Broadway - The Initial Glider Landings, 5 March 1944

It's the 'handwriting' comment from zahonado, to have such a connection. I remember finding my granddad's WW2 medal application form, and seeing his handwriting, and thinking my dad's handwriting was so similar

 

In answer to post 119 Col, I did once receive contact from the family of one of the men who went through most of Calvert's Burma war alongside him:
Clifford Sargent Calvert's Bodyguard

and another:
Pte. Israel 'Jack' Medalie

 

Thanks for that Steve - much appreciated! I can't understand how I had missed them before!

 

My dodgy filing probably. The site grew so quickly, I have not been able to add every story to the index page, but hopefully the search facility box remedies finding details on a particular soldier. It was great to hear from the Sargent and Medalie families, as both men feature so strongly in Calvert's book, Fighting Mad.

 

To be fair, it must be a monster of a site to organise but keep up the good work as it contains such great reading!

 

Glider 20-B

This glider, in tow with 19-B, lost its tow rope shortly after crossing the Naga Hills and at about 9,000 feet. It travelled south-westerly for some five or six miles before being forced to land west of Pinlebu. Our knowledge of the fate of this machine and the men it carried comes from the few statements made by one of the passengers, Pte. Thomas Faulkner of 1/Kings.


Seeing no suitable landing site, the pilot intended to land on the bamboo jungle in the hope that the weight of the glider would flatten the bamboo. However, the glider hit the top of a big tree and broke-up; the passengers being flung out over a radius of some 15 yards. Sixteen men were killed on impact; the only survivors being Pte. Faulkner, Lt. Holyfield and F/O Johnson. The survivors made their way to a Burmese village where they left F/O Johnson as he was badly injured. Later that day, Lt. Holyfield and Pte. Faulkner were ambushed by a Japanese patrol; the former being killed and the latter taken captive. Alas, a fuller statement from Faulkner has yet to be uncovered which might flesh-out his statement that the pilot was killed by the Japanese on 10 March 1944 or how the three men survived for five days before finally being hunted-down. However, after suffering 13 months in the hell that was Rangoon Jail, we should just be thankful that he survived!

Pilot: T122141 F/O Howard Edward Johnson (1913-1944); killed on 10 March 1944.


Despite the reference to 17 having escaped into the jungle, I strongly believe that the following account, from a Japanese observer, refers to the interrogation of F/O Johnson:


Presumably, this is the same pilot mentioned by Lt-Gen. Mutaguchi in his correspondence with Tulloch:


Plane Commander: 117920 Capt. Harry Norman Smith, C Coy, 1/Kings; killed on impact.

The other men aboard that night were:

219177 Lt. Stanford Frank Holyfield, South Lancs. Regt. attached 1/Kings; KIA on 10 March 1944.
3778550 L/Cpl. Thomas Joseph Arrowsmith, C Coy, 1/Kings, 82 Column; killed on impact.
14353992 Pte. Ernest Creswell Davison, 1/Kings; killed on impact.
3771425 Pte. Thomas Victor Faulkner, 1/Kings; taken POW on 10 March (although his Japanese POW Index Card says 11 March) 1944, held in Rangoon Jail, liberated near Pegu on 30 April 1945.
3771441 Pte. Sidney Fleming, 1/Kings; killed on impact.
3771467 L/Cpl. Edmund Henry Hill, 1/Kings; killed on impact.
3771010 Pte. Charles Hodgson, 1/Kings; killed on impact.
3783240 Pte. John Henry Keane, 1/Kings; killed on impact.
3388598 Pte. Edward Pearson, 1/Kings; killed on impact.
3778761 Pte. James Herbert Peers, 1/Kings; killed on impact.
3773878 Pte. Joseph Prescott, 1/Kings; killed on impact.
3775101 Pte. Kenneth George Royle, 1/Kings; killed on impact.
3778067 Pte. John Shaw, 1/Kings; killed on impact.
3770981 L/Cpl. William Charles Stubbs, 1/Kings; killed on impact.
3774856 Cpl. Albert Tarbuck, 1/Kings; killed on impact.
3776080 Pte. Isaac William Turner, 1/Kings; killed on impact.
5127468 Pte. Cyril Wykes, 1/Kings; killed on impact.
(19)

Regards,
Col

 

Glider 13-P

I have to admit to taking a liberty with this photograph - it is one of the 8 gliders that landed in India on 5 March but I cannot be 100% certain that it is indeed number 13-P!



Pilot: As yet unidentified!

Plane Commander: 203817 Lt. Douglas John Craig Weber (1920-2010), Hants R attached 1/Kings, Intelligence Officer, 81 Column, subsequently joined the Glider Pilot & Parachute Corps and later became a Chaplain to the Forces.


Also aboard that night were:

Rfn. Po Bu
Gnr. Thein
L/Cpl. Bevin
Pte. Collett
Pte. Ditchfield
3772943 L/Cpl. Hector Fazackerley, 1/Kings; killed in action on 25 May 1944.
3718607 L/Cpl. George Douglas Hall
Pte. Hunt
1486896 Cpl. James Steele McCormick, ACC attd. 1/Kings; killed in action on 19 May 1944.
Pte. McQuitty
Pte. Rigby
Pte. Roche
Pte. Rowland
3663224 Sgt. John Thornton, 1/Kings; killed in action near Blackpool on 25 May 1944.
L/Cpl. Toomey
07 Pte. Walker
3717097 Pte. R Winter
(18)

The glider's tow rope broke not long after leaving Lalaghat and the pilot made a controlled landing near Oinam at about 20:40hrs. No damage to stores or personnel. The glider party left for Tulihal during the afternoon of 6 March 1944.

Regards,
Col

 

In regards Glider 20B, I can add the following:

A witness testimony from 3771425 Pte. Thomas Victor Faulkner. A list of the Kingsmen aboard the glider and a photograph of Pte. 3778067 John Shaw, who perished in the glider at the crash scene. The first two documents can be found in file WO361/444 at TNA.

 

Struggling to identify some of the King's listed on 13P for certain, but can add 3772943 L/Cpl. Hector Fazackerley's inscription upon Face 5 of the Rangoon Memorial:

 

Many thanks for these great additions Steve! Now we know for sure that the glider was not burnt. Good also to see an image of Pte. Shaw in happier times!

As for the names, I had no luck in unravelling them. I had thought that McQuitty might be the key to unlocking whether these were ex-RA folk etc but it turns out that that surname isnot as rare as you'd hope. Hopefully, something will turn-up one day!

 

In regards to the names, my only thoughts were if L/Cpl. Toomey might in fact be James Tomney who was later lost at the Namsun ambush 19/20th May? Otherwise I have nothing sadly.

 

Thanks Steve! It's all grist to the mill!!

 

Sorry pressed go too soon. It was my fathers writing on the manifest of his plane that moved me most though interesting to see de Quidts there too. I want to try and find out what happened to the men on that plane. Re O’ Donnell. My father describes meeting him and even taking a photo and sharing rations etc in the jungle , in his diary, “Before the Show” I also think his description of the Dacota flight into Broadway rings true.

 

Hi zahonado,
Was your father allocated a glider before the recalls or was he always due to go in by C-47?? I think that de Quidt's party were scheduled to fly-in by plane on D+1. It was all a masterful piece of planning and organisation really!
Regards,
Col

 

No I think he was always scheduled to go by plane , not glider as he probably would have mentioned it …definitely rescheduled though.

 

zahonado, from your father's plane, I know that Albert Land sadly died on the 11th July 1944. On a much brighter note, I can tell you that Frank Twigge (see below) lived a long and happy life, passing away in 2022 aged 97. As yet, I have nothing on any of the others.

 

He aged very well over those 70+ years.

 

Hi,

Thought this might be a useful addition. Here's a basic map showing the approximate location of the non-recalled gliders that were launched but failed to make it Broadway on D-Day. The landing site of one glider, 10-P, is not shown because sources seem to disagree on whether it actually landed near Lalaghat or Imphal that night.


Regards,
Col

 

Glider 15-P

Alas, no photo of this glider but I can't help but wonder whether one exists buried in some dusty Japanese file somewhere in Tokyo or Yangon!

Pilot: T1230 F/O Bruce Williams; to “whose skill in landing his glider the whole party owe their lives and who thereafter showed equanimity and enterprise in a high degree.”

Plane Commander: 47986 Lt-Col. Robert Peter Fleming (1907-1971), Grenadier Guards, GSI(D) GHQ attd 77 Brigade HQ, sat in the Co-Pilot’s seat. Adventurer, author, journalist and Lord of the Manor; I can’t do justice to him in a few lines and would encourage folk to read his books or those of Mike Calvert! This is the man himself:



Also aboard that night were:

M716 Capt. George Vermilyea Faulkner (1908-1955), IMS, MO, 81 Column; a veteran of Operation Longcloth, “who displayed throughout coolness, good judgement and resource”. Later awarded the MC for outstanding courage, determination and splendid leadership in maintaining and defending a field hospital while attached to DAHFORCE.

95094 Capt. Robert Colin Pringle (1919-1997), RCS, Signals Officer, 77 Bde HQ, “who displayed marked courage and endurance in swimming the Chindwin five times, and on three of these occasions transporting arms and equipment”. Mentioned in Despatches in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Burma in April 1945. Later, 2i/c of 6th Airborne Div Signals Regt in Palestine and again Mentioned in Despatches for services between 27 September 1947 and 26 March 1948. He later became OC 16th Independent Parachute Bde Sig Sqn, retired, a Major, in 1973.

113169 Capt. Guy Frankland Hepburn, RA, OC, R Troop, 584 Btty, 160 Jungle Field Regt.

Capt. G Massey, IO, 77 Bde HQ; “who did valuable work with the Recce Group, often at the end of a long and tiring march.”

Lt. John Leigh Mallory, RE attached 3/9 GR;

5958724 Sgt. Joseph George Rendle, RCS

2586187 Sgn. Thomas Angus, RCS; drowned crossing the Chindwin on 11 March 1944. Fleming noted that he “was an excellent man and had shown himself throughout our experiences resourceful, intelligent and cool”.

6986035 Fus. Thomas Rex McMurdo, 1/Lanc Fus, Batman; “who did valuable work with the Recce Group, often at the end of a long and tiring march.”

3776842 Pte. Leslie Kennedy, 1/Kings, Batman; killed in action on 18 April 1944.

14607234 Pte. W Kemp, 1/Kings, Batman

1115232 Gnr. Robert Norman Kemp, RA, Batman

0296 L/Cpl. Henson, 53 Indian Observation Sqn; this unit was to have enacted a deception plan to lead the Japanese to believe that Piccadilly was unusable and that the landing ground was two miles north at Trafalgar Square.

1496 Pte. Yeung “Automatic” Man-Sun, 4/Borders, Batman

3579 Sep. Datta Bhosle, Mahrattas, Batman
(16)

Site of landing of glider:


Due to the discovery of a fault with the initially allocated glider, this one was a last-minute replacement and as it was without a stall, Calvert’s pony, Jean, and his Groom, Cpl. Dermody, had to remain at Lalaghat - an attempt to load them aboard glider 16-B was thwarted due to that also not having a stall prepared. In tow with glider 14-P, this glider cut its tow not long after crossing the Chindwin and was forced to land, “with extreme skill”, on a small chaung sandbank at about 21:45hrs some 40 miles east of the Chindwin. Having burnt their ciphers but not the glider, the relatively uninjured party quickly struck-out westwards. Fleming organised them into four groups; a Recce, a HQ and two sections led by Faulkner and Pringle. Buoyed by the stream of unopposed C-47s flying overhead towards Broadway on D+1, the group moved through enemy territory “in an atmosphere of discreet truculence”!

The Chindwin was reached in the early hours of 11 March and they decided to cross a stretch of the river near Kyaingkyaing. With no boats spotted, they decided to build a raft; an ambitious experiment that was met with failure and the laborious crossing was not affected until 23:00hrs. The following day they encountered an OP of the 9/12 FFR near Awya and later a patrol of 1/Seaforths who guided them to their HQ near Tabaw. In the morning (13 March), they walked the 12 miles to the roadhead in the Kabaw Valley and were conveyed to Tamu and later flown to Imphal on 14 March 1944. Pringle was flown to Tulihal for onward transfer to Broadway via Sylhet. Faulkner was admitted to hospital. Fleming was immediately recalled to Delhi but was back in Burma, at Aberdeen, by 3 April, leaving again on 9 April 1944.

As always, any corrections or additional information is most welcome!

Regards,

Col