A year ago, the mighty forces of the Japanese Empire had completed the conquest of the Dutch
East Indies, one of their most important military objectives upon the start of the Pacific War.
With this victory, they believed they could take the fight as far as India,
Australia and even Hawaii. Yet today, the tables have turned completely,
their only hope to protect their prized gains long enough for their forces to retake the initiative.
Time would prove this to be impossible. But in the meantime, after the disastrous Battle of the
Bismarck Sea and the end of the Guadalcanal Campaign, we have entered into a phase of
relative calmness in the Pacific. In Burma, however, war was raging as fiercely as ever
for the brave British and Indian soldiers. In this episode, join us as we continue to cover
the long-range penetration of the Chindits in what is known as Operation Longcloth.
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A few episodes ago, we covered the formation of the Chindits and the start of Operation Longcloth,
the first long-range penetration of Burma. Today we’ll continue with the coverage of the first
Chindits expedition; yet to fully understand the situation we first have to look at two places:
Fort Hertz and Ledo. Starting with the first one, Fort Hertz was a remote British outpost
in the district of Putao, which was itself inhabited by the native Kachin people.
During General Slim’s retreat back to India, it was believed that Fort Hertz had been evacuated as
well, yet the base would instead see the arrival of retreating British and Indian soldiers, who
would continue to man the outpost as they uneasily awaited a Japanese attack that would never come.
It is believed that the Japanese decided not to continue their drive towards the northern Burmese
border because they thought no enemy outpost could be maintained in such a remote place.
Nonetheless, military authorities in India lacked communications with Fort Hertz,
and thus they would also be oblivious to the fact that the outpost was still under Allied
hands until August 12, 1942, when units of the 50th Indian Parachute Brigade overflew the Fort
and made the unexpected discovery. From this point aironwards, various parties would be flown
to reinforce the outpost, to bring engineering supplies for the reconstruction of its inoperable
airstrip and to extract those extenuated soldiers that had survived the Burma exodus. Furthermore, a
special force known as the Northern Kachin Levies would be formed, composed by members of the Kachin
people under the command of British officers. In the meantime, General Stilwell would oversee
the construction of a new base at Ledo, which would allow American engineers to start the
construction of a road connecting India and China, thus opening a new lifeline for the
forces of the Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek. The Ledo Road , however, was to be 1072 miles long;
it was projected that completion of this road would take a long time and many resources,
yet this was deemed necessary to support the Chinese in their war effort against Japan.
Back in December, 1942, the 45th American Engineer Regiment and the 823rd Engineer
Aviation Battalion, two African-American units, would finally arrive to start working on the first
segment of this immense project, connecting Ledo to the Hukawng Valley. For these 103 miles through
the juncture of the Patkai and Naga Hills, the American engineers under Major-General Raymond
Wheeler would have to brave the difficult Pangsau Pass of 3727 feet in altitude before dropping to
700 feet at Shingbwiyang. By January 20, 1943, construction was on a 24-hour-a-day basis and
the rate was three quarters of a mile a day of all-weather, single-track roadway with turnouts.
On February 18, Wheeler would further be placed to command the defense of the Ledo sector, and
ten days later, despite the skeptical estimates of the British experts, road construction would
finally cross the Burmese border. Meanwhile, the 18th Division of General Mutaguchi, an elite force
that had participated in the Malaya and Burma Campaigns, as well as in the early offensives
against China, had taken over the responsibility of defending northern Burma. Logistically fatigued
by its heavy fighting, Mutaguchi was content to simply garrison the country,
deploying one regiment at the Hukawng Valley , one in the Indaw area and the last one at Myitkyina .
In time, however, the guerrilla activities of the Kachin insurgents would force Mutaguchi’s
forces to embark in vigorous patrolling of the area north of Myitkyina, leaving
the 18th Division vulnerable to attrition and with few replacements available for casualties.
Therefore, by February 1943, Mutaguchi had redirected his attention to the Kachin State,
planning to send the 114th Regiment to attack Fort Hertz and Hkalak Ga, one of the most
important bases of the Kachin Levies that also screened the building of the Ledo Road.
This was one of the main reasons Field Marshal Wavell and Brigadier Wingate wanted
to launch Operation Longcloth, in an effort to prevent the offensive against Fort Hertz,
whose loss would threaten Ledo and the Hump air route. Nonetheless, by late February,
a battalion of the 114th Regiment was posed to launch the planned punitive attack on Sumprabum;
so on March 1, the Kachin would evacuate the village and disperse before the arrival of
the enemy. Another Japanese battalion would also strike the Indian and Kachin garrison at Hkalak
Ga, forcing the Allied forces to retreat to the Chinese-defended outpost at Nathkaw . Many anxious
days followed, as it seemed nothing would stop the Japanese from taking Fort Hertz and the Ledo Road,
but luckily, it was time for Brigadier Wingate to step up. As we last saw, the Northern Group had
at last crossed the Zibyu Taungdan Range by the end of February. On March 1, Wingate would then
bivouac near Pinbon, sending ahead Columns 3 and 5 towards the railway , although the original target
at the Indaw area would be moved further south; directing Columns 7 and 8 to cause a diversion
in the area around Pinlebu; and ordering Column 4 to bypass Pinbon and ambush the Mansi motor road.
In the meantime, the Southern Group of Colonel Alexander had continued its arduous march from
the Thaiktaw area towards the Kyaikthin railway in late February, with Major George Dunlop’s Column
1 starting bridge demolitions between Kawlin and Kyaikthin around February 20. By March 1,
Column 1 was about to reach the railway and Major Arthur Emmett’s Column 2 was following
close behind them around Yindaik. As we’ve seen, at this point the Japanese had turned their full
attention to the menace behind their lines, so both the 18th and 33rd Divisions were sending
forces to counter the Chindits’ incursions. In the south, General Sakurai decided to send his
215th Regiment to Kyaikthin to mop up the enemy there, while in the north, Mutaguchi assigned the
55th Regiment of Colonel Koba Hiroshi to find and destroy the Chindit force. Koba would then
personally lead the bulk of his 1st Battalion to the town of Indaw while his other forces searched
for the British guerrilla. On March 2, Column 1 and Column 2 finally reached the outskirts
of Kyaikthin, with Dunlop having the mission to blow up the railway bridge, while Emmett was to
attack the railway station itself. Unbeknownst to the Chindits, however, a full company had arrived
at the railway station to defend it, and they now laid in wait just a short way up the tracks.
By nightfall, as Emmett marched down the line of the narrow-gauge railway with Japanese
eyes following their progress, Column 2 would ultimately walk into the enemy ambush. In the
black of the jungle, the Japanese suddenly began to fire their mortars and machine-guns, inflicting
heavy casualties on the unsuspecting Gurkhas. The Japanese then charged and close combat ensued,
eventually forcing Emmett to order his forces to disperse and retreat in small groups.
Half of the column would then rendezvous with Emmett, and the Gurkhas would start
their march back towards the Chindwin, fighting a rearguard action all the way to the river.
In confusion, the other half of the column withdrew with Colonel Alexander towards the east,
as was the original plan, and so they would continue on towards the Irrawaddy.
Meanwhile, Dunlop’s Column 1 would successfully blow up the railway bridge the following night,
then continuing east and joining Alexander’s group at Hinthaw on March 7. By March 10, the remnants
of Southern Group had crossed the Irrawaddy at Tagaung and were set to continue eastwards.
Although Emmett’s attack on Kyaikthin had failed, the main mission of Alexander’s Southern Group was
to attract the enemy towards them and away from Wingate's main forces, an objective that had
been completed fully as both Emmet and Dunlop’s forces would see the Japanese pursue them closely
as they retreated. Looking back north, Wingate had also decided to leave the Mu Valley behind on
March 2 to prevent the enemy from catching him, boldly marching towards Aunggon in the south.
By March 3, Columns 3 and 5 were three days’ march from the railway, and they were in desperate need
of a diversion. Such a diversion would come on March 4, as Major Walter Scott’s Column
8 successfully attacked the Japanese garrison at Pinlebu before rejoining Wingate and Major
Kenneth Glikes’ Column 7 at Aunggon. Owing to the Japanese offensive-mindedness at this
stage of the Burmese conflict, elements of the 55th Regiment were then rushed from the area
of the railway towards the Chindit diversion in order to counter the threat on Pinlebu.
At the same time, Major George Bromhead’s Column 4 was returning from their diversion north of
Pinbon through the mountains in the neighborhood of Nyangwun when the undergrowth came alive with
enemy small-arms fire. Half of the formation had already crossed a small stream, when a
shower of enemy mortar bombs also began to fall on the ford, preventing the rest from crossing.
Trapped, 135 men tried to escape to the north, most of them then reaching Fort Hertz in a state
of near collapse, while the remainder of the column, without supplies, would decide to march
back to the Chindwin. Remarkably, Column 4 would only suffer very light casualties
during this ambush, yet it was effectively put out of action. In the next few days,
the Chindits would continue to move unhindered towards their assigned objectives; and on March 6,
Major Mike Calvert’s Column 3 would reach the area around the Nankan railway station, while,
at the same time, Major Bernard Fergusson’s Column 5 was arriving at the Bongyaung area.
As Calvert immediately sent a Burma Rifles patrol to the station, he decided to divide his column
into two demolition parties, three covering sections and a transport and headquarters group,
the latter to remain hidden in the jungle. The scouts then returned with the information that,
although there were no enemy soldiers at Nankan, there were 200 Japanese at Wuntho
that could arrive fast through a motor road that led straight to the station. Calvert thus ordered
to set up roadblocks and ambush positions on both sides of this road and on the Indaw road.
At noon, the two demolition parties moved to the railway on separate sites and began to lay charges
on the line as they went. While Calvert’s men were preparing to blow up their bridges, two truckloads
of Japanese soldiers , accompanied by an armored vehicle, came lumbering down the motor road from
Indaw. As they immediately fell into the Chindits’ ambush, one of the trucks would be destroyed
by an anti-tank rifle and the Japanese would subsequently dig in under heavy machine-gun fire.
In time, however, more Japanese reinforcements would start to arrive, leaving the Chindits
outnumbered three-to-one, so a party of Burma Rifles would be sent to hold off the enemy attack.
After three and a half hours of work, just as the Japanese were to take control of Nankan village,
the demolitions were finally about to start. With a large boom and a great roar,
6 miles of railway and three bridges were suddenly in complete shambles. Calvert’s demolition parties
would then retreat to the Nankan station and, under enemy fire , they would demolish a fourth
bridge before withdrawing . By this point, most of Column 3’s parties, reinforced by around 50
Chindits of Column 7 with heavy weapons, had also regrouped at the station and were firing with
their mortars and machine-guns at the Japanese attempting to cross open ground to outflank them.
As the firing petered out and darkness approached, Calvert and his men withdrew
towards the Irrawaddy without losing a man and accounting for over fifty of the enemy.
Apart from destroying the bridges, they had also cut the railway line in seventy places and left
numerous booby traps in their wake, bringing their operation to a successful conclusion.
Meanwhile, Fergusson’s Column 5 prepared to launch its attack on Bongyaung. Fergusson had divided his
column into three main parties: 40 men were to deal with an enemy post to the south at Kyaukin;
a rifle platoon and some commandos were ordered to mine both sides of the Bongyaung
Gorge and blow it down onto the railway line; and Fergusson’s Headquarters, together with a rifle
platoon and a commando section, would attack Bongyaung Station and blow the railway bridge.
While the demolition parties set out to do their work, the 40 Chindits that attacked Kyaukin would
bump into a truck full of Japanese, quickly engaging them in a 15-minute firefight that
resulted in 15 Japanese dead. But as the Chindits prepared to retreat, an enemy machine-gun suddenly
opened fire, killing four and mortally wounding six. Their sacrifice would not be in vain,
however, as the railway bridge at Bongyaung would be successfully blown by nightfall.
At the gorge, the fuses were similarly lit and, with a tremendous explosion, a landslide
of hundreds of tons of rock tumbled down onto the railway line. Infuriated, Colonel Koba would take
two companies under his own command and hurried from Indaw to the Irrawaddy after learning of the
two attacks on the railway. The success of Wingate’s Operation Longcloth was complete,
as his actions would also draw the attention of Mutaguchi himself , who had no other choice but to
order the 114th Regiment to pull back from their operations against Fort Hertz and the Ledo Road,
thus saving both key places from falling into the hands of the Japanese to the great relief of
the British and American military authorities. This would further be one of Mutaguchi’s last
actions in command of the 18th Division, as he would be promoted to lead the 15th Army on
March 18, getting replaced by Lieutenant-General Tanaka Shinichi as commander of the 18th Division.
But Wingate now had to decide how he would escape the wrath of the Japanese,
which were moving with speed to crush him. Finally, on March 11, he would order Calvert to
take command of Columns 3 and 5 and move towards the Gokteik Gorge on the Maymyo-Lashio road,
with the secret mission of blowing up its viaduct; he would direct Southern Group to
move towards Mongmit to rendezvous with the Kachin guerrillas ; and he would decide to lead himself
Columns 7 and 8 towards the village of Hlwebo to cross the Irrawaddy River and raid Inywa,
one of the main bases of the Burmese independence forces . But that is it for this week; although
we’ll continue to cover Wingate’s first expedition with the Chindits in the future, next episode
we’ll head back to the North Pacific to cover some new developments in the defense of Alaska,
as the Americans and the Japanese were about to collide yet again in another important naval
engagement: the Battle of the Komandorski Islands. To see it, make sure to subscribe and hit the bell
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