Operation Thursday Chindits

1 operation thursday

1.1 change of command
1.2 move north
1.3 final operations
1.4 kohima

operation thursday

troops of nigeria regiment, 3rd west african brigade (thunder), board raf dakota

on 5 february 1944, fergusson s 16th brigade left ledo burma. avoided japanese forces traversing exceptionally difficult terrain. rest of brigades brought in air create fortified bases airstrips.

three landing zones, codenamed piccadilly, broadway , chowringhee, selected. calvert s 77th brigade prepared fly hadrian glider piccadilly on night of 5 march. last-minute aerial reconnaissance revealed piccadilly covered logs, making landing impossible. in accounts of incident, wingate insisted operation had been betrayed , other landing zones ambushed. proceed murder . slim accepted responsibility of ordering willing calvert proceed operation, using broadway instead. while piccadilly had been used evacuate casualties during first chindit operation in 1943, broadway had selected results of aerial reconnaissance. turned out poor landing ground , there many casualties in crash landings, calvert s men able make strip fit take transport aircraft next day. chindit gliders landed on chowringhee next day, without opposition.

it later revealed logs on piccadilly had been placed there dry burmese teak loggers. real problem failure maintain continuous observation of landing zones (e.g. high-flying spitfire photo-reconnaissance aircraft) before forces deployed.

over next week, 600 sorties dakota transport aircraft transferred 9,000 men landing zones. chowringhee abandoned once fly-in completed, broadway held garrison included field artillery, anti-aircraft guns , spitfire fighters brief period. fergusson s brigade set base named aberdeen north of indaw, 14th brigade flown. calvert s brigade established yet another, named white city @ mawlu, astride main railway , road leading japanese northern front. 111 brigade set ambushes , roadblocks south of indaw (although part of brigade landed @ chowringhee delayed in crossing irrawaddy river), before moving west pinlebu.

ferocious jungle fighting ensued around broadway , white city. @ times, british , japanese troops in close combat, bayonets , kukris against katanas. on 27 march, after days of aircraft attack, japanese attacked broadway several nights before attack repulsed flown-in artillery , aid of locally recruited kachin irregulars.

however, setback occurred when fergusson s brigade tried capture indaw on 24 march. original intention had been seize town , airfields on 15 march fergusson had report impossible. wingate appeared ready change brigade s mission on 20 march, reinstated indaw target. brigade exhausted long march, , there no time reconnoitre objective. units dismayed find japanese controlled water sources. fergusson expected 14th brigade cooperate in attack, moved west instead. japanese reinforcements had moved indaw, major road , rail centre. fergusson s battalions, attacking separately, each repulsed. after this, of tired 16th brigade flown out.

change of command

on 24 march, wingate flew imphal confer air force commanders. on return journey, usaaf b-25 bomber in flying believed have flown thunderstorm , crashed in jungle-covered mountains. aboard killed.

slim, commander of british fourteenth army had loose operational control on special force, selected brigadier lentaigne wingate s replacement after conferring brigadier derek tulloch, wingate s chief of staff. lentaigne judged balanced , experienced commander in force; had been instructor @ staff college @ quetta, had led gurkha battalion distinction during gruelling retreat burma in 1942 , had commanded chindit brigade in field (albeit few weeks, none of other brigade commanders had more experience). officer of gurkha troops, had similar outlook , background slim. other chindit brigade commanders unknown quantities, without staff qualifications, of whom had never commanded battalion-sized unit in combat before 1944, , wingate s staff officers lacked necessary combat experience. force s second-in-command, major general george william symes, bypassed slim , formally protested , asked relieved. in selecting lentaigne, slim did not take account tensions between chindit commanders , staff closely associated wingate, , lentaigne, had classical line officer s background , had been critical of wingate s methods , techniques.

it fair nobody have filled wingate s shoes. wingate had sustained force outside normal army command through political connections no successor have available. other dilemma of successor second-guessed thought knew wingate have done in particular situation. same officers go extraordinary lengths justify flawed decisions wingate, attack successor, whenever opportunity presented itself.

the move north

several major changes made @ highest level. of air support diverted critical battles of imphal , kohima, troops cut off , resupplied air. 23rd brigade, yet fly in, despatched kohima. chindits operating in burma formally subordinated general joseph stilwell, ordered chindits abandon dispersed operations around indaw, , concentrate on interdicting supply lines japanese forces opposing northern combat area command.

in april, lentaigne ordered main body of 111 brigade west of irrawaddy, commanded john masters, move north , build new stronghold, codenamed blackpool, block railway , main road @ hopin, 30 miles (48 km) south of mogaung. calvert ordered abandon white city , broadway , move north support masters. calvert opposed this, brigade had held these 2 strongholds months. stilwell feared abandoning white city allow japanese reinforcements move north. however, lentaigne insisted chindit brigades far apart support each other, , difficult use aircraft @ white city , broadway during monsoon.

masters s force established blackpool on 8 may , engaged in fierce fighting. whereas white city had been deep in japanese rear, defenders had had plenty of time prepare defences , attackers had been mixed bag of detachments several formations, blackpool close japanese northern front, , attacked japanese troops heavy artillery support. calvert , stilwell had feared, abandoning white city had allowed japanese 53rd division move north indaw. heavy attack against blackpool repulsed on 17 may, second attack on 24 may captured vital positions inside defences.

because monsoon had broken , heavy rain made movement in jungle difficult, neither calvert nor brodie s 14th brigade masters. finally, masters had abandon blackpool on 25 may, because men exhausted after 17 days of continual combat. nineteen allied soldiers, badly injured beyond hope of recovery , not moved, shot medical orderlies , hidden in heavy stands of bamboo.

final operations

on 17 may, slim had formally handed control of chindits stilwell. stilwell insisted chindits capture several well-defended japanese positions. chindits had no support tanks or artillery , led heavier casualties before. have considered these operations abuse. , given wingate s lack of concern on casualties in first chindit operation, s difficult suggest losses in these battles inconsistent methods.

over period 6 june 27 june, calvert s 77th brigade took mogaung , suffered 800 casualties - 50% of brigade s men involved in operation. fearing ordered join siege of myitkyina, calvert handed mogaung on force x, shut down radios , retreated kamaing, stilwell had headquarters. court-martial until stilwell , calvert met in person, , stilwell appreciated conditions under chindits had been operating.

111 brigade, after resting, ordered capture hill known point 2171. did so, utterly exhausted. of men suffering malaria, dysentery , malnutrition. on 8 july, @ insistence of supreme commander, admiral louis mountbatten, doctors examined brigade. of 2,200 men present 4 , half battalions, 119 declared fit. brigade evacuated, although masters sarcastically kept fit men, 111 company , in field until 1 august.

the portion of 111 brigade east of irrawaddy known morris force, after commander, lieutenant-colonel jumbo morris. had spent several months harassing japanese traffic bhamo myitkyina. had attempted complete encirclement of myitkyina. stilwell angered unable so, slim pointed out stilwell s chinese troops (numbering 5,500) had failed in task. 14 july, morris force down 3 platoons. week later, had 25 men fit duty. morris force evacuated same time 77th brigade.

14th brigade , 3rd west african brigade remained in action, assisting newly arrived british 36th infantry division in advance down railway valley south of mogaung. finally, relieved , withdrawn, starting on 17 august.

the last chindit left burma on 27 august 1944.

kohima

23rd brigade, had been diverted main chindit campaign, nevertheless acted long range penetration unit behind japanese fighting @ kohima. april june 1944, marched long distances through naga hills, in monsoon weather made movement difficult. contributed in large measure starvation of japanese @ kohima, decisive factor in battle. although not engaged in major battles, accounted large numbers of japanese stragglers , foragers, suffering 158 battle casualties themselves.

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