance Corporal Brookes' family, still hoping against hope that their soldier was still alive, placed these birthday messages in the Manchester Evening News, dated June 10th 1944:
Birthday greetings to a dear son and brother, Charlie Brookes (King's Regiment) on his 34th birthday (Sunday 11th). Missing on Wingate's Expedition in Burma on April 1st 1943. We are always thinking of you. From Mam, Dad, Sister and Brother C.M.F. (Central Mediterranean Force). 38 Kensington Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester 21.
Loving birthday greetings to my dear brother, Charlie on his 34th birthday. Still missing in Burma. Hoping and praying for your safe return. From your sister Mag and Tom. Hurry home, Charlie Chuck Chuck, from little niece, Jean.
It is wonderful to think that the family's prayers were answered and that Charles survived his ordeal as a prisoner of war and returned home to those who loved him so much.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story including Charles' POW index card. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. To read more about No. 5 Column and the disaster at the Shweli River, please click on the following link: The Men of the Shweli Sandbank
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 3780031
Age: 33
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Charles Brookes was the 5 Column bugler on Operation Longcloth. He was the son of Charles John and Martha Brookes from Manchester and was captured at the Shweli River on the 2nd April 1943 and spent just over two years inside Rangoon Jail where his POW number was 339. He was liberated on the 29th April 1945 at the village of Waw. Lt. Philip Stibbe a platoon commander with No 5 Column and fellow prisoner inside the jail, remembered Brookes in his book, Return via Rangoon:
A figure that pops up in almost all my memories of 5 Column is the imperturbable stocky form of Brookes, the bugler. Always with Column Head Quarters, it was he who transmitted the Major’s orders to the rest of the column, whether by bugle or by whistle. At a signal from him we loaded the mules; at another signal we moved off; at another we halted. He sometimes summoned the officers to conference with the Major, and at other times he blew the call which told us to disperse into the jungle and meet again at a pre-arranged rendezvous. We all knew what each of his signals meant, and we all took it for granted that he would be at hand to blow his bugle with impeccable clarity.
Column commander, Major Bernard Fergusson relied heavily on Lance Corporal Brookes during the battle at Hintha on the 28th March, including calling upon the trustworthy bugler to sound for the column to withdraw from the village that evening. Fergusson recalled:
As we moved away from Hintha I gave the order for everyone to congregate in a nearby paddy field. I asked Duncan Menzies if he was quite sure everybody knew the next rendezvous point. "Absolutely," he answered and with that assurance I told Brookes the bugler to blow on his instrument, as he always called it, the call known as second dispersal, on hearing which every group in the column was trained to break off from the main body and make its way independently to the following rendezvous.
Back home in Manchester, Lance Corporal Brookes' family, still hoping against hope that their soldier was still alive, placed these birthday messages in the Manchester Evening News, dated June 10th 1944:
Birthday greetings to a dear son and brother, Charlie Brookes (King's Regiment) on his 34th birthday (Sunday 11th). Missing on Wingate's Expedition in Burma on April 1st 1943. We are always thinking of you. From Mam, Dad, Sister and Brother C.M.F. (Central Mediterranean Force). 38 Kensington Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester 21.
Loving birthday greetings to my dear brother, Charlie on his 34th birthday. Still missing in Burma. Hoping and praying for your safe return. From your sister Mag and Tom. Hurry home, Charlie Chuck Chuck, from little niece, Jean.
It is wonderful to think that the family's prayers were answered and that Charles survived his ordeal as a prisoner of war and returned home to those who loved him so much.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story including Charles' POW index card. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. To read more about No. 5 Column and the disaster at the Shweli River, please click on the following link: The Men of the Shweli Sandbank
BROWN, ROBERT
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 3781455
Date of Death: 02/07/1943
Age: 31
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Sai Wan War Cemetery, Grave 11.C.9
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2220830/robert-brown/
Chindit Column: 7
Other details:
Robert Brown was the son of Isiah and Hannah Brown and the husband of Lottie Brown from Droylsden in Lancashire. Sadly, not much is known about Robert and his time in Burma, other than he was a soldier with No. 7 Column and that he dispersed in April 1943 with his column into the northern Kachin Hills and eventually made the long journey towards the Chinese city of Paoshan.
From the book, Wingate's Lost Brigade and based on the Column 7 War diary for the period:
By 23rd May, the column was reunited with its commander at Tantzu-Pa. A message had been sent to the nearest Chinese Divisional Headquarters and a couple of days later the reply came back that three officers should proceed to the headquarters and make arrangements for the movement of the rest of the column. Major Gilkes decided to take Captain Petersen and Captain Cottrell with him and before he left he gave Commander Wong, the guerrilla commander, a present of 30 rifles, two tommy guns, a revolver, 1,500 rounds of ammunition and ten grenades. The old veteran was very pleased as his men only had one rifle between every six men. As his men were now under Chinese protection, Gilkes considered it only reasonable to help their new Allies in view of the food and assistance given to them.
The journey was beginning to take its toll on some of the men and Lance Corporals Brown and Short, and Privates Allnutt, Dwyer, Rowley, Perrett and McArthur were left at Tantzu-Pa to recover. The next day Sergeant Thompson, Privates Coulson, Rubbock, Sykes and Thornton were left at Hou-Tien under Lieutenant Heald who himself was suffering recurrent bouts of fever.
Later, on 3rd June, and after a strenuous march of 32 miles the column finally reached Paoshan at 19:45 hours. They were greeted with flags flying and a band playing military music, and were lodged in the best building in town. They were given baths, new clothes and haircuts, and the Chinese General even advanced Gilkes enough money to pay his men. Then followed a grand feast, given by the General commanding Seventy-First Chinese Army.
The men began the last leg of their journey home on 5th June when they boarded lorries for a drive along the Burma Road to Kunming and thence to Yunani where the American Air Force offered to fly them to Assam at once. On 9th June, Major Gilkes stepped off the train at Manipur Road, heading for Brigade Headquarters, while the rest of his men carried on to Shillong for a well-deserved rest and hospitalisation.
Sadly, Robert Brown, Frank Rowley, Alfred Short and Maurice Dwyer never made the return journey to India. Captain Leslie Cottrell gave a witness statement to this effect on his return to India, dated the 5th August 1943:
I was the staff officer with No. 7 Column on the Wingate expedition into Burma. The above mentioned British Other Ranks were left at Tantzu-Pa on the 25th May 1943. They were left on the orders of the Column Commander (Major Gilkes) and the Column Medical Officer (Captain Snalam) as being physically unfit to continue the march with the remainder of the column. Arrangements were made with the Chinese to take care of them and they were later evacuated to the hospital at Paoshan.
Cipher message no. 0333/C from 4 Corps has since been received that a Kachin Levies report states that L/Cpl. Brown and L/Cpl. Short have since died at Paoshan, exact date unknown but approximately 17th July 1943. A telegram since received from Shillong Area HQ dated 11th July 1943 states Pte. Rowley expired at Jerhal Hospital on the 8th July. A previous report stated that Pte. Dwyer had died in the Chinese town of Lima on 2nd June suffering from malaria.
Robert Brown was buried locally at Paoshan alongside several other Chindit soldiers in mid-1943. After the war was over, the remains of three of the men buried at Paoshan including Robert, were exhumed and moved to a new Imperial Graves Commission Cemetery at Sai Wan in Hong Kong. His family were asked to contribute an epitaph for is gravestone and chose the following: In The Prime Of Life God Claimed Him.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to the above narrative, including a photograph of Robert Brown's gravestone at Sai Wan War Cemetery. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 3781455
Date of Death: 02/07/1943
Age: 31
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Sai Wan War Cemetery, Grave 11.C.9
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2220830/robert-brown/
Chindit Column: 7
Other details:
Robert Brown was the son of Isiah and Hannah Brown and the husband of Lottie Brown from Droylsden in Lancashire. Sadly, not much is known about Robert and his time in Burma, other than he was a soldier with No. 7 Column and that he dispersed in April 1943 with his column into the northern Kachin Hills and eventually made the long journey towards the Chinese city of Paoshan.
From the book, Wingate's Lost Brigade and based on the Column 7 War diary for the period:
By 23rd May, the column was reunited with its commander at Tantzu-Pa. A message had been sent to the nearest Chinese Divisional Headquarters and a couple of days later the reply came back that three officers should proceed to the headquarters and make arrangements for the movement of the rest of the column. Major Gilkes decided to take Captain Petersen and Captain Cottrell with him and before he left he gave Commander Wong, the guerrilla commander, a present of 30 rifles, two tommy guns, a revolver, 1,500 rounds of ammunition and ten grenades. The old veteran was very pleased as his men only had one rifle between every six men. As his men were now under Chinese protection, Gilkes considered it only reasonable to help their new Allies in view of the food and assistance given to them.
The journey was beginning to take its toll on some of the men and Lance Corporals Brown and Short, and Privates Allnutt, Dwyer, Rowley, Perrett and McArthur were left at Tantzu-Pa to recover. The next day Sergeant Thompson, Privates Coulson, Rubbock, Sykes and Thornton were left at Hou-Tien under Lieutenant Heald who himself was suffering recurrent bouts of fever.
Later, on 3rd June, and after a strenuous march of 32 miles the column finally reached Paoshan at 19:45 hours. They were greeted with flags flying and a band playing military music, and were lodged in the best building in town. They were given baths, new clothes and haircuts, and the Chinese General even advanced Gilkes enough money to pay his men. Then followed a grand feast, given by the General commanding Seventy-First Chinese Army.
The men began the last leg of their journey home on 5th June when they boarded lorries for a drive along the Burma Road to Kunming and thence to Yunani where the American Air Force offered to fly them to Assam at once. On 9th June, Major Gilkes stepped off the train at Manipur Road, heading for Brigade Headquarters, while the rest of his men carried on to Shillong for a well-deserved rest and hospitalisation.
Sadly, Robert Brown, Frank Rowley, Alfred Short and Maurice Dwyer never made the return journey to India. Captain Leslie Cottrell gave a witness statement to this effect on his return to India, dated the 5th August 1943:
I was the staff officer with No. 7 Column on the Wingate expedition into Burma. The above mentioned British Other Ranks were left at Tantzu-Pa on the 25th May 1943. They were left on the orders of the Column Commander (Major Gilkes) and the Column Medical Officer (Captain Snalam) as being physically unfit to continue the march with the remainder of the column. Arrangements were made with the Chinese to take care of them and they were later evacuated to the hospital at Paoshan.
Cipher message no. 0333/C from 4 Corps has since been received that a Kachin Levies report states that L/Cpl. Brown and L/Cpl. Short have since died at Paoshan, exact date unknown but approximately 17th July 1943. A telegram since received from Shillong Area HQ dated 11th July 1943 states Pte. Rowley expired at Jerhal Hospital on the 8th July. A previous report stated that Pte. Dwyer had died in the Chinese town of Lima on 2nd June suffering from malaria.
Robert Brown was buried locally at Paoshan alongside several other Chindit soldiers in mid-1943. After the war was over, the remains of three of the men buried at Paoshan including Robert, were exhumed and moved to a new Imperial Graves Commission Cemetery at Sai Wan in Hong Kong. His family were asked to contribute an epitaph for is gravestone and chose the following: In The Prime Of Life God Claimed Him.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to the above narrative, including a photograph of Robert Brown's gravestone at Sai Wan War Cemetery. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Corporal 3780718 Alfred William Short
The other soldier that died at Paoshan and was eventually buried at Sai Wan War Cemetery was Corporal Alfred William Short. Alfred was the son of James and Elizabeth Short from Hackney in London. He had been allocated to No. 7 Column during the training period at Saugor and had survived all that Operation Longcloth could throw at him until he succumbed to the privations of the long march out to China on the 30th June 1943. As mentioned above, Alfred was originally buried at Paoshan and his grave was not moved to Sai Wan until late December 1947.
Seen below is a small gallery of images in relation to Alfred Short, including his CWGC details and a photograph of his gravestone at Sai Wan War Cemetery. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
The other soldier that died at Paoshan and was eventually buried at Sai Wan War Cemetery was Corporal Alfred William Short. Alfred was the son of James and Elizabeth Short from Hackney in London. He had been allocated to No. 7 Column during the training period at Saugor and had survived all that Operation Longcloth could throw at him until he succumbed to the privations of the long march out to China on the 30th June 1943. As mentioned above, Alfred was originally buried at Paoshan and his grave was not moved to Sai Wan until late December 1947.
Seen below is a small gallery of images in relation to Alfred Short, including his CWGC details and a photograph of his gravestone at Sai Wan War Cemetery. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
BROWN, WALTER
Rank: Private
Service No: 5116525
Date of Death: 23/04/1944
Age: 27
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Grave no. 5.A.3. Rangoon War Cemetery
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2259765/walter-brown/
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Walter Brown was born on the 6th May 1916 and was the son of Walter and Alice Brown from Birmingham in England. He began his Army service in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, before being posted to the 13th King's in September 1942, while the battalion were in training for the first Chindit expedition into Burma. Walter was allocated to No. 5 Column at the Saugor training camp and entered Burma with this unit in February 1943.
Pte. Brown's Chindit story centres around No. 5 Column's experiences at the Shweli River on the 1st April 1943, after the column had begun their return journey to India. To read more about the events at the Shweli please click on the following link: The Men of the Shweli Sandbank
Walter Brown was captured at the Shweli sandbank on the 2nd April 1943 and spent the next twelve months as a prisoner of war. On the 23rd April 1944, he sadly died in Block 6 of Rangoon Jail, suffering from the disease beri beri and jungle sores. Whilst inside Rangoon Jail, Walter was given the POW no. 351, although on some documents this is stated as 541. He was buried in the first instance at the Cantonment Cemetery in the eastern sector of the city near the Royal Lakes. He was re-interred at Rangoon War Cemetery on the 14th June 1946 and this is where he lies today.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including an image of Walter Brown's POW index card. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 5116525
Date of Death: 23/04/1944
Age: 27
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Grave no. 5.A.3. Rangoon War Cemetery
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2259765/walter-brown/
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Walter Brown was born on the 6th May 1916 and was the son of Walter and Alice Brown from Birmingham in England. He began his Army service in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, before being posted to the 13th King's in September 1942, while the battalion were in training for the first Chindit expedition into Burma. Walter was allocated to No. 5 Column at the Saugor training camp and entered Burma with this unit in February 1943.
Pte. Brown's Chindit story centres around No. 5 Column's experiences at the Shweli River on the 1st April 1943, after the column had begun their return journey to India. To read more about the events at the Shweli please click on the following link: The Men of the Shweli Sandbank
Walter Brown was captured at the Shweli sandbank on the 2nd April 1943 and spent the next twelve months as a prisoner of war. On the 23rd April 1944, he sadly died in Block 6 of Rangoon Jail, suffering from the disease beri beri and jungle sores. Whilst inside Rangoon Jail, Walter was given the POW no. 351, although on some documents this is stated as 541. He was buried in the first instance at the Cantonment Cemetery in the eastern sector of the city near the Royal Lakes. He was re-interred at Rangoon War Cemetery on the 14th June 1946 and this is where he lies today.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including an image of Walter Brown's POW index card. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
BURGESS, EDWIN
Rank: Private
Service No: 3779640
Date of Death: Between 20/07/1943 and 28/07/1943
Age: 23
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2506543/BURGESS,%20EDWIN
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Pte. Edwin Burgess was the son of George Robert and Alice Burgess from Walton in Liverpool. Edwin was a member of 5 Column on Operation Longcloth under the command of Major Bernard Fergusson formerly of the Black Watch Regiment. Very little is known about his time on the first Chindit expedition and there is often confusion within the official records involving two other soldiers with a similar sounding names; L/Cpl. Ernest Herbert Burgess from Kentish Town in London and Pte. Edgar Burger formerly of the Warwickshire Regiment.
During the third week of March 1943, Major Fergusson had been given orders to create a diversion for the rest of the Chindit Brigade, which was now trapped in a three-sided bag between the Irrawaddy and Shweli Rivers to the north and west and the Mongmit-Myitson motor road to the south. Brigadier Wingate instructed Fergusson to "trail his coat" and lead the Japanese pursuers away from the general direction of the Irrawaddy and in particular the area around the town of Inywa, where Wingate had hoped to re-cross the river.
By March 28th, 5 Column had reached the village of Hintha which was situated in an area of thick and tight-set bamboo scrub. Any attempt to navigate around the settlement proved impossible, reluctantly, Fergusson decided to enter the village by the main track and check for the presence of any enemy patrols. Unfortunately he stumbled upon such a patrol and a fire-fight ensued. Fighting platoons led by Lieutenant Stibbe and Jim Harman entered Hintha in an attempt to clear the road of Japanese. These were met in full force by the enemy and many casualties were taken on both sides.
After the battle at Hintha the column moved away from the village with the intention of re-joining the rest of the Brigade at the Irrawaddy. Unfortunately, they were ambushed by the Japanese for a second time in the early hours of the 29th and around 100 men were separated from the main body of the column. It seems highly likely that Edwin Burgess was amongst the section of men cut adrift at this point. Many of these men were fortunate to bump into 7 Column at the Shweli River a few days later and were taken under their wing. Major Kenneth Gilkes, commander of 7 Column on Operation Longcloth, allocated the stragglers from 5 Column to individual dispersal groups led by his officers and these parties began the march out of Burma via the Chinese borders.
The only piece of documentary evidence that throws any light upon Edwin Burgess' fate in 1943 comes from the official missing in action listing for 5 Column that year. Against his name, the listing (seen in the gallery below) simply states:
3779640 Pte. E. Burgess, missing date unknown (died at Nkaugtunyin, date and cause unknown).
No grave or body was ever found after the war and for this reason Edwin Burgess is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial at Taukkyan War Cemetery in Burma. I have been unable to locate the village of Nkaugtunyin on any map, but judging by the date of death given by the CWGC, that being, between 20th and 28th July 1943, it would be reasonable to assume that Edwin had made quite some headway on the march out, but had to be left at the village, having probably fallen ill with disease or was simply too exhausted to continue marching.
From the pages of the Liverpool Echo newspaper dated 30th July 1943 and the headline, Reported Missing:
Private Edwin Burgess, son of Mrs. A. Burgess of 61 Woodhouse Street, Walton, Liverpool 4, is missing in the Indian theatre of war. Any information gratefully received by his mother.
Seen below is a Gallery of images in relation to this story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3779640
Date of Death: Between 20/07/1943 and 28/07/1943
Age: 23
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2506543/BURGESS,%20EDWIN
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Pte. Edwin Burgess was the son of George Robert and Alice Burgess from Walton in Liverpool. Edwin was a member of 5 Column on Operation Longcloth under the command of Major Bernard Fergusson formerly of the Black Watch Regiment. Very little is known about his time on the first Chindit expedition and there is often confusion within the official records involving two other soldiers with a similar sounding names; L/Cpl. Ernest Herbert Burgess from Kentish Town in London and Pte. Edgar Burger formerly of the Warwickshire Regiment.
During the third week of March 1943, Major Fergusson had been given orders to create a diversion for the rest of the Chindit Brigade, which was now trapped in a three-sided bag between the Irrawaddy and Shweli Rivers to the north and west and the Mongmit-Myitson motor road to the south. Brigadier Wingate instructed Fergusson to "trail his coat" and lead the Japanese pursuers away from the general direction of the Irrawaddy and in particular the area around the town of Inywa, where Wingate had hoped to re-cross the river.
By March 28th, 5 Column had reached the village of Hintha which was situated in an area of thick and tight-set bamboo scrub. Any attempt to navigate around the settlement proved impossible, reluctantly, Fergusson decided to enter the village by the main track and check for the presence of any enemy patrols. Unfortunately he stumbled upon such a patrol and a fire-fight ensued. Fighting platoons led by Lieutenant Stibbe and Jim Harman entered Hintha in an attempt to clear the road of Japanese. These were met in full force by the enemy and many casualties were taken on both sides.
After the battle at Hintha the column moved away from the village with the intention of re-joining the rest of the Brigade at the Irrawaddy. Unfortunately, they were ambushed by the Japanese for a second time in the early hours of the 29th and around 100 men were separated from the main body of the column. It seems highly likely that Edwin Burgess was amongst the section of men cut adrift at this point. Many of these men were fortunate to bump into 7 Column at the Shweli River a few days later and were taken under their wing. Major Kenneth Gilkes, commander of 7 Column on Operation Longcloth, allocated the stragglers from 5 Column to individual dispersal groups led by his officers and these parties began the march out of Burma via the Chinese borders.
The only piece of documentary evidence that throws any light upon Edwin Burgess' fate in 1943 comes from the official missing in action listing for 5 Column that year. Against his name, the listing (seen in the gallery below) simply states:
3779640 Pte. E. Burgess, missing date unknown (died at Nkaugtunyin, date and cause unknown).
No grave or body was ever found after the war and for this reason Edwin Burgess is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial at Taukkyan War Cemetery in Burma. I have been unable to locate the village of Nkaugtunyin on any map, but judging by the date of death given by the CWGC, that being, between 20th and 28th July 1943, it would be reasonable to assume that Edwin had made quite some headway on the march out, but had to be left at the village, having probably fallen ill with disease or was simply too exhausted to continue marching.
From the pages of the Liverpool Echo newspaper dated 30th July 1943 and the headline, Reported Missing:
Private Edwin Burgess, son of Mrs. A. Burgess of 61 Woodhouse Street, Walton, Liverpool 4, is missing in the Indian theatre of war. Any information gratefully received by his mother.
Seen below is a Gallery of images in relation to this story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
BURGESS, ERNEST HERBERT
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 3780671
Date of Death: 18/03/1944
Age: 31
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Grave 5.A.6 Rangoon War Cemetery
CWGC link:
www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2259778/ernest-herbert-burgess/
Chindit Column: 7
Other details:
Ernest Burgess was born on the 10th January 1913 and was the son of William and Mabel Burgess from Kentish Town in northwest London. Lance Corporal Burgess was allocated to No. 7 Column on Operation Longcloth under the command of Major Kenneth Gilkes formerly of the North Staffordshire Regiment.
After dispersal was called in late March 1943, No. 7 Column split into six dispersal groups. Here is an extract from the column war diary that explains how these groups were formed:
April 9th 1943
Column was divided today, Major Gilkes (group 1) took half the men east, intending to move out by the northern China route. Lieutenant Heald (group 2) took parties across the Irrawaddy, others went with Captain Cottrell (group 3), Lieutenant R. Walker (group 4), Lieutenant Musgrave-Wood (group 5) and Campbell-Paterson (group 6).
All the groups apart from Gilkes' main party were made up of 20-30 men. The four smaller dispersal groups were to rendezvous a little way further west after reaching the west bank of the Irrawaddy. The diary continues:
Lieutenant Walker’s party included Captain Aird the former Medical officer of 5th column, plus Lieutenant’s Hector and Anderson-Williams. A supply drop is being arranged by us for Walker’s party five days hence.
In the end Walker's group never reached that supply drop rendezvous. To read more about Lt. Walker's dispersal party and the fate of Lance Corporal Burgess, please click on the following link: Rex Walker's Dispersal Group 4
Ernest Burgess was recorded as missing on the 10th April 1943, the last time he was seen after the failed crossing of the Irrawaddy by Lt. Walker's party. After his return to India via the Chinese province of Yunnan in July 1943, Captain Leslie Cottrell, No. 7 Column Adjutant, supplied a witness statement to the Army Personnel Centre in regards to the fate of Lieutenant Rex Walker and his dispersal group. Here is a transcription of that report:
Statement of evidence 24th of July 1943.
Witness. 138760 Capt. L.R. Cottrell.
I was Staff Officer of number seven Column, during Brigadier Wingate's Burma expedition. On April 10th, 1943 the Column Commander decided for various tactical and administrative reasons to split his column. This was midway between the Mongmit and the Myitson Road.
Lieutenant Walker was ordered to take charge of a party which consisted of three other officers and 25 British Other Ranks. His orders were to march approximately westward re-cross the Irrawaddy and return to Assam by the most direct route. The British Other Ranks were not considered by the Column Commander or by the Medical Officer as physically capable of marching the long way out via China as the main body intended to do.
They were all equipped with arms and ammunition and had two days hard scale rations each, the officers had maps and compasses. An Air Supply drop was arranged for them just west of the Irrawaddy, but, the party failed to make the rendezvous and the aircraft concerned did not locate them. The Japanese were fairly active in this area. Nothing has been heard of any of these Officers or men since.
According to documents held at the Imperial War Museum, Lance Corporal Burgess fell into Japanese hands on the 7th May 1943, having spent almost four weeks alone and wandering in the jungle around the east banks of the Irrawaddy River. He was eventually taken down to Rangoon Jail and was given the POW number 467 by his captors. Sadly, Ernest perished in Block 6 of the prison on the 18th March 1944 and was buried in the first instance in grave no. 167 at the English Cantonment Cemetery, located in the eastern sector of the city near the Royal Lakes. On the 14th June 1946, Ernest Burgess' remains were removed from the Cantonment Cemetery and re-interred at the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery and this is where he lies today.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including an image of Ernest's POW index card. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 3780671
Date of Death: 18/03/1944
Age: 31
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Grave 5.A.6 Rangoon War Cemetery
CWGC link:
www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2259778/ernest-herbert-burgess/
Chindit Column: 7
Other details:
Ernest Burgess was born on the 10th January 1913 and was the son of William and Mabel Burgess from Kentish Town in northwest London. Lance Corporal Burgess was allocated to No. 7 Column on Operation Longcloth under the command of Major Kenneth Gilkes formerly of the North Staffordshire Regiment.
After dispersal was called in late March 1943, No. 7 Column split into six dispersal groups. Here is an extract from the column war diary that explains how these groups were formed:
April 9th 1943
Column was divided today, Major Gilkes (group 1) took half the men east, intending to move out by the northern China route. Lieutenant Heald (group 2) took parties across the Irrawaddy, others went with Captain Cottrell (group 3), Lieutenant R. Walker (group 4), Lieutenant Musgrave-Wood (group 5) and Campbell-Paterson (group 6).
All the groups apart from Gilkes' main party were made up of 20-30 men. The four smaller dispersal groups were to rendezvous a little way further west after reaching the west bank of the Irrawaddy. The diary continues:
Lieutenant Walker’s party included Captain Aird the former Medical officer of 5th column, plus Lieutenant’s Hector and Anderson-Williams. A supply drop is being arranged by us for Walker’s party five days hence.
In the end Walker's group never reached that supply drop rendezvous. To read more about Lt. Walker's dispersal party and the fate of Lance Corporal Burgess, please click on the following link: Rex Walker's Dispersal Group 4
Ernest Burgess was recorded as missing on the 10th April 1943, the last time he was seen after the failed crossing of the Irrawaddy by Lt. Walker's party. After his return to India via the Chinese province of Yunnan in July 1943, Captain Leslie Cottrell, No. 7 Column Adjutant, supplied a witness statement to the Army Personnel Centre in regards to the fate of Lieutenant Rex Walker and his dispersal group. Here is a transcription of that report:
Statement of evidence 24th of July 1943.
Witness. 138760 Capt. L.R. Cottrell.
I was Staff Officer of number seven Column, during Brigadier Wingate's Burma expedition. On April 10th, 1943 the Column Commander decided for various tactical and administrative reasons to split his column. This was midway between the Mongmit and the Myitson Road.
Lieutenant Walker was ordered to take charge of a party which consisted of three other officers and 25 British Other Ranks. His orders were to march approximately westward re-cross the Irrawaddy and return to Assam by the most direct route. The British Other Ranks were not considered by the Column Commander or by the Medical Officer as physically capable of marching the long way out via China as the main body intended to do.
They were all equipped with arms and ammunition and had two days hard scale rations each, the officers had maps and compasses. An Air Supply drop was arranged for them just west of the Irrawaddy, but, the party failed to make the rendezvous and the aircraft concerned did not locate them. The Japanese were fairly active in this area. Nothing has been heard of any of these Officers or men since.
According to documents held at the Imperial War Museum, Lance Corporal Burgess fell into Japanese hands on the 7th May 1943, having spent almost four weeks alone and wandering in the jungle around the east banks of the Irrawaddy River. He was eventually taken down to Rangoon Jail and was given the POW number 467 by his captors. Sadly, Ernest perished in Block 6 of the prison on the 18th March 1944 and was buried in the first instance in grave no. 167 at the English Cantonment Cemetery, located in the eastern sector of the city near the Royal Lakes. On the 14th June 1946, Ernest Burgess' remains were removed from the Cantonment Cemetery and re-interred at the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery and this is where he lies today.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including an image of Ernest's POW index card. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
L/Cpl. Burgess' memorial plaque at Rangoon War Cemetery.
BURKE, CYRIL
Rank: Private
Service No: 3780056
Date of Death: 02/04/1943
Age: 32
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2506552/cyril-burke/
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Pte. Cyril Burke was the son of Mr. & Mrs. Lawton Burke of Smallbridge near Rochdale in Lancashire and was allocated to No. 5 Column on Operation Longcloth, commanded by Major Bernard Fergusson, formerly of the Black Watch. Cyril's Chindit story centres around No. 5 Column's experiences at the Shweli River on the 1st April 1943, after the column had begun their return journey to India. To read more about the events at the Shweli please click on the following link: The Men of the Shweli Sandbank
Cyril Burke was one of the men lost to No. 5 Column at the Shweli River that year. His fate was finally established when two men who were captured at the Shweli sandbank on the same day were liberated from Rangoon Jail in May 1945.
Pte. James Zorn stated that:
Pte. Burke was wounded and taken prisoner on the Shweli River on the 2nd April 1943. He died the same day and was buried in a small village which we were staying at. I do not remember the name of the place.
Pte. Albert Hartshorn recalled:
Pte. 3780056 Cyril Burke is the only man I can give any information about. He was killed in action during the crossing of the Shweli River on the 2nd April 1943. He had been in fairly good health before that time. I am sorry, but I do not know his civil occupation, or his home town.
Sadly, even though Pte. Zorn confirms that Cyril was buried at a village close to the Shweli River crossing point, his grave could not be located after the war. For this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial at Taukkyan War Cemetery, located on the northern outskirts of Yangon. The memorial contains the names of over 26,000 service personnel who lost their lives during the Burma campaign, but have no known grave.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a photograph of Cyril Burke's inscription upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3780056
Date of Death: 02/04/1943
Age: 32
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2506552/cyril-burke/
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Pte. Cyril Burke was the son of Mr. & Mrs. Lawton Burke of Smallbridge near Rochdale in Lancashire and was allocated to No. 5 Column on Operation Longcloth, commanded by Major Bernard Fergusson, formerly of the Black Watch. Cyril's Chindit story centres around No. 5 Column's experiences at the Shweli River on the 1st April 1943, after the column had begun their return journey to India. To read more about the events at the Shweli please click on the following link: The Men of the Shweli Sandbank
Cyril Burke was one of the men lost to No. 5 Column at the Shweli River that year. His fate was finally established when two men who were captured at the Shweli sandbank on the same day were liberated from Rangoon Jail in May 1945.
Pte. James Zorn stated that:
Pte. Burke was wounded and taken prisoner on the Shweli River on the 2nd April 1943. He died the same day and was buried in a small village which we were staying at. I do not remember the name of the place.
Pte. Albert Hartshorn recalled:
Pte. 3780056 Cyril Burke is the only man I can give any information about. He was killed in action during the crossing of the Shweli River on the 2nd April 1943. He had been in fairly good health before that time. I am sorry, but I do not know his civil occupation, or his home town.
Sadly, even though Pte. Zorn confirms that Cyril was buried at a village close to the Shweli River crossing point, his grave could not be located after the war. For this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial at Taukkyan War Cemetery, located on the northern outskirts of Yangon. The memorial contains the names of over 26,000 service personnel who lost their lives during the Burma campaign, but have no known grave.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a photograph of Cyril Burke's inscription upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
John Burnett, India 1942.
BURNETT, JOHN
Rank: Private
Service No: 3781680
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
John Burnett, known to his mates as Jack, was part of the original battalion of the 13th King's that voyaged to India aboard the troopship Oronsay, leaving British shores on the 8th December 1941. John was allocated to No. 8 Column in July 1942 and began his Chindit training in the scrub jungles of Saugor in the Central Provinces of India. He was a member of No. 17 Rifle Platoon within the column under the command of Sgt. Dennis Brown.
After dispersal was called on Operation Longcloth in late March 1943, John began the return journey to India with the main body of No. 8 Column and still under the command of Major Scott. After the 28th April, John joined a group of men led by Lt. Hamilton-Bryan, who along with the column's Medical Officer Captain Heathcote, had been given the task of leading a large group of wounded and sick men and find a friendly village in which to leave these soldiers, in the hope that the villagers might look after them until such time as they made a recovery from their ailments.
After his return to India in late May 1943, John Burnett gave a witness statement in relation to two of the men from Hamilton-Byran's group:
At the end of April after the plane had left with the wounded, I was in a party along with L/Cpl. William Thornton and commanded by Lt. Hamilton-Byran. Pte. John Coates was in the same party. After crossing a river (name unknown) we were ambushed and dispersal was necessary. Thornton collapsed through sheer exhaustion and although I tried to revive him, he remained on the ground and I was forced to leave him. The enemy at that time were very close. Six days later we were attacked again and Pte. Coates who was behind me, crawling, was reported missing when we reached a safe area. He has not been heard of since. L/Cpl. Thornton and Pte. Coates were last seen alive on the 1st and 7th May 1943.
NB. To read about any of the soldiers mentioned during this story, please place their name in the search box in the top right hand corner of any page on the website.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to John Burnett and his Chindit story. He was very great friends with Pte. John Bromley and Lance Corporal Thomas Vann, with whom he had shared the long voyage to India and many months before that with the 13th King's back home in England. Some of the photographs shown below were sent to me from the families of Bromley and Vann and I thank them once again for allowing me to use them on these website pages. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
After recovering from the trials of the first Wingate expedition, John Burnett was posted to the 2nd battalion of the Border Regiment in India and served with this unit until the end of the war. He was a member of the Burma Star Association after the war, and it from this organisation's membership records that I discovered that John passed away in 1981 whilst living at Broughton House in Salford, a home for disabled Soldiers & Sailors.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3781680
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
John Burnett, known to his mates as Jack, was part of the original battalion of the 13th King's that voyaged to India aboard the troopship Oronsay, leaving British shores on the 8th December 1941. John was allocated to No. 8 Column in July 1942 and began his Chindit training in the scrub jungles of Saugor in the Central Provinces of India. He was a member of No. 17 Rifle Platoon within the column under the command of Sgt. Dennis Brown.
After dispersal was called on Operation Longcloth in late March 1943, John began the return journey to India with the main body of No. 8 Column and still under the command of Major Scott. After the 28th April, John joined a group of men led by Lt. Hamilton-Bryan, who along with the column's Medical Officer Captain Heathcote, had been given the task of leading a large group of wounded and sick men and find a friendly village in which to leave these soldiers, in the hope that the villagers might look after them until such time as they made a recovery from their ailments.
After his return to India in late May 1943, John Burnett gave a witness statement in relation to two of the men from Hamilton-Byran's group:
At the end of April after the plane had left with the wounded, I was in a party along with L/Cpl. William Thornton and commanded by Lt. Hamilton-Byran. Pte. John Coates was in the same party. After crossing a river (name unknown) we were ambushed and dispersal was necessary. Thornton collapsed through sheer exhaustion and although I tried to revive him, he remained on the ground and I was forced to leave him. The enemy at that time were very close. Six days later we were attacked again and Pte. Coates who was behind me, crawling, was reported missing when we reached a safe area. He has not been heard of since. L/Cpl. Thornton and Pte. Coates were last seen alive on the 1st and 7th May 1943.
NB. To read about any of the soldiers mentioned during this story, please place their name in the search box in the top right hand corner of any page on the website.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to John Burnett and his Chindit story. He was very great friends with Pte. John Bromley and Lance Corporal Thomas Vann, with whom he had shared the long voyage to India and many months before that with the 13th King's back home in England. Some of the photographs shown below were sent to me from the families of Bromley and Vann and I thank them once again for allowing me to use them on these website pages. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
After recovering from the trials of the first Wingate expedition, John Burnett was posted to the 2nd battalion of the Border Regiment in India and served with this unit until the end of the war. He was a member of the Burma Star Association after the war, and it from this organisation's membership records that I discovered that John passed away in 1981 whilst living at Broughton House in Salford, a home for disabled Soldiers & Sailors.
Cap badge of the King's Own Scottish Borderers.
BURNS, ANDREW
Rank: Sergeant
Service No: 3188508
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 7
Other details:
Andrew Burns had previously served with the King's Own Scottish Borderers during WW2, before he was posted over to the 13th King's as part of a large draft of NCOs sent to bolster the battalion and give it some badly need junior leadership and experience. Burns was allocated to No. 7 Column during training in India under the command of Major Kenneth Gilkes.
Sgt. Burns gave a witness statement after the operation was over, in relation to some of the men from his column who were lost at the Irrawaddy River on the 29th March 1943, shortly after Wingate had called for his Brigade to disperse and head back to India. Wingate had sent a bridgehead party across the river close to the town Inywa, in small Burmese country boats they had discovered hidden on the eastern shoreline. As the men prepared to cross, some enemy activity was seen on the far bank. Wingate and his commanders felt that the Japanese posed little threat in their present numbers, and so pressed on with the crossing. Some lead boats did manage to get over, but others came under heavy mortar and machine gun fire and began to get into difficulties.
One such boat contained Captain David Hastings of the King's Regiment along with Sergeant William Royle, Corporal Harold Hodgkinson and Ptes. James Baker and Edward Kitchen. This boat was struggling to make the western bank and was continuously under heavy fire from the Japanese positions.
On the 24th July 1943, Sgt. Burns gave a witness statement in relation to Pte. James Baker, William Royle and Edward Kitchen:
I was CSM of No. 7 Column during the Wingate Burma expedition. During the morning of 29th March, 7 Column with other Brigade troops attempted to cross the Irrawaddy River from east to west just below the Shweli junction. A number of troops succeeded in crossing when the Japanese appeared on the west bank and the crossing was abandoned.
I had seen the above mentioned men on the east bank that morning, but they were not present when the remainder of 7 Column dispersed eastwards again that same day. I know that part of the column succeeded in crossing the river and proceeded westwards to Assam, but the above mentioned men were not with any of these parties. It is assumed therefore that they were missing due to enemy action on this day (29th). The circumstances in which they went missing are not known, or whether they crossed the river or not, as no one actually saw them after the early morning.
They possessed arms, ammunition and other equipment but very few rations. They were at that point, about eighteen days march from the Chindwin River and nothing has been heard of them since.
Signed A. Burns (King's Liverpool Regiment).
To read more about No. 7 Column's experiences at the Irrawaddy River on the 29th March 1943, please click on the following link to Pte. James Baker's story, listed alphabetically on the page: Roll Call A-E
Seen below is a gallery of images, including Sgt. Burns' hand written statement as transcribed above. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. After the war, Andrew Burns returned home to the village of Forth in Lanarkshire and later became a member of the Burma Star Association.
Rank: Sergeant
Service No: 3188508
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 7
Other details:
Andrew Burns had previously served with the King's Own Scottish Borderers during WW2, before he was posted over to the 13th King's as part of a large draft of NCOs sent to bolster the battalion and give it some badly need junior leadership and experience. Burns was allocated to No. 7 Column during training in India under the command of Major Kenneth Gilkes.
Sgt. Burns gave a witness statement after the operation was over, in relation to some of the men from his column who were lost at the Irrawaddy River on the 29th March 1943, shortly after Wingate had called for his Brigade to disperse and head back to India. Wingate had sent a bridgehead party across the river close to the town Inywa, in small Burmese country boats they had discovered hidden on the eastern shoreline. As the men prepared to cross, some enemy activity was seen on the far bank. Wingate and his commanders felt that the Japanese posed little threat in their present numbers, and so pressed on with the crossing. Some lead boats did manage to get over, but others came under heavy mortar and machine gun fire and began to get into difficulties.
One such boat contained Captain David Hastings of the King's Regiment along with Sergeant William Royle, Corporal Harold Hodgkinson and Ptes. James Baker and Edward Kitchen. This boat was struggling to make the western bank and was continuously under heavy fire from the Japanese positions.
On the 24th July 1943, Sgt. Burns gave a witness statement in relation to Pte. James Baker, William Royle and Edward Kitchen:
I was CSM of No. 7 Column during the Wingate Burma expedition. During the morning of 29th March, 7 Column with other Brigade troops attempted to cross the Irrawaddy River from east to west just below the Shweli junction. A number of troops succeeded in crossing when the Japanese appeared on the west bank and the crossing was abandoned.
I had seen the above mentioned men on the east bank that morning, but they were not present when the remainder of 7 Column dispersed eastwards again that same day. I know that part of the column succeeded in crossing the river and proceeded westwards to Assam, but the above mentioned men were not with any of these parties. It is assumed therefore that they were missing due to enemy action on this day (29th). The circumstances in which they went missing are not known, or whether they crossed the river or not, as no one actually saw them after the early morning.
They possessed arms, ammunition and other equipment but very few rations. They were at that point, about eighteen days march from the Chindwin River and nothing has been heard of them since.
Signed A. Burns (King's Liverpool Regiment).
To read more about No. 7 Column's experiences at the Irrawaddy River on the 29th March 1943, please click on the following link to Pte. James Baker's story, listed alphabetically on the page: Roll Call A-E
Seen below is a gallery of images, including Sgt. Burns' hand written statement as transcribed above. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. After the war, Andrew Burns returned home to the village of Forth in Lanarkshire and later became a member of the Burma Star Association.
CALLAGHAN, WILLIAM THOMAS
Rank: 2nd Lieutenant
Service No: Unknown
Date of Death: 06/03/1943
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: 18 Royal Garhwal Rifles att. The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 50 of the Rangoon Memorial.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2506717/william-thomas-callaghan/
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
Sadly, very little is known about William Thomas Callaghan and how he came to be a member of No. 8 Column on Operation Longcloth. He had been a junior officer with the 18th Garhwal Rifles before transferring across to the 13th King's on about the 23rd December 1942, while the battalion were finishing off their final training exercise at Jhansi. William was posted to Major Walter Purcell Scott's column and was either a member of the Commando Platoon or No. 16 Rifle Platoon, it is unclear which.
On the 16th February 1943, No. 8 Column reached the village of Tonhe on the western banks of the Chindwin River and crossed over into enemy held territory. After crossing the Chindwin, 8 Column travelled around Burma during the early weeks of the operation in close proximity to Wingate's own Brigade Head Quarters, often protecting their leader against possible enemy attacks.
One of the column's major clashes with the enemy around that time happened at a place called Pinlebu, it is probable that William was heavily involved in this skirmish with the Japanese. Here is an extract taken from the Column War Diary for that period:
4th and 5th March: column moved into the area around Pinlebu, there were said to be 600-1000 enemy troops in this locality. The Burma Rifle Officers had spoken to a native of the area, he turned out to be a Japanese spy and was shot. Water parties were sent out to replenish supplies, these units were engaged by enemy patrols but most managed to disengage and return to the main body of the column.
More minor clashes with the Japanese were incurred late on 5th March, as the column moved to an agreed rendezvous on the Pinlebu-Kame Road (see map below). One party from the column halted one mile north of Kame and settled down for the night. Their position was chosen by Major Scott and units were deployed to prevent any Japanese movement toward Pinlebu from this direction. The War Diary states:
At first light on the 6th March, the Sabotage (Commando) Squad led by Lieutenant Sprague and 16 Platoon set out toward Kame to secure the road block. At about 1100 hours Sprague’s men were attacked by the Japanese from all sides, he called dispersal in an attempt to extract his men, it was here that Lieutenant Callaghan was shot and killed.
After the engagement at Kame, the remnants of 16 Platoon and the Commandos rejoined the main body of 8 Column, which then moved away in a south-easterly direction. The column spent another two weeks marching through the Burmese jungles before taking orders from Brigadier Wingate to cross the Irrawaddy River on the 18th March 1943.
No further information seems to have been given in regards to William's death at Kame and his body was never recovered after the war. He is remembered upon Face 50 of the Rangoon Memorial located at Taukkyan War Cemetery in Rangoon. This memorial was created to record the names of all those casualties from the Burma campaign who possess no known grave.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including several pages from the 8 Column War diary, describing the lead up to the action on the Pinlebu-Kame Road on March 6th 1943. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: 2nd Lieutenant
Service No: Unknown
Date of Death: 06/03/1943
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: 18 Royal Garhwal Rifles att. The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 50 of the Rangoon Memorial.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2506717/william-thomas-callaghan/
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
Sadly, very little is known about William Thomas Callaghan and how he came to be a member of No. 8 Column on Operation Longcloth. He had been a junior officer with the 18th Garhwal Rifles before transferring across to the 13th King's on about the 23rd December 1942, while the battalion were finishing off their final training exercise at Jhansi. William was posted to Major Walter Purcell Scott's column and was either a member of the Commando Platoon or No. 16 Rifle Platoon, it is unclear which.
On the 16th February 1943, No. 8 Column reached the village of Tonhe on the western banks of the Chindwin River and crossed over into enemy held territory. After crossing the Chindwin, 8 Column travelled around Burma during the early weeks of the operation in close proximity to Wingate's own Brigade Head Quarters, often protecting their leader against possible enemy attacks.
One of the column's major clashes with the enemy around that time happened at a place called Pinlebu, it is probable that William was heavily involved in this skirmish with the Japanese. Here is an extract taken from the Column War Diary for that period:
4th and 5th March: column moved into the area around Pinlebu, there were said to be 600-1000 enemy troops in this locality. The Burma Rifle Officers had spoken to a native of the area, he turned out to be a Japanese spy and was shot. Water parties were sent out to replenish supplies, these units were engaged by enemy patrols but most managed to disengage and return to the main body of the column.
More minor clashes with the Japanese were incurred late on 5th March, as the column moved to an agreed rendezvous on the Pinlebu-Kame Road (see map below). One party from the column halted one mile north of Kame and settled down for the night. Their position was chosen by Major Scott and units were deployed to prevent any Japanese movement toward Pinlebu from this direction. The War Diary states:
At first light on the 6th March, the Sabotage (Commando) Squad led by Lieutenant Sprague and 16 Platoon set out toward Kame to secure the road block. At about 1100 hours Sprague’s men were attacked by the Japanese from all sides, he called dispersal in an attempt to extract his men, it was here that Lieutenant Callaghan was shot and killed.
After the engagement at Kame, the remnants of 16 Platoon and the Commandos rejoined the main body of 8 Column, which then moved away in a south-easterly direction. The column spent another two weeks marching through the Burmese jungles before taking orders from Brigadier Wingate to cross the Irrawaddy River on the 18th March 1943.
No further information seems to have been given in regards to William's death at Kame and his body was never recovered after the war. He is remembered upon Face 50 of the Rangoon Memorial located at Taukkyan War Cemetery in Rangoon. This memorial was created to record the names of all those casualties from the Burma campaign who possess no known grave.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including several pages from the 8 Column War diary, describing the lead up to the action on the Pinlebu-Kame Road on March 6th 1943. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Cap badge of the Royal Scots.
CAMPBELL-PATTERSON, ALAN
Rank: Lieutenant
Service No: 66084
Age: 28
Regiment/Service: The Royal Scots, att. The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 7
Other details:
Alan Campbell-Patterson was born on the 6th September 1915 and was the son of Agnes Ramsay Patterson, from Lockerbie in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. He was a Regular Army Officer with the Royal Scots before the war and was living prior to his posting overseas at 30 Archery Square, Walmer (near Deal) in Kent.
Lt. Campbell-Patterson joined 77th Brigade at the Saugor training camp in September 1942 and was originally allocated to the Head Quarters section of No. 8 Column. However, before the Chindit Brigade had ventured across the Chindwin River in February 1943, he had been transferred across to No. 7 Column and it was with this column that he served in Burma on Operation Longcloth.
To read more about 7 Column and their pathway on the first Wingate expedition please click on following link: Leslie Randle Cottrell
By the end of March 1943, the decision was made to bring a halt to Operation Longcloth and return as many men as possible back to Allied held territory. Major Gilkes, 7 Column's commander decided that the best way forward for his men was to head north east and into the Yunnan Province of China. This he felt was a safer route than re-tracing his steps westward to the Chindwin River and although would require marching a much greater distance, would at least remove the danger of enemy interference along the way.
In early April, the column found itself on west bank of the fast-flowing Shweli River close to the village of Ingyinbin. After examining the sandbanks for a suitable place to cross and finding none, Gilkes was surprised at that moment to meet a large group of Chindits, all of whom had been members of No. 5 Column. This party of around 100 men had been separated from their own column after an enemy ambush near a village called Hintha. Major Gilkes took these men under his wing and allocated them to the various dispersal groups which he had already organised between his own troops. Lt. Campbell-Patterson was given the responsibility of leading one such dispersal party.
Taken from the Column 7 War diary for 1943, here is an extract describing that decision:
"On 9th April, it was decided to split the column up. Gilkes would take half of the men and head firstly eastward before turning out along a more northern route. Captain Cottrell, Lieutenants Walker, Musgrave-Wood and Campbell-Patterson, each with 20 to 30 men, were to cross the Irrawaddy independently and then reunite for a supply dropping on the west side of the river.
In the end, only Lt. Rex Walker's party continued to the Irrawaddy, all other groups continued their journey keeping the Shweli River close on their left hand side in the hope of finding a possible crossing point. After several days march, the dispersal groups led by Lt. Musgrave-Wood and Campbell-Patterson reached the point where the river struck from a southerly direction to a hard east turn. Not long after changing to this direction, on the 14th April they discovered a shallow ford close to the village of Nayok and crossed over.
Rank: Lieutenant
Service No: 66084
Age: 28
Regiment/Service: The Royal Scots, att. The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 7
Other details:
Alan Campbell-Patterson was born on the 6th September 1915 and was the son of Agnes Ramsay Patterson, from Lockerbie in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. He was a Regular Army Officer with the Royal Scots before the war and was living prior to his posting overseas at 30 Archery Square, Walmer (near Deal) in Kent.
Lt. Campbell-Patterson joined 77th Brigade at the Saugor training camp in September 1942 and was originally allocated to the Head Quarters section of No. 8 Column. However, before the Chindit Brigade had ventured across the Chindwin River in February 1943, he had been transferred across to No. 7 Column and it was with this column that he served in Burma on Operation Longcloth.
To read more about 7 Column and their pathway on the first Wingate expedition please click on following link: Leslie Randle Cottrell
By the end of March 1943, the decision was made to bring a halt to Operation Longcloth and return as many men as possible back to Allied held territory. Major Gilkes, 7 Column's commander decided that the best way forward for his men was to head north east and into the Yunnan Province of China. This he felt was a safer route than re-tracing his steps westward to the Chindwin River and although would require marching a much greater distance, would at least remove the danger of enemy interference along the way.
In early April, the column found itself on west bank of the fast-flowing Shweli River close to the village of Ingyinbin. After examining the sandbanks for a suitable place to cross and finding none, Gilkes was surprised at that moment to meet a large group of Chindits, all of whom had been members of No. 5 Column. This party of around 100 men had been separated from their own column after an enemy ambush near a village called Hintha. Major Gilkes took these men under his wing and allocated them to the various dispersal groups which he had already organised between his own troops. Lt. Campbell-Patterson was given the responsibility of leading one such dispersal party.
Taken from the Column 7 War diary for 1943, here is an extract describing that decision:
"On 9th April, it was decided to split the column up. Gilkes would take half of the men and head firstly eastward before turning out along a more northern route. Captain Cottrell, Lieutenants Walker, Musgrave-Wood and Campbell-Patterson, each with 20 to 30 men, were to cross the Irrawaddy independently and then reunite for a supply dropping on the west side of the river.
In the end, only Lt. Rex Walker's party continued to the Irrawaddy, all other groups continued their journey keeping the Shweli River close on their left hand side in the hope of finding a possible crossing point. After several days march, the dispersal groups led by Lt. Musgrave-Wood and Campbell-Patterson reached the point where the river struck from a southerly direction to a hard east turn. Not long after changing to this direction, on the 14th April they discovered a shallow ford close to the village of Nayok and crossed over.
Map of the area around Nayok on the Shweli River.
Soon after the two dispersal parties had crossed the River Shweli at Nayok, they ran into enemy patrols and had to lie low in the surrounding scrub-jungle for several days. Finding food and water was becoming an issue for the now exhausted and desperate Chindits, the two groups realised that they would be better off apart and separated not long after. Lieutenant Campbell-Paterson's group did not fair well, with most of the men, including their leader, being captured by the Japanese within a few short days.
To read more about Lt. Musgrave-Wood and his dispersal party, please click on the following link: Lt. John Musgrave-Wood
According to the official listings, Lt. Campbell-Patterson was reported as missing on action on the 18th April 1943. it seems most likely that the officer responsible for recording this date was Lt. Musgrave-Wood who gave a witness statement in regards to Campbell-Patterson on the 28th June after his own safe return to India:
On approximately the 18th April 1943 in the area around Yemu, Lt. Campbell Patterson's party and my own met a Japanese patrol. I gave the order to disperse from the track, where we were holding the initiative as the enemy patrol had not yet seen us. I took my party of eleven men down the chaung. Campbell-Patterson however, went back along the track with his party marching before him. After about 15 minutes I heard the sound of firing. I waited for about an hour in the hope that they might rejoin us. I then went on five miles to the predicted rendezvous and waited for a further two and a half hours. Ten men from Campbell-Patterson's party joined me there.
They told me that they had got under cover at the crest of the hill while the Japanese, comprising 30 men and one officer had sat down to rest. The following day my party and the others were crossing a chaung in the area of Hamlan and were ready to cross in one bound, when 150 yards above us a Japanese patrol crossed over. They were very surprised to see us and amongst their party was Lt. Campbell-Patterson and 4 British Other Ranks. I waved at the Japs to attract their attention while my men got out of the chaung. This then gave me sufficient time to identify without doubt that Campbell-Patterson was now a prisoner of war. This was on the 19th April.
According to Lt. Campbell-Patterson's POW index card, he was captured on the 18th April 1943 close to the village of Namlau, located a few miles south east of Bhamo on the Irrawaddy River (see map above). From other witness statements taken from soldiers after their return to India in mid-1943, I can identify five other men who were members of Campbell-Patterson's dispersal party during April that year. All of the information about these men comes from one statement made by a Pte. 4131381 J. Harvey on the 12th February 1944:
I was a member of a group commanded by Lt. Campbell-Patterson of the Wingate Expedition into Burma. We made our way out through China. On approximately the 24th April 1943, Ptes. Fitzpatrick and Fairhurst and Cpl. McGee left our group 20 miles east of Mongmit to go with CSM McIntyre. They had a little food, but no rifles or ammunition and they have not been heard of since.
I believe that the men mentioned above had evaded capture on the 18th April at Namlau and had ventured on alone for the next few days. Many Chindits having become separated from their commanding officer during dispersal, decided to turn west and attempt to reach India by the most direct route. This was rarely successful and so it proved for the four men mentioned by Pte. Harvey. To read more about Robert McIntyre, Cyril Fairhurst, Joseph Fitzpatrick and William McGee, simply enter their names in the search box found in the top right hand corner of any page on this website and follow the links provided.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including the witness statement given by Lt. Musgrave-Wood in regards the last known whereabouts of Lt. Campbell-Patterson and his dispersal party. Please click on any image to bring forward on the page.
Soon after the two dispersal parties had crossed the River Shweli at Nayok, they ran into enemy patrols and had to lie low in the surrounding scrub-jungle for several days. Finding food and water was becoming an issue for the now exhausted and desperate Chindits, the two groups realised that they would be better off apart and separated not long after. Lieutenant Campbell-Paterson's group did not fair well, with most of the men, including their leader, being captured by the Japanese within a few short days.
To read more about Lt. Musgrave-Wood and his dispersal party, please click on the following link: Lt. John Musgrave-Wood
According to the official listings, Lt. Campbell-Patterson was reported as missing on action on the 18th April 1943. it seems most likely that the officer responsible for recording this date was Lt. Musgrave-Wood who gave a witness statement in regards to Campbell-Patterson on the 28th June after his own safe return to India:
On approximately the 18th April 1943 in the area around Yemu, Lt. Campbell Patterson's party and my own met a Japanese patrol. I gave the order to disperse from the track, where we were holding the initiative as the enemy patrol had not yet seen us. I took my party of eleven men down the chaung. Campbell-Patterson however, went back along the track with his party marching before him. After about 15 minutes I heard the sound of firing. I waited for about an hour in the hope that they might rejoin us. I then went on five miles to the predicted rendezvous and waited for a further two and a half hours. Ten men from Campbell-Patterson's party joined me there.
They told me that they had got under cover at the crest of the hill while the Japanese, comprising 30 men and one officer had sat down to rest. The following day my party and the others were crossing a chaung in the area of Hamlan and were ready to cross in one bound, when 150 yards above us a Japanese patrol crossed over. They were very surprised to see us and amongst their party was Lt. Campbell-Patterson and 4 British Other Ranks. I waved at the Japs to attract their attention while my men got out of the chaung. This then gave me sufficient time to identify without doubt that Campbell-Patterson was now a prisoner of war. This was on the 19th April.
According to Lt. Campbell-Patterson's POW index card, he was captured on the 18th April 1943 close to the village of Namlau, located a few miles south east of Bhamo on the Irrawaddy River (see map above). From other witness statements taken from soldiers after their return to India in mid-1943, I can identify five other men who were members of Campbell-Patterson's dispersal party during April that year. All of the information about these men comes from one statement made by a Pte. 4131381 J. Harvey on the 12th February 1944:
I was a member of a group commanded by Lt. Campbell-Patterson of the Wingate Expedition into Burma. We made our way out through China. On approximately the 24th April 1943, Ptes. Fitzpatrick and Fairhurst and Cpl. McGee left our group 20 miles east of Mongmit to go with CSM McIntyre. They had a little food, but no rifles or ammunition and they have not been heard of since.
I believe that the men mentioned above had evaded capture on the 18th April at Namlau and had ventured on alone for the next few days. Many Chindits having become separated from their commanding officer during dispersal, decided to turn west and attempt to reach India by the most direct route. This was rarely successful and so it proved for the four men mentioned by Pte. Harvey. To read more about Robert McIntyre, Cyril Fairhurst, Joseph Fitzpatrick and William McGee, simply enter their names in the search box found in the top right hand corner of any page on this website and follow the links provided.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including the witness statement given by Lt. Musgrave-Wood in regards the last known whereabouts of Lt. Campbell-Patterson and his dispersal party. Please click on any image to bring forward on the page.
After capture in mid-April 1943, Lt. Campbell-Patterson and his men were moved eventually to Rangoon Central Jail where they met up with many of their Chindit comrades who had also fallen into Japanese hands. For those fortunate enough to survive their time as prisoners of war, this would mean just over two years incarceration at Rangoon. However, for a handful of Chindit officers, including Lt. Campbell-Patterson, the stay at Rangoon was relatively short. On the 30th May 1943, Alan, alongside five other Chindit officers and three other British prisoners formerly held at Rangoon were flown to Singapore and interrogated by the Japanese secret police known as the Kempai-tai.
It must be assumed that the men taken to Singapore were deemed to have a good deal of knowledge about the Wingate expedition and that they were worthy of further and presumably greater scrutiny by the Kempai-tai. Alan Campbell_Patterson was held initially at the old Maternity Hospital, located on the Changi Road in Singapore. After spending several weeks here alongside his former Chindit comrades, the group were eventually split up and sent to camps around the vicinity of Changi. According to his POW liberation questionnaire, Alan's final POW camp was the main Changi camp, where he records his commanding officer as Colonel Holmes of the Manchester Regiment.
All six of the Chindits sent to Singapore in May 1943 survived their time as prisoners of war and were eventually liberated in September 1945. Ironically, this meant that they had endured a further four months in Japanese hands than that of their comrades back in Rangoon, all of whom had been liberated by early May. According to Alan's POW index card, his repatriation date was recorded as the 2nd November 1945, but it is unclear if this means that he actually returned to the United Kingdom on this date.
Seen below is a final gallery of images in relation to this story, including Alan's POW index card. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. From genealogy records available on line it is known that Alan Campbell-Patterson sadly died during the latter months of 1986, with his death being registered at Richmond-upon-Thames.
It must be assumed that the men taken to Singapore were deemed to have a good deal of knowledge about the Wingate expedition and that they were worthy of further and presumably greater scrutiny by the Kempai-tai. Alan Campbell_Patterson was held initially at the old Maternity Hospital, located on the Changi Road in Singapore. After spending several weeks here alongside his former Chindit comrades, the group were eventually split up and sent to camps around the vicinity of Changi. According to his POW liberation questionnaire, Alan's final POW camp was the main Changi camp, where he records his commanding officer as Colonel Holmes of the Manchester Regiment.
All six of the Chindits sent to Singapore in May 1943 survived their time as prisoners of war and were eventually liberated in September 1945. Ironically, this meant that they had endured a further four months in Japanese hands than that of their comrades back in Rangoon, all of whom had been liberated by early May. According to Alan's POW index card, his repatriation date was recorded as the 2nd November 1945, but it is unclear if this means that he actually returned to the United Kingdom on this date.
Seen below is a final gallery of images in relation to this story, including Alan's POW index card. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. From genealogy records available on line it is known that Alan Campbell-Patterson sadly died during the latter months of 1986, with his death being registered at Richmond-upon-Thames.
Pte. Ellis 'Syd' Caplan.
CAPLAN, ELLIS
Rank: Private
Service No: 3780118
Age: 32
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 2 Group Head Quarters.
Other details:
Ellis Caplan was born on the 21st March 1911 and was the son of David Caplan from Cheetham in Manchester. He worked as a leatherman in civilian life before enlisting into the Army during the early years of WW2. Pte. Caplan was attached to Northern Group Head Quarters on Operation Longcloth, led by Lt-Colonel S.A. Cooke, the senior officer from the King's Regiment serving on the first Wingate expedition.
Northern Group HQ spent most of its time in Burma in close association with 8 Column commanded by Major Walter Purcell Scott also of the King's Regiment. When the time came to return to India, Colonel Cooke decided to disperse with Major Scott and the two groups merged to form one large unit of approximately 400 personnel. It is not known whether Ellis Caplan, known colloquially as Syd, joined up with this group at the Brigade dispersal on the 29th March 1943, close to the town of Inywa on the banks of the Irrawaddy River. However, we do know from his prisoner of war documents, that Ellis was captured by the Japanese, close to the banks of the Irrawaddy on the 9th May and spent just under two years as a POW in Rangoon Jail. During his time in Rangoon, Pte. Caplan was given the prisoner number 373 and he would have to recite this number in Japanese at the twice daily roll calls or tenkos as they were known inside the jail.
To read more about life as a prisoner of war inside Rangoon Jail, please click on the following link: Chindit POW's
In late April 1945 and as Allied forces were advancing steadily towards Rangoon, the Japanese guards decided to move as many prisoners as possible out of the jail and back into more strongly held territory in northern Thailand. Some 400 POW's were classified as being fit to make this journey and on the 24th April were marched out of the jail for the last time, leaving behind approximately 400 of their less able comrades. Pte. Caplan was one of the men chosen for the march. After five gruelling days with little food or water and having covered about 55 miles, the men found themselves just north of Pegu and close to the infamous Sittang Bridge. Incredibly and out of the blue, the Japanese Commandant called over the senior British Officer from amongst the POW's and informed him that he was setting the entire group free with immediate effect. After several difficult hours in what could only be described as no-man's land, the prisoners from Rangoon were rescued by soldiers from the West Yorkshire Regiment; it was the 29th April 1945.
Ellis Caplan and his comrades were flown back to India aboard American Airforce Dakotas and spent sometime in hospital at Calcutta. Eventually, he was sent back to the King's Regiment now based at the Napier Barracks in Karachi; not long afterwards he was transferred to the Deolali Reinforcement Camp just north of Bombay in preparation for his repatriation to the United Kingdom. From within the pages of the Manchester Evening News, dated Saturday 19th May 1945, a short article under the headline, Freed Prisoners, recorded that Ellis Caplan and another Chindit comrade, Frank Berkovitch, had been released from Rangoon Prison and would soon be returning home. One can only imagine what a relief this news must have been for their respective families back in Manchester.
Seen below is a Gallery of images in relation to this Chindit story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3780118
Age: 32
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 2 Group Head Quarters.
Other details:
Ellis Caplan was born on the 21st March 1911 and was the son of David Caplan from Cheetham in Manchester. He worked as a leatherman in civilian life before enlisting into the Army during the early years of WW2. Pte. Caplan was attached to Northern Group Head Quarters on Operation Longcloth, led by Lt-Colonel S.A. Cooke, the senior officer from the King's Regiment serving on the first Wingate expedition.
Northern Group HQ spent most of its time in Burma in close association with 8 Column commanded by Major Walter Purcell Scott also of the King's Regiment. When the time came to return to India, Colonel Cooke decided to disperse with Major Scott and the two groups merged to form one large unit of approximately 400 personnel. It is not known whether Ellis Caplan, known colloquially as Syd, joined up with this group at the Brigade dispersal on the 29th March 1943, close to the town of Inywa on the banks of the Irrawaddy River. However, we do know from his prisoner of war documents, that Ellis was captured by the Japanese, close to the banks of the Irrawaddy on the 9th May and spent just under two years as a POW in Rangoon Jail. During his time in Rangoon, Pte. Caplan was given the prisoner number 373 and he would have to recite this number in Japanese at the twice daily roll calls or tenkos as they were known inside the jail.
To read more about life as a prisoner of war inside Rangoon Jail, please click on the following link: Chindit POW's
In late April 1945 and as Allied forces were advancing steadily towards Rangoon, the Japanese guards decided to move as many prisoners as possible out of the jail and back into more strongly held territory in northern Thailand. Some 400 POW's were classified as being fit to make this journey and on the 24th April were marched out of the jail for the last time, leaving behind approximately 400 of their less able comrades. Pte. Caplan was one of the men chosen for the march. After five gruelling days with little food or water and having covered about 55 miles, the men found themselves just north of Pegu and close to the infamous Sittang Bridge. Incredibly and out of the blue, the Japanese Commandant called over the senior British Officer from amongst the POW's and informed him that he was setting the entire group free with immediate effect. After several difficult hours in what could only be described as no-man's land, the prisoners from Rangoon were rescued by soldiers from the West Yorkshire Regiment; it was the 29th April 1945.
Ellis Caplan and his comrades were flown back to India aboard American Airforce Dakotas and spent sometime in hospital at Calcutta. Eventually, he was sent back to the King's Regiment now based at the Napier Barracks in Karachi; not long afterwards he was transferred to the Deolali Reinforcement Camp just north of Bombay in preparation for his repatriation to the United Kingdom. From within the pages of the Manchester Evening News, dated Saturday 19th May 1945, a short article under the headline, Freed Prisoners, recorded that Ellis Caplan and another Chindit comrade, Frank Berkovitch, had been released from Rangoon Prison and would soon be returning home. One can only imagine what a relief this news must have been for their respective families back in Manchester.
Seen below is a Gallery of images in relation to this Chindit story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Lt. Arthur Carbonell, seen during Chindit training in 1942.
CARBONELL, JOHN ARTHUR CAPEL
Rank: Captain
Service No:115012
Date of Death: 08/05/1944
Age: 23
Regiment/Service: Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders attached 1st Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders.
Memorial: Grave Reference 5. K. 19. Kohima War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2601205/CARBONELL,%20JOHN%20ARTHUR%20CAPEL
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
John Arthur Capel Carbonell was born in the third quarter of 1920 and was the son of Lestock Sydney and Judith Carbonell from Fleet in Hampshire. He attended Uppingham School, located in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. His name appears on the school War Memorial for those who perished during the years of World War Two. Arthur, as he was known whilst serving with the Chindits, enlisted into the British Army in early 1940, and was posted to the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment with the Army Service number 6091786. On the 14th January 1940, he was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant into the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, with the new Army Service number of 115012.
I have not been able to find much information in regards to Arthur's early war service, but I do know that he joined Chindit training on the 20th December 1942, whilst 77 Brigade were encamped at the Indian town of Jhansi. He was taken on strength by the 13th King's, from his last posting with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, at the same time as a small draft of fifteen other officers, all from various units stationed in India at the time. All these men were quickly divided up between the King's columns, with Lt. Carbonell taking his place in 5 Column, alongside two other new recruits, Lt. Harman and Lt. W. Roberts. Confirmation of Arthur's placement in 5 Column also came in the form of a wonderful photograph, showing him sharing a joke or two with Captain Tommy Roberts and Lt. John Kerr in the tented camp at Jhansi. The image, shown below, must have been taken not long after his arrival in late December 1942.
To give some background; on the 9th December all columns had been involved in a full field exercise. This included a three day route march up to the rail station at Jhansi, where certain columns were pitched against each other, some defending and some attacking the station buildings. Wingate was not overly impressed by the Chindits performance at Jhansi and so another full Brigade exercise was arranged for late December. It was at this juncture that new drafts of officers and men were brought in to bolster the Chindit columns and to bring them up to full strength in preparation for the pending operation in Burma, which was by now just 6 weeks away.
Rank: Captain
Service No:115012
Date of Death: 08/05/1944
Age: 23
Regiment/Service: Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders attached 1st Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders.
Memorial: Grave Reference 5. K. 19. Kohima War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2601205/CARBONELL,%20JOHN%20ARTHUR%20CAPEL
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
John Arthur Capel Carbonell was born in the third quarter of 1920 and was the son of Lestock Sydney and Judith Carbonell from Fleet in Hampshire. He attended Uppingham School, located in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. His name appears on the school War Memorial for those who perished during the years of World War Two. Arthur, as he was known whilst serving with the Chindits, enlisted into the British Army in early 1940, and was posted to the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment with the Army Service number 6091786. On the 14th January 1940, he was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant into the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, with the new Army Service number of 115012.
I have not been able to find much information in regards to Arthur's early war service, but I do know that he joined Chindit training on the 20th December 1942, whilst 77 Brigade were encamped at the Indian town of Jhansi. He was taken on strength by the 13th King's, from his last posting with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, at the same time as a small draft of fifteen other officers, all from various units stationed in India at the time. All these men were quickly divided up between the King's columns, with Lt. Carbonell taking his place in 5 Column, alongside two other new recruits, Lt. Harman and Lt. W. Roberts. Confirmation of Arthur's placement in 5 Column also came in the form of a wonderful photograph, showing him sharing a joke or two with Captain Tommy Roberts and Lt. John Kerr in the tented camp at Jhansi. The image, shown below, must have been taken not long after his arrival in late December 1942.
To give some background; on the 9th December all columns had been involved in a full field exercise. This included a three day route march up to the rail station at Jhansi, where certain columns were pitched against each other, some defending and some attacking the station buildings. Wingate was not overly impressed by the Chindits performance at Jhansi and so another full Brigade exercise was arranged for late December. It was at this juncture that new drafts of officers and men were brought in to bolster the Chindit columns and to bring them up to full strength in preparation for the pending operation in Burma, which was by now just 6 weeks away.
L-R. Tommy Roberts, John Kerr and Arthur Carbonell seen at the Jhansi Camp, December 1942.
Not much is known about Lt. Carbonell's time in Burma during Operation Longcloth. He is not mentioned in any of the war diaries during the active months inside Burma and does not feature in Bernard Fergusson's book, Beyond the Chindwin, the most in depth account of 5 Column's participation during the first Wingate expedition. However, his name does appear, although incorrectly spelled (Carbomel) in Wingate's own dispersal diary. It is therefore possible that Arthur had for some reason transferred from 5 Column to Brigade Head Quarters at some point just before, or even during the expedition in Burma. There was also an anecdotal reference to Arthur Carbonell during my discussions with the late Denis Gudgeon, who served with 3 Column in 1943. Denis told me that each column had kept back one officer to act as Airbase liaison, whose role it was to organise his units supply drop requirements at Agartala in India and that Lt. Carbonell was the chosen man for 5 Column.
The 13th King's War diary for 1943 does however, give us definite information in regards to Arthur's next role during the ongoing Burma Campaign. In the officer returns lists for July that year, there is an entry that states he was no longer present with the 13th King's and had been attached to V Force, a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering organisation that worked and lived behind enemy lines. Arthur Carbonell was given a reporting role and was stationed on the eastern banks of the Chindwin River, from where he sent back information on the local movements of the Japanese. It seems likely that he remained with V Force for the rest of 1943, before re-joining the 1st Battalion, the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders (part of the 2nd British Infantry Division) in March 1944, as they prepared for their involvement at the battle for Kohima.
NB: From the 1944 V Force Head Quarters war diary, we now know that Lt. Carbonell was still attached to this unit as late as 12th February 1944.
The battle at Kohima would become, perhaps the most pivotal moment of the entire Burma Campaign, with the 1st Battalion of the Cameron Highlanders playing their part in repelling the ferocious and at times, brutal Japanese onslaught against the British defences. Captain Arthur Carbonell, serving with B' Company of the Camerons had already distinguished himself, when in late April 1944, he had killed an enemy Warrant Officer, whose map case and other possessions had proved to contain some vital information about the Japanese advance. By May that year, the battalion was positioned just to the north-east of Kohima, tasked with the defence of Map Point 5120.
Although his official date of death as presented on the CWGC website is stated as the 8th May 1944, other sources suggest that Arthur Carbonell in fact perished a few days earlier, on the 5th May. From the pages of the 79th News, the journal of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders:
3rd May: The 5th Infantry Brigade box was established high above the road to the North. We were poised for a 'left hook' on Kohima, which involved the occupation of Hill 5120, a height which dominated the town and the valley. At midnight of the 3/4th May, the Brigade moved off, Camerons in the lead, wearing canvas shoes for speed and light order dress. The advance was led by a fighting patrol under Captain W.N. White, which successfully dealt with three Japanese en route. At dawn the Battalion was in position as ordered; D Company on Hunter Hill, C Company on Church Knoll and A and B Companies on the main feature (Hill 5120).
To begin with the Japanese were completely surprised and many were killed as they ran away. With the coming of daylight however, they quickly realised the situation and soon D Company came under heavy machine gun and mortar fire. Accurate enemy sniping began to take its toll and digging in was no easy proposition. Shortly after 10 o'clock, A and B Companies were moving up to attempt the formation of a battalion box. The box was created, but was never satisfactory, as the gully between Hunter Hill and Church Knoll was continuously swept by enemy fire.
D Company was now in a sticky position. Japanese 75mm guns opened up from Gun Spur and North Spur and at midday the Officer Commanding D Company asked permission to withdraw. The withdrawal to Church Knoll was carried out under heavy fire and with severe casualties. Sgt. Auld of 16 Platoon was killed and Lts. Sherwood and McKillop wounded. Meanwhile Lt. D.C. Cross from A Company and nine Other Ranks went missing. CSM Cook (his DCM being awarded posthumously) had been killed and Captain J.A.C. Carbonell of B Company was severely wounded. He died the following day.
The Cameron's official history tells a similar story:
Wearing gym shoes and travelling light, the Camerons successfully infiltrated onto Pt 5120 in the wee hours of 4th May, then moved onto some subsidiary peaks where the Japanese resisted and, eventually, forced them back resulting in severe casualties. Captain Carbonell died of wounds sustained in the defence of Point 5120 (NE of Kohima) on 4/5th May 1944.
Arthur Carbonell was originally buried on the 8th May 1944, at the Manipur British Military Cemetery, his grave reference was 1.B.12. He was then re-interred at Kohima War Cemetery on the 6th October 1945 and this is where he lies today in grave 5.K.19. After consultation with his family, the following epitaph was added to his grave plaque: The brave, who die wearing their wounds. Like stars, shall surely rise again.
The Battalion suffered almost three hundred casualties during the battle for Kohima. A memorial to those they lost now stands on the highest point of the knoll feature for which they fought. The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders Memorial.
Lochaber no more.
Seen below is a Gallery of images in relation to this story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
The 13th King's War diary for 1943 does however, give us definite information in regards to Arthur's next role during the ongoing Burma Campaign. In the officer returns lists for July that year, there is an entry that states he was no longer present with the 13th King's and had been attached to V Force, a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering organisation that worked and lived behind enemy lines. Arthur Carbonell was given a reporting role and was stationed on the eastern banks of the Chindwin River, from where he sent back information on the local movements of the Japanese. It seems likely that he remained with V Force for the rest of 1943, before re-joining the 1st Battalion, the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders (part of the 2nd British Infantry Division) in March 1944, as they prepared for their involvement at the battle for Kohima.
NB: From the 1944 V Force Head Quarters war diary, we now know that Lt. Carbonell was still attached to this unit as late as 12th February 1944.
The battle at Kohima would become, perhaps the most pivotal moment of the entire Burma Campaign, with the 1st Battalion of the Cameron Highlanders playing their part in repelling the ferocious and at times, brutal Japanese onslaught against the British defences. Captain Arthur Carbonell, serving with B' Company of the Camerons had already distinguished himself, when in late April 1944, he had killed an enemy Warrant Officer, whose map case and other possessions had proved to contain some vital information about the Japanese advance. By May that year, the battalion was positioned just to the north-east of Kohima, tasked with the defence of Map Point 5120.
Although his official date of death as presented on the CWGC website is stated as the 8th May 1944, other sources suggest that Arthur Carbonell in fact perished a few days earlier, on the 5th May. From the pages of the 79th News, the journal of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders:
3rd May: The 5th Infantry Brigade box was established high above the road to the North. We were poised for a 'left hook' on Kohima, which involved the occupation of Hill 5120, a height which dominated the town and the valley. At midnight of the 3/4th May, the Brigade moved off, Camerons in the lead, wearing canvas shoes for speed and light order dress. The advance was led by a fighting patrol under Captain W.N. White, which successfully dealt with three Japanese en route. At dawn the Battalion was in position as ordered; D Company on Hunter Hill, C Company on Church Knoll and A and B Companies on the main feature (Hill 5120).
To begin with the Japanese were completely surprised and many were killed as they ran away. With the coming of daylight however, they quickly realised the situation and soon D Company came under heavy machine gun and mortar fire. Accurate enemy sniping began to take its toll and digging in was no easy proposition. Shortly after 10 o'clock, A and B Companies were moving up to attempt the formation of a battalion box. The box was created, but was never satisfactory, as the gully between Hunter Hill and Church Knoll was continuously swept by enemy fire.
D Company was now in a sticky position. Japanese 75mm guns opened up from Gun Spur and North Spur and at midday the Officer Commanding D Company asked permission to withdraw. The withdrawal to Church Knoll was carried out under heavy fire and with severe casualties. Sgt. Auld of 16 Platoon was killed and Lts. Sherwood and McKillop wounded. Meanwhile Lt. D.C. Cross from A Company and nine Other Ranks went missing. CSM Cook (his DCM being awarded posthumously) had been killed and Captain J.A.C. Carbonell of B Company was severely wounded. He died the following day.
The Cameron's official history tells a similar story:
Wearing gym shoes and travelling light, the Camerons successfully infiltrated onto Pt 5120 in the wee hours of 4th May, then moved onto some subsidiary peaks where the Japanese resisted and, eventually, forced them back resulting in severe casualties. Captain Carbonell died of wounds sustained in the defence of Point 5120 (NE of Kohima) on 4/5th May 1944.
Arthur Carbonell was originally buried on the 8th May 1944, at the Manipur British Military Cemetery, his grave reference was 1.B.12. He was then re-interred at Kohima War Cemetery on the 6th October 1945 and this is where he lies today in grave 5.K.19. After consultation with his family, the following epitaph was added to his grave plaque: The brave, who die wearing their wounds. Like stars, shall surely rise again.
The Battalion suffered almost three hundred casualties during the battle for Kohima. A memorial to those they lost now stands on the highest point of the knoll feature for which they fought. The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders Memorial.
Lochaber no more.
Seen below is a Gallery of images in relation to this story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
John Joseph Carey.
CAREY, JOHN JOSEPH
Rank: Sergeant
Service No: 3855768
Age: 26
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: Wingate's Brigade Head Quarters.
Other details:
John Carey was from Bootle in Liverpool and enlisted into the British Army several years before the outbreak of WW2. He was originally posted to the Loyal (North Lancashire) Regiment, before being sent overseas to India. Sgt. Carey served as a Commando in the Bush Warfare School at Maymyo in Burma and had survived the arduous march back to India during the British Army's ignominious retreat of February 1942. With his previous experience of fighting in Burma and his commando training under the watchful eye of Mike Calvert at Maymyo, John was an obvious choice as Platoon Sergeant for the 142 Commando Section of Wingate's own Brigade Head Quarters.
Sgt. Carey was involved in the various commando training exercises at the Saugor Camp in the Central Provinces of India. On Christmas Eve 1942, after an unfortunate accident resulting in the death of L/Cpl. Percy Finch, Carey was at hand to give a witness statement at the formal inquiry:
Fifth witness.
Sgt J. Carey, 142 Company.
About 21:30 hours on 24th December 1942, Lance Cpl. Brock of 142 Company came into the Sergeant's mess and asked for the Company Sgt. Major. He stated that there had been an accident in section lines. I accompanied the Sgt. Major down to the lines where I saw a man lying on the ground while the Medical Officer attended, I looked around for any clues as to the cause of the accident. I found the following articles:
Personal effects including pay book, piece of postcard, handkerchief and some money. The first three articles were violently shredded. A detonating set for one and one quarter pound incendiary. Nine rounds of blank ammunition .303, showing signs of having been in a fire. One expended smoke candle. Nine inches of expended instantaneous fuse. Four and a half inches of burnt safety fuse with part of a detonator attached. Five and a half sticks of gelignite with five sticks of 808 explosive and two pieces of adhesive tape.
In the end, the Court of Inquiry found that L/Cpl. Finch was to blame for his own demise due to his intoxication at the time of the accident.
John Carey was remembered by those he fought with as a reliable and trustworthy soldier, with a tremendously strong sense of humour and a passion for singing. From the book, Wingate's Raiders, by Charles J. Rolo:
The funny man of the expedition was Sergeant Carey, a first-class soldier who had served in China and in the Burma bush warfare school, and had performed rearguard demolitions with Michael Calvert in the 1942 campaign. He was a great lumbering fellow, a former heavyweight boxing champion, and carried a Tommy-gun with such unconscious ease that it seemed to have grown on to him.
When his column was particularly hungry Carey would crumble a digestive biscuit on a teak leaf, drape a dirty towel over his left arm, and walk around murmuring, in his best French accent, 'Will Monsieur 'ave some pate de foie gras?' His cigarette-girl act was also a big hit with the men. He would cut a flat piece of cardboard out of an empty ammunition container, cover it with leaves, bits of bamboo, a chocolate bar, lumps of earth, and loose cigarettes, and trip round calling out in a shrill treble voice: 'Chocolates, cigars, cigarettes. Chocolates, cigars, cigarettes!'
Corporal Hayes, who was in Sergeant Carey's company, had a very hard head which, when tapped with the butt of a rifle sounded rather like a coconut. When the men's spirits were flagging, Carey would conk the unfortunate Corporal on the head and sing out merrily: "Who’ll have a coconut? Lovely milky coconut.”
As the Brigade marched along the jungle tracks in those early weeks, it was Sgt. Carey that struck up songs such as: There's a Long Long Trail a Winding, Tipperary, the Beer Bottle Polka and Harry Lauder's ballad, Keep Right on to the End of the Road, all these in his big powerful bass voice.
After reading all the books and writings in relation to the first Chindit expedition, I suppose Sgt. Carey will be most remembered for being with Brigadier Wingate when he re-swam the Chindwin River on the 29th April 1943. From the memoirs of RAF Wireless Operator Sgt. Arthur Willshaw, also a member of Brigade HQ on Operation Longcloth:
After crossing the Mu River we faced the last sixty miles over almost impossible country to the Chindwin. It was here that we met an old Burmese Buddhist hermit, who appeared one evening just out of nowhere. He explained via the interpreters, that he had been sent to lead to safety a party of white strangers who were coming into his area. He was asked who had sent him and his only answer was that his God had warned him.
It was a risk we had to take, especially as we knew from information from friendly villagers that the Japs, now wise to our escape plan, were watching every road and track from the Mu to the Chindwin. Day after day he led us along animal trails and elephant tracks, sometimes wading for a day at a time through waist-high mountain streams. At one point on a very high peak we saw, way in the distance, a thin blue ribbon, it was the Chindwin. What added spirit this gave our flagging bodies and spent energies!
All our supplies were gone and we were really living on what we could find. A kind of lethargy was slowly taking its toll on us, we just couldn't care less one way or the other. The old hermit took us to within a few miles of the Chindwin and disappeared as strangely as he had appeared. It was then around the 23rd April. A villager we stopped on the track told us that the Japanese were everywhere and that it would be impossible to get boats to cross the river as they had it so well guarded. Wingate selected five swimmers who would, with himself, attempt to get to the Chindwin, swim it and send back boats to an agreed rendezvous with the others. These swimmers were Brigadier Wingate, Captain Aung Thin of the Burma Rifles, Captain Jefferies, Sergeant Carey of the Commandos, Private Boardman of the 13th King's, and myself.
At 0400 hours on the morning of 29th April 1943 the six of us set out for the river. Soon we struck a terrible stretch of elephant grass, seven or eight feet high and with an edge like a razor. We reconnoitred along it but could see no end to it, and no track through it, so the decision was made to push through it. Each man in turn dived headlong into it while the others pushed him flat; after a few minutes another took his place at the front. In four hours we had covered about 300 yards and were making such a noise that we feared the Japanese would be waiting when we broke out of the other side.
We pushed our way into a small clearing and collapsed; I couldn't have gone another foot and I know that we all had the same sickening thought. After all we had been through, how could we find the strength to go on? Then Wingate crawled to a gap in the grass and disappeared, only to reappear within minutes beckoning us to join him. We pushed our way another few feet and there it was, the Chindwin, right under our noses.
Arms and legs streaming with blood, we decided to chance the Japs and swim for it right away. Among the many things I asked for on my pre operational stocking-up visit to Karachi was a number of 'Mae West' lifejackets. I had carried mine throughout the whole of the expedition; I wore it as a waistcoat, used it as a pillow, used it to ford rivers and streams, and I still have it today. It was to save my life and that of Aung Thin that day. Blowing it up, I explained that I would swim last and that if anybody got into difficulties they could hang on to me and we would drift downstream if necessary. How I feared that crossing, even though the Mae West was filthy and muddy from our time in Burma, it would soon wash clean in the water and what a bright orange coloured target it would make for the waiting Japs! And so into the water; ten yards made, twenty yards, fifty, one hundred, now almost just drifting, thoroughly exhausted. Aung Thin with a last despairing effort made it to my side and together we struggled the remaining fifty yards to the other bank. We dragged ourselves up the bank and into cover, I still relive those fifteen minutes waiting for the burst of machine-gun fire that thankfully didn't come.
Having reached the safety of Allied lines and after a period of rest and recuperation, Sgt. Carey returned to the 13th King's, now based at the Napier Barracks in Karachi. It is not known how long he remained with the battalion, but we do know that he was selected by the Special Operations Executive sometime in 1944, to take part in clandestine operations against the Japanese as they began their long and traumatic retreat from Burma in first few months of 1945. Sgt. Carey worked under Lt-Colonel Edgar H.W. Peacock on what was codenamed, Operation Character, which involved harassing the enemy as they attempted to pass through the Karen Hills on their exit south towards Thailand. Sgt. Carey operated in the zonal area of Karenni territory codenamed Otter, which encompassed the Toungoo-Wanchi Road and the western approaches to the Salween River.
Rank: Sergeant
Service No: 3855768
Age: 26
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: Wingate's Brigade Head Quarters.
Other details:
John Carey was from Bootle in Liverpool and enlisted into the British Army several years before the outbreak of WW2. He was originally posted to the Loyal (North Lancashire) Regiment, before being sent overseas to India. Sgt. Carey served as a Commando in the Bush Warfare School at Maymyo in Burma and had survived the arduous march back to India during the British Army's ignominious retreat of February 1942. With his previous experience of fighting in Burma and his commando training under the watchful eye of Mike Calvert at Maymyo, John was an obvious choice as Platoon Sergeant for the 142 Commando Section of Wingate's own Brigade Head Quarters.
Sgt. Carey was involved in the various commando training exercises at the Saugor Camp in the Central Provinces of India. On Christmas Eve 1942, after an unfortunate accident resulting in the death of L/Cpl. Percy Finch, Carey was at hand to give a witness statement at the formal inquiry:
Fifth witness.
Sgt J. Carey, 142 Company.
About 21:30 hours on 24th December 1942, Lance Cpl. Brock of 142 Company came into the Sergeant's mess and asked for the Company Sgt. Major. He stated that there had been an accident in section lines. I accompanied the Sgt. Major down to the lines where I saw a man lying on the ground while the Medical Officer attended, I looked around for any clues as to the cause of the accident. I found the following articles:
Personal effects including pay book, piece of postcard, handkerchief and some money. The first three articles were violently shredded. A detonating set for one and one quarter pound incendiary. Nine rounds of blank ammunition .303, showing signs of having been in a fire. One expended smoke candle. Nine inches of expended instantaneous fuse. Four and a half inches of burnt safety fuse with part of a detonator attached. Five and a half sticks of gelignite with five sticks of 808 explosive and two pieces of adhesive tape.
In the end, the Court of Inquiry found that L/Cpl. Finch was to blame for his own demise due to his intoxication at the time of the accident.
John Carey was remembered by those he fought with as a reliable and trustworthy soldier, with a tremendously strong sense of humour and a passion for singing. From the book, Wingate's Raiders, by Charles J. Rolo:
The funny man of the expedition was Sergeant Carey, a first-class soldier who had served in China and in the Burma bush warfare school, and had performed rearguard demolitions with Michael Calvert in the 1942 campaign. He was a great lumbering fellow, a former heavyweight boxing champion, and carried a Tommy-gun with such unconscious ease that it seemed to have grown on to him.
When his column was particularly hungry Carey would crumble a digestive biscuit on a teak leaf, drape a dirty towel over his left arm, and walk around murmuring, in his best French accent, 'Will Monsieur 'ave some pate de foie gras?' His cigarette-girl act was also a big hit with the men. He would cut a flat piece of cardboard out of an empty ammunition container, cover it with leaves, bits of bamboo, a chocolate bar, lumps of earth, and loose cigarettes, and trip round calling out in a shrill treble voice: 'Chocolates, cigars, cigarettes. Chocolates, cigars, cigarettes!'
Corporal Hayes, who was in Sergeant Carey's company, had a very hard head which, when tapped with the butt of a rifle sounded rather like a coconut. When the men's spirits were flagging, Carey would conk the unfortunate Corporal on the head and sing out merrily: "Who’ll have a coconut? Lovely milky coconut.”
As the Brigade marched along the jungle tracks in those early weeks, it was Sgt. Carey that struck up songs such as: There's a Long Long Trail a Winding, Tipperary, the Beer Bottle Polka and Harry Lauder's ballad, Keep Right on to the End of the Road, all these in his big powerful bass voice.
After reading all the books and writings in relation to the first Chindit expedition, I suppose Sgt. Carey will be most remembered for being with Brigadier Wingate when he re-swam the Chindwin River on the 29th April 1943. From the memoirs of RAF Wireless Operator Sgt. Arthur Willshaw, also a member of Brigade HQ on Operation Longcloth:
After crossing the Mu River we faced the last sixty miles over almost impossible country to the Chindwin. It was here that we met an old Burmese Buddhist hermit, who appeared one evening just out of nowhere. He explained via the interpreters, that he had been sent to lead to safety a party of white strangers who were coming into his area. He was asked who had sent him and his only answer was that his God had warned him.
It was a risk we had to take, especially as we knew from information from friendly villagers that the Japs, now wise to our escape plan, were watching every road and track from the Mu to the Chindwin. Day after day he led us along animal trails and elephant tracks, sometimes wading for a day at a time through waist-high mountain streams. At one point on a very high peak we saw, way in the distance, a thin blue ribbon, it was the Chindwin. What added spirit this gave our flagging bodies and spent energies!
All our supplies were gone and we were really living on what we could find. A kind of lethargy was slowly taking its toll on us, we just couldn't care less one way or the other. The old hermit took us to within a few miles of the Chindwin and disappeared as strangely as he had appeared. It was then around the 23rd April. A villager we stopped on the track told us that the Japanese were everywhere and that it would be impossible to get boats to cross the river as they had it so well guarded. Wingate selected five swimmers who would, with himself, attempt to get to the Chindwin, swim it and send back boats to an agreed rendezvous with the others. These swimmers were Brigadier Wingate, Captain Aung Thin of the Burma Rifles, Captain Jefferies, Sergeant Carey of the Commandos, Private Boardman of the 13th King's, and myself.
At 0400 hours on the morning of 29th April 1943 the six of us set out for the river. Soon we struck a terrible stretch of elephant grass, seven or eight feet high and with an edge like a razor. We reconnoitred along it but could see no end to it, and no track through it, so the decision was made to push through it. Each man in turn dived headlong into it while the others pushed him flat; after a few minutes another took his place at the front. In four hours we had covered about 300 yards and were making such a noise that we feared the Japanese would be waiting when we broke out of the other side.
We pushed our way into a small clearing and collapsed; I couldn't have gone another foot and I know that we all had the same sickening thought. After all we had been through, how could we find the strength to go on? Then Wingate crawled to a gap in the grass and disappeared, only to reappear within minutes beckoning us to join him. We pushed our way another few feet and there it was, the Chindwin, right under our noses.
Arms and legs streaming with blood, we decided to chance the Japs and swim for it right away. Among the many things I asked for on my pre operational stocking-up visit to Karachi was a number of 'Mae West' lifejackets. I had carried mine throughout the whole of the expedition; I wore it as a waistcoat, used it as a pillow, used it to ford rivers and streams, and I still have it today. It was to save my life and that of Aung Thin that day. Blowing it up, I explained that I would swim last and that if anybody got into difficulties they could hang on to me and we would drift downstream if necessary. How I feared that crossing, even though the Mae West was filthy and muddy from our time in Burma, it would soon wash clean in the water and what a bright orange coloured target it would make for the waiting Japs! And so into the water; ten yards made, twenty yards, fifty, one hundred, now almost just drifting, thoroughly exhausted. Aung Thin with a last despairing effort made it to my side and together we struggled the remaining fifty yards to the other bank. We dragged ourselves up the bank and into cover, I still relive those fifteen minutes waiting for the burst of machine-gun fire that thankfully didn't come.
Having reached the safety of Allied lines and after a period of rest and recuperation, Sgt. Carey returned to the 13th King's, now based at the Napier Barracks in Karachi. It is not known how long he remained with the battalion, but we do know that he was selected by the Special Operations Executive sometime in 1944, to take part in clandestine operations against the Japanese as they began their long and traumatic retreat from Burma in first few months of 1945. Sgt. Carey worked under Lt-Colonel Edgar H.W. Peacock on what was codenamed, Operation Character, which involved harassing the enemy as they attempted to pass through the Karen Hills on their exit south towards Thailand. Sgt. Carey operated in the zonal area of Karenni territory codenamed Otter, which encompassed the Toungoo-Wanchi Road and the western approaches to the Salween River.
Sgt. Carey, third left, shares a cup of tea with his Karen Levies comrades on Operation Character during the spring of 1945.
In late May 1943, John Carey and two of his Chindit comrades, Frank Garbett and Lance Corporal G. Foster of the Royal Corps of Signals, gave an interview to the BBC, which was subsequently broadcast back home in Britain. From the pages of the Liverpool Echo dated 17th June 1943 and under the headline, The Voice of Her Son:
A Bootle Mother's Visit to the BBC
It was a happy day today for Mrs. Carey of 18 Stewart Avenue, Bootle. She has not heard the voice of her son, Sgt. John James Carey, for six years, but today she visited the BBC studios at Manchester and listened to a record of her son telling what part he played in the memorable expedition in Burma by Wingate's Follies. A recording of the exploits by Brigadier Wingate and his men was made in India, but poor reception prevented listeners in England hearing it. Mrs. Carey had no idea that her son was one of the raiding column led by the gallant Brigadier, until she saw his name and address announced in the newspapers, when the story of the adventures was first announced to thrill the world.
In his recording Sgt Carey tells how ambushes were set for the Japanese. They knocked thirty of them over in the first ambush, and two days later their Sergeant-Major shot one and the Bren gunners another five. "The Japs are best with their heavy mortars, but not so good with anything else," says Sgt. Carey. "If they're firing at a target they make it hot for you, and the only thing you can do is play low and keep quiet."
During a night battle along the Northern Burma railway, Sgt. Carey was knocked over by a mule and was separated form his Commandoes. He remembered: "I later collected about 32 of the others, mostly Gurkhas, and we marched for two days through the jungle to the next rendezvous entirely by compass-bearing. At this rendezvous the RAF dropped supplies, we got everything we asked for." Sgt. Carey believes the expedition would not have been the success it was without the help of the Burmese.
Sergeant Carey, who is 26, is the eldest son of a family of six, and has been in the Indian Army since he was seventeen. One brother, aged just 19, is in the Merchant Navy. With Mrs. Carey at the BBC studios was her daughter, Miss R. Carey and her sister-in-law, Mrs. W. Ryan.
The audio recording made by the BBC still exists and can be accessed from the Imperial War Museum using the following link:
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80002545
A Bootle Mother's Visit to the BBC
It was a happy day today for Mrs. Carey of 18 Stewart Avenue, Bootle. She has not heard the voice of her son, Sgt. John James Carey, for six years, but today she visited the BBC studios at Manchester and listened to a record of her son telling what part he played in the memorable expedition in Burma by Wingate's Follies. A recording of the exploits by Brigadier Wingate and his men was made in India, but poor reception prevented listeners in England hearing it. Mrs. Carey had no idea that her son was one of the raiding column led by the gallant Brigadier, until she saw his name and address announced in the newspapers, when the story of the adventures was first announced to thrill the world.
In his recording Sgt Carey tells how ambushes were set for the Japanese. They knocked thirty of them over in the first ambush, and two days later their Sergeant-Major shot one and the Bren gunners another five. "The Japs are best with their heavy mortars, but not so good with anything else," says Sgt. Carey. "If they're firing at a target they make it hot for you, and the only thing you can do is play low and keep quiet."
During a night battle along the Northern Burma railway, Sgt. Carey was knocked over by a mule and was separated form his Commandoes. He remembered: "I later collected about 32 of the others, mostly Gurkhas, and we marched for two days through the jungle to the next rendezvous entirely by compass-bearing. At this rendezvous the RAF dropped supplies, we got everything we asked for." Sgt. Carey believes the expedition would not have been the success it was without the help of the Burmese.
Sergeant Carey, who is 26, is the eldest son of a family of six, and has been in the Indian Army since he was seventeen. One brother, aged just 19, is in the Merchant Navy. With Mrs. Carey at the BBC studios was her daughter, Miss R. Carey and her sister-in-law, Mrs. W. Ryan.
The audio recording made by the BBC still exists and can be accessed from the Imperial War Museum using the following link:
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80002545
Sgt. Carey (bush hat) with his Karen fighting patrol in 1945 on the foothills of Mount Sosiso.
Cap badge of the RAVC.
CAREY-FOSTER, ANTHONY
Rank: Captain
Service No: Unknown
Regiment/Service: RAVC attached The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: Unknown
Other details:
Anthony Carey-Foster was an officer from the Royal Army Veterinary Corps who organised the training of men and animals for Operation Longcloth. He was certainly a very important man in this respect and was integral in introducing soldiers with little prior knowledge of horsemanship to the skills of riding and animal management. It is not known whether Carey-Foster actually served on the first Wingate expedition in 1943, but his influence in all things equine was clear. He has been mentioned in several Chindit related books and memoirs and presented below are just a selection of these anecdotes. His last mention in the official war diary for the 13th King's came on the 26th December 1942, when the final debrief in relation to animal management was given to the battalion at Jhansi.
From the book, Make for the Hills, by Robert Thompson, No. 3 Column's RAF Liaison Officer on Operation Longcloth:
My first job, as detailed by Wingate was to train and fit out thirty mountain artillery mules (all reportedly from Missouri) to carry our RAF wireless sets. These mules were far bigger than the Indian bred mules which carried all other equipment. The vet who taught us how to fit the saddlery was Carey-Foster, whom I had known before at Ipoh when I served in Malaya, when he was the vet to the Straits Racing Association. After the war he graduated to chief vet at Epsom. He taught us that it was important to get these mules used to their loads and to harden their backs. We spent a long time moving the stuffing in their saddles around the leather with long needles so the saddle shaped into the contours of the animal in question. A sore back meant a lost load and that might prove disastrous in the field.
From the memoir of Douglas Mills, a RAF Sergeant in Brigade HQ on Operation Longcloth:
From the moment I arrived at Saugor and the training regime, as an Airman I had to prove myself somewhat to my Army colleagues. I settled down to a rigorous program of intensive training, living rough, heavy pack marching, lots of running, learning to construct a bed from odd bits of wood. No problem really, I'd been a Wolf Cub. I was also taught to ride a horse, to which I would like to give a bit of a mention.
This horse riding business was really quite entertaining, particularly to the instructor, a Captain Carey-Foster. I learned that the first thing to master was to be able to clamber on the horse, stay put in the saddle and face the same direction as the horse’s head was pointing, which, after a little difficulty, I managed to achieve.
There would have been close to a dozen of us under instruction, formed into a circle with the instructor in the middle. Well, we were first told how to make the horse walk, after which came the trot, which is the bit I found uncomfortable. The best part came whilst we were in a circle, trotting around and around and Carey-Foster bawled out, "You might at least have the decency to smile and look as if you are enjoying it gentlemen!"
From Denis Gudgeon, junior Animal Transport Officer for No. 3 Column:
I was the second officer in charge of mules in the column under my very great friend, Roy MacKenzie. Back in India we were taught about these animals firstly by the chief veterinary officer, Colonel Stewart of the RAVC. Stewart had been involved in the technique of 'de-braying' mules for use behind enemy lines, which of course was of great interest to Wingate as we prepared for the first expedition into Burma. Another important member of the Chindit veterinary team was Captain Carey-Foster, who was the leading equestrian expert on the operation and was involved in training us all to the required standard.
Rank: Captain
Service No: Unknown
Regiment/Service: RAVC attached The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: Unknown
Other details:
Anthony Carey-Foster was an officer from the Royal Army Veterinary Corps who organised the training of men and animals for Operation Longcloth. He was certainly a very important man in this respect and was integral in introducing soldiers with little prior knowledge of horsemanship to the skills of riding and animal management. It is not known whether Carey-Foster actually served on the first Wingate expedition in 1943, but his influence in all things equine was clear. He has been mentioned in several Chindit related books and memoirs and presented below are just a selection of these anecdotes. His last mention in the official war diary for the 13th King's came on the 26th December 1942, when the final debrief in relation to animal management was given to the battalion at Jhansi.
From the book, Make for the Hills, by Robert Thompson, No. 3 Column's RAF Liaison Officer on Operation Longcloth:
My first job, as detailed by Wingate was to train and fit out thirty mountain artillery mules (all reportedly from Missouri) to carry our RAF wireless sets. These mules were far bigger than the Indian bred mules which carried all other equipment. The vet who taught us how to fit the saddlery was Carey-Foster, whom I had known before at Ipoh when I served in Malaya, when he was the vet to the Straits Racing Association. After the war he graduated to chief vet at Epsom. He taught us that it was important to get these mules used to their loads and to harden their backs. We spent a long time moving the stuffing in their saddles around the leather with long needles so the saddle shaped into the contours of the animal in question. A sore back meant a lost load and that might prove disastrous in the field.
From the memoir of Douglas Mills, a RAF Sergeant in Brigade HQ on Operation Longcloth:
From the moment I arrived at Saugor and the training regime, as an Airman I had to prove myself somewhat to my Army colleagues. I settled down to a rigorous program of intensive training, living rough, heavy pack marching, lots of running, learning to construct a bed from odd bits of wood. No problem really, I'd been a Wolf Cub. I was also taught to ride a horse, to which I would like to give a bit of a mention.
This horse riding business was really quite entertaining, particularly to the instructor, a Captain Carey-Foster. I learned that the first thing to master was to be able to clamber on the horse, stay put in the saddle and face the same direction as the horse’s head was pointing, which, after a little difficulty, I managed to achieve.
There would have been close to a dozen of us under instruction, formed into a circle with the instructor in the middle. Well, we were first told how to make the horse walk, after which came the trot, which is the bit I found uncomfortable. The best part came whilst we were in a circle, trotting around and around and Carey-Foster bawled out, "You might at least have the decency to smile and look as if you are enjoying it gentlemen!"
From Denis Gudgeon, junior Animal Transport Officer for No. 3 Column:
I was the second officer in charge of mules in the column under my very great friend, Roy MacKenzie. Back in India we were taught about these animals firstly by the chief veterinary officer, Colonel Stewart of the RAVC. Stewart had been involved in the technique of 'de-braying' mules for use behind enemy lines, which of course was of great interest to Wingate as we prepared for the first expedition into Burma. Another important member of the Chindit veterinary team was Captain Carey-Foster, who was the leading equestrian expert on the operation and was involved in training us all to the required standard.
Mules of No. 5 Column on Operation Longcloth.
As mentioned previously by Robert Thompson, before the war Anthony Carey-Foster had been the veterinary officer for the Straits Racing Association at Ipoh in Malaya. On his return to the United Kingdom after WW2, he took up a similar role at the Epsom Racecourse in Surrey famous for holding The Derby each in June each year. Whilst working at Epsom, Carey-Foster was heavily involved in the acquisition and care of Winston Churchill's horses including perhaps the most well know animal, Colonist II.
Cap badge of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
CARLESS, JOHN
Rank: Private
Service No: 5110875
Age: Not known
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
John Carless was from Kingstanding, a suburban area to the north of Birmingham. He originally enlisted into the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, before being sent overseas to India and then transferred to the 13th King's on the 26th September 1942. John was allocated to No. 5 Column during the training regime at Saugor and entered Burma with 5 Column on the 15th February 1943.
When dispersal was called by Wingate on the 29th March 1943, John Carless found himself with the massed Chindit columns on the eastern banks of the Irrawaddy River, close to the Burmese town of Inywa. The attempted crossing that day was interrupted by the enemy and had to be abandoned with only a handful of men safely over the river. Wingate called an officer's conference and the decision was made to split the columns up into small dispersal units. Pte. Carless was originally placed into the dispersal party led by Lt. George Astell of the 2nd Burma Rifles, along with another soldier from No. 5 Column, Pte. William Baddiley, also formerly with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. From that moment on the two men would share their long journey out of Burma together.
In 2005, William Baddilley's story was placed up on the BBC website pages entitled, WW2, the People's War, an archive of personal memories from the war of 1939-45. Here is a transcription of Pte. Baddiley's story, as contributed by Cumbria Communities Project:
The Real Heroes
As a private soldier with the 13th Bn, Kings Liverpool Regiment, we crossed the River Chindwin in January 1943 with the First Wingate Expedition, later to become known as the Chindits. There were seven columns in this operation, mine being No.5 column commanded by Major Bernard Fergusson, the whole constituting the 77th Independent Brigade. (The Brigadier would get very annoyed when this was abbreviated to the 77th Ind. Brigade and so mistaken for the 77th Indian Brigade). He quite often used this Independence which, at times, made him quite unpopular with some of his superiors.
Once across the river (Chindwin) we were behind the enemy lines and had to keep on the move. We travelled east towards the River Irrawaddy, and, apart from a few minor scuffles and blowing up the Rangoon-Mandalay railway line in many different places, we arrived at the Irrawaddy and crossed at Tigyaing. Having completed the crossing the Japs arrived in the village and sent a few mortar bombs and small arms fire after us but did not attempt to cross. We were now in a small triangle formed by the confluence of the Irrawaddy and the Shweli Rivers, and they probably thought that they had us exactly where they wanted us.
After a few weeks we were ordered back to India and rendezvoused with Brigade on the banks of the Irrawaddy, but when we attempted our recrossing were met with heavy mortar and machine gun fire. Wingate decided that recrossing under the circumstances was impossible and so ordered us to break up into groups of about thirty and make our own way back to India. I was with about thirty others under the command of Captain Astell of the Burma Rifles who decided we would not attempt a recrossing of the Irrawaddy but would go east and try the Shweli. This we carried out successfully without any opposition.
After about ten days of marching my boot had broken in half and I found it impossible to keep up with the group. The Captain decided to leave me and Private Carless in a village called Sima, which had been a British garrisoned Fort before the evacuation. We thought at least we would have a roof over our heads, but the village Headman would not let us stay in it as the Japs sent regular patrols and they used it as a bivouac.
We were placed in the jungle outside the village and were joined by another B.O.R, namely Pte. 5120086 Harold Baxter. He was very sick and unfortunately died within a few days. I was officially reported missing on April 4th 1943 and Carless and I reached Paoshan in China sometime in early October. We reckoned we had walked about two thousand miles since January. We were survivors, but the real heroes of this story were the ordinary villagers of small places in the Kachin Hills who watered and fed us and harboured us in the sure knowledge that if they were caught doing this they would have been crucified to the floor of their huts.
According to official missing reports for men lost on Operation Longcloth, Pte. Carless, presumably in the company of William Baddiley were located at the Assam base of Dibrugarh on the 27th August 1943, having been flown there from Paoshan aboard a United States Army Air Force Dakota transport plane. It is highly likely that William Baddiley and John Carless were the last of the Chindits to achieve the safety of India in 1943.
Perhaps the most important contribution given by the two soldiers after their safe arrival in India, were the witness reports they gave in relation to some of the other missing men. One of these men was Pte. Harold Baxter, who was mentioned in William Baddiley's story above.
Private 5120086 Harold Baxter, also formerly of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, was a member of No. 7 Rifle Platoon within No. 5 Column which was commanded by Lt. Philip Stibbe. He had caused consternation, and some amusement, when he lost his Bren gun and the mule carrying it, down a large water well at the village of Saugor during the training period in the Central Provinces of India. After the ambush at Hintha, Pte. Baxter joined up with No. 7 Column at the Shweli River and was allocated to the dispersal party led by Lt. Musgrave -Wood.
Harold sadly perished on the 29th April 1943, although the following witness statement from Ptes. Baddiley and Carless suggest it was a little later:
Pte. H. Baxter died early in May 1943. He was suffering from beri beri and would no longer eat. He was buried in our presence at the village of Sima, which lies to the south of Fort Morton.
Another soldier for whom Carless and Baddiley gave some information, was Pte. 4202457 Kenneth Dalrymple Webb. In a report dated 15th June 1944, they stated:
Pte. K. Webb was with me (Baddiley) and a few other men until we got to within about six miles of Fort Harrison. Pte. J. Carless, who was one of the party, was then taken ill and I stayed behind to look after him. In the meantime, Pte. Webb went on with CSM Henderson and a few others and I have not seen him since. This would have been around the second week in June 1943.
As part of the witness statement above, CSM Ernest Henderson added:
The above statement is quite correct. Pte. Webb accompanied me to the next village, Ying-Pu when he took ill. We spent the night there, but next morning Webb was still ill, so he stayed there in the care of the village Headman. We carried on and I have not seen him since.
Kenneth Webb was the son of Mr. L. Webb and Elsie J. Webb, from Sedgley, near Dudley in the West Midlands of England. Originally a member of No. 5 Column in 1943, he was one of the men separated from his unit after the ambush at Hintha on the 28th April and then joined up with 7 Column at the Shweli River. It is now known that he perished in the village of Ying-Pu having suffered with dysentery for many days. He was last seen by his commanding officer (Lt. Musgrave-Wood) on the 28th April 1943 and this is the recorded date of death on his CWGC details, however, it is clear that Kenneth Webb had pushed himself and his poor body on for several more weeks, before ultimately succumbing in early June that year. His body was never recovered after the war and so Pte. Webb is remembered upon Face 6 of the Rangoon Memorial.
Rank: Private
Service No: 5110875
Age: Not known
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
John Carless was from Kingstanding, a suburban area to the north of Birmingham. He originally enlisted into the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, before being sent overseas to India and then transferred to the 13th King's on the 26th September 1942. John was allocated to No. 5 Column during the training regime at Saugor and entered Burma with 5 Column on the 15th February 1943.
When dispersal was called by Wingate on the 29th March 1943, John Carless found himself with the massed Chindit columns on the eastern banks of the Irrawaddy River, close to the Burmese town of Inywa. The attempted crossing that day was interrupted by the enemy and had to be abandoned with only a handful of men safely over the river. Wingate called an officer's conference and the decision was made to split the columns up into small dispersal units. Pte. Carless was originally placed into the dispersal party led by Lt. George Astell of the 2nd Burma Rifles, along with another soldier from No. 5 Column, Pte. William Baddiley, also formerly with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. From that moment on the two men would share their long journey out of Burma together.
In 2005, William Baddilley's story was placed up on the BBC website pages entitled, WW2, the People's War, an archive of personal memories from the war of 1939-45. Here is a transcription of Pte. Baddiley's story, as contributed by Cumbria Communities Project:
The Real Heroes
As a private soldier with the 13th Bn, Kings Liverpool Regiment, we crossed the River Chindwin in January 1943 with the First Wingate Expedition, later to become known as the Chindits. There were seven columns in this operation, mine being No.5 column commanded by Major Bernard Fergusson, the whole constituting the 77th Independent Brigade. (The Brigadier would get very annoyed when this was abbreviated to the 77th Ind. Brigade and so mistaken for the 77th Indian Brigade). He quite often used this Independence which, at times, made him quite unpopular with some of his superiors.
Once across the river (Chindwin) we were behind the enemy lines and had to keep on the move. We travelled east towards the River Irrawaddy, and, apart from a few minor scuffles and blowing up the Rangoon-Mandalay railway line in many different places, we arrived at the Irrawaddy and crossed at Tigyaing. Having completed the crossing the Japs arrived in the village and sent a few mortar bombs and small arms fire after us but did not attempt to cross. We were now in a small triangle formed by the confluence of the Irrawaddy and the Shweli Rivers, and they probably thought that they had us exactly where they wanted us.
After a few weeks we were ordered back to India and rendezvoused with Brigade on the banks of the Irrawaddy, but when we attempted our recrossing were met with heavy mortar and machine gun fire. Wingate decided that recrossing under the circumstances was impossible and so ordered us to break up into groups of about thirty and make our own way back to India. I was with about thirty others under the command of Captain Astell of the Burma Rifles who decided we would not attempt a recrossing of the Irrawaddy but would go east and try the Shweli. This we carried out successfully without any opposition.
After about ten days of marching my boot had broken in half and I found it impossible to keep up with the group. The Captain decided to leave me and Private Carless in a village called Sima, which had been a British garrisoned Fort before the evacuation. We thought at least we would have a roof over our heads, but the village Headman would not let us stay in it as the Japs sent regular patrols and they used it as a bivouac.
We were placed in the jungle outside the village and were joined by another B.O.R, namely Pte. 5120086 Harold Baxter. He was very sick and unfortunately died within a few days. I was officially reported missing on April 4th 1943 and Carless and I reached Paoshan in China sometime in early October. We reckoned we had walked about two thousand miles since January. We were survivors, but the real heroes of this story were the ordinary villagers of small places in the Kachin Hills who watered and fed us and harboured us in the sure knowledge that if they were caught doing this they would have been crucified to the floor of their huts.
According to official missing reports for men lost on Operation Longcloth, Pte. Carless, presumably in the company of William Baddiley were located at the Assam base of Dibrugarh on the 27th August 1943, having been flown there from Paoshan aboard a United States Army Air Force Dakota transport plane. It is highly likely that William Baddiley and John Carless were the last of the Chindits to achieve the safety of India in 1943.
Perhaps the most important contribution given by the two soldiers after their safe arrival in India, were the witness reports they gave in relation to some of the other missing men. One of these men was Pte. Harold Baxter, who was mentioned in William Baddiley's story above.
Private 5120086 Harold Baxter, also formerly of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, was a member of No. 7 Rifle Platoon within No. 5 Column which was commanded by Lt. Philip Stibbe. He had caused consternation, and some amusement, when he lost his Bren gun and the mule carrying it, down a large water well at the village of Saugor during the training period in the Central Provinces of India. After the ambush at Hintha, Pte. Baxter joined up with No. 7 Column at the Shweli River and was allocated to the dispersal party led by Lt. Musgrave -Wood.
Harold sadly perished on the 29th April 1943, although the following witness statement from Ptes. Baddiley and Carless suggest it was a little later:
Pte. H. Baxter died early in May 1943. He was suffering from beri beri and would no longer eat. He was buried in our presence at the village of Sima, which lies to the south of Fort Morton.
Another soldier for whom Carless and Baddiley gave some information, was Pte. 4202457 Kenneth Dalrymple Webb. In a report dated 15th June 1944, they stated:
Pte. K. Webb was with me (Baddiley) and a few other men until we got to within about six miles of Fort Harrison. Pte. J. Carless, who was one of the party, was then taken ill and I stayed behind to look after him. In the meantime, Pte. Webb went on with CSM Henderson and a few others and I have not seen him since. This would have been around the second week in June 1943.
As part of the witness statement above, CSM Ernest Henderson added:
The above statement is quite correct. Pte. Webb accompanied me to the next village, Ying-Pu when he took ill. We spent the night there, but next morning Webb was still ill, so he stayed there in the care of the village Headman. We carried on and I have not seen him since.
Kenneth Webb was the son of Mr. L. Webb and Elsie J. Webb, from Sedgley, near Dudley in the West Midlands of England. Originally a member of No. 5 Column in 1943, he was one of the men separated from his unit after the ambush at Hintha on the 28th April and then joined up with 7 Column at the Shweli River. It is now known that he perished in the village of Ying-Pu having suffered with dysentery for many days. He was last seen by his commanding officer (Lt. Musgrave-Wood) on the 28th April 1943 and this is the recorded date of death on his CWGC details, however, it is clear that Kenneth Webb had pushed himself and his poor body on for several more weeks, before ultimately succumbing in early June that year. His body was never recovered after the war and so Pte. Webb is remembered upon Face 6 of the Rangoon Memorial.
The witness statements for Pte. Kenneth Dalrymple Webb.
The final witness statement given by William Baddiley and John Carless, was in relation to Pte. 5119828 Allen Arthur Whiston. This soldier had also served originally with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and was the son of William George and Helen Whiston and husband of Nellie Louise Whiston from Aston in Birmingham. Much like the other men mentioned above, Allen joined Chindit training at the Saugor Camp on the 26th September 1942 and was posted to No. 5 Column. After joining Lt. Musgrave-Wood's dispersal party at the Shweli River, Pte. Whiston went missing towards the end of April 1943 and was last seen on the roadside just north of a place called Fort Morton. His body was never recovered after the war and so Allen is also remembered upon Face 6 of the Rangoon Memorial.
Baddiley and Carless reported that:
The only information I can give about Pte. Whiston, came to me second hand from Pte. 4202457 K. Webb, who is now also missing. He told me that he had seen Pte. Whiston's body lying beside the frontier track about seven miles to the north of Fort Morton. Ants were crawling all over the body. This would have been towards the end of April or early May 1943.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to Pte. John Carless, including his details on the missing lists for the 13th King's on Operation Longcloth and a copy of William Baddiley's story on the BBC's website pages. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. From his Burma Star Association membership details, it is suggested that John Carless was still living in Birmingham when he sadly passed away on the 17th July 2001.
CARROLL, JOHN REGINALD
Rank: Captain
Service No: 162339
Age: 22
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
John Reginald Carroll was born on the 18th May 1920 and was the son of John and Alice Carroll from Allerton Road in Liverpool. After leaving school John worked for a time with a Mining company, from where he enrolled into the local Officer Cadet Training Unit (Liverpool) and was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant on the 14th January 1941. He joined the 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment at their base in Felixstowe where the battalion was performing coastal defence duties in readiness for the expected German invasion after the debacle at Dunkirk.
After a few months on the south-eastern coastline, the battalion was ordered to prepare for overseas service and moved by train initially to Blackburn, before making the short journey to Liverpool and boarding the troopship Oronsay. On the 8th December 1941, the 13th King's voyaged to India, disembarking at Bombay in January 1942 and eventually taking residence at the Gough Barracks in Secunderabad, where they began their garrison and internal security duties.
NB. For the most part during this early period with the battalion, John Carroll was looked after by his Army Batman, Pte. John Bromley from Chorley in Lancashire. Pte. Bromley's Chindit story can be found alphabetically listed on this page.
In July 1942, the 13th King's were given over to Brigadier Wingate and began their jungle warfare training in the Central Provinces of India. John Carroll was posted to No. 8 Column under the command of his long-time Army colleague from the King's Regiment, Major Walter Purcell Scott. Captain Carroll took up the role of Support Platoon officer and was in charge of the mounted machine guns and mortars within the column.
Seen below is a photograph of the officers from the 13th King's, taken in mid-1941 at the Cherry Tree Army Barracks in Colchester. John Carroll can be seen standing in the third row on the far left and Major Scott seated in the front row, second left.
Rank: Captain
Service No: 162339
Age: 22
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
John Reginald Carroll was born on the 18th May 1920 and was the son of John and Alice Carroll from Allerton Road in Liverpool. After leaving school John worked for a time with a Mining company, from where he enrolled into the local Officer Cadet Training Unit (Liverpool) and was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant on the 14th January 1941. He joined the 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment at their base in Felixstowe where the battalion was performing coastal defence duties in readiness for the expected German invasion after the debacle at Dunkirk.
After a few months on the south-eastern coastline, the battalion was ordered to prepare for overseas service and moved by train initially to Blackburn, before making the short journey to Liverpool and boarding the troopship Oronsay. On the 8th December 1941, the 13th King's voyaged to India, disembarking at Bombay in January 1942 and eventually taking residence at the Gough Barracks in Secunderabad, where they began their garrison and internal security duties.
NB. For the most part during this early period with the battalion, John Carroll was looked after by his Army Batman, Pte. John Bromley from Chorley in Lancashire. Pte. Bromley's Chindit story can be found alphabetically listed on this page.
In July 1942, the 13th King's were given over to Brigadier Wingate and began their jungle warfare training in the Central Provinces of India. John Carroll was posted to No. 8 Column under the command of his long-time Army colleague from the King's Regiment, Major Walter Purcell Scott. Captain Carroll took up the role of Support Platoon officer and was in charge of the mounted machine guns and mortars within the column.
Seen below is a photograph of the officers from the 13th King's, taken in mid-1941 at the Cherry Tree Army Barracks in Colchester. John Carroll can be seen standing in the third row on the far left and Major Scott seated in the front row, second left.
The officers of the 13th King's at Colchester in 1941.
Once behind Japanese lines in 1943, John Carroll and his Support Platoon were kept busy, especially during No. 8 Column's early engagements with the enemy at places such as Pinlebu and the village of Baw. To read more about these incidents, please click on the following links:
Sergeant John Edward Bridgeman
Arthur Birch and Platoon 17
After the decision was made to return to India, Major Scott hoped to take his column back across the Chindwin as one unit. However, after several minor skirmishes with the Japanese during the first two weeks of April, he finally decided to break his column up into several much smaller dispersal groups. From the 8 Column War diary for Operation Longcloth:
On about the 13/14th April, Major Scott and Lieutenant Colonel Cooke held an officers' conference and it was decided that they would request one last supply drop before breaking up into dispersal groups to cross the Irrawaddy.
The dispersal groups were arranged as follows:
Lieutenant Colonel Cooke, Lieutenant Borrow and half of Group Headquarters;
Lieutenants Pickering, Pearce and Bennett and the other half of Group Headquarters;
Major Scott with Column Headquarters, 17 Platoon and two sections of 16 Platoon;
Captain Whitehead and his Burma Rifles less those already allocated to assist the dispersal groups, plus Flying Officer Wheatley and a section of 16 Platoon;
Lieutenants Carroll, Hamilton-Bryant with Support Group and 19 Platoon;
Lieutenants Neill and Sprague with the Gurkha Platoon and 142 Commando Platoon.
On 15th April, Captain Whitehead and his dispersal group, together with the stretcher party under Sergeant Parsons and the Medical Officer, Captain Heathcote, left the column. They planned to move to the east of Bhamo, thence north of Myitkyina to Fort Hertz. If this plan failed they would cross the Irrawaddy north of Bhamo and then go west towards the Chindwin. On the way they intended to leave the stretcher cases at a friendly Kachin village.
Captain Whitehead's party had great difficulty gelling down the eastern slopes of the mountains to the Bhamo Plain and the first villages they visited were deserted. The escort party under Lieutenant Hamilton-Bryan returned after a couple of days, anxious not to lose contact with the main column. The decision of the MO to remain with Whitehead's group was rather controversial as it left the bulk of the column without a doctor. The fate of the stretcher party is unknown.
Meanwhile, the column received their supply drop on 17th April: four days' rations including corned beef and mutton and another charged radio battery. The following day Lieutenants Neill, Sprague and Gillow left with their dispersal group, intending to drop on to the plain before heading for Myale where they proposed to cross the Irrawaddy. Lieutenants Pickering, Pearce and Bennett and their group left for Watto on the Irrawaddy, and half an hour later Major Scott and the rest of the column continued on their journey to Sinkan. It had been decided that Lieutenant Colonel Cooke's dispersal group, together with that of Lieutenant Carroll, would remain with Scott for the time being, making a large party of six officers and 170 men, plus one mule with the wireless set.
Seen below is a map of the area around the Irrawaddy close to where the dispersal groups were arranged and showing the general direction that some of the parties planned to take in vacating Burma that year. Please click on the map to bring it forward on the page.
No.8 Column's approach and dispersal from the Irrawaddy River, 17th April 1943.
On the journey out, Captain Carroll played an important role in commanding the Recce patrol which scouted ahead of the main body of the sub-column. As it turned out, this included seeking out several sections of Scott's men who had been lost to the column after attempting a crossing of the Irrawaddy at a place called Zinbon. After several more days hard marching, the column reached a place called Sonpu and emerged from the dark and thick-set jungle into a large open meadow.
By this time, around the 24th April, several of the Chindits were in very poor physical condition, suffering from various tropical diseases and in some cases carrying quite severe wounds or injuries. It occurred to Major Scott, Colonel Cooke and the other officers present, that the meadow at Sonpu might make a potential landing strip for a plane which could then transport these unfortunate men back to India. In the end, this is exactly what transpired. To read more about this incident and Captain Carroll's involvement, please click on the following link: Michael Vlasto
After the 17 Chindits were flown out of the jungle on the 28th April, the rest of Major Scott's dispersal party, now re-fitted with new boots, uniforms and rations began the final leg of their return journey to India. Unfortunately, the group were ambushed by the Japanese on the 30th April at a place called Okthaik, when several men were killed and others wounded as the now ailing Chindits crossed the fast flowing Kaukkwe Chaung. In the end, Major Scott, John Carroll and their dispersal group re-crossed the Chindwin River on the 13th May 1943 close to the Burmese village of Tamanthi.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story including a photograph of the 13th King's officers aboard the troopship Oronsay. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
By this time, around the 24th April, several of the Chindits were in very poor physical condition, suffering from various tropical diseases and in some cases carrying quite severe wounds or injuries. It occurred to Major Scott, Colonel Cooke and the other officers present, that the meadow at Sonpu might make a potential landing strip for a plane which could then transport these unfortunate men back to India. In the end, this is exactly what transpired. To read more about this incident and Captain Carroll's involvement, please click on the following link: Michael Vlasto
After the 17 Chindits were flown out of the jungle on the 28th April, the rest of Major Scott's dispersal party, now re-fitted with new boots, uniforms and rations began the final leg of their return journey to India. Unfortunately, the group were ambushed by the Japanese on the 30th April at a place called Okthaik, when several men were killed and others wounded as the now ailing Chindits crossed the fast flowing Kaukkwe Chaung. In the end, Major Scott, John Carroll and their dispersal group re-crossed the Chindwin River on the 13th May 1943 close to the Burmese village of Tamanthi.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story including a photograph of the 13th King's officers aboard the troopship Oronsay. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
After a long period of rest and recuperation, the survivors from the first Wingate expedition were eventually sent back to their original units. John Carroll re-joined the 13th King's at their new base, the Napier Army Barracks in Karachi. He remained with the battalion for several months until the end of January 1944, when his name suddenly disappears from the monthly officers returns.
John had moved across to the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade Staff Head Quarters under the command of Colonel Claude Rome (Indian Army). He then worked and served on the second Wingate expedition in 1944, Operation Thursday. Colonel Rome had assumed command of the Chindit stronghold and airfield codenamed Broadway in March 1944, after Mike Calvert and the majority of 77 Brigade had marched away to set up the railway block at Mawlu (White City).
Captain Carroll was present at Broadway when the Japanese attacked the airbase on the 12th March and recounted how the enemy came in with countless fighter and bombing raids and eventually destroyed or forced the removal of the six RAF Spitfires present at the base. A few days later, around the 27th March the enemy attacked with ground forces but were repulsed by both British and Gurkha troops leaving many Japanese bodies on the wire. A Japanese fighter pilot was shot down over Broadway and was later sent back to India as a prisoner of war in the company of two West African guards.
By 31st March the Japanese had given up on ejecting the Chindits from Broadway and left the scene in disarray. Broadway was eventually closed down on May 13th after the majority of Bernard Fergusson’s 16th Brigade had been evacuated by Dakotas along with all hardware and equipment still present at the stronghold. John Carroll then went on to Mogaung with Claude Rome where he performed the role of Staff Captain during the prolonged struggle for the embattled town, including the action at Lakum undertaken by the 3/6th Gurkha Rifles on the 31st May.
John Carroll was also present when General Wingate visited Broadway in late March 1944. He remembered:
I saw Wingate at Broadway on that fateful day. He arrived at Broadway and leaving his A.D.C. George Borrow with us, he flew in a light plane to White City. In the afternoon we had L-1's and L-5’s bring in the wounded who would then be evacuated back to India and, looking round, I had a shock when Wingate stepped out of one of these planes. He asked me where George Borrow was. I said, playing for time, that I thought he had gone to get a jeep which fortunately he had.
Wingate then asked poor George what arrangements he had made for him to return to Assam. George said that he had not made any special arrangements as he assumed they would go back out on the first Dakota to come into the airfield that evening. Wingate said that he couldn't waste time waiting for a Dakota and asked me where the American R.T. set was. I took him over to the set where he got through and ordered a B-25 Mitchell Bomber to come in.
There were two war correspondents who were given the chance to fly out with the General and both took the obvious decision. Wingate left us in the late afternoon and we all breathed a sigh of relief. However, next day we received a message asking whether he was still with us. We then started to worry and were extremely sad to learn that such a brilliant soldier had now been taken from us.
Seen below are two photographs taken at the Broadway airfield in 1944. The first image is of the small graveyard memorial at the stronghold commemorating both the existence of Broadway and the men killed there during the glider landings on the 5th March and beyond. The other image shows a Japanese prisoner being led away by two West African soldiers and might possibly be from the incident mentioned above on the 27th March 1944. Please click on either image to bring it forward on the page.
John had moved across to the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade Staff Head Quarters under the command of Colonel Claude Rome (Indian Army). He then worked and served on the second Wingate expedition in 1944, Operation Thursday. Colonel Rome had assumed command of the Chindit stronghold and airfield codenamed Broadway in March 1944, after Mike Calvert and the majority of 77 Brigade had marched away to set up the railway block at Mawlu (White City).
Captain Carroll was present at Broadway when the Japanese attacked the airbase on the 12th March and recounted how the enemy came in with countless fighter and bombing raids and eventually destroyed or forced the removal of the six RAF Spitfires present at the base. A few days later, around the 27th March the enemy attacked with ground forces but were repulsed by both British and Gurkha troops leaving many Japanese bodies on the wire. A Japanese fighter pilot was shot down over Broadway and was later sent back to India as a prisoner of war in the company of two West African guards.
By 31st March the Japanese had given up on ejecting the Chindits from Broadway and left the scene in disarray. Broadway was eventually closed down on May 13th after the majority of Bernard Fergusson’s 16th Brigade had been evacuated by Dakotas along with all hardware and equipment still present at the stronghold. John Carroll then went on to Mogaung with Claude Rome where he performed the role of Staff Captain during the prolonged struggle for the embattled town, including the action at Lakum undertaken by the 3/6th Gurkha Rifles on the 31st May.
John Carroll was also present when General Wingate visited Broadway in late March 1944. He remembered:
I saw Wingate at Broadway on that fateful day. He arrived at Broadway and leaving his A.D.C. George Borrow with us, he flew in a light plane to White City. In the afternoon we had L-1's and L-5’s bring in the wounded who would then be evacuated back to India and, looking round, I had a shock when Wingate stepped out of one of these planes. He asked me where George Borrow was. I said, playing for time, that I thought he had gone to get a jeep which fortunately he had.
Wingate then asked poor George what arrangements he had made for him to return to Assam. George said that he had not made any special arrangements as he assumed they would go back out on the first Dakota to come into the airfield that evening. Wingate said that he couldn't waste time waiting for a Dakota and asked me where the American R.T. set was. I took him over to the set where he got through and ordered a B-25 Mitchell Bomber to come in.
There were two war correspondents who were given the chance to fly out with the General and both took the obvious decision. Wingate left us in the late afternoon and we all breathed a sigh of relief. However, next day we received a message asking whether he was still with us. We then started to worry and were extremely sad to learn that such a brilliant soldier had now been taken from us.
Seen below are two photographs taken at the Broadway airfield in 1944. The first image is of the small graveyard memorial at the stronghold commemorating both the existence of Broadway and the men killed there during the glider landings on the 5th March and beyond. The other image shows a Japanese prisoner being led away by two West African soldiers and might possibly be from the incident mentioned above on the 27th March 1944. Please click on either image to bring it forward on the page.
On his return to the United Kingdom, John Carroll married Gwladys Martindale from Mossley Hill in Liverpool. From the Liverpool Evening Express, dated 30th August 1945:
Miss Gwladys (Gimmy) Martindale, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lawson Martindale of Fieldhead, Menlovegardens North, Mossley Hill, was married today at All Hallow’s Church, Allerton, to Captain John Reginald Carroll, formerly of the King’s Liverpool Regiment and son of Mr. and Mrs. John Carroll of Verdala Tower, Allerton.
Mr. Richard Lawson Martindale, who gave away his daughter, is the House Fuel Officer for Liverpool and District, an ex-chairman of the Liverpool Football Club and is the immediate Past President of Liverpool Rotary Club. The bridegroom, who was one of Wingate’s Chindits, arrived back in Liverpool from Burma on VJ Day after four years’ service overseas. He brought back with him yards of white satin for his bride’s wedding gown and this lovely robe was worn by the bride at today’s ceremony. Her Brussel lace veil was secured by a wreath of orange blossom and she carried a bouquet of roses and white heather. Picture frocks of mauve morie silk taffeta were worn by the bridesmaids, Miss Phyllis Carroll and Miss Mary McKenzie.
The bridegroom’s twin brother, Flying-Officer Tom Carroll (RAF) was best man, and the ushers were Major J. Coughlan (also a Chindit), Major F. Freeman and Mr. J.R.L. Martindale. After a reception, held in All Hallow’s Church Hall, the bride and bridegroom left for their honeymoon in the Lake District.
The same newspaper carried another story relating to Captain Carroll a few months later:
Liverpool Evening Express, Thursday 8th November 1945
Wingate’s Chindit Force, Almost Wasn’t (Tommy Played a Jap Game….And Won).
The late Major-General Orde Wingate’s famous first Chindit expedition was nearly cancelled at the last minute, and it was only after Wingate himself had argued and pleaded for over a week that he was allowed to carry on. Captain John R. Carroll, of the 13th Battalion, the King’s Regiment, who took part in the expedition told this today as he spoke at the weekly luncheon of the Liverpool Rotary Club.
“It had always been GHQ’s intention for us to operate ahead of a main force, but they decided at the last minute that they were not able to launch such a full-scale offensive.”
Captain Carroll, who live at Verdala Tower on the Allerton Road, told a graphic story of how the operation surmounted almost impossible obstacles, marching 1,300 miles in three and a half months through enemy held country and carrying only 3” mortars and two mounted machine guns as their heaviest weapons.
“We proved that Wingate’s theories worked. It was on what we accomplished and learned, that the eventual re-conquest of Burma was achieved. We proved that the British Tommy could beat the Jap at his own game in the jungle. It is not too much to say that is probable that the expedition prevented a Japanese invasion of India in 1943.
Wingate told us of his plans and finished up by saying that if the experiment was a success, that the whole world would know about it, but if it were to be a failure, very few of us would ever be heard of again.”
Captain Carroll’s father, Mr. John Carroll Senior, was present at the luncheon to hear his son’s address.
NB. John Reginald Carroll, known to his closest friends and family as Jack passed away on Christmas Day 1996 after a long and brave battle against osteoporosis.
Miss Gwladys (Gimmy) Martindale, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lawson Martindale of Fieldhead, Menlovegardens North, Mossley Hill, was married today at All Hallow’s Church, Allerton, to Captain John Reginald Carroll, formerly of the King’s Liverpool Regiment and son of Mr. and Mrs. John Carroll of Verdala Tower, Allerton.
Mr. Richard Lawson Martindale, who gave away his daughter, is the House Fuel Officer for Liverpool and District, an ex-chairman of the Liverpool Football Club and is the immediate Past President of Liverpool Rotary Club. The bridegroom, who was one of Wingate’s Chindits, arrived back in Liverpool from Burma on VJ Day after four years’ service overseas. He brought back with him yards of white satin for his bride’s wedding gown and this lovely robe was worn by the bride at today’s ceremony. Her Brussel lace veil was secured by a wreath of orange blossom and she carried a bouquet of roses and white heather. Picture frocks of mauve morie silk taffeta were worn by the bridesmaids, Miss Phyllis Carroll and Miss Mary McKenzie.
The bridegroom’s twin brother, Flying-Officer Tom Carroll (RAF) was best man, and the ushers were Major J. Coughlan (also a Chindit), Major F. Freeman and Mr. J.R.L. Martindale. After a reception, held in All Hallow’s Church Hall, the bride and bridegroom left for their honeymoon in the Lake District.
The same newspaper carried another story relating to Captain Carroll a few months later:
Liverpool Evening Express, Thursday 8th November 1945
Wingate’s Chindit Force, Almost Wasn’t (Tommy Played a Jap Game….And Won).
The late Major-General Orde Wingate’s famous first Chindit expedition was nearly cancelled at the last minute, and it was only after Wingate himself had argued and pleaded for over a week that he was allowed to carry on. Captain John R. Carroll, of the 13th Battalion, the King’s Regiment, who took part in the expedition told this today as he spoke at the weekly luncheon of the Liverpool Rotary Club.
“It had always been GHQ’s intention for us to operate ahead of a main force, but they decided at the last minute that they were not able to launch such a full-scale offensive.”
Captain Carroll, who live at Verdala Tower on the Allerton Road, told a graphic story of how the operation surmounted almost impossible obstacles, marching 1,300 miles in three and a half months through enemy held country and carrying only 3” mortars and two mounted machine guns as their heaviest weapons.
“We proved that Wingate’s theories worked. It was on what we accomplished and learned, that the eventual re-conquest of Burma was achieved. We proved that the British Tommy could beat the Jap at his own game in the jungle. It is not too much to say that is probable that the expedition prevented a Japanese invasion of India in 1943.
Wingate told us of his plans and finished up by saying that if the experiment was a success, that the whole world would know about it, but if it were to be a failure, very few of us would ever be heard of again.”
Captain Carroll’s father, Mr. John Carroll Senior, was present at the luncheon to hear his son’s address.
NB. John Reginald Carroll, known to his closest friends and family as Jack passed away on Christmas Day 1996 after a long and brave battle against osteoporosis.
CARROLL, J.
Rank: Corporal
Service No: 3781608
Age: Not known
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
Corporal J. Carroll was a soldier with No. 8 Column on Operation Longcloth. Sadly, not too much is known about this man, not even the identity of his Christian name. We do know that after the order was given to return to India in late March 1943, Cpl. Carroll was a member of Captain Whitehead's dispersal party and was involved in attempting to place some sick and wounded and Chindits with a friendly Kachin village, in the hope that they might be able to look after them and possibly bring them back to health. To read more about this dispersal party, please click on the following link: Captain Nigel Whitehead
On his successful return to India in May 1943, Cpl. Carroll was able to give two witness statements in relation to those men lost on Operation Longcloth and it is from these reports that we became aware of his own participation on the first Wingate expedition. The first statement transcribed below was in relation to two of the men left with the friendly village in April 1943:
Eye witness statement in respect of No. 4208120 Pte. L. Lawton and No. 5107917 Pte. W. Witheridge, as made by No. 3781608 Cpl. J. Carroll.
On conclusion (12th April 1943) of the engagement at the Rest House (Nisan), I was left behind with the Rear party. CSM Thompson, CQMS Marchbank, Sgt. Lamb and myself carried Pte. Lawton to a point where we were met by a stretcher party sent from the column under Corporal Martin. This party took Pte. Lawton back to the column where he received attention from the Medical Officer, Captain Heathcote.
Pte. Lawton had been shot in the leg. I later left the column with Captain Whitehead’s party and we were carrying Ptes. Lawton and Witheridge, who had also been wounded in the same action. We left them in a village where the Burrifs (Burma Riflemen) arranged that they should be taken care of. That was the last occasion I saw either of the two men.
The above narrative is certified as being a true statement by Lt. P. Bennett (8 Column).
After leaving the sick and wound at the village, the remainder of the group began its own journey out of Burma. The dispersal party headed roughly northeast, hoping to exit enemy held territory via Fort Hertz. It was during this journey around two weeks later that they bumped another small group of escaping Chindits from No. 5 Column. Cpl. Carroll gave another statement to the investigating authorities in relation to this event:
Statement of evidence in accordance with battalion instruction No. K.O. 89019 dated 24/07/1943 in the case of the undermentioned men:
4202457 Pte. Webb J (K).
5116423 Pte. Cummings H.
3781608 Cpl. J. Carroll, 13th Bn. The King’s Regiment states:
The above mentioned men joined my party on approximately 24th April 1943, after being left behind in a village by Captain Astell of the Burma Rifles. They were suffering with dysentery. They travelled with us for three days, but on the 27th April they were unable to continue and they were left behind about 50 miles northeast of Bhamo. They have not been seen or heard of since.
To read more about Kenneth Dalrymple Webb and Harold Victor Cummings, please click on the following links:
George Henry Astell MC
Lt. John Musgrave-Wood
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including photographs of Leonard Lawton and Harold Cummings. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Corporal
Service No: 3781608
Age: Not known
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
Corporal J. Carroll was a soldier with No. 8 Column on Operation Longcloth. Sadly, not too much is known about this man, not even the identity of his Christian name. We do know that after the order was given to return to India in late March 1943, Cpl. Carroll was a member of Captain Whitehead's dispersal party and was involved in attempting to place some sick and wounded and Chindits with a friendly Kachin village, in the hope that they might be able to look after them and possibly bring them back to health. To read more about this dispersal party, please click on the following link: Captain Nigel Whitehead
On his successful return to India in May 1943, Cpl. Carroll was able to give two witness statements in relation to those men lost on Operation Longcloth and it is from these reports that we became aware of his own participation on the first Wingate expedition. The first statement transcribed below was in relation to two of the men left with the friendly village in April 1943:
Eye witness statement in respect of No. 4208120 Pte. L. Lawton and No. 5107917 Pte. W. Witheridge, as made by No. 3781608 Cpl. J. Carroll.
On conclusion (12th April 1943) of the engagement at the Rest House (Nisan), I was left behind with the Rear party. CSM Thompson, CQMS Marchbank, Sgt. Lamb and myself carried Pte. Lawton to a point where we were met by a stretcher party sent from the column under Corporal Martin. This party took Pte. Lawton back to the column where he received attention from the Medical Officer, Captain Heathcote.
Pte. Lawton had been shot in the leg. I later left the column with Captain Whitehead’s party and we were carrying Ptes. Lawton and Witheridge, who had also been wounded in the same action. We left them in a village where the Burrifs (Burma Riflemen) arranged that they should be taken care of. That was the last occasion I saw either of the two men.
The above narrative is certified as being a true statement by Lt. P. Bennett (8 Column).
After leaving the sick and wound at the village, the remainder of the group began its own journey out of Burma. The dispersal party headed roughly northeast, hoping to exit enemy held territory via Fort Hertz. It was during this journey around two weeks later that they bumped another small group of escaping Chindits from No. 5 Column. Cpl. Carroll gave another statement to the investigating authorities in relation to this event:
Statement of evidence in accordance with battalion instruction No. K.O. 89019 dated 24/07/1943 in the case of the undermentioned men:
4202457 Pte. Webb J (K).
5116423 Pte. Cummings H.
3781608 Cpl. J. Carroll, 13th Bn. The King’s Regiment states:
The above mentioned men joined my party on approximately 24th April 1943, after being left behind in a village by Captain Astell of the Burma Rifles. They were suffering with dysentery. They travelled with us for three days, but on the 27th April they were unable to continue and they were left behind about 50 miles northeast of Bhamo. They have not been seen or heard of since.
To read more about Kenneth Dalrymple Webb and Harold Victor Cummings, please click on the following links:
George Henry Astell MC
Lt. John Musgrave-Wood
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including photographs of Leonard Lawton and Harold Cummings. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Cap badge of the King's Regiment.
CARTNER, JOHN FRANCIS
Rank: Private
Service No: Unknown
Age: 30
Regiment/Service: Royal Engineers attached The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
The following information about this Chindit soldier comes from the short exchange of letters between Pte. Cartner and author Philip Chinnery, during the latter's research work for the book, March or Die, first published in 1997.
John Cartner remembered:
I was conscripted at the age of 27 years, along with a large draft of men which consisted of a fair number of chaps from the Liverpool and Manchester area. We were sent to Glasgow to form a wartime Battalion, the 13th Kings (Liverpool). For a while we performed coastal defence duties in the south of England, but then were posted overseas. We sailed out of Liverpool Docks bound for India, just before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. We landed in Bombay and took up Garrison duties in Secunderabad. After a few months, we were ordered to start jungle training, during which time we were joined by some Gurkhas, Commandos and a few RAF engineers. During the training period, A, B, C and D Companies of the battalion became nos. 5, 6, 7 and 8 Columns. I was with No. 6 Column originally commanded by Major Anderson, but this was broken up late on during training and I moved across to No. 8 Column.
My impression of Wingate was that he was a very single-minded and driven man, although we got to see very little of him except perhaps on the odd occasion during jungle training, but certainly not in Burma as he was always up front with Brigade HQ. Of course, when we were told that he had picked us because he wanted tough North Country men for the job, some of us thought we were quite happy to continue our comfortable internal security and garrison duties.
My role in the column was that of dog-handler. We had picked up some labrador-cross dogs during training. I and another man had one of these which we named Judy. She was a very intelligent dog, well trained, and her job was to convey messages between sections, but I thought that all the dogs were unsuitable for work in the Burmese jungle. The only occasion I was to speak with Brigadier Wingate was about this dog. He stopped me one day and asked me what I thought of her. I replied that Judy had been very impressive during her training and I hoped she would do well in Burma. Sadly, while I was on a patrol during the expedition and had left Judy in the care of another man, she got lost in the jungle and we never saw her again.
As regards the expedition itself, when it was explained that we would be getting behind the Japanese lines and also be testing how successful the supply dropping would be, I think that the rank and file at least, were a bit sceptical about the success of the enterprise. As it turned out, however, the RAF did a great job under very trying conditions. Our demolition engineers too caused some mayhem to some railway lines and bridges. I must admit to being a little hazy about some of the incidents I was involved in with No. 8 Column, but this cannot be a surprise when you think that it happened some fifty-two years ago and I am now into my eighties. I recall that when we got to Irrawaddy the second time, Major Scott commandeered a fishing boat at gun point and we had to make two or three trips to get everyone across. I believe the Burmese fisherman was well paid for his trouble that day.
After we had crossed the Irrawaddy and had suffered a fair amount of casualties, we received an order from Brigadier Wingate, that we were to split up into smaller groups and make our own way back to India. The group I was in was comprised of about 100 men. After a couple of days, we ran into an ambush, and were pinned down on a grassy incline with a fast flowing stream at the bottom.
(This was almost certainly the Kaukkwe Chaung).
After suffering some more casualties, the remainder of us withdrew under cover of the slope. There was a ledge further down, close to the water, on which we made our way. The ledge was very narrow, and I lost my footing and slipped into the water. One of the other men told me to lift my rifle towards him, and he was able to pull me up, but not before I had to jettison my pack, which contained between two to three weeks' rations from a supply drop we had taken just a few days before. Our party was now down to about thirty-two men, and we managed to make our way out to India, headed by a Corporal Walsh, who I think came from Salford.
The Japanese I seem to recall, were lying in wait for us above the stream and we just split up when we heard the gunfire. As far as I can remember, there were a couple of officers with us, and I know for sure that one of them was killed. After that we were lucky in that whenever we came to a village uninhabited by the Japs, we were able to buy some rice and vegetables, which kept us going. We had all been issued with one hundred rupees before the expedition started in case of such an emergency and this money was used to pay the villagers.
NB. The officer mentioned by John Cartner is almost certainly Lt. David MacDonald Rowland formerly of the Royal Sussex Regiment, who was shot dead at the Kaukkwe Chaung on the 30th April 1943.
To read his CWGC details, please click on the following link:
www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2523806/ROWLAND,%20DAVID%20MACDONALD/
Pte. Cartner concludes his short narrative:
I am afraid I do not know how many other men died or were wounded or taken prisoner back then. As regards the rest of the party, as far as I know, the escape we made was the only way out. The loss of my pack containing the rations was a real body blow, but as jettisoning it was the only way I was going to get out of the water, it had to be left behind. However, some of the lads still had their rations with them and they generously shared what they had with me. When we finally got to the Chindwin we were spotted by a British patrol on the far bank, who got us across to safety. We were taken to Kohima, where there was a hospital. We were treated for malaria and were kept there for a week to ten days after which we made our way back into India by train.
Rank: Private
Service No: Unknown
Age: 30
Regiment/Service: Royal Engineers attached The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
The following information about this Chindit soldier comes from the short exchange of letters between Pte. Cartner and author Philip Chinnery, during the latter's research work for the book, March or Die, first published in 1997.
John Cartner remembered:
I was conscripted at the age of 27 years, along with a large draft of men which consisted of a fair number of chaps from the Liverpool and Manchester area. We were sent to Glasgow to form a wartime Battalion, the 13th Kings (Liverpool). For a while we performed coastal defence duties in the south of England, but then were posted overseas. We sailed out of Liverpool Docks bound for India, just before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. We landed in Bombay and took up Garrison duties in Secunderabad. After a few months, we were ordered to start jungle training, during which time we were joined by some Gurkhas, Commandos and a few RAF engineers. During the training period, A, B, C and D Companies of the battalion became nos. 5, 6, 7 and 8 Columns. I was with No. 6 Column originally commanded by Major Anderson, but this was broken up late on during training and I moved across to No. 8 Column.
My impression of Wingate was that he was a very single-minded and driven man, although we got to see very little of him except perhaps on the odd occasion during jungle training, but certainly not in Burma as he was always up front with Brigade HQ. Of course, when we were told that he had picked us because he wanted tough North Country men for the job, some of us thought we were quite happy to continue our comfortable internal security and garrison duties.
My role in the column was that of dog-handler. We had picked up some labrador-cross dogs during training. I and another man had one of these which we named Judy. She was a very intelligent dog, well trained, and her job was to convey messages between sections, but I thought that all the dogs were unsuitable for work in the Burmese jungle. The only occasion I was to speak with Brigadier Wingate was about this dog. He stopped me one day and asked me what I thought of her. I replied that Judy had been very impressive during her training and I hoped she would do well in Burma. Sadly, while I was on a patrol during the expedition and had left Judy in the care of another man, she got lost in the jungle and we never saw her again.
As regards the expedition itself, when it was explained that we would be getting behind the Japanese lines and also be testing how successful the supply dropping would be, I think that the rank and file at least, were a bit sceptical about the success of the enterprise. As it turned out, however, the RAF did a great job under very trying conditions. Our demolition engineers too caused some mayhem to some railway lines and bridges. I must admit to being a little hazy about some of the incidents I was involved in with No. 8 Column, but this cannot be a surprise when you think that it happened some fifty-two years ago and I am now into my eighties. I recall that when we got to Irrawaddy the second time, Major Scott commandeered a fishing boat at gun point and we had to make two or three trips to get everyone across. I believe the Burmese fisherman was well paid for his trouble that day.
After we had crossed the Irrawaddy and had suffered a fair amount of casualties, we received an order from Brigadier Wingate, that we were to split up into smaller groups and make our own way back to India. The group I was in was comprised of about 100 men. After a couple of days, we ran into an ambush, and were pinned down on a grassy incline with a fast flowing stream at the bottom.
(This was almost certainly the Kaukkwe Chaung).
After suffering some more casualties, the remainder of us withdrew under cover of the slope. There was a ledge further down, close to the water, on which we made our way. The ledge was very narrow, and I lost my footing and slipped into the water. One of the other men told me to lift my rifle towards him, and he was able to pull me up, but not before I had to jettison my pack, which contained between two to three weeks' rations from a supply drop we had taken just a few days before. Our party was now down to about thirty-two men, and we managed to make our way out to India, headed by a Corporal Walsh, who I think came from Salford.
The Japanese I seem to recall, were lying in wait for us above the stream and we just split up when we heard the gunfire. As far as I can remember, there were a couple of officers with us, and I know for sure that one of them was killed. After that we were lucky in that whenever we came to a village uninhabited by the Japs, we were able to buy some rice and vegetables, which kept us going. We had all been issued with one hundred rupees before the expedition started in case of such an emergency and this money was used to pay the villagers.
NB. The officer mentioned by John Cartner is almost certainly Lt. David MacDonald Rowland formerly of the Royal Sussex Regiment, who was shot dead at the Kaukkwe Chaung on the 30th April 1943.
To read his CWGC details, please click on the following link:
www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2523806/ROWLAND,%20DAVID%20MACDONALD/
Pte. Cartner concludes his short narrative:
I am afraid I do not know how many other men died or were wounded or taken prisoner back then. As regards the rest of the party, as far as I know, the escape we made was the only way out. The loss of my pack containing the rations was a real body blow, but as jettisoning it was the only way I was going to get out of the water, it had to be left behind. However, some of the lads still had their rations with them and they generously shared what they had with me. When we finally got to the Chindwin we were spotted by a British patrol on the far bank, who got us across to safety. We were taken to Kohima, where there was a hospital. We were treated for malaria and were kept there for a week to ten days after which we made our way back into India by train.
Sadly, John Cartner passed away before March or Die was published. His daughter, Monica wrote to Phil Chinnery on the 17th February 1996 stating:
I am writing to advise you that my father, John Francis Cartner, with whom you entered into correspondence regarding your book on the Burma Campaign, passed away at the beginning of the year. He was 83 years old. Replying to your letters and recalling those old memories gave him a great deal of pleasure and I would like to thank you for giving him the opportunity to do so. I hope that his reminiscences were of some use to you and that he might merit an acknowledgement in your book. I know that he was very keen to obtain a copy of it when it is published and I would be very grateful if you would advise me when that will be.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including photographs of Pte. Cartner's commanding officers, Major Menzies-Anderson and Major Scott. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
I am writing to advise you that my father, John Francis Cartner, with whom you entered into correspondence regarding your book on the Burma Campaign, passed away at the beginning of the year. He was 83 years old. Replying to your letters and recalling those old memories gave him a great deal of pleasure and I would like to thank you for giving him the opportunity to do so. I hope that his reminiscences were of some use to you and that he might merit an acknowledgement in your book. I know that he was very keen to obtain a copy of it when it is published and I would be very grateful if you would advise me when that will be.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including photographs of Pte. Cartner's commanding officers, Major Menzies-Anderson and Major Scott. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Cloth insignia of 142 Commando.
CHECKLEY, BERT
Rank: Private
Service No: 3858803
Age: 26
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 1
Other details:
Bert Checkley was born on the 9th October 1917 and was the son of Maud Beatrice Checkley from Preston in Lancashire. He had begun his WW2 service in the Loyal Regiment and had joined Chindit training at the Saugor camp on the 30th September 1942 alongside a small draft of other soldiers from his regiment. These men were allocated to 142 Commando at Saugor and Bert was placed into the Commando platoon for No. 1 Column led by Lt. J. L. Watson, formerly of the Black Watch.
142 Commando had been created in June 1942 at Jubbulpore, India, by the former commander of No. 6 Commando, Lieutenant-Colonel Timothy Fetherstonhaugh. No. 6 Commando had previously served in Europe during WW2, most notably in Norway during late 1941. Once in India, Fetherstonhaugh took recruits from the Bush Warfare School at Maymyo and the 204 Military Mission, which had been raised in anticipation of sending groups of men into the Chinese/Burma borders to help train and equip the Chinese Army in readiness for any Japanese invasion.
With the Draft recognition code of RZGHA, the newly formed 142 Commando moved over to the Chindit training centre in Patharia (Saugor) and presumably the eight commando platoons were supplemented by men such as Bert Checkley at this stage. No. 1 Column was predominantly a Gurkha unit, with only a smattering of British Officers, Signalmen and Radio operators serving amongst the men from Nepal. The 142 Commando Platoon was the only unit in the column made up entirely from British personnel.
No. 1 Column Commando Platoon's contribution and experience on Operation Longcloth has been widely mentioned throughout this website, but is probably most accurately told by reading the story of Pte. Ernest Belcher, another soldier from the Loyal Regiment who served with the Commando Platoon of No. 1 Column. To read this narrative, please click on the following link: 'Young Ernie' Belcher
As seen in Ernest Belcher's story, Bert Checkley was one of the men separated from his column at the Katun Chaung on the 8th May 1943, whilst attempting to reach the safety of the Chindwin River on the return journey to India. A witness statement made by Lieutenant P.W. MacLagan, an officer previously with the Commando Platoon from No. 2 Column stated that:
In regard to Ptes. E. Belcher, B. Checkley, S. Roden, A. Barnes and J. Williams and Lance Corporal W. McMurran.
"On the 8th May 1943 at mid-day, the party under Major Dunlop was attacked on the Katun Chaung about 3 miles from the Chindwin River. Major Dunlop led the party up a dry nullah into the surrounding hills. The above mentioned men were in a group led by Lance Corporal McMurran which went on with Major Dunlop."
The report then goes on to recommend that a statement is obtained from Major Dunlop, the commander of No. 1 Column on Operation Longcloth in order to further clarify what happened to these men. In Dunlop's own debrief documents for 1943 he mentions that in the area close to the east banks of the Chindwin there were many Japanese and Burmese fighting patrols, all on the lookout for the Chindits attempting to escape back to India. The fate of the other men mentioned in the above witness statement can be ascertained by placing their names into the search box located in the right-hand corner of any page on this website.
Pte. Checkley was reported captured on the 8th May and spent the next two years as a prisoner of war, with the vast majority of his incarceration being spent at Rangoon Jail. Alongside over two hundred other Chindit POWs, Pte. Checkley (POW no. 374) worked for the Japanese as slave labour in the capital city, sometimes working at the docks unloading cargo from supply ships, or often clearing bomb debris from the local streets. He was one of the fortunate men from the first Wingate expedition to survive his time as a prisoner of war and was liberated on the 29th April 1945 on the outskirts of Rangoon at a place called Waw on the Pegu Road. He was then flown back to India on a United States Army Air Force Dakota and hospitalised in the first instance at Calcutta. To read more about the Chindit POW experience and the men liberated at the village of Waw, please click on the following link: Chindit POW's
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to Bert Checkley and his time as a Chindit, including his POW index card. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3858803
Age: 26
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 1
Other details:
Bert Checkley was born on the 9th October 1917 and was the son of Maud Beatrice Checkley from Preston in Lancashire. He had begun his WW2 service in the Loyal Regiment and had joined Chindit training at the Saugor camp on the 30th September 1942 alongside a small draft of other soldiers from his regiment. These men were allocated to 142 Commando at Saugor and Bert was placed into the Commando platoon for No. 1 Column led by Lt. J. L. Watson, formerly of the Black Watch.
142 Commando had been created in June 1942 at Jubbulpore, India, by the former commander of No. 6 Commando, Lieutenant-Colonel Timothy Fetherstonhaugh. No. 6 Commando had previously served in Europe during WW2, most notably in Norway during late 1941. Once in India, Fetherstonhaugh took recruits from the Bush Warfare School at Maymyo and the 204 Military Mission, which had been raised in anticipation of sending groups of men into the Chinese/Burma borders to help train and equip the Chinese Army in readiness for any Japanese invasion.
With the Draft recognition code of RZGHA, the newly formed 142 Commando moved over to the Chindit training centre in Patharia (Saugor) and presumably the eight commando platoons were supplemented by men such as Bert Checkley at this stage. No. 1 Column was predominantly a Gurkha unit, with only a smattering of British Officers, Signalmen and Radio operators serving amongst the men from Nepal. The 142 Commando Platoon was the only unit in the column made up entirely from British personnel.
No. 1 Column Commando Platoon's contribution and experience on Operation Longcloth has been widely mentioned throughout this website, but is probably most accurately told by reading the story of Pte. Ernest Belcher, another soldier from the Loyal Regiment who served with the Commando Platoon of No. 1 Column. To read this narrative, please click on the following link: 'Young Ernie' Belcher
As seen in Ernest Belcher's story, Bert Checkley was one of the men separated from his column at the Katun Chaung on the 8th May 1943, whilst attempting to reach the safety of the Chindwin River on the return journey to India. A witness statement made by Lieutenant P.W. MacLagan, an officer previously with the Commando Platoon from No. 2 Column stated that:
In regard to Ptes. E. Belcher, B. Checkley, S. Roden, A. Barnes and J. Williams and Lance Corporal W. McMurran.
"On the 8th May 1943 at mid-day, the party under Major Dunlop was attacked on the Katun Chaung about 3 miles from the Chindwin River. Major Dunlop led the party up a dry nullah into the surrounding hills. The above mentioned men were in a group led by Lance Corporal McMurran which went on with Major Dunlop."
The report then goes on to recommend that a statement is obtained from Major Dunlop, the commander of No. 1 Column on Operation Longcloth in order to further clarify what happened to these men. In Dunlop's own debrief documents for 1943 he mentions that in the area close to the east banks of the Chindwin there were many Japanese and Burmese fighting patrols, all on the lookout for the Chindits attempting to escape back to India. The fate of the other men mentioned in the above witness statement can be ascertained by placing their names into the search box located in the right-hand corner of any page on this website.
Pte. Checkley was reported captured on the 8th May and spent the next two years as a prisoner of war, with the vast majority of his incarceration being spent at Rangoon Jail. Alongside over two hundred other Chindit POWs, Pte. Checkley (POW no. 374) worked for the Japanese as slave labour in the capital city, sometimes working at the docks unloading cargo from supply ships, or often clearing bomb debris from the local streets. He was one of the fortunate men from the first Wingate expedition to survive his time as a prisoner of war and was liberated on the 29th April 1945 on the outskirts of Rangoon at a place called Waw on the Pegu Road. He was then flown back to India on a United States Army Air Force Dakota and hospitalised in the first instance at Calcutta. To read more about the Chindit POW experience and the men liberated at the village of Waw, please click on the following link: Chindit POW's
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to Bert Checkley and his time as a Chindit, including his POW index card. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
British Empire Medal.
CHIVERS, PAT RANDALL
Rank: Sergeant
Service No: 2037597
Age: 23
Regiment/Service: Royal Engineers attached The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 3
Other details:
From the book Wingate's Raiders, by Charles J. Rolo:
Food was the Chindits only recreation in 1943. They ate rice in every possible way, mixed with dates, with raisins, with chocolate and with cheese. Of the British troops Sergeant-Major Blain and Sergeant-Major Chivers, a veteran of the siege of Tobruk, were the most enterprising cooks. Their favourite concoction was chocolate pudding, this was chocolate and digestive biscuits ground up into a mess tin with powdered milk and a little water added. After one supply drop in which they received some curry powder, they made a porridge of biscuits and cheese and then curried it.
Pat Randall Chivers was born on the 28th January 1920, possibly in Galway, Ireland. He enlisted into the Royal Engineers for the years of WW2 and served for a time in the Western Desert Campaign and was present during the siege of Tobruk in Libya. According to the records held within the 142 Commando War diary, Sgt. Chivers arrived for Chindit training at the Abchand Camp in the Central Provinces of India on the 8th September 1942. He was then allocated as second in command to Lt. J.G. Lockett, formerly of the Seaforth Highlanders and took up his place in No. 3 Column's commando platoon.
On Operation Longcloth, 3 Column were led by Major Mike Calvert and were responsible for the demolitions of the Mandalay-Myitkhina railway at Nankan on the 6th March 1943..
Another quote from the book, Wingate's Raiders:
Nankan station was completely deserted when 3 Column arrived. All around were scattered teak logs and other debris from the 1942 retreat; magazine pouches, cans, smashed equipment and one rusty crippled jeep. On a siding stood trucks riddled with bullet-holes and a blown up locomotive rested grotesquely on its side. The station was situated in a small area of completely open ground. Two hundred yards north of it, surrounded by jungle palms, was a Burmese village. The Japanese were based in some strength at Indaw, twenty-five miles to the north and Wuntho, ten miles to the south. The new motor road from Indaw to Wuntho cut across the railway line just beside the station. Calvert fixed a rendezvous several miles to the south-east of the railway, then set his men to the demolitions.
Sgt. Chivers was an exceedingly busy man at Nankan, leading his section in laying booby-traps and explosives all over the railway line. He was also responsible for placing Anti-Tank mines on the Wuntho/Indaw motor road and played a major role in the destruction of the railway bridge. For his efforts on Operation Longcloth, Sgt. Chivers was awarded the British Empire Medal:
Award of the British Empire Medal:
2037597 Sergeant Pat Randell Chivers of the Royal Engineers.
Action for which recommended:- Operations in Burma, February/May 1943:
On 6th March 1943, this N.C.O. took a prominent part in the destruction of a railway bridge on the Mandalay-Myitkhina railway south of Nankan. Throughout the campaign he specialised in the laying of booby traps of all types, which in many instances are known to have inflicted casualties on the enemy and greatly hampered his pursuit. Having had wide experience in the Western Desert and in Libya, he was adapt at laying anti-tank mines, which are known to have accounted for one lorry and one armoured vehicle on Operation Longcloth and probably for several more. His expert knowledge of explosives and of engineer training in general was of utmost use.
Recommended by-Major J.M.Calvert, D.S.O., R.E.,
3 Column Commander,
77th Indian Infantry Brigade.
London Gazette 25th January 1944.
In his own debrief papers from Operation Longcloth, Lt. J.G. Lockett had this to say about the men of 3 Column Commando:
Finally, I would like to record that throughout the Campaign the men worked very well as a team; their morale was always very high. They gained valuable experience and learnt many lessons in jungle warfare, besides learning the methods of fighting used by the Japanese, which will prove of great benefit when they go in again.
I should like to mention the following men: CSM Blain, Sgt. Chivers and Lance Corporal Cockling, who all did excellent work and showed real initiative and leadership throughout. Corporal Day, who showed great coolness and courage in blowing a bridge whilst under fire on the 6th March and Pte. Guest, who in the action at the Irrawaddy on the 14th March, went back and rescued several mules and other valuable equipment.
Sgt. Chivers successfully returned to India after dispersal was called in late March 1943, finally reaching the safety of the Chindwin River in mid-April. It is known that he entered Burma again with the second Chindit expedition in March 1944, this time serving under Lieutenant Arthur Binnie, officer commanding Bladet Force. This was a special detachment flown into Burma by glider and was mainly comprised of Commando and Royal Engineers.
From the book, Forgotten Voices of Burma, by Julian Thompson:
Lt. Arthur Binnie recalls:
We were heading in search of the main force and were very tired and hungry. All we wanted to do was find our own troops and see what would happen next. We were sitting in light jungle near a paddy field and I was talking to CSM Chivers who had been on the first expedition and was a very good man. We had recently taken a supply drop but were now running short again. Chivers believed that because we were lost and our wireless set had become unserviceable, we should march back to Imphal across the Chindwin River.
He had done it before, but this time the Japanese were attacking us in that area and I thought it was a hopeless idea. But I told him that if he wanted to take his men and go that way he could. Almost immediately, we noticed two Gurkhas on the paddy field in front of us. These were from Colonel Brennan's column who had been resting just two hundred yards from our position all along. Brennan informed us that Wingate was dead and that Brigadier Lentaigne was now in charge. He told us to head for the stronghold at Manhton, codenamed Aberdeen, where we would be flown out.
According to records found on line, Pat Chivers sadly passed away at Bournemouth, Dorset in early 1986 aged 66 years.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this short story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. To read more about another 3 Column Commando present at Nankan, please click on the following link: Pte. Daniel Burns
Rank: Sergeant
Service No: 2037597
Age: 23
Regiment/Service: Royal Engineers attached The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 3
Other details:
From the book Wingate's Raiders, by Charles J. Rolo:
Food was the Chindits only recreation in 1943. They ate rice in every possible way, mixed with dates, with raisins, with chocolate and with cheese. Of the British troops Sergeant-Major Blain and Sergeant-Major Chivers, a veteran of the siege of Tobruk, were the most enterprising cooks. Their favourite concoction was chocolate pudding, this was chocolate and digestive biscuits ground up into a mess tin with powdered milk and a little water added. After one supply drop in which they received some curry powder, they made a porridge of biscuits and cheese and then curried it.
Pat Randall Chivers was born on the 28th January 1920, possibly in Galway, Ireland. He enlisted into the Royal Engineers for the years of WW2 and served for a time in the Western Desert Campaign and was present during the siege of Tobruk in Libya. According to the records held within the 142 Commando War diary, Sgt. Chivers arrived for Chindit training at the Abchand Camp in the Central Provinces of India on the 8th September 1942. He was then allocated as second in command to Lt. J.G. Lockett, formerly of the Seaforth Highlanders and took up his place in No. 3 Column's commando platoon.
On Operation Longcloth, 3 Column were led by Major Mike Calvert and were responsible for the demolitions of the Mandalay-Myitkhina railway at Nankan on the 6th March 1943..
Another quote from the book, Wingate's Raiders:
Nankan station was completely deserted when 3 Column arrived. All around were scattered teak logs and other debris from the 1942 retreat; magazine pouches, cans, smashed equipment and one rusty crippled jeep. On a siding stood trucks riddled with bullet-holes and a blown up locomotive rested grotesquely on its side. The station was situated in a small area of completely open ground. Two hundred yards north of it, surrounded by jungle palms, was a Burmese village. The Japanese were based in some strength at Indaw, twenty-five miles to the north and Wuntho, ten miles to the south. The new motor road from Indaw to Wuntho cut across the railway line just beside the station. Calvert fixed a rendezvous several miles to the south-east of the railway, then set his men to the demolitions.
Sgt. Chivers was an exceedingly busy man at Nankan, leading his section in laying booby-traps and explosives all over the railway line. He was also responsible for placing Anti-Tank mines on the Wuntho/Indaw motor road and played a major role in the destruction of the railway bridge. For his efforts on Operation Longcloth, Sgt. Chivers was awarded the British Empire Medal:
Award of the British Empire Medal:
2037597 Sergeant Pat Randell Chivers of the Royal Engineers.
Action for which recommended:- Operations in Burma, February/May 1943:
On 6th March 1943, this N.C.O. took a prominent part in the destruction of a railway bridge on the Mandalay-Myitkhina railway south of Nankan. Throughout the campaign he specialised in the laying of booby traps of all types, which in many instances are known to have inflicted casualties on the enemy and greatly hampered his pursuit. Having had wide experience in the Western Desert and in Libya, he was adapt at laying anti-tank mines, which are known to have accounted for one lorry and one armoured vehicle on Operation Longcloth and probably for several more. His expert knowledge of explosives and of engineer training in general was of utmost use.
Recommended by-Major J.M.Calvert, D.S.O., R.E.,
3 Column Commander,
77th Indian Infantry Brigade.
London Gazette 25th January 1944.
In his own debrief papers from Operation Longcloth, Lt. J.G. Lockett had this to say about the men of 3 Column Commando:
Finally, I would like to record that throughout the Campaign the men worked very well as a team; their morale was always very high. They gained valuable experience and learnt many lessons in jungle warfare, besides learning the methods of fighting used by the Japanese, which will prove of great benefit when they go in again.
I should like to mention the following men: CSM Blain, Sgt. Chivers and Lance Corporal Cockling, who all did excellent work and showed real initiative and leadership throughout. Corporal Day, who showed great coolness and courage in blowing a bridge whilst under fire on the 6th March and Pte. Guest, who in the action at the Irrawaddy on the 14th March, went back and rescued several mules and other valuable equipment.
Sgt. Chivers successfully returned to India after dispersal was called in late March 1943, finally reaching the safety of the Chindwin River in mid-April. It is known that he entered Burma again with the second Chindit expedition in March 1944, this time serving under Lieutenant Arthur Binnie, officer commanding Bladet Force. This was a special detachment flown into Burma by glider and was mainly comprised of Commando and Royal Engineers.
From the book, Forgotten Voices of Burma, by Julian Thompson:
Lt. Arthur Binnie recalls:
We were heading in search of the main force and were very tired and hungry. All we wanted to do was find our own troops and see what would happen next. We were sitting in light jungle near a paddy field and I was talking to CSM Chivers who had been on the first expedition and was a very good man. We had recently taken a supply drop but were now running short again. Chivers believed that because we were lost and our wireless set had become unserviceable, we should march back to Imphal across the Chindwin River.
He had done it before, but this time the Japanese were attacking us in that area and I thought it was a hopeless idea. But I told him that if he wanted to take his men and go that way he could. Almost immediately, we noticed two Gurkhas on the paddy field in front of us. These were from Colonel Brennan's column who had been resting just two hundred yards from our position all along. Brennan informed us that Wingate was dead and that Brigadier Lentaigne was now in charge. He told us to head for the stronghold at Manhton, codenamed Aberdeen, where we would be flown out.
According to records found on line, Pat Chivers sadly passed away at Bournemouth, Dorset in early 1986 aged 66 years.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this short story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. To read more about another 3 Column Commando present at Nankan, please click on the following link: Pte. Daniel Burns
CLARKE, DAVID
Rank: Private
Service No: 3779346
Date of Death: 27/03/1943
Age: 30
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon War Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2507559/clarke,-david/
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
David Clarke was an original member of the 13th Battalion, the King's Regiment, that travelled to India aboard the troopship Oronsay on the 8th December 1941. During Chindit training he was allocated to No. 5 Column under the command of Major Bernard Fergusson, formerly of the Black Watch Regiment. Pte. Clarke took part in all the main adventures involving 5 Column on Operation Longcloth, including the demolitions at Bonchaung and the column's major encounter with the Japanese at Hintha on the 28th March 1943.
David's time in Burma seems linked to two other soldiers, Sergeant Peter Dorans and Pte. William Dunn. After the Wingate expedition was over Sgt. Dorans gave a witness statement on the 5th January 1944, in regards the fate of David Clarke and William Dunn:
On the 28th March 1943, in the village of Hintha, No. 5 Column encountered the Japanese. After a bayonet charge, Pte. Dunn returned with a bullet wound to his thigh. I applied first-aid and then saw him hobble down to the Medical Officer in the care of Pte. Clarke. I later found out that Dunn died from his wounds that same day.
Pte. Clarke managed to disperse with his column after the battle of Hintha, but became separated from his unit during a secondary ambush by the enemy the next day. He and around 100 other men from 5 Column were fortunate to bump into No. 7 Column a few days later close to the Shweli River, where Major Gilkes took all the new arrivals under his wing and allocated them to his own pre-arranged dispersal groups. The party into which Pte. Clarke was placed marched north east into the Kachin Hills, but sadly, on the 26th April David, by now utterly exhausted, fell out of the line of march as the group were preparing to cross a small river. He was never seen or heard of again.
A witness statement, this time from Lt. F. Williamson went into more detail:
I was an officer with No. 1 dispersal group, part of No. 7 Column on the Wingate expedition. On the 26th April 1943, the above mentioned British Other Rank fell back from the group at a river crossing, approximately 40 miles south west of Fort Morton. This was the last time he was seen by me and in my opinion, the last time by any other person. He had in his possession 20 rounds of .303 ammunition and his rifle.
After the war, David's body was never found and for this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial at Taukkyan War Cemetery. This memorial was constructed to honour the 26,000 Commonwealth Service personnel who perished during the Burma Campaign, but who have no known grave.
Seen below is a small gallery of images in relation to this story, including David Clarke's name upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. To read more about the battle at Hintha village and the secondary ambush of No. 5 Column by the Japanese on the 29th March 1943, please click on the following link: Piercy, Hardy and Litherland
Rank: Private
Service No: 3779346
Date of Death: 27/03/1943
Age: 30
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon War Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2507559/clarke,-david/
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
David Clarke was an original member of the 13th Battalion, the King's Regiment, that travelled to India aboard the troopship Oronsay on the 8th December 1941. During Chindit training he was allocated to No. 5 Column under the command of Major Bernard Fergusson, formerly of the Black Watch Regiment. Pte. Clarke took part in all the main adventures involving 5 Column on Operation Longcloth, including the demolitions at Bonchaung and the column's major encounter with the Japanese at Hintha on the 28th March 1943.
David's time in Burma seems linked to two other soldiers, Sergeant Peter Dorans and Pte. William Dunn. After the Wingate expedition was over Sgt. Dorans gave a witness statement on the 5th January 1944, in regards the fate of David Clarke and William Dunn:
On the 28th March 1943, in the village of Hintha, No. 5 Column encountered the Japanese. After a bayonet charge, Pte. Dunn returned with a bullet wound to his thigh. I applied first-aid and then saw him hobble down to the Medical Officer in the care of Pte. Clarke. I later found out that Dunn died from his wounds that same day.
Pte. Clarke managed to disperse with his column after the battle of Hintha, but became separated from his unit during a secondary ambush by the enemy the next day. He and around 100 other men from 5 Column were fortunate to bump into No. 7 Column a few days later close to the Shweli River, where Major Gilkes took all the new arrivals under his wing and allocated them to his own pre-arranged dispersal groups. The party into which Pte. Clarke was placed marched north east into the Kachin Hills, but sadly, on the 26th April David, by now utterly exhausted, fell out of the line of march as the group were preparing to cross a small river. He was never seen or heard of again.
A witness statement, this time from Lt. F. Williamson went into more detail:
I was an officer with No. 1 dispersal group, part of No. 7 Column on the Wingate expedition. On the 26th April 1943, the above mentioned British Other Rank fell back from the group at a river crossing, approximately 40 miles south west of Fort Morton. This was the last time he was seen by me and in my opinion, the last time by any other person. He had in his possession 20 rounds of .303 ammunition and his rifle.
After the war, David's body was never found and for this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial at Taukkyan War Cemetery. This memorial was constructed to honour the 26,000 Commonwealth Service personnel who perished during the Burma Campaign, but who have no known grave.
Seen below is a small gallery of images in relation to this story, including David Clarke's name upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. To read more about the battle at Hintha village and the secondary ambush of No. 5 Column by the Japanese on the 29th March 1943, please click on the following link: Piercy, Hardy and Litherland
James Alfred Clarke.
CLARKE, JAMES ALFRED
Rank: Private
Service No: 4124640
Date of Death: 21/02/1944
Age: 28
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Grave Reference 5. E. 6. Rangoon War Cemetery
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2259816/CLARKE,%20JAMES%20ALFRED
Chindit Column: 2 (Northern) Group Head Quarters.
Other details:
Pte. James Alfred Clarke was the son of Robert and Emma Clarke from of Wallasey in Cheshire. James served in the Northern Group Head Quarters during Operation Longcloth, under the command of Lt-Colonel Cooke, but had originally enlisted into the Cheshire Regiment earlier in the war. According to a witness statement given by Major Menzies-Anderson of the King's Regiment, James was last seen alongside six other men on the 30th March 1943, as the Brigade were dispersing from the eastern banks of the Irrawaddy, after an attempted crossing of the river had to be abandoned:
Menzies-Anderson-The British Other Ranks mentioned were attached to HQ 77th Indian Infantry Brigade during the operation in Burma, at that time I was Acting Brigade Major. I last saw them on the east bank of the Irrawaddy, when Brigade HQ had split up into dispersal groups on the 30th March 1943. They have not reported back to India.
According to anecdotal evidence, James was captured by the Japanese on the 11th May 1943 and had managed to steer clear of enemy patrols after the dispersal at the Irrawaddy, before being taken prisoner some five weeks later. Sadly, Pte. Clarke perished inside Block 6 of Rangoon Jail on the 21st February 1944 and was buried alongside his fellow Chindit comrades at the English Cantonment Cemetery, situated close to the Royal Lakes in the eastern sector of the city. His POW documents tell us that James was issued with the prisoner number 611 in the jail and that he was recorded as buried in plot no.159 at the Cantonment Cemetery. After the war, all burials from the Cantonment Cemetery were re-interred at the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery, located near the dockland area of the city.
From the pages of the newspaper, The Liverpool Echo, dated Friday 29th June 1945 and under the headline:
Local Casulties. News of Our Men in the Forces
Pte. James Alfred Clarke of the King's Regiment, son of Mrs. E. Clarke of 39 Ashville Road, Seacombe, has died in Japanese hands. He was taken prisoner on May 11th 1943. Before the war he was a life-saver at New Brighton Baths. He was an old boy of Somerville School.
This short newspaper obituary was accompanied by the photograph of James Clarke as seen above, unfortunately the quality of the image has deteriorated over the passing years. Shown below are some more images in relation to this story, please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 4124640
Date of Death: 21/02/1944
Age: 28
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Grave Reference 5. E. 6. Rangoon War Cemetery
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2259816/CLARKE,%20JAMES%20ALFRED
Chindit Column: 2 (Northern) Group Head Quarters.
Other details:
Pte. James Alfred Clarke was the son of Robert and Emma Clarke from of Wallasey in Cheshire. James served in the Northern Group Head Quarters during Operation Longcloth, under the command of Lt-Colonel Cooke, but had originally enlisted into the Cheshire Regiment earlier in the war. According to a witness statement given by Major Menzies-Anderson of the King's Regiment, James was last seen alongside six other men on the 30th March 1943, as the Brigade were dispersing from the eastern banks of the Irrawaddy, after an attempted crossing of the river had to be abandoned:
Menzies-Anderson-The British Other Ranks mentioned were attached to HQ 77th Indian Infantry Brigade during the operation in Burma, at that time I was Acting Brigade Major. I last saw them on the east bank of the Irrawaddy, when Brigade HQ had split up into dispersal groups on the 30th March 1943. They have not reported back to India.
According to anecdotal evidence, James was captured by the Japanese on the 11th May 1943 and had managed to steer clear of enemy patrols after the dispersal at the Irrawaddy, before being taken prisoner some five weeks later. Sadly, Pte. Clarke perished inside Block 6 of Rangoon Jail on the 21st February 1944 and was buried alongside his fellow Chindit comrades at the English Cantonment Cemetery, situated close to the Royal Lakes in the eastern sector of the city. His POW documents tell us that James was issued with the prisoner number 611 in the jail and that he was recorded as buried in plot no.159 at the Cantonment Cemetery. After the war, all burials from the Cantonment Cemetery were re-interred at the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery, located near the dockland area of the city.
From the pages of the newspaper, The Liverpool Echo, dated Friday 29th June 1945 and under the headline:
Local Casulties. News of Our Men in the Forces
Pte. James Alfred Clarke of the King's Regiment, son of Mrs. E. Clarke of 39 Ashville Road, Seacombe, has died in Japanese hands. He was taken prisoner on May 11th 1943. Before the war he was a life-saver at New Brighton Baths. He was an old boy of Somerville School.
This short newspaper obituary was accompanied by the photograph of James Clarke as seen above, unfortunately the quality of the image has deteriorated over the passing years. Shown below are some more images in relation to this story, please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
L/Cpl. Robert Clarke.
CLARKE, ROBERT
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 3781682
Date of Death: 06/03/1943
Age: 28
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2507563/CLARKE,%20ROBERT
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
Lance Corporal Robert Clarke was the son of Robert and Anne Clarke and husband of L. Clarke, of West Gorton in Manchester. Robert was a member of 8 Column on Operation Longcloth and perished shortly after the column's first real engagement with the Japanese on the 6th March 1943 at the Burmese village of Kame. According to the 8 Column War diary, they had been given the task of securing the Pinlebu-Kame Motor Road in preparation for a Brigade supply drop. The diary states:
4th and 5th March: column moved into the area around Pinlebu, there were said to be 600-1000 enemy troops in this locality. The Burma Rifle Officers had spoken to a native of the area, he turned out to be a Japanese spy and was shot. Water parties were sent out to replenish supplies, these units were engaged by enemy patrols but most managed to disengage and return to the main body.
More minor clashes with the Japanese were incurred late on 5th March, the column moved to the agreed rendezvous on the Pinlebu-Kame Road. The party halted one mile north of Kame and settled down for the night. Their position was chosen by Major Scott and units were deployed to prevent any Japanese movement toward Pinlebu from this direction.
6th March: At first light on the 6th March, the Sabotage Squad led by Lieutenant Sprague and 16 Platoon set out toward Kame to secure the road block. At about 1100 hours Sprague’s men were attacked by the Japanese from all sides, he called dispersal in an attempt to extract his men, it was here that Lieutenant Callaghan was shot and killed. At 1600 hours the whole column moved away toward the Supply drop rendezvous area.
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 3781682
Date of Death: 06/03/1943
Age: 28
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2507563/CLARKE,%20ROBERT
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
Lance Corporal Robert Clarke was the son of Robert and Anne Clarke and husband of L. Clarke, of West Gorton in Manchester. Robert was a member of 8 Column on Operation Longcloth and perished shortly after the column's first real engagement with the Japanese on the 6th March 1943 at the Burmese village of Kame. According to the 8 Column War diary, they had been given the task of securing the Pinlebu-Kame Motor Road in preparation for a Brigade supply drop. The diary states:
4th and 5th March: column moved into the area around Pinlebu, there were said to be 600-1000 enemy troops in this locality. The Burma Rifle Officers had spoken to a native of the area, he turned out to be a Japanese spy and was shot. Water parties were sent out to replenish supplies, these units were engaged by enemy patrols but most managed to disengage and return to the main body.
More minor clashes with the Japanese were incurred late on 5th March, the column moved to the agreed rendezvous on the Pinlebu-Kame Road. The party halted one mile north of Kame and settled down for the night. Their position was chosen by Major Scott and units were deployed to prevent any Japanese movement toward Pinlebu from this direction.
6th March: At first light on the 6th March, the Sabotage Squad led by Lieutenant Sprague and 16 Platoon set out toward Kame to secure the road block. At about 1100 hours Sprague’s men were attacked by the Japanese from all sides, he called dispersal in an attempt to extract his men, it was here that Lieutenant Callaghan was shot and killed. At 1600 hours the whole column moved away toward the Supply drop rendezvous area.
Map of the area around Pinlebu-Kame motor road.
It was after the dispersal at the motor road on the 6th March that L/Cpl. Clarke went missing from his unit. A witness statement given by Pte. D. Nunn of the 13th King's after his return to India in late April, provided some information about Clarke's demise:
About the 6th March, after the action at Kame, L/Cpl. Cleaver and L/Cpl. Clarke, myself and others made a dash to cross a river. Whilst so doing we were under heavy fire. I reached the far bank safely. I saw Cleaver and Clarke reach the bank, but they could not climb the bank to cover. All the enemy fire seemed directed against them. I heard Clarke say, "It is no good, I can't carry on, they have got me in the leg."
This is all Pte. Nunn had to say in relation to the incident at the small river or chaung as they are called in Burma. Robert Clarke was recorded as last seen at the river on the 6th March 1943, but sadly was not heard of again. No grave was ever located after the war and for this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. It is possible that Frank Cleaver managed to keep moving directly after crossing the chaung, but was killed sometime later. L/Cpl. Cleaver is recorded as having died on the 7th March 1943, and is also remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, located within the grounds of Taukkyan War Cemetery.
From the pages of the Manchester Evening News dated 2nd August 1943 and under the headline, Three Missing:
1. Sapper William Heath of Allen Street, Hulme, missing at sea, presumed drowned. 2. Engine Room Artificer John Oxley of Forest Street, Collyhurst, missing presumed killed. 3. L/Cpl. Robert Clarke of Gloucester Place, Longsight, missing, known to be wounded in the Indian theatre.
Sadly, this is all we know of Lance Corporal Robert Clarke and his time in Burma. Seen below is a Gallery of images in relation to this story, please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
About the 6th March, after the action at Kame, L/Cpl. Cleaver and L/Cpl. Clarke, myself and others made a dash to cross a river. Whilst so doing we were under heavy fire. I reached the far bank safely. I saw Cleaver and Clarke reach the bank, but they could not climb the bank to cover. All the enemy fire seemed directed against them. I heard Clarke say, "It is no good, I can't carry on, they have got me in the leg."
This is all Pte. Nunn had to say in relation to the incident at the small river or chaung as they are called in Burma. Robert Clarke was recorded as last seen at the river on the 6th March 1943, but sadly was not heard of again. No grave was ever located after the war and for this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. It is possible that Frank Cleaver managed to keep moving directly after crossing the chaung, but was killed sometime later. L/Cpl. Cleaver is recorded as having died on the 7th March 1943, and is also remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, located within the grounds of Taukkyan War Cemetery.
From the pages of the Manchester Evening News dated 2nd August 1943 and under the headline, Three Missing:
1. Sapper William Heath of Allen Street, Hulme, missing at sea, presumed drowned. 2. Engine Room Artificer John Oxley of Forest Street, Collyhurst, missing presumed killed. 3. L/Cpl. Robert Clarke of Gloucester Place, Longsight, missing, known to be wounded in the Indian theatre.
Sadly, this is all we know of Lance Corporal Robert Clarke and his time in Burma. Seen below is a Gallery of images in relation to this story, please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Frank Cleaver was the son of Charles and Margaret Cleaver from St. Pancras in London. As you will have already read from the information above, Frank died as a result of the Japanese interference at the Kame-Pinlebu Road engagement on the 6/7th March 1943. On the official missing lists for Operation Longcloth, it simply states that Pte. Cleaver was lost whilst making for the river after the action at Kame.
Another Chindit soldier, Thomas Worthington of No. 7 Column, gave the following witness statement about Frank Cleaver after his liberation as a prisoner of war in May 1945:
Pte. Cleaver was from London and his occupation was a Clerk. He was, or had been a Corporal in No. 8 Column and was said to have been hit when the Japanese opened fire with their mortars on the bivouac area near Pinlebu. This was some time in March before the outward crossing of the Irrawaddy.
Seen below are some images in relation to Pte. Cleaver including his CWGC certificate and Thomas Worthington's witness statement in the form of a handwritten letter. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Another Chindit soldier, Thomas Worthington of No. 7 Column, gave the following witness statement about Frank Cleaver after his liberation as a prisoner of war in May 1945:
Pte. Cleaver was from London and his occupation was a Clerk. He was, or had been a Corporal in No. 8 Column and was said to have been hit when the Japanese opened fire with their mortars on the bivouac area near Pinlebu. This was some time in March before the outward crossing of the Irrawaddy.
Seen below are some images in relation to Pte. Cleaver including his CWGC certificate and Thomas Worthington's witness statement in the form of a handwritten letter. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Cap badge of the RAF.
CLUNES, RONALD
Rank: Sergeant
Service No: 1125477
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: RAF Liaison att. The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Ronald Clunes was born in Glasgow on the 23rd June 1922. He became a Wireless Operator with the RAF in India and was posted across to No. 5 Column, commanded by Bernard Fergusson, during the Operation Longcloth training period at Saugor in the Central Provinces of the country. He also served on the second Wingate expedition in 1944 (Operation Thursday), where he once again teamed up with Bernard Fergusson, this time as part of the RAF section in the Head Quarters of No. 69 Column, 16th British Infantry Brigade.
From information gathered online we know that Ronald moved to London after the war, taking up residence in the Lewisham/Greenwich area, where he served with the Metropolitan Police Force. He became a member of the Burma Star Association in London (Lewisham Branch) and it was from this association that we came to learn about his service as a Chindit.
From the December 1971 issue of the BSA magazine, Dekho:
Dekho all ex-Chindits. Ron Clunes, originally from Glasgow, and a RAF wireless operator on both Chindit expeditions with No. 5 Column, now a Police Constable in the Metropolitan Police, recently received the Queen's commendation for bravery in the execution of his duty. This just shows that the old Chindit spirit is not dead. On behalf of this branch I say, Well done, Jock! and if you feel like arresting the one who has made this statement, then you know who is guilty!
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including the original page from the Dekho magazine recording Ronald's award of the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. Sadly, Ronald Clunes died at Greenwich on the 4th June 1978, aged just 55 years.
Rank: Sergeant
Service No: 1125477
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: RAF Liaison att. The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Ronald Clunes was born in Glasgow on the 23rd June 1922. He became a Wireless Operator with the RAF in India and was posted across to No. 5 Column, commanded by Bernard Fergusson, during the Operation Longcloth training period at Saugor in the Central Provinces of the country. He also served on the second Wingate expedition in 1944 (Operation Thursday), where he once again teamed up with Bernard Fergusson, this time as part of the RAF section in the Head Quarters of No. 69 Column, 16th British Infantry Brigade.
From information gathered online we know that Ronald moved to London after the war, taking up residence in the Lewisham/Greenwich area, where he served with the Metropolitan Police Force. He became a member of the Burma Star Association in London (Lewisham Branch) and it was from this association that we came to learn about his service as a Chindit.
From the December 1971 issue of the BSA magazine, Dekho:
Dekho all ex-Chindits. Ron Clunes, originally from Glasgow, and a RAF wireless operator on both Chindit expeditions with No. 5 Column, now a Police Constable in the Metropolitan Police, recently received the Queen's commendation for bravery in the execution of his duty. This just shows that the old Chindit spirit is not dead. On behalf of this branch I say, Well done, Jock! and if you feel like arresting the one who has made this statement, then you know who is guilty!
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including the original page from the Dekho magazine recording Ronald's award of the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. Sadly, Ronald Clunes died at Greenwich on the 4th June 1978, aged just 55 years.
Pte. John Coates.
COATES, JOHN
Rank: Private
Service No: 3777338
Date of Death: 11/10/1943
Age: 29
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Grave Reference 6. A. 4. Rangoon War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2259823/COATES,%20JOHN
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
Pte. John Coates was an original member of the 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment that voyaged to India aboard the troopship Oronsay on the 8th December 1941. John was part of D' Company and so became a member of Chindit Column No. 8 after the battalion had moved up into the Central Provinces of the country and began their training at Saugor. After dispersal had been called in Burma, John was part of the group led by Lt. Hamilton-Byran and had assisted with the placing of some of his wounded and sick comrades into the safe hands of a friendly Kachin village, before returning to the main body of 8 Column as they continued their journey back to India.
Anecdotal evidence given by some of the men who retuned in 1943, suggests that Pte. Coates, by now in a malnourished and exhausted state, fell out of the line of march on the 7th May and was never seen again from that point onwards. According to the 8 Column War diary, the unit were marching through the area around the Namsung Chaung at this time and had been constantly harassed by small enemy patrols. It is not known when John Coates fell into Japanese hands, but he did end up a prisoner of war (POW no. 444) and sadly died in Block 6 of Rangoon Jail on the 11th October 1943.
John was buried by his comrades at the English Cantonment Cemetery, located close to the Royal Lakes in the eastern sector of Rangoon City. His grave reference was recorded as being No. 41. Later, after the war had ended, all burials from the Cantonment Cemetery were moved over to the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery and this is where the men rest to this day. After returning to India, Pte. John Burnett of the King's gave the following witness statement in regards to John Coates and his last known movements in May 1943:
At the end of April after the plane had left with the wounded, I was in a party along with L/Cpl. William Thornton and commanded by Lt. Hamilton-Byran. Pte. Coates was in the same party. After crossing a river (name unknown) we were ambushed and dispersal was necessary. Thornton collapsed through sheer exhaustion and although I tried to revive him, he remained on the ground and I was forced to leave him. The enemy at that time were very close. Six days later we were attacked again and Pte. Coates who was behind me, crawling, was reported missing when we reached a safe area. He has not been heard of since. L/Cpl. Thornton and Pte. Coates were last seen alive on the 1st and 7th May 1943.
From the pages of the Liverpool Echo newspaper, dated 29th June 1945 and under the headline, Local Casualties:
News has been received by Miss L. Coates of Park Lodge, Bidston, that her brother, Private John Coates, the King's Regiment, aged 30, died in a Japanese prisoner of war camp on October 11th 1943, having been previously reported missing in May 1943. Youngest son of the late Charles William Coates, he was a junior partner of the firm of C.W. Coates and Sons Ltd. Army and Navy Stores, Byrom Street. Miss Coates would appreciate any information regarding her brother's stay in the prison camp from any returned prisoner, or the relatives of any such prisoner who may have heard anything concerning his fate.
I sincerely hope that somebody replied to Miss Coates' appeal. Seen below is a Gallery of images in relation to this story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3777338
Date of Death: 11/10/1943
Age: 29
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Grave Reference 6. A. 4. Rangoon War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2259823/COATES,%20JOHN
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
Pte. John Coates was an original member of the 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment that voyaged to India aboard the troopship Oronsay on the 8th December 1941. John was part of D' Company and so became a member of Chindit Column No. 8 after the battalion had moved up into the Central Provinces of the country and began their training at Saugor. After dispersal had been called in Burma, John was part of the group led by Lt. Hamilton-Byran and had assisted with the placing of some of his wounded and sick comrades into the safe hands of a friendly Kachin village, before returning to the main body of 8 Column as they continued their journey back to India.
Anecdotal evidence given by some of the men who retuned in 1943, suggests that Pte. Coates, by now in a malnourished and exhausted state, fell out of the line of march on the 7th May and was never seen again from that point onwards. According to the 8 Column War diary, the unit were marching through the area around the Namsung Chaung at this time and had been constantly harassed by small enemy patrols. It is not known when John Coates fell into Japanese hands, but he did end up a prisoner of war (POW no. 444) and sadly died in Block 6 of Rangoon Jail on the 11th October 1943.
John was buried by his comrades at the English Cantonment Cemetery, located close to the Royal Lakes in the eastern sector of Rangoon City. His grave reference was recorded as being No. 41. Later, after the war had ended, all burials from the Cantonment Cemetery were moved over to the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery and this is where the men rest to this day. After returning to India, Pte. John Burnett of the King's gave the following witness statement in regards to John Coates and his last known movements in May 1943:
At the end of April after the plane had left with the wounded, I was in a party along with L/Cpl. William Thornton and commanded by Lt. Hamilton-Byran. Pte. Coates was in the same party. After crossing a river (name unknown) we were ambushed and dispersal was necessary. Thornton collapsed through sheer exhaustion and although I tried to revive him, he remained on the ground and I was forced to leave him. The enemy at that time were very close. Six days later we were attacked again and Pte. Coates who was behind me, crawling, was reported missing when we reached a safe area. He has not been heard of since. L/Cpl. Thornton and Pte. Coates were last seen alive on the 1st and 7th May 1943.
From the pages of the Liverpool Echo newspaper, dated 29th June 1945 and under the headline, Local Casualties:
News has been received by Miss L. Coates of Park Lodge, Bidston, that her brother, Private John Coates, the King's Regiment, aged 30, died in a Japanese prisoner of war camp on October 11th 1943, having been previously reported missing in May 1943. Youngest son of the late Charles William Coates, he was a junior partner of the firm of C.W. Coates and Sons Ltd. Army and Navy Stores, Byrom Street. Miss Coates would appreciate any information regarding her brother's stay in the prison camp from any returned prisoner, or the relatives of any such prisoner who may have heard anything concerning his fate.
I sincerely hope that somebody replied to Miss Coates' appeal. Seen below is a Gallery of images in relation to this story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Update 03/10/2020.
I was pleased and fortunate to receive the following email contact from Steven Horton in regards to the story of John Coates:
I have a photo of a grave in West Derby Cemetery (Liverpool) which contains reference to John Coates, stating: died in a prisoner of war camp Rangoon, 11th October 1943 age 30. Supreme Sacrifice. The headstone is not in a good state I'm afraid, but you can clearly make out the reference to John. I have enjoyed reading through your website. I belong to a group, Liverpool Hidden History on Facebook and love mooching about cemeteries looking for stories from headstones. If you would like the photographs mentioned just let me know.
Seen below is one of Steven's photographs of the Coates' family headstone at West Derby Cemetery showing the added inscription for John Coates. To read more about the Liverpool Hidden History group, please click on the following link: www.facebook.com/groups/hiddenhistories/
I was pleased and fortunate to receive the following email contact from Steven Horton in regards to the story of John Coates:
I have a photo of a grave in West Derby Cemetery (Liverpool) which contains reference to John Coates, stating: died in a prisoner of war camp Rangoon, 11th October 1943 age 30. Supreme Sacrifice. The headstone is not in a good state I'm afraid, but you can clearly make out the reference to John. I have enjoyed reading through your website. I belong to a group, Liverpool Hidden History on Facebook and love mooching about cemeteries looking for stories from headstones. If you would like the photographs mentioned just let me know.
Seen below is one of Steven's photographs of the Coates' family headstone at West Derby Cemetery showing the added inscription for John Coates. To read more about the Liverpool Hidden History group, please click on the following link: www.facebook.com/groups/hiddenhistories/
The Coates family headstone at West Derby Cemetery in Liverpool.
Update 23/03/2021.
I was very pleased to receive the following email from Stephen Mitchell, the great nephew of John Coates. Stephen had previously contacted me back in 2017 and it was wonderful to hear from him again this time around:
Over the years I have spent the occasional few hours trying to glean details about a great uncle of whom I had only sparse information, by way of a copy of a telegram advising my great aunt that he was a Japanese prisoner of war and had died in Rangoon Jail. He was Pte. 3777338 John Coates of the 13th King’s (Liverpool) Regiment.
John was my grandmother's brother and she was very close to him. His eldest sister, Leah Coates continued to run the family business which John was employed in before the war. He was as a Junior Director for the Army and Navy Stores on Ranelagh Street in Liverpool.
As you can imagine, his very close family have now all passed away. I wondered whether there would have been any medals issued to the family for John’s war service. I am not aware of any being held within the remaining family or even if any were sent to his next of kin after the war. I would very much wish to obtain an example of the medals he would have been entitled to posthumously.
He is remembered with an inscription on the family grave stone of his parents at West Derby Cemetery in Liverpool. I noticed that a photograph of the family grave on your website showed it to be in need of repair. I took immediate steps to remedy this by calling a stonemason and hopefully the repairs will be completed any day soon. I have attached a photograph of John (seen above) in his Army uniform to this email and wondered whether you would like to use this on his page.
Many thanks indeed for your efforts on publishing the Longcloth Chindit history. I am looking to join the Chindit Society and am rather disappointed that I missed the recent reunions and the chance of meeting some of the veterans, I have had so many questions for so many years. My entire extended family, who now live in the United States were all interested to learn the new information about John, thanks to your kind efforts.
Kind regards, Stephen Mitchell.
I was very pleased to receive the following email from Stephen Mitchell, the great nephew of John Coates. Stephen had previously contacted me back in 2017 and it was wonderful to hear from him again this time around:
Over the years I have spent the occasional few hours trying to glean details about a great uncle of whom I had only sparse information, by way of a copy of a telegram advising my great aunt that he was a Japanese prisoner of war and had died in Rangoon Jail. He was Pte. 3777338 John Coates of the 13th King’s (Liverpool) Regiment.
John was my grandmother's brother and she was very close to him. His eldest sister, Leah Coates continued to run the family business which John was employed in before the war. He was as a Junior Director for the Army and Navy Stores on Ranelagh Street in Liverpool.
As you can imagine, his very close family have now all passed away. I wondered whether there would have been any medals issued to the family for John’s war service. I am not aware of any being held within the remaining family or even if any were sent to his next of kin after the war. I would very much wish to obtain an example of the medals he would have been entitled to posthumously.
He is remembered with an inscription on the family grave stone of his parents at West Derby Cemetery in Liverpool. I noticed that a photograph of the family grave on your website showed it to be in need of repair. I took immediate steps to remedy this by calling a stonemason and hopefully the repairs will be completed any day soon. I have attached a photograph of John (seen above) in his Army uniform to this email and wondered whether you would like to use this on his page.
Many thanks indeed for your efforts on publishing the Longcloth Chindit history. I am looking to join the Chindit Society and am rather disappointed that I missed the recent reunions and the chance of meeting some of the veterans, I have had so many questions for so many years. My entire extended family, who now live in the United States were all interested to learn the new information about John, thanks to your kind efforts.
Kind regards, Stephen Mitchell.
Update 19/04/2021.
As mentioned by Stephen Mitchell in his contact email above, the Coates' family headstone at West Derby Cemetery had suffered severe damage and was in need of repair. I am pleased to say that these repairs have now been carried out and the headstone is once again standing proud above the graves.
As mentioned by Stephen Mitchell in his contact email above, the Coates' family headstone at West Derby Cemetery had suffered severe damage and was in need of repair. I am pleased to say that these repairs have now been carried out and the headstone is once again standing proud above the graves.
The restored family headstone at West Derby Cemetery.
COATES, RICHARD
Rank: Private
Service No: 4192705
Date of Death: 17/02/1943
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2507592/coates,-richard/#&gid=null&pid=1
Chindit Column: Brigade HQ
Other details:
Richard Coates was the son of Mr. and Mrs. R. Coates and the husband of M. J. Coates from Townhill in Swansea. He had originally been enlisted in to the Royal Welch Fusiliers, before being transferred to the King's Regiment in India and joining Chindit training at the Saugor Camp on the 30th September 1942. According to documents for the 13th King's in 1943, he was at first allocated to No. 7 Column under the command of Major Gilkes. However, by the time the Chindit Brigade had reached the western banks of the Chindwin River in mid-February 1943, Richard was working as a mule driver in Brigade Head Quarters.
Sadly, Richard's time on Operation Longcloth did not exceed the crossing of the Chindwin River, where he drowned on the 17th February in tragic circumstances and it is my belief, that he was the very first British casualty during the Wingate expedition of 1943. The only piece of evidence describing his fate, came in the form of a witness statement written by the Brigade-Major George Bromhead:
Statement in respect of No. 4192705 Pte. R. Coates, 13th King's Regiment:
The mules of Brigade Head Quarters were being swum across the river on the 17th February under my orders. Those who could swim were ordered to go across with the mules, and the non-swimmers to lead their animal as far into the water as they could. Pte. Coates, whom I after discovered could not swim, tried to ride his mule across, but the current being fast, the mule was swept down the stream unable to make headway under the extra burden and Pte. Coates was not seen again, although a patrol was sent out to find him.
Signed R.B. Bromhead (19th August 1943).
Richard Coates' body was never found and for this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, the centrepiece structure at Taukkyan War Cemetery. The memorial holds over 26,000 names, listed by Regiment for all those that fell during the Burma Campaign, but have no known grave. Richard is also remembered upon the Swansea Cenotaph Memorial, located on the Mumbles Promenade overlooking Swansea Bay.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including photographs of both memorials. Please click on any images to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 4192705
Date of Death: 17/02/1943
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2507592/coates,-richard/#&gid=null&pid=1
Chindit Column: Brigade HQ
Other details:
Richard Coates was the son of Mr. and Mrs. R. Coates and the husband of M. J. Coates from Townhill in Swansea. He had originally been enlisted in to the Royal Welch Fusiliers, before being transferred to the King's Regiment in India and joining Chindit training at the Saugor Camp on the 30th September 1942. According to documents for the 13th King's in 1943, he was at first allocated to No. 7 Column under the command of Major Gilkes. However, by the time the Chindit Brigade had reached the western banks of the Chindwin River in mid-February 1943, Richard was working as a mule driver in Brigade Head Quarters.
Sadly, Richard's time on Operation Longcloth did not exceed the crossing of the Chindwin River, where he drowned on the 17th February in tragic circumstances and it is my belief, that he was the very first British casualty during the Wingate expedition of 1943. The only piece of evidence describing his fate, came in the form of a witness statement written by the Brigade-Major George Bromhead:
Statement in respect of No. 4192705 Pte. R. Coates, 13th King's Regiment:
The mules of Brigade Head Quarters were being swum across the river on the 17th February under my orders. Those who could swim were ordered to go across with the mules, and the non-swimmers to lead their animal as far into the water as they could. Pte. Coates, whom I after discovered could not swim, tried to ride his mule across, but the current being fast, the mule was swept down the stream unable to make headway under the extra burden and Pte. Coates was not seen again, although a patrol was sent out to find him.
Signed R.B. Bromhead (19th August 1943).
Richard Coates' body was never found and for this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, the centrepiece structure at Taukkyan War Cemetery. The memorial holds over 26,000 names, listed by Regiment for all those that fell during the Burma Campaign, but have no known grave. Richard is also remembered upon the Swansea Cenotaph Memorial, located on the Mumbles Promenade overlooking Swansea Bay.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including photographs of both memorials. Please click on any images to bring it forward on the page.
George Cockling in 1945.
COCKLING, GEORGE
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 2621803
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: Grenadier Guards attached The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 3
Other details:
Lance Corporal Cockling, formerly of the Grenadier Guards was posted overseas with a draft of soldiers (draft RZGHA) in June 1942, travelling to India as part of convoy WS 20, which arrived in Bombay on the 9th August. He was then transferred to the 13th King's Liverpool and joined the battalion on the 30th September 1942, at their training camp at Saugor in the Central Provinces of India. Here he was immediately posted to the 142 Commando section and allocated to the Commando Platoon for No. 3 Column, commanded by Lt. Jeffrey Lockett, formerly of the Seaforth Highlanders Regiment.
On Operation Longcloth, 3 Column were led by Major Mike Calvert and were responsible for the demolitions of the Mandalay-Myitkhina railway at Nankan on the 6th March 1943.
A quote from the book, Wingate's Raiders, by author Charles J. Rolo:
Nankan station was completely deserted when 3 Column arrived. All around were scattered teak logs and other debris from the 1942 retreat; magazine pouches, cans, smashed equipment and one rusty crippled jeep. On a siding stood trucks riddled with bullet-holes and a blown up locomotive rested grotesquely on its side. The station was situated in a small area of completely open ground. Two hundred yards north of it, surrounded by jungle palms, was a Burmese village. The Japanese were based in some strength at Indaw, twenty-five miles to the north and Wuntho, ten miles to the south. The new motor road from Indaw to Wuntho cut across the railway line just beside the station. Calvert fixed a rendezvous several miles to the south-east of the railway, then set his men to the demolitions.
Lt. Lockett's Commando Platoon was tasked with blowing a steel-girder bridge at Nankan and had to complete this work whilst under fire from the enemy, who had travelled up to meet the Chindits from their garrison at Wuntho. After nearly four hours of work, the demolition groups had destroyed six miles of the railway line and three bridges. They had also placed anti-tank mines and booby-traps all along the Wuntho-Indaw Road. Major Calvert called for dispersal and the various groups moved away from the village at Nankan and headed for their rendezvous location to the south-east in preparation to cross the Irrawaddy River.
In his own debrief papers from Operation Longcloth, Lt. J. Lockett had this to say about the men of No. 3 Column Commando:
Finally, I would like to record that throughout the Campaign the men worked very well as a team; their morale was always very high. They gained valuable experience and learnt many lessons in jungle warfare, besides learning the methods of fighting used by the Japanese, which will prove of great benefit when they go in again.
I should like to mention the following men: CSM Blain, Sgt. Chivers and Lance Corporal Cockling, who all did excellent work and showed real initiative and leadership throughout. Corporal Day, who showed great coolness and courage in blowing a bridge whilst under fire on the 6th March and Pte. Guest, who in the action at the Irrawaddy on the 14th March, went back and rescued several mules and other valuable equipment.
Lance Corporal Cockling successfully returned to India after dispersal was called in late March 1943, finally reaching the safety of the Chindwin River in mid-April. It is recorded that he entered Burma again with the second Chindit expedition in March 1944, this time serving under Captain D.C. Herring as part of Dah Force. Herring's mission was to raise a guerrilla force from the warlike and pro-British Kachin tribes, who lived in the northern edges of Burma, close to the Chinese borders.
Dah Force was supposed to be flown into a landing strip codenamed Templecombe, situated east of the Irrawaddy and just north of Bhamo and were to make contact with the Kachins and also the members of SOE (Special Operations Executive), that were already ensconced in the area. The unit consisted of seventy-four soldiers, including several officers who had served on Longcloth the year before and members from the Hong Kong Volunteers to liaise with any Chinese guerrillas they met along the way. Fate conspired against Herring's Force who ended up being dropped off at the Broadway landing strip instead of Templecombe and had to march north and cross the Irrawaddy to reach their intended area of influence.
Dah Force remained in the area north of Bhamo for several weeks, organising raids and ambushes against the Japanese and training and encouraging the local Kachin tribesmen to do the same. Sergeant Cockling played his part too, and was probably at that point, the most easterly positioned Grenadier Guardsman during the whole of the war.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a sketch map of the Nankan railway demolitions. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 2621803
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: Grenadier Guards attached The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 3
Other details:
Lance Corporal Cockling, formerly of the Grenadier Guards was posted overseas with a draft of soldiers (draft RZGHA) in June 1942, travelling to India as part of convoy WS 20, which arrived in Bombay on the 9th August. He was then transferred to the 13th King's Liverpool and joined the battalion on the 30th September 1942, at their training camp at Saugor in the Central Provinces of India. Here he was immediately posted to the 142 Commando section and allocated to the Commando Platoon for No. 3 Column, commanded by Lt. Jeffrey Lockett, formerly of the Seaforth Highlanders Regiment.
On Operation Longcloth, 3 Column were led by Major Mike Calvert and were responsible for the demolitions of the Mandalay-Myitkhina railway at Nankan on the 6th March 1943.
A quote from the book, Wingate's Raiders, by author Charles J. Rolo:
Nankan station was completely deserted when 3 Column arrived. All around were scattered teak logs and other debris from the 1942 retreat; magazine pouches, cans, smashed equipment and one rusty crippled jeep. On a siding stood trucks riddled with bullet-holes and a blown up locomotive rested grotesquely on its side. The station was situated in a small area of completely open ground. Two hundred yards north of it, surrounded by jungle palms, was a Burmese village. The Japanese were based in some strength at Indaw, twenty-five miles to the north and Wuntho, ten miles to the south. The new motor road from Indaw to Wuntho cut across the railway line just beside the station. Calvert fixed a rendezvous several miles to the south-east of the railway, then set his men to the demolitions.
Lt. Lockett's Commando Platoon was tasked with blowing a steel-girder bridge at Nankan and had to complete this work whilst under fire from the enemy, who had travelled up to meet the Chindits from their garrison at Wuntho. After nearly four hours of work, the demolition groups had destroyed six miles of the railway line and three bridges. They had also placed anti-tank mines and booby-traps all along the Wuntho-Indaw Road. Major Calvert called for dispersal and the various groups moved away from the village at Nankan and headed for their rendezvous location to the south-east in preparation to cross the Irrawaddy River.
In his own debrief papers from Operation Longcloth, Lt. J. Lockett had this to say about the men of No. 3 Column Commando:
Finally, I would like to record that throughout the Campaign the men worked very well as a team; their morale was always very high. They gained valuable experience and learnt many lessons in jungle warfare, besides learning the methods of fighting used by the Japanese, which will prove of great benefit when they go in again.
I should like to mention the following men: CSM Blain, Sgt. Chivers and Lance Corporal Cockling, who all did excellent work and showed real initiative and leadership throughout. Corporal Day, who showed great coolness and courage in blowing a bridge whilst under fire on the 6th March and Pte. Guest, who in the action at the Irrawaddy on the 14th March, went back and rescued several mules and other valuable equipment.
Lance Corporal Cockling successfully returned to India after dispersal was called in late March 1943, finally reaching the safety of the Chindwin River in mid-April. It is recorded that he entered Burma again with the second Chindit expedition in March 1944, this time serving under Captain D.C. Herring as part of Dah Force. Herring's mission was to raise a guerrilla force from the warlike and pro-British Kachin tribes, who lived in the northern edges of Burma, close to the Chinese borders.
Dah Force was supposed to be flown into a landing strip codenamed Templecombe, situated east of the Irrawaddy and just north of Bhamo and were to make contact with the Kachins and also the members of SOE (Special Operations Executive), that were already ensconced in the area. The unit consisted of seventy-four soldiers, including several officers who had served on Longcloth the year before and members from the Hong Kong Volunteers to liaise with any Chinese guerrillas they met along the way. Fate conspired against Herring's Force who ended up being dropped off at the Broadway landing strip instead of Templecombe and had to march north and cross the Irrawaddy to reach their intended area of influence.
Dah Force remained in the area north of Bhamo for several weeks, organising raids and ambushes against the Japanese and training and encouraging the local Kachin tribesmen to do the same. Sergeant Cockling played his part too, and was probably at that point, the most easterly positioned Grenadier Guardsman during the whole of the war.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a sketch map of the Nankan railway demolitions. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
142 Commando insignia.
COLLIER E.J.
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 5569206
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: Wiltshire Regiment attached 142 Commando
Chindit Column: Unknown
Other details:
Lance Corporal E.J. Collier was a member of the training staff (142 Commando), at the Saugor Camp in the Central Provinces of India during the autumn months of 1942. His Army number, 5569206 suggests that his original unit during WW2 had been the Wiltshire Regiment and that he had probably served with this unit earlier in the war. Although it is clear that Collier was present during the training programme for the the first Wingate expedition, it is not known if he actually took part on Operation Longcloth in Burma.
Lance Corporal Collier's involvement with 142 Commando came to light from an enquiry report, found within the pages of the unit's war diary for 1942. This report was an investigation into the untimely death of Pte. 3865811 Ronald Braithwaite, who died from the affects of an explosives related accident on the 2nd October 1942 at the Saugor Camp.
To read more about this incident, please click on the following link and read through the information concerning Pte. Braithwaite:
Men Who Died During Training
Lance Corporal Collier, who had also been injured by the explosion, was the second witness called during the investigation which took place on the 3rd October 1942. Here is a rough transcription of his testimony that day:
I am the Demolition Instructor to No. 1 Squad. On the 2nd October 1942, I was instructing my squad (10 men) in the practical use of camouflet. The squad had already been taught how to drive the hole and I was going to teach them how to prepare and fire the initial charge. The method I adopted was that laid down in the 'Notes of Demolitions and Sabotage for Irregular Forces' as complied by Major J. M. Calvert RE (Officer Commanding 142 Commando).
The charge was prepared under my supervision by Pte. Checkley and consisted of 8oz of polar gelignite with its wrapper still on, a No. 27 detonator and 6 inches of fuse safety. I allowed Checkley to test the charge in the tube to ensure that it would drop freely and afterwards I tested it myself. The charge was then free in the tube. I then reported to Lt. Earle and received permission to fire the charge. I then returned to my squad and instructed them to stand ready to move at least 10 yards away.
Pte. Checkley then lit the fuse and dropped the charge into the tube. I saw that the charge had stuck about six inches down the tube and that Checkley was trying to withdraw the charge. I shouted to my squad to move away and tried to withdraw the charge myself. As I was unable to get my hand down the tube, I had to leave it and with Pte. Checkley, doubled away. As we were doubling away I heard an explosion behind me. I heard a shout and saw Pte. Mason lying head-down on the ground and blood was flowing from his leg just below the knee. As I had no handkerchief with me, I applied my thumbs to the arteries above his knee. Another man came along and applied a tourniquet and then Lt. Earle the came over and took charge.
Although Collier was not aware at the time, Pte. Braithwaite had also sustained severe injuries during the explosion and would eventually perish from the wounds he sustained. The enquiry continued and the investigation board asked Lance Corporal Collier the following questions:
1. What time had elapsed between the testing of the charge and the lighting of it?
Answer: About five minutes.
2. During this time was the charge exposed to heat?
Answer: Pte. Checkley held the charge in his open hand.
3. Was the safety fuse straightened before being lit?
Answer: Yes.
4. Was there a tamping rod to hand incase the charge struck?
Answer: Yes, there was a rod to hand, but as the charge had been tested twice, I did not think it would be required and when the charge did stick, there was insufficient time left to use it.
5. What previous experience have you of demolitions?
Answer: I underwent instructions with my section at Ramnak and I attended a ten-day course under Captain Samuels at Saugor and had practical training in demolitions almost daily at the Abchand Camp.
The findings of the enquiry were sent to Major Calvert and he observed that there was no blame to be apportioned to any one individual, but that more care must be taken when handling these devices and that in future any onlookers must stand further back from any demonstrations.
Seen below are some images in relation to this story including photographs of the actual witness statement from Lance Corporal Collier. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 5569206
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: Wiltshire Regiment attached 142 Commando
Chindit Column: Unknown
Other details:
Lance Corporal E.J. Collier was a member of the training staff (142 Commando), at the Saugor Camp in the Central Provinces of India during the autumn months of 1942. His Army number, 5569206 suggests that his original unit during WW2 had been the Wiltshire Regiment and that he had probably served with this unit earlier in the war. Although it is clear that Collier was present during the training programme for the the first Wingate expedition, it is not known if he actually took part on Operation Longcloth in Burma.
Lance Corporal Collier's involvement with 142 Commando came to light from an enquiry report, found within the pages of the unit's war diary for 1942. This report was an investigation into the untimely death of Pte. 3865811 Ronald Braithwaite, who died from the affects of an explosives related accident on the 2nd October 1942 at the Saugor Camp.
To read more about this incident, please click on the following link and read through the information concerning Pte. Braithwaite:
Men Who Died During Training
Lance Corporal Collier, who had also been injured by the explosion, was the second witness called during the investigation which took place on the 3rd October 1942. Here is a rough transcription of his testimony that day:
I am the Demolition Instructor to No. 1 Squad. On the 2nd October 1942, I was instructing my squad (10 men) in the practical use of camouflet. The squad had already been taught how to drive the hole and I was going to teach them how to prepare and fire the initial charge. The method I adopted was that laid down in the 'Notes of Demolitions and Sabotage for Irregular Forces' as complied by Major J. M. Calvert RE (Officer Commanding 142 Commando).
The charge was prepared under my supervision by Pte. Checkley and consisted of 8oz of polar gelignite with its wrapper still on, a No. 27 detonator and 6 inches of fuse safety. I allowed Checkley to test the charge in the tube to ensure that it would drop freely and afterwards I tested it myself. The charge was then free in the tube. I then reported to Lt. Earle and received permission to fire the charge. I then returned to my squad and instructed them to stand ready to move at least 10 yards away.
Pte. Checkley then lit the fuse and dropped the charge into the tube. I saw that the charge had stuck about six inches down the tube and that Checkley was trying to withdraw the charge. I shouted to my squad to move away and tried to withdraw the charge myself. As I was unable to get my hand down the tube, I had to leave it and with Pte. Checkley, doubled away. As we were doubling away I heard an explosion behind me. I heard a shout and saw Pte. Mason lying head-down on the ground and blood was flowing from his leg just below the knee. As I had no handkerchief with me, I applied my thumbs to the arteries above his knee. Another man came along and applied a tourniquet and then Lt. Earle the came over and took charge.
Although Collier was not aware at the time, Pte. Braithwaite had also sustained severe injuries during the explosion and would eventually perish from the wounds he sustained. The enquiry continued and the investigation board asked Lance Corporal Collier the following questions:
1. What time had elapsed between the testing of the charge and the lighting of it?
Answer: About five minutes.
2. During this time was the charge exposed to heat?
Answer: Pte. Checkley held the charge in his open hand.
3. Was the safety fuse straightened before being lit?
Answer: Yes.
4. Was there a tamping rod to hand incase the charge struck?
Answer: Yes, there was a rod to hand, but as the charge had been tested twice, I did not think it would be required and when the charge did stick, there was insufficient time left to use it.
5. What previous experience have you of demolitions?
Answer: I underwent instructions with my section at Ramnak and I attended a ten-day course under Captain Samuels at Saugor and had practical training in demolitions almost daily at the Abchand Camp.
The findings of the enquiry were sent to Major Calvert and he observed that there was no blame to be apportioned to any one individual, but that more care must be taken when handling these devices and that in future any onlookers must stand further back from any demonstrations.
Seen below are some images in relation to this story including photographs of the actual witness statement from Lance Corporal Collier. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
COOKE, JOSEPH
Rank: Private
Service No: 3772261
Date of Death: 30/04/1943
Age: 28
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2507656/cooke,-joseph/
Chindit Column: 2 Group Head Quarters
Other details:
Joseph Cooke was born in 1914 and was the son of William and Annie Cooke from Liverpool. In late 1935 Joseph married Isabella Legg from Bootle and they had two children together, William and Sarah Elizabeth. He enlisted into the Army and was posted to the 13th King's Regiment early in the war and was one of the original members of the battalion that travelled overseas to India aboard the troopship Oronsay in December 1941.
At the Saugor training camp in the Central Provinces of India, Joseph was allocated to the King's Head Quarters of what became known as 2 Group, or Northern Group on Operation Longcloth. This group comprised, the above mentioned Head Quarters, plus Chindit columns 4, 5, 7 and 8 and Wingate's own Brigade HQ. 2 Group HQ were commanded by Colonel Sam Cooke and moved in close proximity to No. 8 Column (Major Scott) during the early weeks of Operation Longcloth and were involved in fighting with the Japanese at places such Pinlebu and Kyunbin.
On the missing in action listings for Operation Longcloth, Pte. Cooke is recorded as missing on the 30th April 1943 and last seen on the bank of a river at a place called Okthaik. 2 Group HQ and 8 Column had broken up into smaller dispersal groups in mid-April and were heading back to India at the time of this action against the Japanese on the 30th April. Scott's men were crossing a fast flowing river (Kaukkwe Chaung) near the Burmese village of Okthaik when they were ambushed by a large Japanese patrol. As the non-swimmers were being helped across the water, several of the more experienced NCOs attempted to hold off the enemy with their machine guns and grenades. Sadly, many men were killed or wounded at this engagement and it seems likely that Joseph was among them. To read more about the incident at the Kaukkwe Chaung, please click on the following link: Frank Lea, Ellis Grundy and the Kaukkwe Chaung
After the operation had closed and the surviving soldiers had returned to India, many were asked to give witness statements in relation to the men who had not returned. Pte. A. Reed of the King's in conjunction with Lt. George Borrow recorded this one sentence explanation of Joseph Cooke's last known whereabouts:
The above mentioned British Other Rank was missing from his column after an engagement on the Kaukkwe Chaung, half a mile east of Okthaik (S.H. 3529) on the 30th April 1943. Pte. 5192278 A. Reed saw Pte. Cooke when firing opened up at approximately 1615 hours. He was sitting down getting ready to move off. He was not seen after that, although parties remained in the area till that evening.
Nothing more was ever seen or heard of Joseph Cooke and his grave was never found after the war was over. For this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. This memorial is situated at Taukkyan War Cemetery which is located on the northern outskirts of Rangoon city and contains the names of over 26,000 casualties from the Burma campaign who have no known grave.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a map of the area around the Kaukkwe Chaung and a photograph of Joseph's name upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3772261
Date of Death: 30/04/1943
Age: 28
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2507656/cooke,-joseph/
Chindit Column: 2 Group Head Quarters
Other details:
Joseph Cooke was born in 1914 and was the son of William and Annie Cooke from Liverpool. In late 1935 Joseph married Isabella Legg from Bootle and they had two children together, William and Sarah Elizabeth. He enlisted into the Army and was posted to the 13th King's Regiment early in the war and was one of the original members of the battalion that travelled overseas to India aboard the troopship Oronsay in December 1941.
At the Saugor training camp in the Central Provinces of India, Joseph was allocated to the King's Head Quarters of what became known as 2 Group, or Northern Group on Operation Longcloth. This group comprised, the above mentioned Head Quarters, plus Chindit columns 4, 5, 7 and 8 and Wingate's own Brigade HQ. 2 Group HQ were commanded by Colonel Sam Cooke and moved in close proximity to No. 8 Column (Major Scott) during the early weeks of Operation Longcloth and were involved in fighting with the Japanese at places such Pinlebu and Kyunbin.
On the missing in action listings for Operation Longcloth, Pte. Cooke is recorded as missing on the 30th April 1943 and last seen on the bank of a river at a place called Okthaik. 2 Group HQ and 8 Column had broken up into smaller dispersal groups in mid-April and were heading back to India at the time of this action against the Japanese on the 30th April. Scott's men were crossing a fast flowing river (Kaukkwe Chaung) near the Burmese village of Okthaik when they were ambushed by a large Japanese patrol. As the non-swimmers were being helped across the water, several of the more experienced NCOs attempted to hold off the enemy with their machine guns and grenades. Sadly, many men were killed or wounded at this engagement and it seems likely that Joseph was among them. To read more about the incident at the Kaukkwe Chaung, please click on the following link: Frank Lea, Ellis Grundy and the Kaukkwe Chaung
After the operation had closed and the surviving soldiers had returned to India, many were asked to give witness statements in relation to the men who had not returned. Pte. A. Reed of the King's in conjunction with Lt. George Borrow recorded this one sentence explanation of Joseph Cooke's last known whereabouts:
The above mentioned British Other Rank was missing from his column after an engagement on the Kaukkwe Chaung, half a mile east of Okthaik (S.H. 3529) on the 30th April 1943. Pte. 5192278 A. Reed saw Pte. Cooke when firing opened up at approximately 1615 hours. He was sitting down getting ready to move off. He was not seen after that, although parties remained in the area till that evening.
Nothing more was ever seen or heard of Joseph Cooke and his grave was never found after the war was over. For this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. This memorial is situated at Taukkyan War Cemetery which is located on the northern outskirts of Rangoon city and contains the names of over 26,000 casualties from the Burma campaign who have no known grave.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a map of the area around the Kaukkwe Chaung and a photograph of Joseph's name upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
RAF cap badge.
COPELAND, SGT.
Rank: Acting Sergeant
Service No: 636351
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: RAF Liaison att. 77th Indian Infantry Brigade
Chindit Column: Unknown
Other details:
Sgt. Copeland was reported missing in April 1943 and featured in a report pertaining to the last known whereabouts of five RAF liaison officers lost during Operation Longcloth. The other men were:
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Wheatley
Squadron Leader Cecil Longmore
RAF Sergeant Douglas Mills and
RAF Sergeant Richard Norman Wood
To read more about any of the men mentioned above, simply place their name into the search box featured in the top right-hand corner of any page on this website.
Very little is known about Sgt. Copeland and his involvement during the first Wingate expedition. It was recorded that he had made his way out of Burma in June 1943 via the Chinese province of Yunnan, which leans towards him being a member of No. 7 Column during Operation Longcloth. He is reported as present at an Indian General Hospital on the 15th June and was discharged three days later on the 18th June and returned to his previous RAF unit thereafter.
Rank: Acting Sergeant
Service No: 636351
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: RAF Liaison att. 77th Indian Infantry Brigade
Chindit Column: Unknown
Other details:
Sgt. Copeland was reported missing in April 1943 and featured in a report pertaining to the last known whereabouts of five RAF liaison officers lost during Operation Longcloth. The other men were:
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Wheatley
Squadron Leader Cecil Longmore
RAF Sergeant Douglas Mills and
RAF Sergeant Richard Norman Wood
To read more about any of the men mentioned above, simply place their name into the search box featured in the top right-hand corner of any page on this website.
Very little is known about Sgt. Copeland and his involvement during the first Wingate expedition. It was recorded that he had made his way out of Burma in June 1943 via the Chinese province of Yunnan, which leans towards him being a member of No. 7 Column during Operation Longcloth. He is reported as present at an Indian General Hospital on the 15th June and was discharged three days later on the 18th June and returned to his previous RAF unit thereafter.
Cap badge of the Welch Regiment.
COSSLETT, L.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3959561
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The Welch Regiment att. The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 2
Other details:
Pte. Cosslett was a member of 142 Commando on Operation Longcloth and served with No. 2 Column in Burma, which was made up mostly by Gurkha soldiers. To read more about 142 Commando and their contribution to the first Wingate Expedition, please click on the following link: The Raising of 142 Commando
Southern Group crossed the Chindwin River on 15/16th February 1943 at a place called Auktang. Their orders were to march toward their own prime target, the rail station at Kyaikthin. They marched openly along well known local trails and paths and also received a large supply drop from the air, which must have announced their presence in the area to the Japanese. The decoy group were accompanied at this time by a Company of Sikh Mountain Artillery and a section of Seaforth Highlanders. This supplementary unit were to create a further diversion for Wingate by attacking the town of Pantha, alerting the enemy to the possibility that there might well be a full-scale re-invasion taking place. To all intents and purposes these tactics succeeded, allowing the columns of Northern Group to move unmolested to their own targets some miles to the north.
On the 2nd March, Columns 1 and 2 had reached the outskirts of Kyaikthin, Major Dunlop and No. 1 Column were given the order to blow up the railway bridge, whilst No. 2 Column under the command of Major Arthur Emmett along with Group HQ were to head on towards the rail station itself. What neither group realised was that the Japanese had by now closed in on the unsuspecting Chindits and lay in wait just a short way up the tracks. To make matters worse the two Gurkha columns had now lost radio contact. No. 2 Column and Group Head Quarters in the black of night stumbled into the enemy ambush which straddled both sides of the railway line embankment. Here is how Lieutenant Ian MacHorton, who was present that night recalled the moment the Japanese attacked:
We shuffled to a halt as the guides probed forward. There came the sound of just one bang up front, then an inferno of noise engulfed the world around me. There came the high-pitched staccato scream of a machine gun, then overwhelmingly many others joined in, the crash and ping of rifle bullets, the banging of grenades as the battle reached a fearful crescendo. Men and mules were lying, twisted and contorted, twitching and writhing, others were still erect, stark in the moonlight, heaving and jerking in the midst of this chaos. Then a sinister scuffling noise made by men of all kinds in close combat. The close combat of bayonet and kukri, the fanatical, personal slaughter with blood-dripping cold steel.
Pte. Cosslett survived the engagement at Kyaikthin and was one of the few men from No. 2 Column Commando Section to make it back to India in May/June 1943. It is likely that he dispersed with Major Dunlop's group after Kyaikthin and made the arduous journey back to Allied territory alongside the Gurkhas and Commandos of No. 1 Column.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including the nominal roll recording the men of No. 2 Column Commando and photographs of some of the other men who accompanied Pte. Cosslett in Burma. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3959561
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The Welch Regiment att. The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 2
Other details:
Pte. Cosslett was a member of 142 Commando on Operation Longcloth and served with No. 2 Column in Burma, which was made up mostly by Gurkha soldiers. To read more about 142 Commando and their contribution to the first Wingate Expedition, please click on the following link: The Raising of 142 Commando
Southern Group crossed the Chindwin River on 15/16th February 1943 at a place called Auktang. Their orders were to march toward their own prime target, the rail station at Kyaikthin. They marched openly along well known local trails and paths and also received a large supply drop from the air, which must have announced their presence in the area to the Japanese. The decoy group were accompanied at this time by a Company of Sikh Mountain Artillery and a section of Seaforth Highlanders. This supplementary unit were to create a further diversion for Wingate by attacking the town of Pantha, alerting the enemy to the possibility that there might well be a full-scale re-invasion taking place. To all intents and purposes these tactics succeeded, allowing the columns of Northern Group to move unmolested to their own targets some miles to the north.
On the 2nd March, Columns 1 and 2 had reached the outskirts of Kyaikthin, Major Dunlop and No. 1 Column were given the order to blow up the railway bridge, whilst No. 2 Column under the command of Major Arthur Emmett along with Group HQ were to head on towards the rail station itself. What neither group realised was that the Japanese had by now closed in on the unsuspecting Chindits and lay in wait just a short way up the tracks. To make matters worse the two Gurkha columns had now lost radio contact. No. 2 Column and Group Head Quarters in the black of night stumbled into the enemy ambush which straddled both sides of the railway line embankment. Here is how Lieutenant Ian MacHorton, who was present that night recalled the moment the Japanese attacked:
We shuffled to a halt as the guides probed forward. There came the sound of just one bang up front, then an inferno of noise engulfed the world around me. There came the high-pitched staccato scream of a machine gun, then overwhelmingly many others joined in, the crash and ping of rifle bullets, the banging of grenades as the battle reached a fearful crescendo. Men and mules were lying, twisted and contorted, twitching and writhing, others were still erect, stark in the moonlight, heaving and jerking in the midst of this chaos. Then a sinister scuffling noise made by men of all kinds in close combat. The close combat of bayonet and kukri, the fanatical, personal slaughter with blood-dripping cold steel.
Pte. Cosslett survived the engagement at Kyaikthin and was one of the few men from No. 2 Column Commando Section to make it back to India in May/June 1943. It is likely that he dispersed with Major Dunlop's group after Kyaikthin and made the arduous journey back to Allied territory alongside the Gurkhas and Commandos of No. 1 Column.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including the nominal roll recording the men of No. 2 Column Commando and photographs of some of the other men who accompanied Pte. Cosslett in Burma. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Henry Cotton in India in mid-1942.
COTTON, HENRY CAEMON
Rank: Captain
Service No: 134175
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 7 (Rear Base).
Other details:
Henry Cotton was a Geography graduate from Liverpool University before WW2 and undertook his officer's training at the OCTU based at Bulford in 1940. He was posted to the 13th Battalion the King's (Liverpool) Regiment during their coastal defence duties in 1940-41 and according to the battalion's war diary, became a platoon commander whilst the 13th King's were based at Colchester. He remained with the unit right through the period leading up to their posting overseas to India. He voyaged with the battalion aboard the troopship Oronsay and continued his service in India, where the King's performed garrison and internal security duties at Secunderabad in the first half of 1942. In May 1942, he and another officer, Captain R.E. Williams attended a tactical awareness course at Poona, before returning to Secunderabad to find that the battalion were once again on the move, this time to become the British Infantry element of Brigadier Wingate's new Long Range Penetration initiative.
Henry Cotton had a long-standing friendship with Leslie Cottrell, another officer that had seen service with the 13th King's from their early days in the United Kingdom. Both men were eventually allocated to No. 7 Column under the command of Major Kenneth Gilkes formerly of the North Staffordshire Regiment. It is from the memoir of Leslie Cottrell that we learned that Henry Cotton did not actually travel with No. 7 Column into Burma in February 1943. Instead, Henry was given the vital task of organising all of the supplies needed for the expedition and more importantly than this, arranging for these supplies to be dropped to the Chindit columns in the jungle of Burma, on time and in good order.
This is how Leslie Cottrell recalled Henry's role at rear base:
The Wingate expedition could never have taken place without the RAF and its Air Base at Agartala in Assam, for the RAF dropped supplies to our columns from Dakota and Hudson aircraft flying from this location. Henry Cotton was the 13th King's Quartermaster at Agartala and with many others, was responsible for getting supplies to the aircraft and then to the columns where they wanted it delivered. With seven columns operating inside Burma it was essential that our wireless communications were able to keep in touch, as the columns could be operating more than one hundred miles behind enemy lines.
Henry Cotton had many other duties back in India besides the organising of supply drops. He was also heavily involved in recording the casualties sustained by No. 7 Column during Operation Longcloth and writing up the reports and witness statements on the last known whereabouts of the lost and missing men. His administration duties continued after the battalion was re-located to the Napier Barracks in Karachi after the first Wingate expedition was officially closed. He was then employed in collating the missing lists for the expedition and re-organising the surviving men into new battalion companies. His signature appears upon a whole host of documents in reference to the missing men from Operation Longcloth and many other papers besides.
Henry Cotton also had the sad task of writing to the families of the men who had lost their lives on the first Wingate expedition. In August 1943, he sent one such letter to Mary Dwyer, the wife of Lance Corporal Maurice Dwyer of No. 7 Column, who had perished from exhaustion on the long march out of Burma via the Chinese province of Yunnan:
It is with the deepest regret that I write to inform you of the death of your husband. It is tragic that, having gone all the way through a hard campaign, he should have passed away after reaching safety. Your husband may have mentioned that he was in the Support platoon, and I am sorry to say that his platoon commander is missing. The commanding officer and all ranks in the battalion join me in tendering to you our most sincere sympathy to you in your sad loss. Captain H.C. Cotton, 13th Battalion, the King's Regiment.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story including some group photographs of the officers of the 13th King's including Henry Cotton. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. According to the 13th King's war diary, Henry Cotton was sent for repatriation to the United Kingdom from India on the 10th July 1945.
Rank: Captain
Service No: 134175
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 7 (Rear Base).
Other details:
Henry Cotton was a Geography graduate from Liverpool University before WW2 and undertook his officer's training at the OCTU based at Bulford in 1940. He was posted to the 13th Battalion the King's (Liverpool) Regiment during their coastal defence duties in 1940-41 and according to the battalion's war diary, became a platoon commander whilst the 13th King's were based at Colchester. He remained with the unit right through the period leading up to their posting overseas to India. He voyaged with the battalion aboard the troopship Oronsay and continued his service in India, where the King's performed garrison and internal security duties at Secunderabad in the first half of 1942. In May 1942, he and another officer, Captain R.E. Williams attended a tactical awareness course at Poona, before returning to Secunderabad to find that the battalion were once again on the move, this time to become the British Infantry element of Brigadier Wingate's new Long Range Penetration initiative.
Henry Cotton had a long-standing friendship with Leslie Cottrell, another officer that had seen service with the 13th King's from their early days in the United Kingdom. Both men were eventually allocated to No. 7 Column under the command of Major Kenneth Gilkes formerly of the North Staffordshire Regiment. It is from the memoir of Leslie Cottrell that we learned that Henry Cotton did not actually travel with No. 7 Column into Burma in February 1943. Instead, Henry was given the vital task of organising all of the supplies needed for the expedition and more importantly than this, arranging for these supplies to be dropped to the Chindit columns in the jungle of Burma, on time and in good order.
This is how Leslie Cottrell recalled Henry's role at rear base:
The Wingate expedition could never have taken place without the RAF and its Air Base at Agartala in Assam, for the RAF dropped supplies to our columns from Dakota and Hudson aircraft flying from this location. Henry Cotton was the 13th King's Quartermaster at Agartala and with many others, was responsible for getting supplies to the aircraft and then to the columns where they wanted it delivered. With seven columns operating inside Burma it was essential that our wireless communications were able to keep in touch, as the columns could be operating more than one hundred miles behind enemy lines.
Henry Cotton had many other duties back in India besides the organising of supply drops. He was also heavily involved in recording the casualties sustained by No. 7 Column during Operation Longcloth and writing up the reports and witness statements on the last known whereabouts of the lost and missing men. His administration duties continued after the battalion was re-located to the Napier Barracks in Karachi after the first Wingate expedition was officially closed. He was then employed in collating the missing lists for the expedition and re-organising the surviving men into new battalion companies. His signature appears upon a whole host of documents in reference to the missing men from Operation Longcloth and many other papers besides.
Henry Cotton also had the sad task of writing to the families of the men who had lost their lives on the first Wingate expedition. In August 1943, he sent one such letter to Mary Dwyer, the wife of Lance Corporal Maurice Dwyer of No. 7 Column, who had perished from exhaustion on the long march out of Burma via the Chinese province of Yunnan:
It is with the deepest regret that I write to inform you of the death of your husband. It is tragic that, having gone all the way through a hard campaign, he should have passed away after reaching safety. Your husband may have mentioned that he was in the Support platoon, and I am sorry to say that his platoon commander is missing. The commanding officer and all ranks in the battalion join me in tendering to you our most sincere sympathy to you in your sad loss. Captain H.C. Cotton, 13th Battalion, the King's Regiment.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story including some group photographs of the officers of the 13th King's including Henry Cotton. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. According to the 13th King's war diary, Henry Cotton was sent for repatriation to the United Kingdom from India on the 10th July 1945.
COULSON, ?
Rank: Private
Service No: Not known
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 7
Other details:
Pte. Coulson (first name unknown) served with No. 7 Column on Operation Longcloth under the command of Major Kenneth Gilkes. The column had acted as an over-arching unit in 1943, sometimes given the task of shadowing the Brigade Head Quarters and in close proximity to Brigadier Wingate himself, whilst on other occasions sent out to deal with small Japanese outposts or garrisons.
Coulson is mentioned in the column war diary for 1943 and also in the book Wingate's Lost Brigade, written by the author Phil Chinnery. After dispersal was called in late March 1943, Major Gilkes carried out his long term goal of vacating Burma via the Chinese border province of Yunnan. He had always planned to exit this way and had weighed up the pros and cons before the operation had begun. By moving through the borders of Yunnan instead of returning due west, he hoped to encounter far fewer Japanese patrols, also he knew he could probably count on the support of the Kachin and Chinese villages along the way.
The trials and tribulations of the operation in 1943 had already worn heavily upon the men of No. 7 Column and marching along the hill tracts of Yunnan tested these weary warriors still further. Eventually Gilkes' men met up with some Chinese Army units and were treated well by their new hosts.
From the book, Wingate's Lost Brigade as based on the extracts from 7 Column's War diary for the period:
The following morning Gilkes and the Chinese guerrilla commander discussed their options and decided that the best course of action was for Gilkes and a small support party to take the shorter route to contact the regular Chinese forces operating south of the Salween. Major Gilkes, Captain Blackburn and ten others left on 10th May to take the direct route to Lunghwankiang. The main body of the column under Captain Pickering would take the safer but longer route to the north-west via Fort Morton, Fort Harrison and Wawchon.
Gilkes and his party had not travelled very far when news reached them of a Japanese attack towards the Mamien Pass and they were advised to wait a couple of days until the Chinese had thrown them back. He sent Captain Blackburn and his escort back to rejoin the column near the headquarters of all the guerrillas in south-west Yunnan. Their commander was a veteran of seven years fighting against the Japs, and had been wounded four times in battle. His men offered the usual hospitality to their guests, although their peace and quiet was disturbed by two days and nights of mourning. A sentry had shot the husband of the cook when he failed to answer his challenge and the clanging of gongs and wailing of relatives kept the men awake.
By 23rd May, the column was reunited with its commander at Tantzu-Pa. A message had been sent to the nearest Chinese Divisional Headquarters and a couple of days later the reply came back that three officers should proceed to the headquarters and make arrangements for the movement of the rest of the column. Gilkes decided to take Major Petersen and Captain Cottrell with him and before he left he gave Commander Wong, the guerrilla commander, a present of 30 rifles, two tommy guns, a revolver, 1,500 rounds of ammunition and ten grenades. The old veteran was very pleased as his men only had one rifle between every six men. As his men were now under Chinese protection, Gilkes considered it only reasonable to help their new Allies in view of the food and assistance given to them. Before they departed the commander told them, 'We are glad to meet Allied Officers who neither have creases in their trousers, nor ask for beds on which to sleep.'
The journey was beginning to take its toll on some of the men and Lance Corporals Brown and Short, and Privates Allnutt, Dwyer, Rowley, Perrett and McArthur were left at Tantzu-Pa to recover. The next day Sergeant Thompson, Privates Coulson, Rubbock, Sykes and Thornton were left at Hou-Tien under Lieutenant Heald who himself was suffering recurrent bouts of fever.
On 29th May, the column, now 127 strong, arrived at Chiao-Tou where they met Captain Mah, an English-speaking officer with the 36th Chinese Division. His men appeared fit and determined and it was clear that the Chindits were now in safe hands. The following day they crossed the Mamien Pass. At 10,500 feet above sea level it was the stiffest climb and descent of the campaign, but the men did well, and billets and food were waiting for them at the end. On 31st May, they were ferried across the Salween River and the next day arrived at Wen-Shang, headquarters of a Chinese Cavalry Regiment, where they all received a shave and a haircut for the first time in months.
They left Waufangi at 0730 hours on 3rd June, and after a strenuous march of 32 miles they finally reached Paoshan at 1945 hours. They were greeted with flags flying and a band playing military music, and were lodged in the best building in town. They were given baths, new clothes and haircuts, and the Chinese General even advanced Gilkes enough money to pay his men. Then followed a grand feast, given by the General commanding Seventy-First Chinese Army.
The men began the last leg of their journey home on 5th June when they boarded lorries for a drive along the Burma Road to Kunming and thence to Yunani where the American Air Force offered to fly them to Assam at once. On 9th June, Major Gilkes stepped off the train at Manipur Road, heading for Brigade Headquarters, while the rest of his men carried on to Shillong for a well-deserved rest.
Sadly, not all the men left at Tantzu-Pa and Hou-Tien recovered from their ailments, with Maurice Dwyer and Frank Rowley both passing away at Tantzu-Pa. Although it is not officially recorded, it is presumed that the other soldiers mentioned above including Pte. Coulson did all recover at the Chinese borders and eventually returned to Assam aboard USAAF Dakotas.
Rank: Private
Service No: Not known
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 7
Other details:
Pte. Coulson (first name unknown) served with No. 7 Column on Operation Longcloth under the command of Major Kenneth Gilkes. The column had acted as an over-arching unit in 1943, sometimes given the task of shadowing the Brigade Head Quarters and in close proximity to Brigadier Wingate himself, whilst on other occasions sent out to deal with small Japanese outposts or garrisons.
Coulson is mentioned in the column war diary for 1943 and also in the book Wingate's Lost Brigade, written by the author Phil Chinnery. After dispersal was called in late March 1943, Major Gilkes carried out his long term goal of vacating Burma via the Chinese border province of Yunnan. He had always planned to exit this way and had weighed up the pros and cons before the operation had begun. By moving through the borders of Yunnan instead of returning due west, he hoped to encounter far fewer Japanese patrols, also he knew he could probably count on the support of the Kachin and Chinese villages along the way.
The trials and tribulations of the operation in 1943 had already worn heavily upon the men of No. 7 Column and marching along the hill tracts of Yunnan tested these weary warriors still further. Eventually Gilkes' men met up with some Chinese Army units and were treated well by their new hosts.
From the book, Wingate's Lost Brigade as based on the extracts from 7 Column's War diary for the period:
The following morning Gilkes and the Chinese guerrilla commander discussed their options and decided that the best course of action was for Gilkes and a small support party to take the shorter route to contact the regular Chinese forces operating south of the Salween. Major Gilkes, Captain Blackburn and ten others left on 10th May to take the direct route to Lunghwankiang. The main body of the column under Captain Pickering would take the safer but longer route to the north-west via Fort Morton, Fort Harrison and Wawchon.
Gilkes and his party had not travelled very far when news reached them of a Japanese attack towards the Mamien Pass and they were advised to wait a couple of days until the Chinese had thrown them back. He sent Captain Blackburn and his escort back to rejoin the column near the headquarters of all the guerrillas in south-west Yunnan. Their commander was a veteran of seven years fighting against the Japs, and had been wounded four times in battle. His men offered the usual hospitality to their guests, although their peace and quiet was disturbed by two days and nights of mourning. A sentry had shot the husband of the cook when he failed to answer his challenge and the clanging of gongs and wailing of relatives kept the men awake.
By 23rd May, the column was reunited with its commander at Tantzu-Pa. A message had been sent to the nearest Chinese Divisional Headquarters and a couple of days later the reply came back that three officers should proceed to the headquarters and make arrangements for the movement of the rest of the column. Gilkes decided to take Major Petersen and Captain Cottrell with him and before he left he gave Commander Wong, the guerrilla commander, a present of 30 rifles, two tommy guns, a revolver, 1,500 rounds of ammunition and ten grenades. The old veteran was very pleased as his men only had one rifle between every six men. As his men were now under Chinese protection, Gilkes considered it only reasonable to help their new Allies in view of the food and assistance given to them. Before they departed the commander told them, 'We are glad to meet Allied Officers who neither have creases in their trousers, nor ask for beds on which to sleep.'
The journey was beginning to take its toll on some of the men and Lance Corporals Brown and Short, and Privates Allnutt, Dwyer, Rowley, Perrett and McArthur were left at Tantzu-Pa to recover. The next day Sergeant Thompson, Privates Coulson, Rubbock, Sykes and Thornton were left at Hou-Tien under Lieutenant Heald who himself was suffering recurrent bouts of fever.
On 29th May, the column, now 127 strong, arrived at Chiao-Tou where they met Captain Mah, an English-speaking officer with the 36th Chinese Division. His men appeared fit and determined and it was clear that the Chindits were now in safe hands. The following day they crossed the Mamien Pass. At 10,500 feet above sea level it was the stiffest climb and descent of the campaign, but the men did well, and billets and food were waiting for them at the end. On 31st May, they were ferried across the Salween River and the next day arrived at Wen-Shang, headquarters of a Chinese Cavalry Regiment, where they all received a shave and a haircut for the first time in months.
They left Waufangi at 0730 hours on 3rd June, and after a strenuous march of 32 miles they finally reached Paoshan at 1945 hours. They were greeted with flags flying and a band playing military music, and were lodged in the best building in town. They were given baths, new clothes and haircuts, and the Chinese General even advanced Gilkes enough money to pay his men. Then followed a grand feast, given by the General commanding Seventy-First Chinese Army.
The men began the last leg of their journey home on 5th June when they boarded lorries for a drive along the Burma Road to Kunming and thence to Yunani where the American Air Force offered to fly them to Assam at once. On 9th June, Major Gilkes stepped off the train at Manipur Road, heading for Brigade Headquarters, while the rest of his men carried on to Shillong for a well-deserved rest.
Sadly, not all the men left at Tantzu-Pa and Hou-Tien recovered from their ailments, with Maurice Dwyer and Frank Rowley both passing away at Tantzu-Pa. Although it is not officially recorded, it is presumed that the other soldiers mentioned above including Pte. Coulson did all recover at the Chinese borders and eventually returned to Assam aboard USAAF Dakotas.
The war diary page showing No. 7 Column's advance through the Chinese borders and mention of Pte. Coulson.
COWPER, ALFRED WILLIAM NOEL
Rank: Lieutenant
Service No: 162340
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: N/A
Other details:
Noel Cowper had been a qualified solicitor before WW2 began and was commissioned into the King's Regiment on the 14th January 1941 and joined the 13th Battalion the same month at Felixstowe, where the unit were performing defence duties along the coastline of south-east England. Lt. Cowper remained with the battalion throughout 1941 and voyaged with them aboard the troopship Oronsay to India in December that year.
He served with the 13th King's at Secunderabad, where the battalion carried out garrison and internal security duties up until June 1942, when they moved en masse to Saugor to commence their Chindit training. The battalion war diary for 1942 (June) remarks that the now Captain Cowper was in charge of arranging transport for the transfer of A Company from Secunderabad to the Patharia Camp in the Central Provinces of India. However, another entry in the same diary suggests that Captain Cowper was about to leave the 13th King's and take up a new role at Southern Area Command (Bangalore). This transfer was confirmed in the private memoir of Captain Leslie Cottrell (No. 7 Column Adjutant), where he remarked:
Soon after arriving at Secunderabad with the 13th King's, Noel Cowper had been posted to Southern Command Head Quarters as GSO1 and with the new rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He had been a highly-qualified solicitor before the war and he eventually became part of Mountbatten's team at SEAC relaying signals and important messages to and fro Bangalore and Kandy, Mountbatten's HQ at that time.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to Noel Cowper and his time with the 13th King's during WW2. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Lieutenant
Service No: 162340
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: N/A
Other details:
Noel Cowper had been a qualified solicitor before WW2 began and was commissioned into the King's Regiment on the 14th January 1941 and joined the 13th Battalion the same month at Felixstowe, where the unit were performing defence duties along the coastline of south-east England. Lt. Cowper remained with the battalion throughout 1941 and voyaged with them aboard the troopship Oronsay to India in December that year.
He served with the 13th King's at Secunderabad, where the battalion carried out garrison and internal security duties up until June 1942, when they moved en masse to Saugor to commence their Chindit training. The battalion war diary for 1942 (June) remarks that the now Captain Cowper was in charge of arranging transport for the transfer of A Company from Secunderabad to the Patharia Camp in the Central Provinces of India. However, another entry in the same diary suggests that Captain Cowper was about to leave the 13th King's and take up a new role at Southern Area Command (Bangalore). This transfer was confirmed in the private memoir of Captain Leslie Cottrell (No. 7 Column Adjutant), where he remarked:
Soon after arriving at Secunderabad with the 13th King's, Noel Cowper had been posted to Southern Command Head Quarters as GSO1 and with the new rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He had been a highly-qualified solicitor before the war and he eventually became part of Mountbatten's team at SEAC relaying signals and important messages to and fro Bangalore and Kandy, Mountbatten's HQ at that time.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to Noel Cowper and his time with the 13th King's during WW2. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
CURRY, THOMAS
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 3781650
Date of Death: 30/04/1943
Age: 31
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2507779/curry,-thomas/#&gid=null&pid=1
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
Thomas Curry was born on the 2nd January 1912 and was the son of James Alexander and Annie Curry from Manchester in Lancashire. According to the details on the 1939 Register, Thomas was living with his parents at 10 Moore Street in Manchester and worked as a general labourer.
Thomas enlisted into the British Army and was posted to the King's Regiment. It is not clear if he was posted immediately to the 13th Battalion of the regiment, but by mid-1942 he was in India and taking part in the training for the first Wingate expedition. At the Saugor training camp situated in the Central Provinces of the country, Thomas was allocated to No. 8 Column under the command of Major Walter Purcell Scott also of the King's Regiment.
Very little is known about Thomas and his experiences on the first Wingate expedition in 1943. A casualty report comprised on the 9th May 1944 by the Army Investigation Bureau simply states:
Officer commanding 13th King's (Colonel S.A. Cooke) replied that no further information seems to be available for L/Cpl. Curry or Ptes. Openshaw and Webster, all went missing at the same time and place.
On the missing in action listings for Operation Longcloth, L/Cpl. Curry is recorded as missing on the 30th April 1943 and last seen on the bank of a river at a place called Okthaik. No. 8 Column had broken up into smaller dispersal groups in mid-April and were heading back to India at the time of this action against the Japanese on the 30th April. Scott's men were crossing a fast flowing river (Kaukkwe Chaung) near the Burmese village of Okthaik when they were ambushed by a large Japanese patrol. As the non-swimmers were being helped across the water, several of the more experienced NCOs attempted to hold off the enemy with their machine guns and grenades. Sadly, many men were killed or wounded at this engagement and it seems likely that Thomas Curry was among them. To read more about the incident at the Kaukkwe Chaung, please click on the following link: Frank Lea, Ellis Grundy and the Kaukkwe Chaung
Nothing more was ever seen or heard of Thomas Curry and his grave was never found after the war was over. For this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. This memorial is located at Taukkyan War Cemetery located on the northern outskirts of Rangoon city and contains the names of over 26,000 casualties from the Burma campaign who have no known grave.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a photograph of Thomas' name upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 3781650
Date of Death: 30/04/1943
Age: 31
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2507779/curry,-thomas/#&gid=null&pid=1
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
Thomas Curry was born on the 2nd January 1912 and was the son of James Alexander and Annie Curry from Manchester in Lancashire. According to the details on the 1939 Register, Thomas was living with his parents at 10 Moore Street in Manchester and worked as a general labourer.
Thomas enlisted into the British Army and was posted to the King's Regiment. It is not clear if he was posted immediately to the 13th Battalion of the regiment, but by mid-1942 he was in India and taking part in the training for the first Wingate expedition. At the Saugor training camp situated in the Central Provinces of the country, Thomas was allocated to No. 8 Column under the command of Major Walter Purcell Scott also of the King's Regiment.
Very little is known about Thomas and his experiences on the first Wingate expedition in 1943. A casualty report comprised on the 9th May 1944 by the Army Investigation Bureau simply states:
Officer commanding 13th King's (Colonel S.A. Cooke) replied that no further information seems to be available for L/Cpl. Curry or Ptes. Openshaw and Webster, all went missing at the same time and place.
On the missing in action listings for Operation Longcloth, L/Cpl. Curry is recorded as missing on the 30th April 1943 and last seen on the bank of a river at a place called Okthaik. No. 8 Column had broken up into smaller dispersal groups in mid-April and were heading back to India at the time of this action against the Japanese on the 30th April. Scott's men were crossing a fast flowing river (Kaukkwe Chaung) near the Burmese village of Okthaik when they were ambushed by a large Japanese patrol. As the non-swimmers were being helped across the water, several of the more experienced NCOs attempted to hold off the enemy with their machine guns and grenades. Sadly, many men were killed or wounded at this engagement and it seems likely that Thomas Curry was among them. To read more about the incident at the Kaukkwe Chaung, please click on the following link: Frank Lea, Ellis Grundy and the Kaukkwe Chaung
Nothing more was ever seen or heard of Thomas Curry and his grave was never found after the war was over. For this reason he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. This memorial is located at Taukkyan War Cemetery located on the northern outskirts of Rangoon city and contains the names of over 26,000 casualties from the Burma campaign who have no known grave.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including a photograph of Thomas' name upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Cap badge of the Royal Artillery.
DAVIDSON, JAMES
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 912018
Date of Death: 16/04/1943
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery att. The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2508243/davidson,-james/
Chindit Column: 2
Other details:
Lance Corporal James Davidson was the son of James and Catherine Davidson from South Shields in County Durham. He had previously enlisted into the Royal Artillery (Field Regiment), before being sent overseas to India. After several weeks at the British Base Reinforcement Centre at Deolali, James was posted to the 13th King's on the 30th September 1942, joining 142 Commando at the Saugor training camp. After all Chindit training was completed, L/Cpl. Davidson was allocated to No. 2 Column and formed part of the Commando platoon for this unit under the command of Lt. William Nimmo formerly of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders.
On Operation Longcloth, No. 2 Column, a predominately Gurkha unit were given the onerous task of acting as a decoy for the rest of the Chindit Brigade. To read more about what happened to No. 2 Column, please click on the following link: Sgt-Major Bob Hobbs
James Davidson remained with his column throughout the expedition in 1943, but was lost on the return journey to India in mid-April. One of the other Commandos from No. 2 Column, Pte. William McIntyre, provided the following witness statement on the 26th July 1943 to the Battle Casualties and Missing Personnel Bureau:
In the case of 912018 L/ Cpl. J. Davidson.
I was a member of 142 Coy. attached to No. 2 Column during the Burma expedition in the early part of 1943. About the middle of April, I was with a party which was being led out of Burma by the late Major-General Wingate. About the 14th April, in the region of the Mu Valley, the above mentioned soldier fell out of the line of march. He was very weak and suffering from a sprained ankle. He has not been seen since. This happened around two weeks march east of the Chindwin River.
Signed: Pte. W. McIntyre, King's Regiment.
NB. In the book, Safer Than a Known Way, by Gurkha officer, Ian MacHorton, there is mention of a Corporal from No. 2 Column, who meets up with Lt. MacHorton on the dispersal journey back to India in April 1943. The Corporal remains unnamed in the book, but is portrayed as a colourful character, full of charm and good humour:
The Corporal was a likeable character who seemed to know everyone in the column. The skin on his face and neck and arms, and of every part of his body that could be seen through the many rents in his tattered uniform, was burned so black by the sun, that he was darker even than a native Burmese. His battered felt hat had all, and more, of the quality of batteredness so much courted by the British soldier wearing the coveted bush-hat of the Burma Campaign. But although the bush-hat was designed specifically for keeping the sun out of the eyes, he insisted on wearing his so far back on his head, that it was difficult to see how it remained there at all. He was made for sunshine was that Corporal.
Sadly, the Corporal did not make back to India and was killed around the end of April 1943, whilst crossing the Mu River with Lt. MacHorton.
As we crossed the river the Corporal was shouting abuse at the Japs with almost gay abandon. The water now was only knee deep and less and less it retarded our frantic movement forward. The zip and whine of bullets from behind spurred us on. From ahead came the screech and crack of Jap machine-guns and rifles. The body of a British soldier swirled past me on the swift current, the water around him pink with his blood. A Gurkha in front of me slipped quietly into the water without a sound, but on we lurched in spite of the bullets.
Suddenly we were clear of the water and belting hell-for-leather up the sandy bank. The Corporal, less than six feet ahead of me, suddenly screamed in agony and somersaulted forward to lie kicking on the sand. Even had I the will to do so, I had no time to stop. I took a flying leap over his body, where a burst of light automatic fire had torn into him leaving blood gushing from his chest and throat.
We will never know for sure if the soldier mentioned in MacHorton's book is James Davidson, but there are a number of coincidences in regards to dates, location and Chindit unit, that all match up with Davidson's story.
To conclude this story, shown below is a gallery of images relating to James Davidson and his time with the Chindits in 1943. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 912018
Date of Death: 16/04/1943
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery att. The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2508243/davidson,-james/
Chindit Column: 2
Other details:
Lance Corporal James Davidson was the son of James and Catherine Davidson from South Shields in County Durham. He had previously enlisted into the Royal Artillery (Field Regiment), before being sent overseas to India. After several weeks at the British Base Reinforcement Centre at Deolali, James was posted to the 13th King's on the 30th September 1942, joining 142 Commando at the Saugor training camp. After all Chindit training was completed, L/Cpl. Davidson was allocated to No. 2 Column and formed part of the Commando platoon for this unit under the command of Lt. William Nimmo formerly of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders.
On Operation Longcloth, No. 2 Column, a predominately Gurkha unit were given the onerous task of acting as a decoy for the rest of the Chindit Brigade. To read more about what happened to No. 2 Column, please click on the following link: Sgt-Major Bob Hobbs
James Davidson remained with his column throughout the expedition in 1943, but was lost on the return journey to India in mid-April. One of the other Commandos from No. 2 Column, Pte. William McIntyre, provided the following witness statement on the 26th July 1943 to the Battle Casualties and Missing Personnel Bureau:
In the case of 912018 L/ Cpl. J. Davidson.
I was a member of 142 Coy. attached to No. 2 Column during the Burma expedition in the early part of 1943. About the middle of April, I was with a party which was being led out of Burma by the late Major-General Wingate. About the 14th April, in the region of the Mu Valley, the above mentioned soldier fell out of the line of march. He was very weak and suffering from a sprained ankle. He has not been seen since. This happened around two weeks march east of the Chindwin River.
Signed: Pte. W. McIntyre, King's Regiment.
NB. In the book, Safer Than a Known Way, by Gurkha officer, Ian MacHorton, there is mention of a Corporal from No. 2 Column, who meets up with Lt. MacHorton on the dispersal journey back to India in April 1943. The Corporal remains unnamed in the book, but is portrayed as a colourful character, full of charm and good humour:
The Corporal was a likeable character who seemed to know everyone in the column. The skin on his face and neck and arms, and of every part of his body that could be seen through the many rents in his tattered uniform, was burned so black by the sun, that he was darker even than a native Burmese. His battered felt hat had all, and more, of the quality of batteredness so much courted by the British soldier wearing the coveted bush-hat of the Burma Campaign. But although the bush-hat was designed specifically for keeping the sun out of the eyes, he insisted on wearing his so far back on his head, that it was difficult to see how it remained there at all. He was made for sunshine was that Corporal.
Sadly, the Corporal did not make back to India and was killed around the end of April 1943, whilst crossing the Mu River with Lt. MacHorton.
As we crossed the river the Corporal was shouting abuse at the Japs with almost gay abandon. The water now was only knee deep and less and less it retarded our frantic movement forward. The zip and whine of bullets from behind spurred us on. From ahead came the screech and crack of Jap machine-guns and rifles. The body of a British soldier swirled past me on the swift current, the water around him pink with his blood. A Gurkha in front of me slipped quietly into the water without a sound, but on we lurched in spite of the bullets.
Suddenly we were clear of the water and belting hell-for-leather up the sandy bank. The Corporal, less than six feet ahead of me, suddenly screamed in agony and somersaulted forward to lie kicking on the sand. Even had I the will to do so, I had no time to stop. I took a flying leap over his body, where a burst of light automatic fire had torn into him leaving blood gushing from his chest and throat.
We will never know for sure if the soldier mentioned in MacHorton's book is James Davidson, but there are a number of coincidences in regards to dates, location and Chindit unit, that all match up with Davidson's story.
To conclude this story, shown below is a gallery of images relating to James Davidson and his time with the Chindits in 1943. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
DAVIES, LEONARD
Rank: Sergeant
Service No: 5508138
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn. Formerly the Hampshire Regiment.
Chindit Column: Not known
Other details:
Leonard Davies' participation on Operation Longcloth is unclear. However, he was a member of both the Burma Star and Chindit Old Comrades Associations after the war and stated that his unit in Burma was the 13th Battalion, the King's Regiment. From his service number it seems likely that he served initially in the Hampshire Regiment, but he also states the Cheshire Yeomanry as his final Army unit. According to his Burma Star Association membership, he lived in St. Leonards-on-Sea (Sussex) and sadly his death was recorded in the obituary column of the Dekho magazine, Summer 1993 issue.
Rank: Sergeant
Service No: 5508138
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn. Formerly the Hampshire Regiment.
Chindit Column: Not known
Other details:
Leonard Davies' participation on Operation Longcloth is unclear. However, he was a member of both the Burma Star and Chindit Old Comrades Associations after the war and stated that his unit in Burma was the 13th Battalion, the King's Regiment. From his service number it seems likely that he served initially in the Hampshire Regiment, but he also states the Cheshire Yeomanry as his final Army unit. According to his Burma Star Association membership, he lived in St. Leonards-on-Sea (Sussex) and sadly his death was recorded in the obituary column of the Dekho magazine, Summer 1993 issue.
DAVIS, THOMAS VALENTINE
Rank: Lieutenant
Service No: 198180
Age: Not known
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: Unknown
Other details:
The photograph shown is that of 2nd Lieutenant Thomas Valentine Davis. It was taken in June/July 1942 at the Deccan Army College in Poona, India. Thomas Davis does not feature in the Officers' Returns for the 13th King's during the year 1942, but is stated as being from this unit on the reverse of the Deccan College group photograph. The group were on a tactical awareness course for junior officers and two other 13th King's officers were present, Henry Cotton and Raymond Williams. It is not known if Lt. Davis took part on Operation Longcloth, or whether he returned to the battalion after the above mentioned course.
Rank: Lieutenant
Service No: 198180
Age: Not known
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: Unknown
Other details:
The photograph shown is that of 2nd Lieutenant Thomas Valentine Davis. It was taken in June/July 1942 at the Deccan Army College in Poona, India. Thomas Davis does not feature in the Officers' Returns for the 13th King's during the year 1942, but is stated as being from this unit on the reverse of the Deccan College group photograph. The group were on a tactical awareness course for junior officers and two other 13th King's officers were present, Henry Cotton and Raymond Williams. It is not known if Lt. Davis took part on Operation Longcloth, or whether he returned to the battalion after the above mentioned course.
The Military Medal.
DAY, HUBERT HAZELWOOD
Rank: Corporal
Service No: 5576147
Age: 33
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn. Formerly the Wiltshire Regiment.
Chindit Column: 3
Other details:
From the book, Wingate's Raiders, by Charels J. Rolo:
The proudest Corporal in Wingate's force was thirty five-year old Harry Day, a life director of a large company from Muswell Hill in North London. These war-time men were Commandos and demolition experts, but not all of them were professional soldiers.
Hubert Hazelwood Day was born on the 11th January 1911 in the London Borough of Haringey. He enlisted originally into the Wiltshire Regiment at the outset of WW2 and then volunteered for special duties and joined the Commandos. On the 1st July 1942, Corporal Day, alongside eight other soldiers from the Wiltshire Regiment was posted to the 13th King's Liverpool Regiment, then based at Jubbulpore in India. The newly formed 142 Commando, now under the leadership of Major Mike Calvert of the Royal Engineers had been raised at Jubbulpore and was destined to become the commando element within Wingate's Chindit Brigade.
Harry Day was placed into the commando platoon led by Lt. J.G. Lockett formerly of the Seaforth Highlanders, with Sgt. P. Chivers of the Royal Engineers as his second in command. This platoon would be allocated to No. 3 Column on Operation Longcloth, again led by Major Calvert and were responsible for the demolitions of the Mandalay-Myitkhina railway at Nankan.
From the book, Wingate's Raiders:
Nankan station was completely deserted when 3 Column arrived. All around were scattered teak logs and other debris from the 1942 retreat; magazine pouches, cans, smashed equipment and one rusty crippled jeep. On a siding stood trucks riddled with bullet-holes and a blown up locomotive rested grotesquely on its side. The station was situated in a small area of completely open ground. Two hundred yards north of it, surrounded by jungle palms, was a Burmese village. The Japanese were based in some strength at Indaw, twenty-five miles to the north and Wuntho, ten miles to the south. The new motor road from Indaw to Wuntho cut across the railway line just beside the station. Calvert fixed a rendezvous several miles to the south-east of the railway, then set his men to the demolitions.
Corporal Day was tasked with blowing a steel-girder bridge at Nankan and had to complete this work whilst under fire from the enemy, who had travelled up to meet the Chindits from their garrison at Wuntho. After nearly four hours of work, the demolition groups had destroyed six miles of the railway line and three bridges. Calvert called for dispersal and the various groups moved away from the village at Nankan and headed for their rendezvous location to the south-east.
To read more about another 3 Column Commando present at Nankan, please click on the following link: Pte. Daniel Burns
Rank: Corporal
Service No: 5576147
Age: 33
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn. Formerly the Wiltshire Regiment.
Chindit Column: 3
Other details:
From the book, Wingate's Raiders, by Charels J. Rolo:
The proudest Corporal in Wingate's force was thirty five-year old Harry Day, a life director of a large company from Muswell Hill in North London. These war-time men were Commandos and demolition experts, but not all of them were professional soldiers.
Hubert Hazelwood Day was born on the 11th January 1911 in the London Borough of Haringey. He enlisted originally into the Wiltshire Regiment at the outset of WW2 and then volunteered for special duties and joined the Commandos. On the 1st July 1942, Corporal Day, alongside eight other soldiers from the Wiltshire Regiment was posted to the 13th King's Liverpool Regiment, then based at Jubbulpore in India. The newly formed 142 Commando, now under the leadership of Major Mike Calvert of the Royal Engineers had been raised at Jubbulpore and was destined to become the commando element within Wingate's Chindit Brigade.
Harry Day was placed into the commando platoon led by Lt. J.G. Lockett formerly of the Seaforth Highlanders, with Sgt. P. Chivers of the Royal Engineers as his second in command. This platoon would be allocated to No. 3 Column on Operation Longcloth, again led by Major Calvert and were responsible for the demolitions of the Mandalay-Myitkhina railway at Nankan.
From the book, Wingate's Raiders:
Nankan station was completely deserted when 3 Column arrived. All around were scattered teak logs and other debris from the 1942 retreat; magazine pouches, cans, smashed equipment and one rusty crippled jeep. On a siding stood trucks riddled with bullet-holes and a blown up locomotive rested grotesquely on its side. The station was situated in a small area of completely open ground. Two hundred yards north of it, surrounded by jungle palms, was a Burmese village. The Japanese were based in some strength at Indaw, twenty-five miles to the north and Wuntho, ten miles to the south. The new motor road from Indaw to Wuntho cut across the railway line just beside the station. Calvert fixed a rendezvous several miles to the south-east of the railway, then set his men to the demolitions.
Corporal Day was tasked with blowing a steel-girder bridge at Nankan and had to complete this work whilst under fire from the enemy, who had travelled up to meet the Chindits from their garrison at Wuntho. After nearly four hours of work, the demolition groups had destroyed six miles of the railway line and three bridges. Calvert called for dispersal and the various groups moved away from the village at Nankan and headed for their rendezvous location to the south-east.
To read more about another 3 Column Commando present at Nankan, please click on the following link: Pte. Daniel Burns
Sketch of one of the steel girder bridges found at Nankan.
For his efforts on Operation Longcloth and in particular, his role during the demolitions at Nankan, Hubert Day was awarded the Military Medal.
In his own debrief papers, Lt. Lockett remarked:
Finally, I would like to record that throughout the Campaign the men worked very well as a team; their morale was always very high. They gained valuable experience and learnt many lessons in jungle warfare, besides learning the methods of fighting used by the Japanese, which will prove of great benefit when they go in again.
I should like to mention the following men: CSM Blain, Sgt. Chivers and Lance Corporal Cockling, who all did excellent work and showed real initiative and leadership throughout. Corporal Day, who showed great coolness and courage in blowing a bridge whilst under fire on the 6th March and Pte. Guest, who in the action at the Irrawaddy on the 14th March, went back and rescued several mules and other valuable equipment.
The award of the Military Medal:
5576147 Corporal Hubert Hazlewood Day of the Wiltshire Regiment (att. 13th King's Liverpool).
Action for which recommended:- Operations in Burma, February/May 1943.
On 6th March 1943, at Nankan Railway Station, with the assistance of one man only, Corporal Day destroyed a sixty-foot span girder bridge while a sharp engagement between our own troops and the enemy was in progress only a few hundred yards away. The whole of the time while he was thus engaged, he and his companion were in constant danger from the bullets flying around them; but he finished the work without interruption and proceeded further along the line to expend the remainder of his explosives. This he did, cutting the track in numerous places before reporting back to the Column. Throughout the rest of the campaign he continued to do good work. During the march back to India he fell seriously ill, and collapsed several times but with great and exemplary fortitude he persevered and eventually reached safety with his arms and equipment complete.
Recommended by- Major J.M.Calvert, D.S.O. R.E.
3 Column Commander,
77th Indian Infantry Brigade.
London Gazette 16th December 1943.
It is not known if Corporal Day recovered enough from his exertions on Operation Longcloth to go in again the following year. I have found no further mentions of him after the award of his Military Medal. After the war he returned to the Muswell Hill area of London, which sadly, is where he passed away on the 21st January 1994.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this short story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
In his own debrief papers, Lt. Lockett remarked:
Finally, I would like to record that throughout the Campaign the men worked very well as a team; their morale was always very high. They gained valuable experience and learnt many lessons in jungle warfare, besides learning the methods of fighting used by the Japanese, which will prove of great benefit when they go in again.
I should like to mention the following men: CSM Blain, Sgt. Chivers and Lance Corporal Cockling, who all did excellent work and showed real initiative and leadership throughout. Corporal Day, who showed great coolness and courage in blowing a bridge whilst under fire on the 6th March and Pte. Guest, who in the action at the Irrawaddy on the 14th March, went back and rescued several mules and other valuable equipment.
The award of the Military Medal:
5576147 Corporal Hubert Hazlewood Day of the Wiltshire Regiment (att. 13th King's Liverpool).
Action for which recommended:- Operations in Burma, February/May 1943.
On 6th March 1943, at Nankan Railway Station, with the assistance of one man only, Corporal Day destroyed a sixty-foot span girder bridge while a sharp engagement between our own troops and the enemy was in progress only a few hundred yards away. The whole of the time while he was thus engaged, he and his companion were in constant danger from the bullets flying around them; but he finished the work without interruption and proceeded further along the line to expend the remainder of his explosives. This he did, cutting the track in numerous places before reporting back to the Column. Throughout the rest of the campaign he continued to do good work. During the march back to India he fell seriously ill, and collapsed several times but with great and exemplary fortitude he persevered and eventually reached safety with his arms and equipment complete.
Recommended by- Major J.M.Calvert, D.S.O. R.E.
3 Column Commander,
77th Indian Infantry Brigade.
London Gazette 16th December 1943.
It is not known if Corporal Day recovered enough from his exertions on Operation Longcloth to go in again the following year. I have found no further mentions of him after the award of his Military Medal. After the war he returned to the Muswell Hill area of London, which sadly, is where he passed away on the 21st January 1994.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this short story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Royal Irish Fusiliers cap badge.
DELANEY, C.
Rank: Fusilier
Service No: 6978834
Age: Not known
Regiment/Service: 142 Commando, att. The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
C. Delaney (christian name unknown) was a soldier with the Royal Irish Fusiliers and a serving commando before the first Wingate expedition in 1943. He was posted to 142 Commando at the Saugor camp in the autumn of 1942 and allocated to the commando section for No. 5 Column under the command of Lt. David Whitehead, Royal Engineers. To read more about the Commando Platoon for No. 5 Column during Operation Longcloth, please click on the following link: Sgt. Frank Ernest Pester
Seen below is the nominal roll for the men of No. 5 Column commando. Many of these men are mentioned within the pages of this website, please enter any name in the search box found in the top right-hand corner of any page.
Rank: Fusilier
Service No: 6978834
Age: Not known
Regiment/Service: 142 Commando, att. The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
C. Delaney (christian name unknown) was a soldier with the Royal Irish Fusiliers and a serving commando before the first Wingate expedition in 1943. He was posted to 142 Commando at the Saugor camp in the autumn of 1942 and allocated to the commando section for No. 5 Column under the command of Lt. David Whitehead, Royal Engineers. To read more about the Commando Platoon for No. 5 Column during Operation Longcloth, please click on the following link: Sgt. Frank Ernest Pester
Seen below is the nominal roll for the men of No. 5 Column commando. Many of these men are mentioned within the pages of this website, please enter any name in the search box found in the top right-hand corner of any page.
No. 5 Column Commando.
Cap badge of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
DELOOZE, RICHARD
Rank: Private
Service No: 5119092
Age: Not known
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Richard Delooze enlisted into the British Army and was originally posted to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. In the spring of 1942, he and a large draft of men from his regiment were sent overseas to India and it was from here that they were transferred across to the 13th King's, joining the battalion on the 26th September at the Saugor training camp in the Central Provinces of the country. Richard was allocated to No. 5 Column under the command of Major Bernard Fergusson formerly of the Black Watch Regiment.
Pte. Delooze performed the role of a mule handler (muleteer) on Operation Longcloth and would have been involved at all of No. 5 Column's major engagements with the Japanese on the first Wingate expedition in 1943. These included the demolitions at the Bonchaung Gorge on March 6th, crossing the Irrawaddy River at Tigyaing, the ambush at Hintha village and the subsequent secondary ambush a few miles north of Hintha on the 29th March. Please use the text box located in the top right hand corner of this page to search for information about the places mentioned in this narrative.
It is my belief that Richard was lost to his column at the second Japanese ambush on the outskirts of Hintha on 29th March 1943. This is sadly not 100% confirmed, but 100 men from No. 5 Column became separated from the main body of troops that day. To read more about the ambush and what happened to many of the men afterwards, please click on the following link: Pte. Bernard Keelan
From a witness statement given by CQMS. E. Henderson after reaching the safety of Allied held territory, comes the following account of the period directly after the second ambush at Hintha:
I was with number five Column of the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade, during operations in Burma in 1943. The British Other Ranks mentioned below were in my dispersal group all the way through the campaign until we made contact with the enemy in a village in Burma called Hintha.
After the action in that village was over, these soldiers were still in my dispersal group, which was then commanded by Flight Lieutenant Sharp of the RAF. We halted and unsaddled our mules so we could go ahead much quicker.
After starting off from that halt, which was approximately 2 miles from Hintha, we were attacked by a Japanese patrol. This caused a gap in the column, but we kept marching for approximately another 4 miles and then stopped, we waited for these people to catch up, but they must have gone wrong way, because they did not rejoin us again. I saw all these men for the last time approximately two and a half miles north east of Hintha. They were all alive, and last seen on 28th March 1943.
Signed by, CQMS. E.G. Henderson, 13th Kings Regiment.
The men in question did not attempt to find or re-join any of Major Fergusson's three main dispersal parties after they were ambushed, but instead moved away from the area in small parties, where they rather fortuitously met up with Major Gilkes and 7 Column on the banks of the Shweli River. Many of these soldiers from No. 5 Column never made it out of Burma alive in 1943, some perished on the arduous journey north towards the Chinese Borders, while others became prisoners of war and died in captivity.
Here are the men that Ernest Henderson lists in his witness statement as being part of the ambushed group, which included L/Cpl. Thomas Jones also of No. 5 Column, whose last known whereabouts on Operation Longcloth would be described by Richard Delooze on his return to Allied held territory in 1943.
Rank: Private
Service No: 5119092
Age: Not known
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
Richard Delooze enlisted into the British Army and was originally posted to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. In the spring of 1942, he and a large draft of men from his regiment were sent overseas to India and it was from here that they were transferred across to the 13th King's, joining the battalion on the 26th September at the Saugor training camp in the Central Provinces of the country. Richard was allocated to No. 5 Column under the command of Major Bernard Fergusson formerly of the Black Watch Regiment.
Pte. Delooze performed the role of a mule handler (muleteer) on Operation Longcloth and would have been involved at all of No. 5 Column's major engagements with the Japanese on the first Wingate expedition in 1943. These included the demolitions at the Bonchaung Gorge on March 6th, crossing the Irrawaddy River at Tigyaing, the ambush at Hintha village and the subsequent secondary ambush a few miles north of Hintha on the 29th March. Please use the text box located in the top right hand corner of this page to search for information about the places mentioned in this narrative.
It is my belief that Richard was lost to his column at the second Japanese ambush on the outskirts of Hintha on 29th March 1943. This is sadly not 100% confirmed, but 100 men from No. 5 Column became separated from the main body of troops that day. To read more about the ambush and what happened to many of the men afterwards, please click on the following link: Pte. Bernard Keelan
From a witness statement given by CQMS. E. Henderson after reaching the safety of Allied held territory, comes the following account of the period directly after the second ambush at Hintha:
I was with number five Column of the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade, during operations in Burma in 1943. The British Other Ranks mentioned below were in my dispersal group all the way through the campaign until we made contact with the enemy in a village in Burma called Hintha.
After the action in that village was over, these soldiers were still in my dispersal group, which was then commanded by Flight Lieutenant Sharp of the RAF. We halted and unsaddled our mules so we could go ahead much quicker.
After starting off from that halt, which was approximately 2 miles from Hintha, we were attacked by a Japanese patrol. This caused a gap in the column, but we kept marching for approximately another 4 miles and then stopped, we waited for these people to catch up, but they must have gone wrong way, because they did not rejoin us again. I saw all these men for the last time approximately two and a half miles north east of Hintha. They were all alive, and last seen on 28th March 1943.
Signed by, CQMS. E.G. Henderson, 13th Kings Regiment.
The men in question did not attempt to find or re-join any of Major Fergusson's three main dispersal parties after they were ambushed, but instead moved away from the area in small parties, where they rather fortuitously met up with Major Gilkes and 7 Column on the banks of the Shweli River. Many of these soldiers from No. 5 Column never made it out of Burma alive in 1943, some perished on the arduous journey north towards the Chinese Borders, while others became prisoners of war and died in captivity.
Here are the men that Ernest Henderson lists in his witness statement as being part of the ambushed group, which included L/Cpl. Thomas Jones also of No. 5 Column, whose last known whereabouts on Operation Longcloth would be described by Richard Delooze on his return to Allied held territory in 1943.
|
3777480 Pte. F.B. Townson
4198452 Pte. J. Fitzpatrick 3186149 Corp. W. McGee 5119278 Pte. J. Donovan 3779346 Pte. D. Clarke 3779444 Pte. T. A. James 4202370 Pte. W. Roche 3779364 Sgt. R.A. Rothwell BEM. |
3777998 Pte. R. Hulme
4195166 Pte. E. Kenna 5114059 Pte. N.J. Fowler 3781718 Pte. E. Hodnett 5114104 Pte. J. Powell 3779270 Pte. W.C. Parry 5119069 L. Corp. T. Jones 3523186 Pte. F.C. Fairhurst |
Map showing the separation of No. 5 Column on the outskirts of Hintha village and the direction of the men thereafter.
On meeting up with No. 7 Column at the Shweli River near a village called Ingyinbin, the men from No. 5 Column were immediately allocated to the various dispersal groups which had already been pre-arranged by column commander Major Kenneth Gilkes before he had inherited these extra soldiers.
As mentioned previously, Pte. Delooze gave a witness statement on his return to India in the summer of 1943, in relation to his Chindit comrade, L/Cpl. Thomas Jones, also a former soldier with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Richard Delooze had remained with the larger dispersal party commanded by Major Gilkes and had been one of the fortunate Chindits to be flown back to India aboard United States Army Airforce Dakotas in June that year, taking off from a base in the Chinese province of Yunnan and landing at Dinjan in Assam. This however, was only after the group had endured an arduous and painstaking march of almost 500 miles through the Kachin Hills and out through the Chinese borders to the town of Kunming.
Pte. Delooze recalled:
L/Cpl. Jones and myself were mule leaders in No. 5 Column of the Wingate expedition to Burma in 1943. After the battle of Hintha on the 28th March, we and others of our column became separated from the main body and joined No. 7 Column on the 29th March. We marched with No. 7 Column for several days and on or about the 5th April, it was decided that the body should break up into smaller parties. Up to that time L/Cpl. Jones and myself were together. I remained with the main Column Group (commanded by Major Gilkes) and L/Cpl. Jones was detailed to the party under the command of Lt. Campbell-Patterson. We were in the vicinity of the river Shweli, within seven or eight miles of Moyngin. This was the last time I saw L/Cpl. Jones and he was fit and well.
According to the 7 Column war diary, the date that the agreed dispersal groups separated from the main body of the column was on the 10th April, some five days later than suggested by Pte. Delooze. In any case, the party led by Lt. Campbell-Patterson's group did not fair well, and by the 18th May all men had either been killed, lost or fallen into Japanese hands. To read more about the fate of Lt. Campbell-Patterson and his dispersal party, please click on the following link and scroll alphabetically down the page: Roll Call A-E
Thomas Jones was captured by the Japanese at some point around the 18th April 1943 and taken down to Rangoon and imprisoned in Block 6 of the city jail alongside many other soldiers taken prisoner during Operation Longcloth. Thomas was given the POW 427 (shi-ni-shichi) and was required to recite this number in the Japanese language at each morning and evening roll call, known as tenkos at Rangoon. Sadly, Thomas Jones perished inside Rangoon Jail on the 25th February 1944, his cause of death is unknown, but is likely to have been a combination of exhaustion, malnutrition and possibly the effects of diseases such as malaria and dysentery.
He was buried in the first instance at the English Cantonment Cemetery, located in the eastern sector of the city, close to the Royal Lakes. All POW burials were recorded by the senior British officer at Rangoon and Thomas' grave was listed as being no. 156 at the cemetery. After the war, the Imperial Graves Commission moved all burials from the Cantonment Cemetery and placed them in plots at the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery and this is where Thomas lies to this day.
After recovering from his exertions on the first Wingate expedition in 1943, Richard Delooze rejoined the 13th King's who were now based at the Napier Barracks in Karachi. He remained with the battalion performing internal security and policing duties until his repatriation to the United Kingdom at the end of 1945. According to the records of the Burma Star Association, Richard became a member in 1962 and lived at that time in Wellfield Street in Warrington.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story including the original witness statement written by Richard Delooze about the last known whereabouts of L/Cpl. Thomas Jones on Operation Longcloth. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
On meeting up with No. 7 Column at the Shweli River near a village called Ingyinbin, the men from No. 5 Column were immediately allocated to the various dispersal groups which had already been pre-arranged by column commander Major Kenneth Gilkes before he had inherited these extra soldiers.
As mentioned previously, Pte. Delooze gave a witness statement on his return to India in the summer of 1943, in relation to his Chindit comrade, L/Cpl. Thomas Jones, also a former soldier with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Richard Delooze had remained with the larger dispersal party commanded by Major Gilkes and had been one of the fortunate Chindits to be flown back to India aboard United States Army Airforce Dakotas in June that year, taking off from a base in the Chinese province of Yunnan and landing at Dinjan in Assam. This however, was only after the group had endured an arduous and painstaking march of almost 500 miles through the Kachin Hills and out through the Chinese borders to the town of Kunming.
Pte. Delooze recalled:
L/Cpl. Jones and myself were mule leaders in No. 5 Column of the Wingate expedition to Burma in 1943. After the battle of Hintha on the 28th March, we and others of our column became separated from the main body and joined No. 7 Column on the 29th March. We marched with No. 7 Column for several days and on or about the 5th April, it was decided that the body should break up into smaller parties. Up to that time L/Cpl. Jones and myself were together. I remained with the main Column Group (commanded by Major Gilkes) and L/Cpl. Jones was detailed to the party under the command of Lt. Campbell-Patterson. We were in the vicinity of the river Shweli, within seven or eight miles of Moyngin. This was the last time I saw L/Cpl. Jones and he was fit and well.
According to the 7 Column war diary, the date that the agreed dispersal groups separated from the main body of the column was on the 10th April, some five days later than suggested by Pte. Delooze. In any case, the party led by Lt. Campbell-Patterson's group did not fair well, and by the 18th May all men had either been killed, lost or fallen into Japanese hands. To read more about the fate of Lt. Campbell-Patterson and his dispersal party, please click on the following link and scroll alphabetically down the page: Roll Call A-E
Thomas Jones was captured by the Japanese at some point around the 18th April 1943 and taken down to Rangoon and imprisoned in Block 6 of the city jail alongside many other soldiers taken prisoner during Operation Longcloth. Thomas was given the POW 427 (shi-ni-shichi) and was required to recite this number in the Japanese language at each morning and evening roll call, known as tenkos at Rangoon. Sadly, Thomas Jones perished inside Rangoon Jail on the 25th February 1944, his cause of death is unknown, but is likely to have been a combination of exhaustion, malnutrition and possibly the effects of diseases such as malaria and dysentery.
He was buried in the first instance at the English Cantonment Cemetery, located in the eastern sector of the city, close to the Royal Lakes. All POW burials were recorded by the senior British officer at Rangoon and Thomas' grave was listed as being no. 156 at the cemetery. After the war, the Imperial Graves Commission moved all burials from the Cantonment Cemetery and placed them in plots at the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery and this is where Thomas lies to this day.
After recovering from his exertions on the first Wingate expedition in 1943, Richard Delooze rejoined the 13th King's who were now based at the Napier Barracks in Karachi. He remained with the battalion performing internal security and policing duties until his repatriation to the United Kingdom at the end of 1945. According to the records of the Burma Star Association, Richard became a member in 1962 and lived at that time in Wellfield Street in Warrington.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story including the original witness statement written by Richard Delooze about the last known whereabouts of L/Cpl. Thomas Jones on Operation Longcloth. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Syd De Kantzow.
DE KANTZOW, SYDNEY HUGH
Syd de Kantzow was born on the 9th November 1914 in New South Wales, Australia. He learned to fly whilst living in the suburbs of Sydney in 1934 and aviation would become the defining aspect of his relatively short life. On the 4th June 1938, Syd had been flying his monoplane in the vicinity of Northbourne Avenue in Canberra and was later investigated for the offences of low and dangerous flying and landing a plane in a residential area. No further action was taken in relation to this incident.
As war clouds gathered in Europe, Syd along with several of his Australian contemporaries voyaged to England and joined No. 24 Communication Squadron RAF, which amongst other duties, was involved in transporting Bristol Bombers from the UK to destinations all over the European and North African theatres.
After a number of other RAF postings, in late 1941 Syd was seconded to the China National Aviation Corporation, known as CNAC. Here he piloted civil aircraft travelling between the various Chinese cities and other places such as Hong Kong, where in December 1941 he was involved in the evacuation of Chinese and European families in the face of the Japanese advance. In fact it was de Kantzow who first alerted CNAC of Japan's attack on Hong Kong, but his telephone report was not taken seriously by the aviation authorities in the first instance.
From the book, Trek Back from Burma, by Australian journalist, Wilfred Burchett:
Civilians were snatched away from Hong Kong under the very noses of the Japanese, by those tough and carefree pilots of CNAC. For four days and nights until the Japs were at the very edge of the Kai Tak Aerodrome, these pilots maintained a shuttle service between Hong Kong, Chungking and Namyung, the tungsten export aerodrome in Kwantung Province and the nearest airfield in Free China to Hong Kong. Australian pilot, Sydney de Kantzow made many trips during those times. He told me the story of one Chinese woman, who camped out at the field and attempted to stowaway in every plane before it took off. Several times she nearly got away with it, sitting quiet as a mouse in the darkest corner of the plane and mournfully unprotesting as she was inevitably turned out. He remarked that if she had simply stated that she belonged to one of the large families being evacuated, he would have let her stay on board.
De Kantzow often piloted the Chinese premier, Chiang Kai-shek during this period of the war and it is possible that he was in charge of the plane in which Orde Wingate met the Chinese leader and his wife, Madame Chiang in the spring of 1942, just prior to him forming the Chindits.
De Kantzow's most active role regarding the Chindits of 1943, was his involvement in flying the men from No. 7 Column back to India from the Chinese city of Kunming. 7 Column's commander, Major Kenneth Gilkes had decided to exit Burma via Yunnan Province and had marched his exhausted men northeast through the Kachin Hills and into China.
From another book, Wingate Adventure, also written by Wilfred Burchett:
On June 7th (1943), an American introduced himself to Major Gilkes as Major Clarke of the USAAF. He was astonished to find out that the British soldiers had marched out from Burma and offered them his transportation aircraft and a free flight back over the Hump to India. Within four hours of meeting Major Clarke, most of the men were back in India. The majority flew out in American Army planes, but Ken Gilkes travelled in a CNAC plane, piloted by Syd de Kantzow. The Australian pilot explained: When I heard about those signals and the British soldiers, I knew I just had to be in on whatever was going down.
Syd had been part of the crew for the first ever CNAC flight over the Hump on the 22nd November 1941. This was very much an experimental journey by Pilot, Captain Chuck Sharp's DC-3, as this new and extremely dangerous route had not yet been approved by the American Army Air Corps or the RAF. Syd also flew supply drops of rice and equipment to the Chinese Army in the area around Myitkhina and it was for these sorties that he was later awarded the Burma Star medal by the British.
From the book, An Airline at War by Robert L. Willett:
While flying CNAC #46 on the 13th February 1943, de Kantzow ran into bad weather and decided to return to Chungking. On the return journey, one of his engines caught fire and he was forced to land his plane on a sandbar in the Yangtze River. There were no casualties, but the river claimed the DC-2 before it could be salvaged. Later, it turned out that one of the passengers was Madame Chiang's niece who escaped her ordeal unharmed. So forever after, de Kantzow was a hero in the eyes of the Madame.
To read more about the war service of Syd de Kantzow and to view some wonderful photographs from his life in aviation, please click on the following links:
www.chingchic.com/sydney-hugh-syd-de-kantzow.html
cnac.org/dekantzow01.htm
Directly after WW2, Syd and his business partner, Roy C. Farrell, founded Cathay Pacific Airways on the 24th September 1946. Initially based in Shanghai, the two men eventually moved to Hong Kong and fully established the airline at this location. Legend has it that Farrell and a group of foreign correspondents thought up the airline's unique name in the bar of the Manila Hotel. The new company began to operate passenger flights to Manila, Bangkok, Singapore and Shanghai. Expansion was fast and, in 1948, one of Hong Kong's leading trading companies, Butterfield & Swire took a 45% share in the company. Syd left the company at this time and never really settled down into any one job up until his death in a motor-car accident in November 1957.
Seen below is a small gallery of images in relation to this story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Syd de Kantzow was born on the 9th November 1914 in New South Wales, Australia. He learned to fly whilst living in the suburbs of Sydney in 1934 and aviation would become the defining aspect of his relatively short life. On the 4th June 1938, Syd had been flying his monoplane in the vicinity of Northbourne Avenue in Canberra and was later investigated for the offences of low and dangerous flying and landing a plane in a residential area. No further action was taken in relation to this incident.
As war clouds gathered in Europe, Syd along with several of his Australian contemporaries voyaged to England and joined No. 24 Communication Squadron RAF, which amongst other duties, was involved in transporting Bristol Bombers from the UK to destinations all over the European and North African theatres.
After a number of other RAF postings, in late 1941 Syd was seconded to the China National Aviation Corporation, known as CNAC. Here he piloted civil aircraft travelling between the various Chinese cities and other places such as Hong Kong, where in December 1941 he was involved in the evacuation of Chinese and European families in the face of the Japanese advance. In fact it was de Kantzow who first alerted CNAC of Japan's attack on Hong Kong, but his telephone report was not taken seriously by the aviation authorities in the first instance.
From the book, Trek Back from Burma, by Australian journalist, Wilfred Burchett:
Civilians were snatched away from Hong Kong under the very noses of the Japanese, by those tough and carefree pilots of CNAC. For four days and nights until the Japs were at the very edge of the Kai Tak Aerodrome, these pilots maintained a shuttle service between Hong Kong, Chungking and Namyung, the tungsten export aerodrome in Kwantung Province and the nearest airfield in Free China to Hong Kong. Australian pilot, Sydney de Kantzow made many trips during those times. He told me the story of one Chinese woman, who camped out at the field and attempted to stowaway in every plane before it took off. Several times she nearly got away with it, sitting quiet as a mouse in the darkest corner of the plane and mournfully unprotesting as she was inevitably turned out. He remarked that if she had simply stated that she belonged to one of the large families being evacuated, he would have let her stay on board.
De Kantzow often piloted the Chinese premier, Chiang Kai-shek during this period of the war and it is possible that he was in charge of the plane in which Orde Wingate met the Chinese leader and his wife, Madame Chiang in the spring of 1942, just prior to him forming the Chindits.
De Kantzow's most active role regarding the Chindits of 1943, was his involvement in flying the men from No. 7 Column back to India from the Chinese city of Kunming. 7 Column's commander, Major Kenneth Gilkes had decided to exit Burma via Yunnan Province and had marched his exhausted men northeast through the Kachin Hills and into China.
From another book, Wingate Adventure, also written by Wilfred Burchett:
On June 7th (1943), an American introduced himself to Major Gilkes as Major Clarke of the USAAF. He was astonished to find out that the British soldiers had marched out from Burma and offered them his transportation aircraft and a free flight back over the Hump to India. Within four hours of meeting Major Clarke, most of the men were back in India. The majority flew out in American Army planes, but Ken Gilkes travelled in a CNAC plane, piloted by Syd de Kantzow. The Australian pilot explained: When I heard about those signals and the British soldiers, I knew I just had to be in on whatever was going down.
Syd had been part of the crew for the first ever CNAC flight over the Hump on the 22nd November 1941. This was very much an experimental journey by Pilot, Captain Chuck Sharp's DC-3, as this new and extremely dangerous route had not yet been approved by the American Army Air Corps or the RAF. Syd also flew supply drops of rice and equipment to the Chinese Army in the area around Myitkhina and it was for these sorties that he was later awarded the Burma Star medal by the British.
From the book, An Airline at War by Robert L. Willett:
While flying CNAC #46 on the 13th February 1943, de Kantzow ran into bad weather and decided to return to Chungking. On the return journey, one of his engines caught fire and he was forced to land his plane on a sandbar in the Yangtze River. There were no casualties, but the river claimed the DC-2 before it could be salvaged. Later, it turned out that one of the passengers was Madame Chiang's niece who escaped her ordeal unharmed. So forever after, de Kantzow was a hero in the eyes of the Madame.
To read more about the war service of Syd de Kantzow and to view some wonderful photographs from his life in aviation, please click on the following links:
www.chingchic.com/sydney-hugh-syd-de-kantzow.html
cnac.org/dekantzow01.htm
Directly after WW2, Syd and his business partner, Roy C. Farrell, founded Cathay Pacific Airways on the 24th September 1946. Initially based in Shanghai, the two men eventually moved to Hong Kong and fully established the airline at this location. Legend has it that Farrell and a group of foreign correspondents thought up the airline's unique name in the bar of the Manila Hotel. The new company began to operate passenger flights to Manila, Bangkok, Singapore and Shanghai. Expansion was fast and, in 1948, one of Hong Kong's leading trading companies, Butterfield & Swire took a 45% share in the company. Syd left the company at this time and never really settled down into any one job up until his death in a motor-car accident in November 1957.
Seen below is a small gallery of images in relation to this story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
DEVANNEY, JOHN
Rank: Private
Service No: Unknown
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: Not known.
Other details:
Corroboration of John Devanney's participation on Operation Longcloth comes from a news article in the Liverpool Sunday Post dated 17th December 1944:
Missing, Home for Christmas
After an absence of five years, in which he was twice posted missing, Pte. John Devanney, one of the first Chindits to return home to St. Helens, gave his parents a real Christmas surprise by walking into the house. The men on leave from Burma were not expected to arrive until after Christmas. Among other St. Helens men in Wingate's Follies, was Sgt. Holton, who provided emergency rations by skinning a buffalo with a safety razor blade.
Sgt. James Holton was also mentioned in another newspaper article on the 21st May 1943, when the Liverpool Echo posted the following bulletin:
Liverpool Ghosts: Local Men in Great Burma Exploit
Merseyside has a special interest in today's news of the Ghost Army which, under Brigadier Orde Charles Wingate, a relative of Lawrence of Arabia, has now returned to an Indian base after a three month wrecking expedition in Japanese occupied Burma. For a number of men from this area are members of what if commonly known as Wingate's Circus. As already detailed, the troops penetrated over 200 miles into Burma, crossing the Chindwin and Irrawaddy Rivers, and played havoc with Japanese communications in conditions of unbelievable hardship.
Among them was Sergeant James Creasy of Liverpool, who showed his toughness, while others lost weight, caught malaria and so on, by gaining himself an extra 10lbs! After living for many days on tea and bamboo shoots, one party killed a buffalo. Lance Corporal James Holton of St. Helens and two other men proceeded to skin the animal with double-edged razor blades, using nine blades to complete the operation. Lieutenant John Kelly of Sandbach in Cheshire, lived for five days on a banana leaf diet. To rescue the sick and wounded of one column, a transport plane landed on an open patch of ground half the length normally required for a take-off. Private Fred Nightingale of Lancaster was among the men rescued.
Rank: Private
Service No: Unknown
Age: Unknown
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: Not known.
Other details:
Corroboration of John Devanney's participation on Operation Longcloth comes from a news article in the Liverpool Sunday Post dated 17th December 1944:
Missing, Home for Christmas
After an absence of five years, in which he was twice posted missing, Pte. John Devanney, one of the first Chindits to return home to St. Helens, gave his parents a real Christmas surprise by walking into the house. The men on leave from Burma were not expected to arrive until after Christmas. Among other St. Helens men in Wingate's Follies, was Sgt. Holton, who provided emergency rations by skinning a buffalo with a safety razor blade.
Sgt. James Holton was also mentioned in another newspaper article on the 21st May 1943, when the Liverpool Echo posted the following bulletin:
Liverpool Ghosts: Local Men in Great Burma Exploit
Merseyside has a special interest in today's news of the Ghost Army which, under Brigadier Orde Charles Wingate, a relative of Lawrence of Arabia, has now returned to an Indian base after a three month wrecking expedition in Japanese occupied Burma. For a number of men from this area are members of what if commonly known as Wingate's Circus. As already detailed, the troops penetrated over 200 miles into Burma, crossing the Chindwin and Irrawaddy Rivers, and played havoc with Japanese communications in conditions of unbelievable hardship.
Among them was Sergeant James Creasy of Liverpool, who showed his toughness, while others lost weight, caught malaria and so on, by gaining himself an extra 10lbs! After living for many days on tea and bamboo shoots, one party killed a buffalo. Lance Corporal James Holton of St. Helens and two other men proceeded to skin the animal with double-edged razor blades, using nine blades to complete the operation. Lieutenant John Kelly of Sandbach in Cheshire, lived for five days on a banana leaf diet. To rescue the sick and wounded of one column, a transport plane landed on an open patch of ground half the length normally required for a take-off. Private Fred Nightingale of Lancaster was among the men rescued.
Sunday Post article, 17th December 1944.
DIXON GEORGE
Rank: Private
Service No: 3655164
Age: Not known
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
George Dixon was a soldier with No. 8 Column on Operation Longcloth and was a member of the Bullock Transport team in Burma. These animals were taken on the expedition to carry the larger more heavy loads during the first few weeks and then be eaten as supplementary rations once the columns had reached their first objectives behind enemy lines. Bullocks were extremely difficult animals to handle and were extremely slow on the march.
One of George Dixon's mates on Operation Longcloth was Sgt. Dennis Brown, and it is from Brown's personal diary that mention of Dixon's difficulties with his bullock are first brought to light:
On January 23rd, we set out at 12.30 hours and marched for over 14 miles. Things went slowly for us and late in the day Dixon's bullock did a runner. He had to go back over 2 miles to re-capture the beast, which meant we were last into camp at the end of the day. A week or so later, on the 3rd February, both Dixon and John Burnett went to Brigade Head Quarters to complain about their animals and hoped to exchange their bullocks for new ones. No change was granted.
Pte. Dixon had actually trained as a Bren Gunner in India and this is the role he undertook in No. 8 Column once all the bullock transport had been killed for food around four weeks into the expedition. After dispersal was called in late March 1943, Dixon in the company of Sgt. Brown were chosen as stretcher bearers, ordered to accompany a group of sick and wounded Chindits and to seek out a friendly Burmese village in which to leave these stricken comrades. After achieving this goal, the officer in charge of the stretcher party which included Dixon and Brown successfully made the previously agreed rendezvous with Major Scott at the Irrawaddy River and continued their journey out of Burma. The party were safely over the Chindwin River on the 13th May and were soon recuperating in the 19th Casualty Clearing Station at Imphal.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including photographs of Sgt. Dennis Brown and John Burnett. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Private
Service No: 3655164
Age: Not known
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
George Dixon was a soldier with No. 8 Column on Operation Longcloth and was a member of the Bullock Transport team in Burma. These animals were taken on the expedition to carry the larger more heavy loads during the first few weeks and then be eaten as supplementary rations once the columns had reached their first objectives behind enemy lines. Bullocks were extremely difficult animals to handle and were extremely slow on the march.
One of George Dixon's mates on Operation Longcloth was Sgt. Dennis Brown, and it is from Brown's personal diary that mention of Dixon's difficulties with his bullock are first brought to light:
On January 23rd, we set out at 12.30 hours and marched for over 14 miles. Things went slowly for us and late in the day Dixon's bullock did a runner. He had to go back over 2 miles to re-capture the beast, which meant we were last into camp at the end of the day. A week or so later, on the 3rd February, both Dixon and John Burnett went to Brigade Head Quarters to complain about their animals and hoped to exchange their bullocks for new ones. No change was granted.
Pte. Dixon had actually trained as a Bren Gunner in India and this is the role he undertook in No. 8 Column once all the bullock transport had been killed for food around four weeks into the expedition. After dispersal was called in late March 1943, Dixon in the company of Sgt. Brown were chosen as stretcher bearers, ordered to accompany a group of sick and wounded Chindits and to seek out a friendly Burmese village in which to leave these stricken comrades. After achieving this goal, the officer in charge of the stretcher party which included Dixon and Brown successfully made the previously agreed rendezvous with Major Scott at the Irrawaddy River and continued their journey out of Burma. The party were safely over the Chindwin River on the 13th May and were soon recuperating in the 19th Casualty Clearing Station at Imphal.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including photographs of Sgt. Dennis Brown and John Burnett. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Cap badge of the Worcester Regiment.
DODD, E.J.
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 5251717
Age: Not known
Regiment/Service: 142 Commando att. The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
L/Cpl. Dodd had begun his WW2 service with the Worcestershire Regiment and had become commando even before being posted to 142 Commando at the Bharon Camp in the Central Provinces of India during the autumn of 1942. He was later allocated to the commando section for No. 5 Column and served in Burma on Operation Longcloth with this unit. To read more about the commandos of No. 5 Column and their exploits on the first Wingate expedition, please click on the following link: Sgt. Frank Ernest Pester
Lance Corporal Dodd is mentioned on a couple of occasions in Chindit related writings. Firstly, in the pages of the 142 Commando war diary for 30th November 1942 in a directive from the officer in charge of the unit at that time, Captain H.J. Lord. In this movement order for the breakdown of the Bharon Camp, Captain Lord orders that:
The company HQ Cookhouse and canteen will move to Saugor last. L/Cpl. Dodd will be responsible for seeing that no stores are left in the bivouac area and that the area is cleaned and tidied before being left.
The full movement order made by Captain Lord can be viewed in the gallery of images below. The second mention of L/Cpl. Dodd comes in the form of a quote from the book, Prisoners of Hope, written by Chindit commander, Brigadier Mike Calvert in reference to the second Wingate expedition in 1944, Operation Thursday. In reading this quote from the book, in relation once again to food, it is to be assumed that L/Cpl. Dodd was also a participant on this expedition. To put the quotation into context, the men had been discussing what they had been missing from normal life during the expedition and the subject of wives and girlfriends had come up.
Brigadier Calvert: We unfortunately had met no sweet girls (in Burma) and were forgetting what they looked like. It had been fighting or preparing to fight, or resting after fighting, morning, noon and night and any spare time was spent in resisting the elements or discovering that one had another new disease. As I heard Pte. Dodd(s) of the Worcester Regiment, who was with me in the walk-out in 1943, say to his chum when they were lying hungry and tired in the heart of the jungle.
Dodd: If I saw the most beautiful blonde in the world, taking off her clothes, all naked and standing in front of me, giving herself to me; I would say, (waving his hand), Take her away and bring me a tin of bully beef!
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including the actual page from Calvert's book with the above mentioned quotation. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 5251717
Age: Not known
Regiment/Service: 142 Commando att. The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
L/Cpl. Dodd had begun his WW2 service with the Worcestershire Regiment and had become commando even before being posted to 142 Commando at the Bharon Camp in the Central Provinces of India during the autumn of 1942. He was later allocated to the commando section for No. 5 Column and served in Burma on Operation Longcloth with this unit. To read more about the commandos of No. 5 Column and their exploits on the first Wingate expedition, please click on the following link: Sgt. Frank Ernest Pester
Lance Corporal Dodd is mentioned on a couple of occasions in Chindit related writings. Firstly, in the pages of the 142 Commando war diary for 30th November 1942 in a directive from the officer in charge of the unit at that time, Captain H.J. Lord. In this movement order for the breakdown of the Bharon Camp, Captain Lord orders that:
The company HQ Cookhouse and canteen will move to Saugor last. L/Cpl. Dodd will be responsible for seeing that no stores are left in the bivouac area and that the area is cleaned and tidied before being left.
The full movement order made by Captain Lord can be viewed in the gallery of images below. The second mention of L/Cpl. Dodd comes in the form of a quote from the book, Prisoners of Hope, written by Chindit commander, Brigadier Mike Calvert in reference to the second Wingate expedition in 1944, Operation Thursday. In reading this quote from the book, in relation once again to food, it is to be assumed that L/Cpl. Dodd was also a participant on this expedition. To put the quotation into context, the men had been discussing what they had been missing from normal life during the expedition and the subject of wives and girlfriends had come up.
Brigadier Calvert: We unfortunately had met no sweet girls (in Burma) and were forgetting what they looked like. It had been fighting or preparing to fight, or resting after fighting, morning, noon and night and any spare time was spent in resisting the elements or discovering that one had another new disease. As I heard Pte. Dodd(s) of the Worcester Regiment, who was with me in the walk-out in 1943, say to his chum when they were lying hungry and tired in the heart of the jungle.
Dodd: If I saw the most beautiful blonde in the world, taking off her clothes, all naked and standing in front of me, giving herself to me; I would say, (waving his hand), Take her away and bring me a tin of bully beef!
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including the actual page from Calvert's book with the above mentioned quotation. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
James Duffy's Grave at Kirkee War Cemetery.
DUFFY, JAMES
Rank: Private
Service No: 3779261
Date of Death: 01/03/1943
Age: 22
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Grave Reference 2.H.4. Kirkee War Cemetery.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2190120/DUFFY,%20JAMES
Chindit Column: Not known.
Other details:
Pte. James Duffy was the son of Matthew and Margaret Duffy, of Liverpool. He was an original member of the 13th King's Liverpool Battalion that left British shores aboard the troopship 'Oronsay' on the 8th December 1941. According to the CWGC records James died on the 1st March 1943, this was just two weeks after the Chindits of 77th Brigade had crossed the Chindwin River. There is no information available for James in any of the books, diaries and papers that I have read in regard to Operation Longcloth.
Pte. James Duffy was buried at Kirkee War Cemetery, this has traditionally been the last resting place for men who died whilst training for the first Chindit Operation at places such as Saugor. It is possible that he had been injured whilst training, or contracted one of the many diseases prevalent in India at the time and had perished a few weeks after the main brigade had left for Burma. His gravestone at Kirkee bears this inscription, presumably chosen by his family back home in Liverpool:
Rank: Private
Service No: 3779261
Date of Death: 01/03/1943
Age: 22
Regiment/Service: The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 13th Bn.
Memorial: Grave Reference 2.H.4. Kirkee War Cemetery.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2190120/DUFFY,%20JAMES
Chindit Column: Not known.
Other details:
Pte. James Duffy was the son of Matthew and Margaret Duffy, of Liverpool. He was an original member of the 13th King's Liverpool Battalion that left British shores aboard the troopship 'Oronsay' on the 8th December 1941. According to the CWGC records James died on the 1st March 1943, this was just two weeks after the Chindits of 77th Brigade had crossed the Chindwin River. There is no information available for James in any of the books, diaries and papers that I have read in regard to Operation Longcloth.
Pte. James Duffy was buried at Kirkee War Cemetery, this has traditionally been the last resting place for men who died whilst training for the first Chindit Operation at places such as Saugor. It is possible that he had been injured whilst training, or contracted one of the many diseases prevalent in India at the time and had perished a few weeks after the main brigade had left for Burma. His gravestone at Kirkee bears this inscription, presumably chosen by his family back home in Liverpool:
Sweet are the memories ever kept, of one who we will never forget.
Australian Service Medal WW2.
EARDLEY, PETER
Rank: Captain
Service No: Unknown
Regiment/Service: Attached British Military Attache Office (China).
Chindit Column: 7 (Honorary).
Other details:
Peter Eardley had worked throughout the years of WW2 and before in China. He was, at the time of the first Wingate expedition involved in the transportation of supplies and personnel along the infamous Burma Road. In June 1943, he and his commander, Lt-Colonel Clarke bumped into Major Kenneth Gilkes and the survivors from No. 7 Column as they marched out from Burma through the hill tracks of Yunnan Province.
From the pages of the book, Wingate's Adventure, by W. G. Burchett, describing the moment the Chindits arrived at Kunming and the local Chinese attempts to feed them:
Feeding was a problem at first. Chinese restaurants are small, but arrangements were soon made placing 20 men here, a dozen there, until all were accommodated. The Tommies found then that Captain Petersen's stories of gastronomic delights along the Burma Road were not exaggerated. They learned what a Chinese cook can do, given a little pork, a few eggs and some soya bean sauce. Their attempts at handling chopsticks provided the best amusement in a generation for countless townsmen who crowded round the restaurants wide-eyed and open-mouthed to watch them eating.
Meanwhile, four big three-ton trucks (Chevrolet) had arrived from the British Military Attache's office in Kunming and with them Lt-Colonel Clarke, the Assistant Military Attache and the red-faced, big-hearted Peter Eardley, an Australian who had spent most of the last 25 years in China. Erik Petersen (7 Column) an Eardley both emitted howls of delight when they saw each other and were soon locked in each other's arms. The two men had known each other for many years. Eardley used to be well known along the Burma Road from Rangoon to Kunming for his unorthodox ways of slashing red tape and getting things done. He had filled one of the trucks with all his spare personal gear, clothes, shaving sets, soap and cigarettes etc. and these were generously handed around.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story including an extract from the 7 Column war diary describing the meeting of Clarke and Eardley on the 3rd June 1943. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Captain
Service No: Unknown
Regiment/Service: Attached British Military Attache Office (China).
Chindit Column: 7 (Honorary).
Other details:
Peter Eardley had worked throughout the years of WW2 and before in China. He was, at the time of the first Wingate expedition involved in the transportation of supplies and personnel along the infamous Burma Road. In June 1943, he and his commander, Lt-Colonel Clarke bumped into Major Kenneth Gilkes and the survivors from No. 7 Column as they marched out from Burma through the hill tracks of Yunnan Province.
From the pages of the book, Wingate's Adventure, by W. G. Burchett, describing the moment the Chindits arrived at Kunming and the local Chinese attempts to feed them:
Feeding was a problem at first. Chinese restaurants are small, but arrangements were soon made placing 20 men here, a dozen there, until all were accommodated. The Tommies found then that Captain Petersen's stories of gastronomic delights along the Burma Road were not exaggerated. They learned what a Chinese cook can do, given a little pork, a few eggs and some soya bean sauce. Their attempts at handling chopsticks provided the best amusement in a generation for countless townsmen who crowded round the restaurants wide-eyed and open-mouthed to watch them eating.
Meanwhile, four big three-ton trucks (Chevrolet) had arrived from the British Military Attache's office in Kunming and with them Lt-Colonel Clarke, the Assistant Military Attache and the red-faced, big-hearted Peter Eardley, an Australian who had spent most of the last 25 years in China. Erik Petersen (7 Column) an Eardley both emitted howls of delight when they saw each other and were soon locked in each other's arms. The two men had known each other for many years. Eardley used to be well known along the Burma Road from Rangoon to Kunming for his unorthodox ways of slashing red tape and getting things done. He had filled one of the trucks with all his spare personal gear, clothes, shaving sets, soap and cigarettes etc. and these were generously handed around.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story including an extract from the 7 Column war diary describing the meeting of Clarke and Eardley on the 3rd June 1943. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
EDMONDS (Corporal)
Rank: Corporal
Service No: Unknown
Regiment/Service: 13th Battalion the King's (Liverpool) Regiment.
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
Corporal Edmonds (christian name unknown) was a member of No. 8 Column on Operation Longcloth and is mentioned in the pages of the column war diary during the latter days of the surviving Chindits return journey to India in May 1943. He travelled as part of the larger dispersal group led by Major Scott, the commander of No. 8 Column and Lt-Colonel Cooke. Edmonds was set the task, alongside the Burma Rifles officer, Havildar Da Gyi of scouting ahead of the main group and securing the assistance of local villagers in finding food, safe harbour and boats to re-cross the Chindwin River. This they succeeded in doing around the 12/13th May 1943 at the village of Layshi on the Chindwin. Around 30 men were taken across, including Edmonds, Da Gyi, Major Scott and Lieutenants Carroll & Borrow.
Seen below is the page from the 8 Column war diary describing the events of mid-May 1943, including the one and only mention of Corporal Edmonds. Please click on the image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Corporal
Service No: Unknown
Regiment/Service: 13th Battalion the King's (Liverpool) Regiment.
Chindit Column: 8
Other details:
Corporal Edmonds (christian name unknown) was a member of No. 8 Column on Operation Longcloth and is mentioned in the pages of the column war diary during the latter days of the surviving Chindits return journey to India in May 1943. He travelled as part of the larger dispersal group led by Major Scott, the commander of No. 8 Column and Lt-Colonel Cooke. Edmonds was set the task, alongside the Burma Rifles officer, Havildar Da Gyi of scouting ahead of the main group and securing the assistance of local villagers in finding food, safe harbour and boats to re-cross the Chindwin River. This they succeeded in doing around the 12/13th May 1943 at the village of Layshi on the Chindwin. Around 30 men were taken across, including Edmonds, Da Gyi, Major Scott and Lieutenants Carroll & Borrow.
Seen below is the page from the 8 Column war diary describing the events of mid-May 1943, including the one and only mention of Corporal Edmonds. Please click on the image to bring it forward on the page.
Sgm. Noel William Edwards
EDWARDS, NOEL WILLIAM
Rank: Signalman
Service No: 2325793
Date of Death: Between 01/06/1943 and 30/06/1943
Age: 24
Regiment/Service: Royal Corps of Signals
Memorial: Face Panel 4, Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1292087/EDWARDS,%20NOEL%20WILLIAM
Chindit Column: Brigade Head Quarter's (unconfirmed).
Other details:
Signalman Noel W. Edwards was the son of William and Margaret Edwards from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He was part of a draft of Signalmen which joined Chindit training very late on in January 1943, just a few short weeks before the operation entered Burma. Noel does not feature in any of the books or war diaries I have read, but is listed as being part of Head Quarters, Indian Infantry Brigade, Signals (see image below). If this information is correct then it means that Noel formed part of the Signals section for Wingate's own Brigade HQ.
The date range given for his date of death on the CWGC website suggests that he was possibly a prisoner of war for a short time. The date, 1st June 1943 is common with those men who were held by the Japanese, but, who did not survive long enough to reach the final Chindit POW destination of Rangoon Jail.
Noel is remembered upon the Rangoon Memorial, the central feature of Taukkyan War Cemetery. This memorial was constructed to honour all those who fell during the Burma Campaign, but who have no known grave.
The photograph of Noel featured above, was taken from the Special Forces Roll of Honour website published by John Robertson. Here is the link to Signalman Edwards page: http://www.specialforcesroh.com/showthread.php?50555-Edwards-Noel-William
Below are some images in regard to Signalman Noel Edwards, please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Rank: Signalman
Service No: 2325793
Date of Death: Between 01/06/1943 and 30/06/1943
Age: 24
Regiment/Service: Royal Corps of Signals
Memorial: Face Panel 4, Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.
CWGC link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1292087/EDWARDS,%20NOEL%20WILLIAM
Chindit Column: Brigade Head Quarter's (unconfirmed).
Other details:
Signalman Noel W. Edwards was the son of William and Margaret Edwards from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He was part of a draft of Signalmen which joined Chindit training very late on in January 1943, just a few short weeks before the operation entered Burma. Noel does not feature in any of the books or war diaries I have read, but is listed as being part of Head Quarters, Indian Infantry Brigade, Signals (see image below). If this information is correct then it means that Noel formed part of the Signals section for Wingate's own Brigade HQ.
The date range given for his date of death on the CWGC website suggests that he was possibly a prisoner of war for a short time. The date, 1st June 1943 is common with those men who were held by the Japanese, but, who did not survive long enough to reach the final Chindit POW destination of Rangoon Jail.
Noel is remembered upon the Rangoon Memorial, the central feature of Taukkyan War Cemetery. This memorial was constructed to honour all those who fell during the Burma Campaign, but who have no known grave.
The photograph of Noel featured above, was taken from the Special Forces Roll of Honour website published by John Robertson. Here is the link to Signalman Edwards page: http://www.specialforcesroh.com/showthread.php?50555-Edwards-Noel-William
Below are some images in regard to Signalman Noel Edwards, please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Noel Edwards circa 1942.
Update 05/04/2019.
I was delighted recently to receive the following email and information in relation to Signalman Noel William Edwards:
Dear Steve,
Signalman Noel Edwards 2325793 was my uncle. I never found out much about him and what I do have is on my Ancestry website and you are very welcome to view the gallery I have placed on line. There are a couple of letters from either superior officers or comrades who served with Noel, as well as the King's message of condolence to the family and a formal acknowledgement from the Army that he was listed as missing.
Noel was a regular soldier and served in Palestine before the war. I now know he lied about his age on his Army attestation form and was actually only 23 when he died and not 24 as is stated on his CWGC details. I have only just read some personal letters which indicate where he was stationed and what he was doing: February 1942-volunteered to train as a parachutist. September 1942-unable to write home, having been in Burma for three months, playing hide and seek with the Japanese. December 1942-unable to write home, due to being away on a job of work. Before this he had been serving with the 50th (P) Brigade, Signals Section in India generally, including postings in Delhi and on the North West Frontier.
I visited the National Arboretum in 2014 and I found the basic information for Noel within about 10 minutes of searching through the FEPOW building. I know that Noel was in Palestine in 1939 as there is a note on the back of one of his photographs and wonder if there was any connection in moving to Burma, with Wingate having been in Palestine at the same time? Not a personal connection necessarily, but more one of groups or units moving with a leader.
Continuing to look through your website I notice that John Robertson (Special Forces website) has used a couple of the photographs that I provided. I am glad that my late uncle (who I never met) is being remembered so appropriately. Hopefully some of my paperwork and correspondence may be of use to you and thank you for shining some light on a missing member of my family.
Best Regards, Noel Edwards.
Seen below is another gallery of images in relation to Signalman Noel William Edwards, including his Army condolence medal slip. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
I was delighted recently to receive the following email and information in relation to Signalman Noel William Edwards:
Dear Steve,
Signalman Noel Edwards 2325793 was my uncle. I never found out much about him and what I do have is on my Ancestry website and you are very welcome to view the gallery I have placed on line. There are a couple of letters from either superior officers or comrades who served with Noel, as well as the King's message of condolence to the family and a formal acknowledgement from the Army that he was listed as missing.
Noel was a regular soldier and served in Palestine before the war. I now know he lied about his age on his Army attestation form and was actually only 23 when he died and not 24 as is stated on his CWGC details. I have only just read some personal letters which indicate where he was stationed and what he was doing: February 1942-volunteered to train as a parachutist. September 1942-unable to write home, having been in Burma for three months, playing hide and seek with the Japanese. December 1942-unable to write home, due to being away on a job of work. Before this he had been serving with the 50th (P) Brigade, Signals Section in India generally, including postings in Delhi and on the North West Frontier.
I visited the National Arboretum in 2014 and I found the basic information for Noel within about 10 minutes of searching through the FEPOW building. I know that Noel was in Palestine in 1939 as there is a note on the back of one of his photographs and wonder if there was any connection in moving to Burma, with Wingate having been in Palestine at the same time? Not a personal connection necessarily, but more one of groups or units moving with a leader.
Continuing to look through your website I notice that John Robertson (Special Forces website) has used a couple of the photographs that I provided. I am glad that my late uncle (who I never met) is being remembered so appropriately. Hopefully some of my paperwork and correspondence may be of use to you and thank you for shining some light on a missing member of my family.
Best Regards, Noel Edwards.
Seen below is another gallery of images in relation to Signalman Noel William Edwards, including his Army condolence medal slip. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Seen below is a transcription of a letter from the 50th (P) Brigade, Signals Section (India Command) dated 23rd August 1943 and addressed to Noel's parents:
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Edwards,
May I take this opportunity of informing you how Noel came to be reported missing. Noel and a friend of his volunteered for an unknown mission. We subsequently got to know that they went with the first Wingate expedition into Burma.
The expedition did a fine job of work, Noel and his friend playing a big part in maintaining communication with India. They did very well and were a credit to the section and as Noel's commanding officer I am very proud of him. The whole expedition have not yet returned, with some men coming out in twos and threes and there is still some hope of them returning yet.
When I do receive definite news in reference to Noel, I will let you know immediately. There is also a possibility that Noel may be a prisoner of war, in which case I will send a cablegram as soon as this is confirmed. Please don't give up all hope. It is no use saying don't worry, because I know what it is like being uncertain as to what has really happened. Here's hoping for some good news soon.
Yours sincerely, Major E.J. Buirski (RCOS).
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Edwards,
May I take this opportunity of informing you how Noel came to be reported missing. Noel and a friend of his volunteered for an unknown mission. We subsequently got to know that they went with the first Wingate expedition into Burma.
The expedition did a fine job of work, Noel and his friend playing a big part in maintaining communication with India. They did very well and were a credit to the section and as Noel's commanding officer I am very proud of him. The whole expedition have not yet returned, with some men coming out in twos and threes and there is still some hope of them returning yet.
When I do receive definite news in reference to Noel, I will let you know immediately. There is also a possibility that Noel may be a prisoner of war, in which case I will send a cablegram as soon as this is confirmed. Please don't give up all hope. It is no use saying don't worry, because I know what it is like being uncertain as to what has really happened. Here's hoping for some good news soon.
Yours sincerely, Major E.J. Buirski (RCOS).
ELLIS, JOHN
Rank: Private
Service No: 3779321
Date of Death: 05/10/1943
Age: 32
Regiment/Service: 13th Battalion, the King's (Liverpool) Regiment.
Memorial: Grave 6.F.1 Rangoon War Cemetery
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2259924/john-ellis/
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
John Ellis was the son of Jane Ellis from Trawsfynydd in North Wales. Pte. Ellis was allocated to No. 5 Column on Operation Longcloth under the command of Major Bernard Fergusson, formerly of the Black Watch Regiment. Very little is known about this soldier's Chindit journey in 1943, but it is likely that he was lost to his column on the 29th March, when No. 5 Column were ambushed by the Japanese on their march away from the village of Hintha. Around 100 men were separated from 5 Column that evening and many of these were later picked up by No. 7 Column a few miles to the east on the banks of the Shweli River.
What is known, is that John Ellis became a prisoner of war after dispersing with No. 7 Column and was eventually sent to Rangoon Jail, where he joined the other Chindit prisoners in Block 6 of the prison. John was given the POW number 553 at Rangoon, but sadly perished inside the jail on the 5th October 1943 and was buried in the first instance at the English Cantonment Cemetery situated on the eastern outskirts of the city. Unfortunately, there is no POW index card for John Ellis to tell us exactly how he died, but we do know from other records that he was buried in grave no. 74 at the Cantonment Cemetery.
Later, after the war was over, the Imperial War Graves Commission brought all British graves from the Cantonment Cemetery over to the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery. John Ellis was re-buried in grave 6.F.1 on the 14th June 1946, alongside many of his Chindit comrades and the family chose the following epitaph for his plaque:
Rank: Private
Service No: 3779321
Date of Death: 05/10/1943
Age: 32
Regiment/Service: 13th Battalion, the King's (Liverpool) Regiment.
Memorial: Grave 6.F.1 Rangoon War Cemetery
CWGC link: www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2259924/john-ellis/
Chindit Column: 5
Other details:
John Ellis was the son of Jane Ellis from Trawsfynydd in North Wales. Pte. Ellis was allocated to No. 5 Column on Operation Longcloth under the command of Major Bernard Fergusson, formerly of the Black Watch Regiment. Very little is known about this soldier's Chindit journey in 1943, but it is likely that he was lost to his column on the 29th March, when No. 5 Column were ambushed by the Japanese on their march away from the village of Hintha. Around 100 men were separated from 5 Column that evening and many of these were later picked up by No. 7 Column a few miles to the east on the banks of the Shweli River.
What is known, is that John Ellis became a prisoner of war after dispersing with No. 7 Column and was eventually sent to Rangoon Jail, where he joined the other Chindit prisoners in Block 6 of the prison. John was given the POW number 553 at Rangoon, but sadly perished inside the jail on the 5th October 1943 and was buried in the first instance at the English Cantonment Cemetery situated on the eastern outskirts of the city. Unfortunately, there is no POW index card for John Ellis to tell us exactly how he died, but we do know from other records that he was buried in grave no. 74 at the Cantonment Cemetery.
Later, after the war was over, the Imperial War Graves Commission brought all British graves from the Cantonment Cemetery over to the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery. John Ellis was re-buried in grave 6.F.1 on the 14th June 1946, alongside many of his Chindit comrades and the family chose the following epitaph for his plaque:
TREASURED MEMORIES HOLD HIM DEAR AND WILL WHILE LIFE SHALL LAST
Pte. John Ellis is also remembered upon his local war memorial back home in Trawsfynydd. Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to this story, including photographs of the Trawsfynydd War Memorial and John's grave plaque at Rangoon War Cemetery. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. To learn more about the Trawsfynydd War Memorial, please click on the following link to the excellent website created by Steve John: ww1.wales
