Sergeant John Edward Bridgeman
John Edward Bridgeman, September 1940.
3781679 Sergeant John Edward Bridgeman was the husband of Emily Bridgeman, née Nuttall from Old Trafford in Manchester. In civilian life John had worked as a stonemason and had to provide for his family from an early age, due to the loss of his father in the Great War.
Sergeant Bridgeman had been with the 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment from the unit's formation in late summer of 1940. He was one of the original Kingsmen that voyaged to India aboard the troopship 'Oronsay', leaving Liverpool Docks on the 8th December 1941. He was a member of D' Company within the battalion, which on transferring to the Chindits in June 1942, automatically placed him into Chindit Column 8 under the command of Major Walter Purcell Scott.
To view John's CWGC details, please click on the following link:
http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2506290/BRIDGEMAN,%20JOHN%20EDWARD
Sergeant Bridgeman was the senior NCO in Platoon 16 of Column 8. Led by Lieutenant Peter Bennett, formerly of the Royal Sussex Regiment, this platoon was often used as a scouting force on Operation Longcloth, probing forward ahead of the main body of the column, checking paths and tracks for signs of the enemy.
According to the personal diary of Dennis Brown, another member of Column 8 in 1943, Sergeant Bridgeman often took charge of the platoon during the long marches through the Burmese jungle. In February 1943, as Column 8 were approaching the Assam/Burmese border, John Bridgeman was recorded by Brown as being in charge of his platoon. From his diary, a paraphrased entry dated 9-12th February:
"On the 9th we had breakfast at 0830 hours, watered the bullocks and then had a very cold bath ourselves. Marched 14 miles, all uphill. Arrived at new camp, but there was no food only tea. On the 10th February we set off at 0430 hours and marched 16 miles, this time mostly downhill. Passed some soldiers working on widening the road. We slept in a hut at our new bivouac. On the 12th we marched over 21 miles, Sgt. Bridgeman was in charge as we crossed the border into Burma."
On the 16th February 1943, Column 8 reached the village of Tonhe on the western banks of the Chindwin River and crossed over into enemy held territory. After crossing the Chindwin, Column 8 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 columns major clashes with the enemy happened at a place called Pinlebu, it is probable that John was heavily involved in this skirmish with the Japanese. Here is an extract taken from the Column 8 War Diary for that period of time:
“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 (see map below). 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.
“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."
Seen below are two maps pertinent to John Bridgeman's story. The first shows the area around the town of Pinlebu, the scene of Platoon 16's first engagement with the Japanese as described above; the second is the area around the Nisan Forest Rest House, located just south of Zinbon, a town on the banks of the Irrawaddy River. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Sergeant Bridgeman had been with the 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment from the unit's formation in late summer of 1940. He was one of the original Kingsmen that voyaged to India aboard the troopship 'Oronsay', leaving Liverpool Docks on the 8th December 1941. He was a member of D' Company within the battalion, which on transferring to the Chindits in June 1942, automatically placed him into Chindit Column 8 under the command of Major Walter Purcell Scott.
To view John's CWGC details, please click on the following link:
http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2506290/BRIDGEMAN,%20JOHN%20EDWARD
Sergeant Bridgeman was the senior NCO in Platoon 16 of Column 8. Led by Lieutenant Peter Bennett, formerly of the Royal Sussex Regiment, this platoon was often used as a scouting force on Operation Longcloth, probing forward ahead of the main body of the column, checking paths and tracks for signs of the enemy.
According to the personal diary of Dennis Brown, another member of Column 8 in 1943, Sergeant Bridgeman often took charge of the platoon during the long marches through the Burmese jungle. In February 1943, as Column 8 were approaching the Assam/Burmese border, John Bridgeman was recorded by Brown as being in charge of his platoon. From his diary, a paraphrased entry dated 9-12th February:
"On the 9th we had breakfast at 0830 hours, watered the bullocks and then had a very cold bath ourselves. Marched 14 miles, all uphill. Arrived at new camp, but there was no food only tea. On the 10th February we set off at 0430 hours and marched 16 miles, this time mostly downhill. Passed some soldiers working on widening the road. We slept in a hut at our new bivouac. On the 12th we marched over 21 miles, Sgt. Bridgeman was in charge as we crossed the border into Burma."
On the 16th February 1943, Column 8 reached the village of Tonhe on the western banks of the Chindwin River and crossed over into enemy held territory. After crossing the Chindwin, Column 8 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 columns major clashes with the enemy happened at a place called Pinlebu, it is probable that John was heavily involved in this skirmish with the Japanese. Here is an extract taken from the Column 8 War Diary for that period of time:
“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 (see map below). 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.
“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."
Seen below are two maps pertinent to John Bridgeman's story. The first shows the area around the town of Pinlebu, the scene of Platoon 16's first engagement with the Japanese as described above; the second is the area around the Nisan Forest Rest House, located just south of Zinbon, a town on the banks of the Irrawaddy River. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
After the engagement at Kame, Platoon 16 rejoined the main body of Column 8 which then moved away in a south-easterly direction. The column spent another two weeks marching through the Burmese jungle before taking orders from Brigadier Wingate to cross the Irrawaddy River on the 18th March 1943. Once over, the Chindit Brigade including Column 8 found themselves trapped in a three-sided bag between the Irrawaddy and Shweli Rivers to the west and north and the Mongmit-Myitson motor road to the south.
By late March Wingate had decided that the ailing Chindits should return to India and gave the order for general dispersal. Columns 7 and 8, along with Brigade Head Quarter's made for the area around the town of Inywa on the eastern banks of the Irrawaddy. They began to cross on the 29th March, but their progress was blocked by a Japanese patrol and the crossing had to be abandoned. Brigadier Wingate called an emergency meeting with his Column commanders and it was decided that the Chindit units would separate and attempt to make their own way back to India. Wingate withdrew with his HQ into the thickset bamboo jungle nearby and remained in this location for the best part of a week.
Major Scott led his men away from Inywa and headed roughly south-east towards the Shweli River. After some considerable difficulties Column 8 managed to cross this obstacle on the 3rd April. The exhausted Chindits from Column 8 headed north hoping to reach the Irrawaddy once more, this time where the river meandered sharply in a westerly direction, much like the Thames does at Richmond.
On the morning of the 12th April, the column were moving through some bamboo scrub,; this jungle proved impenetrable in places and Major Scott called up his Gurkhas to cut a path. The column then approached a chaung or stream which had a newly built bridge straddling its banks, this was close to the Nisan Forest Rest House. The lead group of the column bumped into a small Japanese patrol which, on seeing the Chindits turned round and fled. Most of the column immediately moved off to higher ground, but some fighting patrols were sent back in the direction of the Japanese and a short battle ensued. It was here that John Bridgeman was killed.
This is how the Column 8 War diary describes that moment. From the book 'Wingate's Lost Brigade' and with the kind permission of author Philip Chinnery:
On 12th April, the front of the column was approaching a newly built bamboo bridge over a chaung when they bumped into a couple of Japs who turned and bolted back into the jungle. Intense firing broke out and Sergeant Bridgeman and Private Beard were killed, while Privates Lawton and Witheridge were both seriously wounded.
Most of the column turned around and disappeared along the track they had come down, leaving Major Scott and a small party isolated. It was not until the evening that the column reassembled and it was discovered that Lieutenant Horncastle and 14 others were missing. It was thought that they might have moved off as a separate party.
The column was up and moving at 0430 hours the next morning. The going was quite good but they now had three wounded on stretchers to carry with them. 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.
To read more about the aftermath at Nisan and the fate of Lieutenant Horncastle's party, please click on the following link:
Lieut. Horncastle's Recce Patrol
The above entry in the War diary for Column 8 is not the only mention of John Bridgeman's death. After the operation was over many of the returning Chindits took the time to report on the last known whereabouts of their comrades and gave witness statements to this effect. There are two such statements in relation to Sergeant Bridgeman and his sad death at Nisan; one from Pte. N. Holland, a member of Bridgeman's own platoon, the other, a much shorter statement given by returning POW, Corporal Harold Rowland Sole after his liberation from Rangoon Jail in April 1945.
Here is a transcription of Pte. Holland's witness statement:
I was with 8 Column during Brigadier Wingate's Burma Expedition at the beginning of 1943. A few days after we had crossed the River Shweli and were returning to Assam, we were attacked by the Japanese at a Rest House. One section of Platoon 16 was ordered to move round a flank and take the Japanese position from the rear. As I moved with that section a single shot was fired and I saw Sgt. Bridgeman fall to the ground. He was bleeding from the mouth, moaning and apparently badly wounded. A minute later another shot was fired and I saw Pte. Beard fall and lie still. I think he was dead. Later, Lieut. Hamilton-Bryan ordered us to rejoin the main body and we were not able to see what condition Sgt. Bridgeman and Pte. Beard were really in. Nothing has been seen or heard of them since. (Written in pencil) The date was on or about the 14th April 1943.
The second statement written by returning POW, Corporal Harold Sole appears as an entry on numbered listing and simply states known particulars about John and his death:
Sgt. Bridgeman, 13th King's. 10th or 12th April 1943.
Circumstances: Killed when column was attacked at a Rest House near Zinbon.
Height: 5' 10", fair, well built. No other particulars known.
It must be remembered that Harold Sole had been a prisoner of war for just over two years and in this respect had done well to remember these details after such a long period of incarceration. Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to Sgt. Bridgeman's story including the two witness reports transcribed above. Also shown are some pages from the Column 8 War diary covering the dates around the Nisan Rest House engagement with the Japanese. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
By late March Wingate had decided that the ailing Chindits should return to India and gave the order for general dispersal. Columns 7 and 8, along with Brigade Head Quarter's made for the area around the town of Inywa on the eastern banks of the Irrawaddy. They began to cross on the 29th March, but their progress was blocked by a Japanese patrol and the crossing had to be abandoned. Brigadier Wingate called an emergency meeting with his Column commanders and it was decided that the Chindit units would separate and attempt to make their own way back to India. Wingate withdrew with his HQ into the thickset bamboo jungle nearby and remained in this location for the best part of a week.
Major Scott led his men away from Inywa and headed roughly south-east towards the Shweli River. After some considerable difficulties Column 8 managed to cross this obstacle on the 3rd April. The exhausted Chindits from Column 8 headed north hoping to reach the Irrawaddy once more, this time where the river meandered sharply in a westerly direction, much like the Thames does at Richmond.
On the morning of the 12th April, the column were moving through some bamboo scrub,; this jungle proved impenetrable in places and Major Scott called up his Gurkhas to cut a path. The column then approached a chaung or stream which had a newly built bridge straddling its banks, this was close to the Nisan Forest Rest House. The lead group of the column bumped into a small Japanese patrol which, on seeing the Chindits turned round and fled. Most of the column immediately moved off to higher ground, but some fighting patrols were sent back in the direction of the Japanese and a short battle ensued. It was here that John Bridgeman was killed.
This is how the Column 8 War diary describes that moment. From the book 'Wingate's Lost Brigade' and with the kind permission of author Philip Chinnery:
On 12th April, the front of the column was approaching a newly built bamboo bridge over a chaung when they bumped into a couple of Japs who turned and bolted back into the jungle. Intense firing broke out and Sergeant Bridgeman and Private Beard were killed, while Privates Lawton and Witheridge were both seriously wounded.
Most of the column turned around and disappeared along the track they had come down, leaving Major Scott and a small party isolated. It was not until the evening that the column reassembled and it was discovered that Lieutenant Horncastle and 14 others were missing. It was thought that they might have moved off as a separate party.
The column was up and moving at 0430 hours the next morning. The going was quite good but they now had three wounded on stretchers to carry with them. 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.
To read more about the aftermath at Nisan and the fate of Lieutenant Horncastle's party, please click on the following link:
Lieut. Horncastle's Recce Patrol
The above entry in the War diary for Column 8 is not the only mention of John Bridgeman's death. After the operation was over many of the returning Chindits took the time to report on the last known whereabouts of their comrades and gave witness statements to this effect. There are two such statements in relation to Sergeant Bridgeman and his sad death at Nisan; one from Pte. N. Holland, a member of Bridgeman's own platoon, the other, a much shorter statement given by returning POW, Corporal Harold Rowland Sole after his liberation from Rangoon Jail in April 1945.
Here is a transcription of Pte. Holland's witness statement:
I was with 8 Column during Brigadier Wingate's Burma Expedition at the beginning of 1943. A few days after we had crossed the River Shweli and were returning to Assam, we were attacked by the Japanese at a Rest House. One section of Platoon 16 was ordered to move round a flank and take the Japanese position from the rear. As I moved with that section a single shot was fired and I saw Sgt. Bridgeman fall to the ground. He was bleeding from the mouth, moaning and apparently badly wounded. A minute later another shot was fired and I saw Pte. Beard fall and lie still. I think he was dead. Later, Lieut. Hamilton-Bryan ordered us to rejoin the main body and we were not able to see what condition Sgt. Bridgeman and Pte. Beard were really in. Nothing has been seen or heard of them since. (Written in pencil) The date was on or about the 14th April 1943.
The second statement written by returning POW, Corporal Harold Sole appears as an entry on numbered listing and simply states known particulars about John and his death:
Sgt. Bridgeman, 13th King's. 10th or 12th April 1943.
Circumstances: Killed when column was attacked at a Rest House near Zinbon.
Height: 5' 10", fair, well built. No other particulars known.
It must be remembered that Harold Sole had been a prisoner of war for just over two years and in this respect had done well to remember these details after such a long period of incarceration. Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to Sgt. Bridgeman's story including the two witness reports transcribed above. Also shown are some pages from the Column 8 War diary covering the dates around the Nisan Rest House engagement with the Japanese. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
In early November 2014, I was fortunate to receive an email contact from Janet Bennett, the granddaughter of John Edward Bridgeman.
Hi Steve,
My Grandfather was Sgt. John Edward Bridgeman. I have being meaning to look into the circumstances of his death for a long time now. It looks like you have put an awful lot of effort into researching and compiling information, I am really glad that I came across your website. To be honest I know very little about his time in Burma. My Grandmother died in 1997 and I always felt a bit awkward asking her about Granddad.
My Gran remained a widow until she died and I always respected her for the fact that she remained faithful to her husband to the end. She brought up my Mum and my Uncle single-handed, taking on various part-time jobs to make ends meet. I know that my Granddad was a stonemason by trade and that his own father was killed in the Great War. My Mum, who was born in 1939 would often talk about her childhood memories of her Dad. She remembers him as a tall, caring man who loved his family very much. She was only five years old when he was reported missing.
I've attached a couple of photographs that you can hopefully use on your website. The first is of my grandparent's wedding day. The second is of my grandfather and has the date 01/09/1940 on the back. It was taken by a photographer in Glasgow, so I'm not sure if my grandfather was stationed there for a while. I would be very grateful if you could put a story together for your website.
Kind regards
Janet
I was very taken by Janet's email, especially as our two families had experienced almost identical personal pathways, resulting from the loss of our maternal grandfathers in WW2. I was able to answer her query about Glasgow; the 13th King's were stationed at the Jordan Hill Barracks in the city from July 1940, up until the battalion moved down to Felixstowe in mid-October to take up coastal defence duties.
The circumstances of Sgt. Bridgeman's death meant that no body or grave could be recovered after the war was over. To this end, he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial situated in Taukkyan War Cemetery on the outskirts of the Burmese capital city. This impressive memorial is the centrepiece of the cemetery and proclaims the names of over 27,000 casualties of the Burma campaign that have no known grave. John is also remembered closer to home, in the Stretford Book of Remembrance located in the Trafford Town Hall.
Seen below are the final images in relation to this story. These include John's inscription upon the Rangoon Memorial and inside the Stretford Book of Remembrance. Also shown is the family photograph of John and Emily's wedding day, which took place sometime in the late summer of 1935. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Janet Bennett for all her help in bringing this story to these website pages.
It is quite clear to me that John Bridgeman was deeply devoted to his family back home in Manchester and must have thought about them constantly during those long arduous days of marching in the Burmese jungle. He was also a great role model for his Chindit comrades in Platoon 16 and died in the same fashion that he had led those men in 1943, from the front.
Hi Steve,
My Grandfather was Sgt. John Edward Bridgeman. I have being meaning to look into the circumstances of his death for a long time now. It looks like you have put an awful lot of effort into researching and compiling information, I am really glad that I came across your website. To be honest I know very little about his time in Burma. My Grandmother died in 1997 and I always felt a bit awkward asking her about Granddad.
My Gran remained a widow until she died and I always respected her for the fact that she remained faithful to her husband to the end. She brought up my Mum and my Uncle single-handed, taking on various part-time jobs to make ends meet. I know that my Granddad was a stonemason by trade and that his own father was killed in the Great War. My Mum, who was born in 1939 would often talk about her childhood memories of her Dad. She remembers him as a tall, caring man who loved his family very much. She was only five years old when he was reported missing.
I've attached a couple of photographs that you can hopefully use on your website. The first is of my grandparent's wedding day. The second is of my grandfather and has the date 01/09/1940 on the back. It was taken by a photographer in Glasgow, so I'm not sure if my grandfather was stationed there for a while. I would be very grateful if you could put a story together for your website.
Kind regards
Janet
I was very taken by Janet's email, especially as our two families had experienced almost identical personal pathways, resulting from the loss of our maternal grandfathers in WW2. I was able to answer her query about Glasgow; the 13th King's were stationed at the Jordan Hill Barracks in the city from July 1940, up until the battalion moved down to Felixstowe in mid-October to take up coastal defence duties.
The circumstances of Sgt. Bridgeman's death meant that no body or grave could be recovered after the war was over. To this end, he is remembered upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial situated in Taukkyan War Cemetery on the outskirts of the Burmese capital city. This impressive memorial is the centrepiece of the cemetery and proclaims the names of over 27,000 casualties of the Burma campaign that have no known grave. John is also remembered closer to home, in the Stretford Book of Remembrance located in the Trafford Town Hall.
Seen below are the final images in relation to this story. These include John's inscription upon the Rangoon Memorial and inside the Stretford Book of Remembrance. Also shown is the family photograph of John and Emily's wedding day, which took place sometime in the late summer of 1935. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Janet Bennett for all her help in bringing this story to these website pages.
It is quite clear to me that John Bridgeman was deeply devoted to his family back home in Manchester and must have thought about them constantly during those long arduous days of marching in the Burmese jungle. He was also a great role model for his Chindit comrades in Platoon 16 and died in the same fashion that he had led those men in 1943, from the front.
Copyright © Steve Fogden, January 2015.