Family connections with South Lancashire Regiment

That is a great collection - you can now go the the war diary for the ELR and see where he was when he was injured.

I wonder why he left the SL's? I doubt this would be recorded, the only thing I can think of is that the EL's may have been stationed closer to Salford?

What is the Salford address on his medical card, 30 ..............

Regards

Pete

 

Not sure of the address Peter.....Looks like Bleu---- St.

 

30 Clement Street, between Gt Clowes St., and the Bury New Rd. I looked at digs in the road when I was at poly in Manchester in the 1980's!

Hi mam lived in Pendleton - dont know if that address is still there as Pendleton was blitzed flat or flattened after the war.

Just short of 6 years. Bet he was glad the war ended.

Tell me you've posted those forms.....

Pete

 

I was thinking that too, 6 years is a very long time. I noticed his records only say he served overseas after Normandy. I'm wondering what he was doing since 1939 especially as his first unit was in France in 1940.


No not yet ...Andrea hasn't been too good this week so it has been put on hold at mo.

 

I was thinking that too, 6 years is a very long time. I noticed his records only say he served overseas after Normandy. I'm wondering what he was doing since 1939 especially as his first unit was in France in 1940.


No not yet ...Andrea hasn't been too good this week so it has been put on hold at mo.


Drew, i suspect that he would have been training whilst the regular and reservists were in France and Belgium, only joining up with them when they returned.

P

 

I agree Phil, if he was drafted in Nov 39 he would have been at the training camp (probably 19 ITC) whilst the BEF were in France.

I will check my grandads service history to see how long the training took.

Pete

 

My Father was in the South Lancs Pwvr> He was a regular soldier and served in India and eventually in Germany although by this time he had moved to the Cameronians. Can you suggest anyways that I can get more info on his military records. Would you like any of the info and records I have on the same
Regards

 

My Father was in the South Lancs Pwvr> He was a regular soldier and served in India and eventually in Germany although by this time he had moved to the Cameronians. Can you suggest anyways that I can get more info on his military records. Would you like any of the info and records I have on the same
Regards

Bogin, a regular serving with the South Lancs in India, would have made him 2nd Battalion, which was brought home to the UK late in 1939, and left for Madagascar in Feb 42, so I suspect that he transferred to the Cameronians inbetween Late 39 and Late 41.

Had he remained with the 2nd Bn, he would have ended up In Burma

From the Regimental History
THE SECOND BATTALION
It will remembered that the 2nd Battalion of the regiment was in India when the war broke out. It was at first employed on Fortress manning duties and internal security work in Bombay, but the critical situation in England following the evacuation from Dunkirk and the collapse of France, with the accompanying imminent threat of invasion, led the Prime Minister to order the urgent withdrawal from India of eight Regular Army battalions on replacement by Territorial units, and the 2nd Battalion was one of those selected. Accordingly, it left Bombay of the 5th June 1940 and proceeded by way of the Cape of Good Hope to England, disembarking at Liverpool on the 17th July. The battalion, with three other Regular battalions from India, now became a unit of the 29th Infantry Brigade Group, which took over part of the defensive area vacated by the 3rd Division in Sussex. The independent Infantry Brigade Group, commanded by Major-General Sir Oliver Leese, Bt., C.B.E., D.S.O., was organised and trained with a view to special operations and received orders in April 1941, whilst at Crowborough, Sussex, to mobilise on a foreign service basis and to proceed to Inverary in Scotland for a period of special training before going abroad.

After a period of strenuous and intensive training in combined operations, the 2nd Battalion embarked with the Special Force on the 19th March 1942, and was subsequently engaged in the operations on Madagascar, which are described in another chapter. Lieutenant-Colonel J. O. Carpenter, M.C., had brought the battalion from India and he was succeeded in the command by Lieutenant-Colonel G. H. Gilmore, D.S.O., M.C., who came from the Cameronians in November 1940. In August 1941, Colonel Gilmore left the battalion on appointment to a brigade command and command of the battalion fell to Major M. Alston-Roberts West, who continued in command until his promotion to the rank of Colonel in June 1943, soon after the battalion’s arrival in India after the Madagascar Operations.

 

Hello and welcome to the forum.....Apply for his service records first to identify what battalions he was with and when then get copies of his units diaries.

Regards
Andy

 

Possibly also 7th Battalion as they were posted to India during the war.

We are always pleased to see any South Lancs documents, I agree with drew - apply for his full service history and we should be able to decipher it for you.

What was your dads name?

Regards

Pete

 

Drew,

You had those South Lancs records back yet?

Pete

 

Hi, my mothers father was with the south lancs during the war, he was a full time soldier before the war and went to madagascar and then onto India and Burma, if anybody could give me any information on him or his regiments activities during the war i would be very grateful, his name was George Hickenbottom and was from the black country in the Midlands

 

Hi, my mothers father was with the south lancs during the war, he was a full time soldier before the war and went to madagascar and then onto India and Burma, if anybody could give me any information on him or his regiments activities during the war i would be very grateful, his name was George Hickenbottom and was from the black country in the Midlands

Madagascar / India / Burma, would make him 2nd Battalion. Here is what I have transcribed to date from the Regimental history.

The years between the Wars
THE SECOND BATTALION
The Second Battalion left Ireland on the 22nd and 23rd June 1920 for Pembroke Dock, preparatory to starting a tour of Foreign Service, and embarkation at Southampton on the 10th November 1920, under orders for Palestine. Disembarking at Alexandria in the 23rd, the battalion went by train to Jerusalem, where it arrived the next night and was quartered in the Russian Buildings. At this time the battalion was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel H. C. Herbert O.B.E., who had commanded it in the inferno of the Messines. This period of duty in Palestine lasted for eighteen months and, although the situation had not then reached the depths of bitter resentment and open warfare which it was later to see, the battalion’s duties involved the always unpleasant work of maintaining order amongst a resentful civilian population. On the 4th July 1921, Colonel Herbert relinquished command and Major L. P. Anderson took over temporarily, pending the arrival of Lieutenant-Colonel W. B. Ritchie, D.S.O., who had commanded the battalion at Mons and throughout the retreat and had afterwards commanded the 12th Battalion during its short Existence.

The battalion and the whole regiment was greatly saddened by the death in Jerusalem on the 17th February 1922, of Major F. W. M. Drew, D.S.O, second-in-command of the battalion. Major Drew had passed nearly all of his service in the regiment and was one of the dwindling band of pre-1914 officers who has survived the war, having been with the battalion in the epic retreat from Mons, and having been closely associated with the 5th Battalion of the regiment at the third battle of Ypres, when he was commanding the 9th King’s in the 55th Division. Another old officer of the regiment, who died in January 1922, was Colonel A. F. G. Richardson, who had commanded the 2nd Battalion from 1897 to 1902.

During the feast of Nebi Musa in 1922, the battalion was on duty in the Holy City and was thanked by the Governor of Jerusalem for its efficient and tactful conduct at the time of this always-anxious festival when communal passions often get out of hand. In May 1922, the battalion left Palestine for Egypt and was stationed at Sidi Bishr, near Alexandria, where it remained until it embarked for India on the 1st October of the same year.

The battalion’s first station in India was Mhow, where it relieved the 3rd Battalion King’s Royal Rifle Corps, and it soon settled down to the not unpleasant routine of peacetime soldiering in India. On the 17th December 1922, Lieutenant E. C. Beard, M.C., joined the battalion on transfer from the Royal Irish regiment. This officer, now Major-General E. C. Beard, C.B., C.B.E., M.C., is, at this time of writing Colonel of the Regiment.

In the cold weather of 1923-24, the battalion carried out an interesting route march from Mhow to Bhopal and back which lasted for six weeks and was much enjoyed by all ranks who had the opportunity of seeing what rural India and the Indian States were really like, and experienced the princely hospitality of that great lady, the late Begum of Bhopla. In May 1925, Colonel Ritchie proceeded on leave pending termination of his tenure of command of the Battalion, and was succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel B. Evans.

In December 1925, the battalion left Mhow in the ordinary course of relief’s and went to Lebong, Darjeeling, with a detachment of two companies at Barrackpore, near Calcutta. The cool and wet climate of the Darjeeling Hills and the breath-taking grandeur of the Himalayas, dominated by the massif of Kinchenjunga, as seem from Lebong, were a great change from the plains of Central India and one of the most pleasant of all the stations for British Troops in India was this one.

The period of Service at Lebong and Barrackpore passed uneventfully in the routine of peacetime soldiering, and a notable event was the presentation, at the Proclamation Parade on the 1st January 1927, in Calcutta, of the fine set of Silver drums which had been subscribed for by all ranks of the battalion in memory of their comrades who fell in the Great War of 1914-18. The presentation was made by the Viceroy, Lord Irwin, and the drums were afterwards consecrated, on the 15th May 1927, at St. Andrew’s Church, Darjeeling, in the presence of the Governor of Bengal, General Solly Flood, Colonel of the Regiment, and all officers and men stationed at Lebong. A pleasant interchange of courtesy at this time was the exchange of permanent honorary membership of each other’s messes between the battalion and the Northern Bengal Mounted Rifles, with which volunteer unit the battalion had established close relationship.

The next station was Jubbulpore, where the battalion arrived on the 4th December 1927, being inspected soon after arrival by the Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshall Sir William Birdwood. The battalion had the great good fortune to be visited at frequent intervals during its tour of duty in India by the Colonel of The Regiment, General Solly Flood, and the words which he addressed to it after one such visit are as applicable now as they were when spoken, especially in those iconoclastic days when the ancient virtues are so often held up to ridicule of the unthinking: ‘… I leave the Battalion with the assurance clearly fixed in my mind that the honour of the Regiment is dear to all members of the 2nd Battalion as it is to me. A happy family, all members of which have the fixed determination to serve not only each other but, to the utmost of their ability, The King and Country, cannot fail loyally to maintain the motto- “ICH DIEN”.’ (Jubbulpore, February 1929.)

The battalion Rugby Football side scored a notable success when it won the final of the All-India Rugby Championship by defeating Calcutta by 3 points to nil at Bombay on 17th September 1927. In addition, the battalion team won the Bombay Cup and the Calcutta League Cup, as well as the All-India Cup that year. It is interesting to note that this 1927 tournament was the first in which a cup, presented by the Rugby Football Union of England, was completed for in return for the famous Calcutta Cup. Consequently, the first name on it is that of the 2nd Battalion of the regiment. In addition to these major victories, the battalion also carried off the Cawnpore Cup for six consecutive seasons.

In May 1929, command passed from Lieutenant-Colonel B. Evans to Lieutenant- Colonel G. Shaw, M.C. There was a very great change in environment at the end of March a932 when the battalion was sent about as far north as it could be sent, to Landi Kotal. Here it tasted something of the conditions on the frontier, and was engaged in the work of building a new fortified post at Zaman Tsappar, on the Indian-Afghan frontier, which was afterwards officially known named ‘South Lancashire Camp.’ Landi Kotal was only a one-year station for British Infantry in those days, and the battalion moved to Allahabad in March 1933, where it relieved the 1st Battalion the Cheshire Regiment.

After completing his four-year tenure of command, and over thirty years service in the battalion- Colonel Shaw left for England in May 1933, and was succeed in the command by Lieutenant-Colonel W. A. M. Montgomery.

The King’s Jubilee was celebrated at Allahabad and the battalion gained a fine record in the games and tournaments in which it competed while there. The cold weather of 1936 took the battalion to Quetta, in Baluchistan, and it arrived there on the 18th October. Before the battalion left Allahabad a memorial those of the regiment who died during its stay in that station was placed in the Garrison Church. At Quetta much of the devastation caused by the great earthquake of 1935 was still in evidence and the officers had to use ‘Wana’ huts adjoining their bungalows for sleeping purposes. By March 1938, the battalion was able to move to a set of newly built barracks. Mountain warfare training naturally took place at Quetta and all who served with the battalion there will have livid memories of all the austerities of training and the great degree of physical fitness and self-reliance produced by this form of military activity.

The battalion’s tour of duty at Quetta came to an end in November 1938, when it went to Bombay in the ordinary course of relief’s, arriving there on the 18th November. Shortly before leaving Quetta the official title of the regiment was changed to ‘The South Lancashire Regiment (The Prince of Wales Volunteers).’ The great storm was about to burst upon the long-suffering world, and so it was that the Second Battalion of the Regiment had the fortune to be in Bombay when war was once again declared against Germany on the 3rd September 1939. It was not, however, to remain for long in comparative idleness, and the varied and interesting part which it played in the great struggle is narrated in later chapters.

The collapse of British dominion in India, euphemistically referred to as the ‘transfer of power’ has finally closed one of the greatest chapters in our history, not the least gracious feature of which was the comradeship between British Soldier and his ‘opposite number’ of the old Indian Army.

The 2nd Battalion, like all other British battalions in India, bore an Indian Machine Gun Platoon on its establishment. These men, although they were mule leaders and not gun members, were trained infantry soldiers and every possible effort was made to make them feel as mush a part of the battalion as possible. The battalion’s original platoon was composed of Punjabi Mussulmans, but in 1934 these ‘P.Ms’ were replaced by Mazbi Sikhs of the then disbanded Sikh Pioneers.

These men came from a corps with a proud record and it was hard in them to be relegated to the role of ‘drabi’ or mule leader, in a British Battalion, but everything possible was done to make then feel at home, even to allowing then to enter for the inter-platoon hockey tournament, which they promptly won! The result was a creation of a happy relationship, which brought its reward of mutual esteem and a thoroughly efficient Machine Gun Platoon.

AFTER DUNKIRK
THE SECOND BATTALION

It will remembered that the 2nd Battalion of the regiment was in India when the war broke out. It was at first employed on Fortress manning duties and internal security work in Bombay, but the critical situation in England following the evacuation from Dunkirk and the collapse of France, with the accompanying imminent threat of invasion, led the Prime Minister to order the urgent withdrawal from India of eight Regular Army battalions on replacement by Territorial units, and the 2nd Battalion was one of those selected. Accordingly, it left Bombay of the 5th June 1940 and proceeded by way of the Cape of Good Hope to England, disembarking at Liverpool on the 17th July. The battalion, with three other Regular battalions from India, now became a unit of the 29th Infantry Brigade Group, which took over part of the defensive area vacated by the 3rd Division in Sussex. The independent Infantry Brigade Group, commanded by Major-General Sir Oliver Leese, Bt., C.B.E., D.S.O., was organised and trained with a view to special operations and received orders in April 1941, whilst at Crowborough, Sussex, to mobilise on a foreign service basis and to proceed to Inverary in Scotland for a period of special training before going abroad.

After a period of strenuous and intensive training in combined operations, the 2nd Battalion embarked with the Special Force on the 19th March 1942, and was subsequently engaged in the operations on Madagascar, which are described in another chapter. Lieutenant-Colonel J. O. Carpenter, M.C., had brought the battalion from India and he was succeeded in the command by Lieutenant-Colonel G. H. Gilmore, D.S.O., M.C., who came from the Cameronians in November 1940. In August 1941, Colonel Gilmore left the battalion on appointment to a brigade command and command of the battalion fell to Major M. Alston-Roberts West, who continued in command until his promotion to the rank of Colonel in June 1943, soon after the battalion’s arrival in India after the Madagascar Operations.

The Second Battalion in Madagascar
One of the most odious consequences of the French collapse was the necessity for use of armed force against our former Allies. One instance was the action against the French fleet at Oran, and another was in the operations in Madagascar in which the 2nd Battalion of the regiment took part in May 1942.

Madagascar, after New Guinea and Borneo was the largest Island in the world, lies in the Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of the continent of Africa, from which it is separated by Mozambique Channel. It is just under 1,000 miles long from the north to the south and has an average breadth of some 250 miles, with a total area of 228,000 square miles. Madagascar has few indentations of significance along its extensive coastline except the bay of Diego Suarez, at almost the extreme northern point of the island, which is one of the finest natural harbours in the world. The climate is tropical and has two well-defined seasons, one warm and rainy from November to April and the other comparatively dry and cool from April to November. Apart from Diego Suarez, the natural ports are Majunga, on the northwest coast, and Tamatave on the east coast, from which a line of railway runs to the capital, Antananarivo, in the mountains near the east coast and nearly midway along it.

Since 1896 Madagascar has been a French Colony, and its French Officials remained for the most part strongly pro-Vichy after the French surrender.

Until the enemy had been cleared from the shores of the Mediterranean the sea route via The Cape was of the utmost importance to us, and the position of Madagascar, flanking that route, made it vital that it should not be used by the enemy to interfere with our Shipping to the East. The equivocal attitude of the French colonial authorities, and the sinking of substantial numbers of ships off the Southern African coast and in the Mozambique Channel, led to the strong suspicion that Madagascar was being used as a base for U boats, and it was determined to launch an operation, in the utmost secrecy, to secure the Naval Base at Diego Suarez and the port of Tamatave.

After six months of intensive training the 2nd Battalion, then at Galashiels, received orders to prepare for a move overseas and embarked at Glasgow on the 19th March 1942, in the polish liner ‘Sobieski.’ Exercises had taken the men to sea before, but they were told by the Commanding Officer that this, at last, was the real thing and they were going overseas for active operations. Security had been well maintained, for the battalion had just returned from a combined operations exercise in Loch Fayne when it was ordered to move to a new station, with another exercise on the way. This proved to be the final move for embarkation.

The convoy in which the battalion now found itself was one of the largest to leave the Clyde since the beginning of the war, and the concourse of large liners and fast frigates, escorted by destroyers, and with the battleships Nelson and Rodney and the aircraft carrier Indomitable in support, made a brave sight as the ships made for the open sea. By this time the troops had become accustomed, in the course of training, to life on board ship and the routine was no great novelty to them, but the men of the 2nd Battalion never got entirely used to the vagaries of the Polish cookery in the ‘Sobieski.’

Steaming south, the convoy reached Freetown, Sierra Leone, eleven days after leaving the Clyde, for fuel and water, and after spending three days there the voyage was continued to the Cape. The convoy was now reduced in numbers and consisted of the four assault ships ‘Sobieski,’ ‘Winchester Castle,’ ‘ Keren’ and ‘Karanja,’ five other liners and some fast freighters, escorted by the battleship Resolution, the carrier Indomitable and a flotilla and a half of destroyers. Fourteen days after leaving Freetown, the ships arrived at Durban and there the men enjoyed the lavish hospitality always associated with the port. In spite of the long voyage they were remarkably fit and were kept so by the route marches. Rumours of the destination of the force were naturally rife in Durban and al elaborate security scheme was in operation which had started on board ship before the convoy arrived. The officers had been told that the force was under orders to proceed to Trincomalee preparatory to an assault landing in Burma, and in Durban agents were assiduously spreading the news that the force was to attack Madagascar and at the same time known enemy agents were deluded into the belief that his was, in fact, a cover plan that Burma was the real objective. This double bluff worked admirably, as was shown by the event.

It was not until the convoy had left Durban, after a pleasant six says’ stay that the troops were finally told that the object of the force was to seize the port of Diego Suarez at the northern tip of Madagascar, to be followed immediately by a subsidiary operation by the 2nd Battalion of the Regiment against the port of Tamatave, on the east coast with two companies, the remainder to make an assault landing on Majunga on the west coast. The latter operation was cancelled at the last minute and the final plan was for the whole brigade to concentrate on the operation for the capture of Diego Suarez.
The inlet known as Courrier Bay, on the west coast of the peninsula on which lies the small town and port of Antisirane, had been selected as the landing point for the assault ships, and this proved to be a complete surprise, for the French did not believe it possible for ships to enter the bay in darkness, and they were actually in position early on the morning of the 5th May 1942. The 2nd Battalion’s role was that of floating reserve in the first phase, and, the initial assault having achieved almost complete surprise, it was ordered to land at about 0700 hours and follow up the main axis of advance along the road from the beaches to Antisirane in two parties at one-hour interval.

The first party, consisting of Main H.Q., ‘B’ and ‘C’ companies (commanded by Major A. H. S. Northcote and captain R. G. Johnson respectively) and ‘A’ (less one platoon) commanded by Captain G. C. B. Sass, was ashore by 0830 hours and set out at forced march pace to catch up with the rest of the Brigade, which it did at about 1400 hours, when it joined the rear of the 1st Battalion The Royal Scots Fusiliers. There was a longish halt here while the first real enemy opposition so far met was dealt with, and a strong point on the hills covering the road was captured by the 2nd Battalion the Royal Welch Fusiliers and some tanks of ‘B’ Special Service Squadron. While this position was being mopped up the Battalion, with the rest of the brigade, went on down the road and contact was soon made with enemy positions covering the town of Antisirane. By this time it was getting dark and the battalion was ordered into a perimeter position while a plan was made for an attack by the brigade on the enemy positions. During this period there were a few casualties from snipers. The second party of the battalion consisting of rear Battalion H.Q. under major K. S. Hayes-Palmer, ‘D’ Company and one platoon of ‘A’ company, commanded by Captain G. Herbert, had joined up by now, and the carriers commanded by Captain P.B. McMorland, and the M.T., had been landed.

The enemy appeared to be holding a position running right across the peninsula, and the 2nd Battalion was given the task of carrying out a night march along the beach and through the difficult mangrove swamps on the enemy’s left flank, in order to be able to deliver an attack on the rear of the position at 0530 hours, at which hour an air strike followed by a frontal assault by the 1st Battalion the Scots Fusiliers and the 2nd Battalion the East Lancashire Regiment was to be made.

The battalion moved off at midnight on a compass bearing in a square formation at a pace of 100 yards in five minutes, with a check every 15 minutes to close up and maintain correct distances. The night was very dark and the going very difficult, so that, despite all precautions, the battalion became somewhat spread out by the time daylight came, and one platoon of ‘A’ Company did not rejoin till the following day.

Having reached a position astride the road leading to Antisirane, and wheeling left at about 0430 hours, the battalion began its final advance to its preparatory forming-up position. The advance was carried out with ‘B’ company, Battalion H.Q., and ‘A’ Company (less a platoon), moving along the waters edge through the mangrove swamps and over the rocks, and ‘C’ and ‘D’ Companies moving on the far side of the road, on the left. Soon after the advance had begun one platoon of ‘B’ Company which had detached from the rest of the company, bumped an enemy strongpoint and the platoon commander, Lieutenant Pyman, and one man were killed and three men were wounded. Immediately afterwards, ‘C’ Company, moving up behind this platoon, were pinned down by very heavy fire after securing the reservoir on the high ground above the beach, and the second-in-command, Major K. S. Hayes-Palmer, ordered ‘D’ Company to move up on the left of ‘C.’ It was at this stage that Private Craddock, of ‘D’ Company, performed a very gallant deed for which he received an immediate grant of the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

While the company commander was carrying out his reconnaissance, it became apparent that the enemy snipers were using a small house on the left of ‘C’ Company’s position. These snipers had caused several casualties in both companies, and, before any further action was ordered, Private Craddock jumped up and charged the house alone and under L.M.G. and rifle fire. He succeeded in entering the house from the back and killed all seven of its occupants, shooting three and bayoneting four. The remaining enemy near the house then surrendered and the area was occupied.

Further attempts to advance from the neighbourhood of the reservoir made it apparent that the companies would have to attack over partially open ground, and Major Hayes-Palmer, deciding that this could not be done by daylight without incurring heavy casualties, went back to for further orders.

In the meantime, the Commanding Officers, with Battalion Tactical H.Q. and ‘B’ Company (Less one platoon), had moved rapidly along the beach and had reached the Ana Bozaka Barracks, which they had found unoccupied. They were now behind the enemy front line, and when they advanced beyond the barracks they ran into heavy fire from a wood to their left flank. Major A. H. S. Northcote, commanding ‘B’ Company, thereupon ordered one platoon to keep the enemy’s heads down while he led the other platoon round the flank in an attempt to penetrate the position. As he led his men forward, Major Northcote was severely wounded in the chest and the platoon was forced to fall back after suffering further casualties. The casualties fell into enemy hands and Major Northcote was made a prisoner and taken to hospital by the enemy. He was later awarded an immediate Military Cross for his gallant leadership on this day. By 0615 hours, no contact having been made with the rest of the battalion, the Commanding Officer ordered the remnants of ‘B’ Company to split up into bands of ‘guerrillas’ and do as much damage to the enemy as possible, and he himself decided to try to run the gauntlet and rejoin the remainder of the battalion. He eventually succeeded in joining second-in-command at about 1400 hours, bringing with him the platoon of ‘A’ Company, which had become detached from its own company earlier in the day. The ‘guerrilla bands’ created as much disorder in the enemy lines as they could and took some prisoners but, after suffering casualties, decided to withdraw and made their way to the beach, where they left their wounded and the wounded prisoners under a small escort, and attempted to reach our lines individually. Mot of them got back safely but the escort with the wounded were found by the enemy and forced to surrender.

During the night advance the remaining portion of the battalion, namely Main H.Q. and ‘A’ Company (less one platoon), had lost contact while negotiating the rocky beach and, having lost one platoon of ‘A’ Company through the death of the N.C.O. who had been told to pass the message to the platoon commander for the platoon to follow behind the Main Battalion H.Q., the rest of this party had to run the gauntlet of enemy fire along the beach as it became light, but eventually reached the Ana Bozaka Barracks at about 0645 hours where they were met by the I.O., who told them of the situation of ‘B’ Company. Major G. M. Osborne, the senior office present, decided that, in view if the length of time which had elapsed since the I.O. had been in contact with ‘B’ Company, it was no use trying to find them, and that the best thing he could do was to sit astride the enemy’s communications and do as much damage as possible. This he proceeded to do and, after seizing the wireless station and clearing the immediate vicinity of enemy, he put the area in a state of defence and tried, with the three sets available, to establish contact with brigade or battalion. This party remained in the area all day and successfully held up enemy traffic trying to use the road, despite a few half hearted attempts to drive them away, and eventually withdrew after dark and reached our lines at daybreak after a hazardous journey along the beach.

The other fragments of the battalion was the platoon of ‘A’ Company, which had become detached during the original night advance. This platoon, under Lieutenant G. Hall, ran into two French posts which it overran, killing or capturing the entire garrisons, and later dispersed or captured several parties of enemy troops, so that, what with its own losses and personnel sent back with wounded, the platoon was reduced to a strength of the platoon commander and 7 men to look after no less that 7 officers and 249 men as prisoners. Lieutenant Hall decided he should take his prisoners back first and so triumphantly reported with brigade headquarters with his string of prisoners and eventually rejoined the battalion.

By the evening of the 6th May the Commanding Officer had concentrated 9 officers and 125 other ranks at brigade headquarters, having left ‘C’ Company to maintain contact with the enemy and withdrawn ‘D’ Company and the platoon of ‘A, ’ all of whom had suffered a number of casualties. The doings of the rest of the battalion were not then known and it was feared at the time that casualties had been extremely heavy. In actual fact the battalion’s casualties in these operations amounted to 1 officer and 21 other ranks killed, and 3 officers and 62 other ranks wounded.

While the 2nd Battalion was thus engaged, the operations of the main force had been launched according to the original plan and, after some stiff fighting during the 6th May and a night attack during the following night, the French residency had been entered and the Governor and the enemy commanders and their staffs had been captured on the morning of the 7th May, and two days later the last of the French troops in this area surrendered and the whole of the harbour and installations of Diego Suarez, with the surrounding country was in our hands.

The enemy positions in front of ‘C’ Company of the battalion which, it will remembered, had been left to maintain contact on the evening of the 6th, proved to be a strongly fortified and well concealed fort, which did not surrender until the morning of the 8th, and the commander of ‘C’ Company during this time, Lieutenant M. R. Emsley, the senior platoon commander, earned an award of the Military Cross for his initiative and fearless conduct on this occasion. On the morning of the 7th May, he with his C.S.M. and two men crept up to just under the wall of the fort and standing up demanded its surrender. This was refused and the French Commander told Emsley that he and his men were prisoners. After a parley, however, Emsley obtained a ten minutes truce and rejoined his own command.

After the occupation of Diego Suarez, the 2nd Battalion settled into the French Naval Barracks, with one company in the Bellevue Fort, the one which had occupied the attention of ‘C’ Company as described above, and the first few days were occupied in clearing the battlefield.

At this time, the possibility of aggressive Japanese actions could not be entirely ignored, and the Diego Suarez area was put into a state of defence, and mobile columns were sent out to clear the surrounding country of possible raiding parties. The battalion quickly adjusted itself to the novel conditions and companies were often out on minor operations wither singly or as part of small mixed forces. One of these took ‘A’ Company and a platoon of ‘C’ Company away from the battalion for six weeks on an arduous spell of marching and fighting in the ‘no mans land’ between the opposing forces, during which time they did very good work in instilling confidence into the native population and establishing friendly relations with most of the local French planters. Unfortunately, the malaria season was now starting and about 40 per cent of the men contracted the disease. While operations were in progress, the rest of the battalion had been working on its defensive positions and had been able to do a certain amount of training in addition. Training went on until the middle of August, when orders were received for the battalion to be prepared to move for an undisclosed destination, and on the 21st it embarked on the troopships ‘Dilwara’ and ‘Dunera’ with the East Lancashire’s and the Royal Scots Fusiliers, and on the 26th the battalion disembarked at Mombasa.

Here it took part in a large-scale exercise, which was, in fact, a rehearsal of the next operation in which it was to be engaged, and it was reorganised with the First Reinforcements, which had now joined.

Before leaving Diego Suarez, a memorial to commemorate all ranks of the 2nb Battalion who had been killed ain action on Madagascar had been erected in the grounds of the French Naval Barracks. It consisted of a plinth with the Regimental Cross in concrete and an inscription, with a brass plate bearing the names. In addition, a cross inscribed with his name was erected for each man in front of the memorial.

The next operation was called ‘Stream Line Jane,’ and was in three separate phases. The first phase, Operation ‘Stream,’ was to be the capture of the port of Majunga, on the west coast of Madagascar, and the plan for this operation provided for the 2nd Battalion to land in Majunga harbour with No 5 Commando in the early hours of the 10th September, and then join up with troops which had been landed overnight with the object of drawing off the enemy forces by a feint to the north of the town. The plan succeeded admirably, and the town and installations of Majunga were surrendered by the French garrison after slight resistance in which the casualties of the battalion amounted to two other ranks killed and three other ranks wounded, while the whole total casualties of the force did not exceed fifteen.

The next part of the operation, ‘Line’ was the landing of the 22nd East African Brigade and its launching on an advance southwards to Antananarivo, the capital. This was carried out, and the 2nd Battalion was again embarked to take part in ‘Jane,’ the last phase, which was to be the capture of Tamatave, on the east coast, and the terminus of the railway to the capital.

Conditions on the east coast of Madagascar are very different from those on the west, and more shelter, coast, for the Indian Ocean side is exposed to the full force of the trade winds and the landing craft could only be launched inside the barrier reef which, at Tamatave, was only about 15 miles from he port itself.

The French Defenders, however, had by now begun to lose heart, and it was decided to carry out the operation through with a big show of force, and to take risks, which would not have been justified in he face of a resolute enemy. The plan was, therefore to sail the ships carrying the assault troops right inside the reef in broad daylight, with the escorting warships and carriers lying off shore and the aircraft flying over the French positions and the town. At the same time the French commander was to be presented with a demand to surrender the port, failing compliance with which the place would be subjected to sea and air bombardment, followed by an assault landing. In the event of resistance, the plan provided for the East Lancashire’s and the royal Welch Fusiliers to land at the northern end of the town, seize the aerodrome, the Governor’s residence, and certain gun positions and then sweep south through the town, while one company of the 2nd Battalion was to land with commando troops on the main quay and seize the docks, followed by the rest of the battalion which would then sweep north and join hands with the troops landing at the northern end.

The ships reached their positions inside the reef just after daybreak on the 18th September, and an envoy with a white flag was sent in to present the ultimatum demanding surrender, but was fired upon when approaching the breach. The naval bombardment thereupon began, and was stopped after ten minutes on the appearance of white flags hoisted on buildings ashore, and the assault troops were sent off according to plan. The town and its approaches were then occupied without resistance and with no casualties on either side, although a few civilians were killed and injured by the bombardment. ‘A’ Company of the 2nd Battalion (Captain G. C. B. Sass) was then sent forward along the railway line for some ten miles to secure some important bridges and, a goods train having been commandeered at the station, the rest of the battalion was entrained and pushed forward along the line towards the town of Brickville, sixty miles away, picking up ‘A’ Company on the way.

As a precaution, two trucks containing French officials were pushed along in front of the engine, and at 2200 hours a point two miles short of Brickville was reached where further progress was help up by the ruins of two bridges over deep ravines. The battalion then detrained and advanced along the railway until it reached a wide river on the far bank of which stood the town. After a few shots had been fired by a platoon of frightened native troops guarding the railway bridge over this river, the place was captured without opposition and orders were received to continue the advance towards Antananarivo to help the advance of the East African Brigade from Majunga. ‘A’ Company was sent forward ten miles along the main road to secure bridges, and ‘D’ Company (Captain G. Herbert) was sent to capture the next station along the line, called Anivorano.

On reaching this place, ‘D’ Company found some track maintenance trucks and sent forward a platoon commanded by Lieutenant J. Ball in them. The trucks were pushed by natives and this platoon used its novel form of conveyance to outstrip a troop of commandos who had been sent to reach the capital by forced march. Covering thirty miles a day, in spite of the fact that the railway reached an elevation of 4,000 feet in 100 miles, this platoon had reached Moramaja, having travelled more than sixty miles in thirty-four hours, on the evening of the 24th September, and joined hands with the leading East African Troops who had reached the capital the previous day.

The campaign was now practically over, although a formal armistice was not signed until the 6th November, and the 2nd Battalion, with other troops, moved up to Antananarivo to show the flag and establish friendly relations with the inhabitants, both French and native. Antananarivo is situated at an elevation of nearly 5,000 feet above sea level and is a pleasant city with a good climate, but the 2nd Battalion’s stay there was marred by a high incidence of malaria, picked up at Brickville, recognised as one of the most malarias places in the world, and at one time more than 200 men in the battalion went down with the fever in a week. On the 15th October, the battalion left for Tamatave again and embarked from there the next day, headed for South Africa.

Thus ended its part in this strange and unsatisfactory campaign fought against an erstwhile ally in an unsuspected corner of the globe and under difficult conditions.

Casualties in action were 1 officer and 23 other ranks killed and 3 offers and approximately 65 other ranks wounded, with nearly 500 of all ranks passing through hospital at one time or another, mainly from malaria and dysentery, and the following awards, apart from Mentioned in Despatches, were made to officers and men of the Battalion.

Military Cross – Major A. H. S. Northcote and Lieutenant M. R. Emsley;

Distinguished Conduct Medal – Private Craddock of ‘D’ Company

 

PRELUDE TO VICTORY IN BURMA
THE SECOND BATTALION
Arriving at Durban on the 24th October 1942, the 2nd Battalion was sent inland to Pietermaritzburg, where it stayed for a week, sorting out kit and to a certain extent reorganising, before returning to the Imperial Forces Transhipment Camp at Durban. The next two months were spent in individual training and period s of leave, when arrangements were made for all personnel who had not got friends in South Africa to stay on farms and in private houses in Natal, the Transvaal and Zululand, and all ranks have warm recollections of the great hospitality then enjoyed at the hands of their South African hosts.

On the 30th December the battalion was told that it was to leave Durban, and it embarked on the troopship ‘Devonshire’ on the 8th January 1943, bound for the usual ‘ unknown destination.’ When the convoy was at sea it was announced that India was the destination, and on the 28th January the battalion disembarked at Bombay and went by rail to Poona. Here it was learned that its brigade was to form the nucleus of a newly formed Combined Operations Division of the Indian Expeditionary Force, known as the 36th Indian Division and, after a short settling down period, company and battalion training began. During this period ‘A’ Company, commanded by Captain G. C. B. Sass, were called for internal security duties at Yeravda Jail, where Mahatma Ghandi was detained, the immediate occasion being one of his many famous fasts with the fear of resulting disturbances. In the event nothing untoward occurred.

In March the battalion went to the semi-hill station of Mahableshwar for its first taste of training in jungle warfare, and returned to Poona, a month later. The next move was to Saugor, for a large-scale demonstration, which the battalion had been selected to give and, after intensive training and rehearsal, the unit was employed in giving these demonstrations for the benefit of a series of courses for senior officers. Designed to show methods of jungle warfare and based on actual experiences against the Japanese, these demonstrations stood the 2nd Battalion in good stead when it eventually came to grips with the new enemy in Burma.

Early in June the 2nd Battalion was back at Poona, and here it had to say ‘goodbye’ to Lieutenant-Colonel M. M. Alston-Roberts-West on his translation to a higher appointment and promotion to the rank of full colonel, and the command was taken over by Major K. S. Hayes-Palmer. Colonel West had been in command of the battalion since August 1941, and he was greatly missed. At the same time, Major G. M. Oborn, who was holding a staff appointment, was reposted as second-in-command.

The greater part of June and July were taken up with leave and individual training and range practices and the men got through their first Indian Hot-weather remarkably well. As the weather got cooler training was intensified and just before Christmas reconnaissance parties were sent to Londa, 200 miles south of Poona, where the brigade was to concentrate for jungle warfare training early in the new year. This move never materialised, and the Commanding Officer was told, in strict secrecy, that the brigade had been selected to take part in an amphibious operation, with the code name ‘Porpoise,’ somewhere in Burma. He was told that the operation was going to be carried out in DUKW’s and Alligators, types of amphibious vehicles with which the battalion were not familiar, and so certain selected officers and N.C.O.s. were sent to Bombay for special training in these new-fangled contrivances.

Normal training went on all the time, and though a few selected officers were told what was a foot, excellent security was maintained and the brigade began to leave Poona, a battalion at a time, at the end of January 1944, without the outside world being aware that anything unusual was going on.

The 2nd Battalion, moved into two echelons and the first echelon, consisting of ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies and half of H.Q. Company, arrived by rail at Calcutta on the 9th February and was conveyed from there by sea to Chittagong and thence went forward to Bawli Bazzar, on the Arkan Front, where it was joined by the rest of the battalion on the 20th February. So here the 2nd Battalion, now face to face with the new Japanese enemy in Arkan, perhaps the most formidable theatre of war in which British Troops have ever been asked to fight.

It is now necessary, for a better understanding of the events which followed, to recall the background of the situation which required our troops to fight in the Arkan Peninsula, and the main features of the country in which they found themselves. When the Japanese overran Burma in their first victorious onslaught they pressed forward to the shores of the Bay of Bengal, occupied the port of Akyab and the greater part of upper Arkan and threatened Chittagong. Fortunately this threat did not materialise, and the Japanese at first contended themselves with he occupation of Akyab, and forward detachments pushed northwards up the Mayu Peninsula as far as Maungdaw and Buthidaung.

The recapture of Akyab had originally been planned as a seaborne operation by the 6th Infantry Brigade of the 2nd Division which had carried out the Madagascar operations, and had excellent prospects of success if it could have been carried out at the end of 1942 or the beginning of 1943, while the Japanese were still in small strength and without prepared positions; but higher priorities elsewhere and the consequent lack of naval escorts, adequate air cover and a sufficient supply of suitable craft, prevented the launching of the operation at the proper time and a limited advance down the Mayu Peninsula by the 14th Indian Army was carried out instead. This operation was a costly failure and our troops finished up in approximately the positions from which they had started, and, during the monsoon season on 1943, both sides settles into positions covering the Maungdaw-Buthidaung Road, with one British-Indian Infantry Brigade holding the coastal region from the Neknaf Nhila to Bawli Bazaar and another brigade group inland on the other side of the Mayu Range which ran down the peninsula, in the area of Taung Bazaar-Goppe Bazaar.

The intention to use the 29th Brigade for an amphibious operation in Burma was maintained until the Japanese in Arakan in the cold weather of 1943-44 succeeded in breaking through our positions east of the Mayu Range and encircling the 7th Indian Division. The amphibious operation, known as ‘Porpoise,’ was then indefinitely postponed and it was decided that the 36th Infantry Division should go into action as an ordinary infantry division.

After concentration in the Bawli Bazaar area, the 2nd battalion took over defence of the positions known as Bawli Keep, and was also responsible for the defence of the Goppe Pass, leading across the Mayu Range. Its tasks called for much patrolling, but no actual contact with the enemy was made during the week or so until early March when the battalion was moved up to the area of the Ngakyedauk Pass after it had been cleared of the enemy, following the Japanese failure to exploit their original success.

The battalion’s task was to keep the Pass open and it took up positions on the high ground overlooking the eastern end of the pass, and on the summit where ‘C’ Company, commanded by Major R. G. Johnson, was on the top of the Mayu Ridge looking after the jeep tracks which transversed the range. Active patrolling was now the order of the say and on the 3rd March the first contact with the enemy was made when a mule train escorted by men of ‘C’ Company was mortared by the Japanese and two men were wounded.

On the 5th March the battalion received orders to move forward along the Mayu Range on relief of the 2nd Battalion East Lancashire Regiment on the 7th, but before the move took place, the Japanese, employing their usual infiltration tactics, managed to penetrate across the range and attacked brigade headquarters and adjacent gun positions. They were beaten off with heavy casualties and ‘B’ Company of the 2nd Battalion was ordered to destroy parties of Japanese who had taken refuge in a deep Chaung, or watercourse, running down from the positions occupied by the company. The operation was completely successful but it cost the lives of the company commander and the C.S.M., Major A. H. S. Northcote and C.S.M. I South being killed and two other ranks missing.

The battalion moved forward to its new positions on the 7th and on the 8th ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies, the latter now commanded by Major R. Ashton, did a final sweep of the Chaung where the enemy had been hiding. The bodies of Major Northcote and C.S.M. South had meanwhile been found by a patrol of the Royal Welch Fusiliers.

The positions now occupied by the battalion now consisted of company localities from half to three-quarters of a mile apart, organised in depth on the crest of a ridge that took the shape of a narrow spine with numerous Chaungs running down the steep sides to east and west, and the whole area was thickly covered with dense jungle growth which made the constant patrolling an arduous and highly precarious undertaking. The nearest Japanese positions were located on the high ground known as Pt. 1301, opposite ‘B’ Company on Pt. 1619, and plans were made for the 2nd Battalion to attack and capture the point on the 17th Match after softening up by Artillery and mortar concentrations. In the plan, ‘D’ Company were to move out during the 16th and work their way up the eastern side of Pt. 1301 during the night to a position of readiness for a dawn assault; ‘A’ Company were to move during the night to a position on the northern side of the objective and were to move forward when they heard ‘D’ Company start their attack.

The preliminary moves where carried out according to schedule and the sound of grenade bursts and small arms fire at 0715 hours on the 17th announced that ‘D’ Company had almost reached the top of the eastern slop of Pt. 1301. The company was observed to be within about 150 feet of the summit when it came under intense small arms and grenade fire, but it pushed on until it had reached a point only some 50 feet from the top of the ridge, only to be held up by a cleared zone which was swept by fire from enemy bunkers on the left and by a precipitous escarpment in front of the enemy positions. Attempts were made to work around the flanks, but when ever the men managed to reach the edge of the cleared jungle they were at once pinned down by heavy fire. In the meantime ‘A’ Company had advanced, and at 0825 hours put in an attack from the north, with 7 platoon going up the face of the hill and 8 and 9 platoons working along a spur to the left flank. 7 Platoon, commanded by Captain J. E. Leach, had almost reached the top when they were literally blasted down the steep slope by showers of grenades, suffering a number of casualties. The other two platoons, commanded by Lieutenant D. Cox-Ameen and Lieutenant J. Wellborne, reached a point only some 15 yards from the enemy positions and were pinned down by heavy automatic fire. ‘D’ Company had now reformed after their first assault and were trying to establish contact with ‘A’ and to work a way round the enemy’s left flank. These efforts, however, failed, and, it becoming clear that the attack had been definitely stopped, the Brigadier called the operation off and the companies of the battalion were ordered to withdraw to their original positions. It had been a hard day’s fighting, and the battalions casualties were 5 other ranks killed and 3 officers and 15 other ranks wounded.

It was now decided to reduce the Japanese positions by other means that direct infantry assault, and they were subjected to such heavy and concentrated air and artillery bombardment that they were found unoccupied and almost completely devastated when the infantry finally moved up to them on the 19th March.

Passing through these positions, the battalion exploited forward to positions almost overlooking the famous tunnels in the Maungdaw Buthidaung road, and this, except for a few slight brushes on patrol, was the last contact which the battalion was to have with the Japanese on the Arakan front, for it was withdrawn to brigade reserve on the 3rd April, and, on the 23rd, was told that it was being transferred to the 114th Infantry Brigade in the 7th Indian Division.

This order came as a rather unpleasant surprise, for the 2nd Battalion had been in the 29th brigade ever since its formation in 1940 and had thoroughly absorbed its atmosphere, besides establishing the closest ties of comradeship with the other units. On the other hand, the 7th Indian Division had a very fine fighting reputation and was a first-class jungle-trained formation. In the event, the battalion had no cause to regret the transfer, fully sharing in the triumphs of the 7th Indian Division in the final victorious reconquest of Burma.

Before leaving the story of the 2nd Battalion’s active service in Arakan, a few anecdotes illustrating something of the atmosphere in which this strange jungle was conducted may not be out of place, relating as they do directly to the 2nd Battalion of the regiment, and narrated at the time. Major Hayes-Palmer and Major Sass, in their account of this phase of the battalion’s activities, have this to say anent one of the unexpected hazards of the campaign: ‘There are several amazing incidents with wild elephants. One section on patrol was put to flight by them! The Japs were believed to have been using elephants to carry mortars. It was suggested by the C.O. that “The mortar was placed on the elephants back, the driver sat on its back, and pulled the tail to fire!” This was sent to Brigade as an answer to the persistent queries as to the whereabouts and doings of these elephants. There was no reply!’

‘SEAC,’ the daily newspaper of South-East Asia Command, had the following references, among others, to the 2nd battalion on the Arakan Front: ‘This is not a story of men who won medals. They aren’t heroes that the world will cheer. They are just men who have come up against the Japs and, having had a “crack,” feel, in the words of their C.O., “pretty bucked.” They are men of a North-country regiment whose part in recent operations including clearing a hill that had been in Jap hands for two tears. This is a diary of their job: “Began to dig in… move was difficult but greater part of battalion in position by the afternoon… ‘B’ Company swept down valley on a broad front, killed ten Japanese, scattered the rest… By nightfall company had returned except to officers and two other ranks…” Of attack on the hill, “…leading troops within a few feet of the top when grenades showered upon them causing them to lose foothold… remaining men made several attempts to reach top but odds against them too great and they were forced to withdraw and re-form.”

‘Ordinary enough. Not likely to make the headlines, but get among them men and you find the unreported incidents. There was Private____________ of Warrington and his L.M.G. who, under fire, on a very exposed cliff position, was told to withdraw. Before he did so he stripped his gun and scattered the parts. He began a difficult climb back, picked up a rifle on the way, turned round, had another crack and then came back.

‘They are laughing at the experience of a guard with a detached section on a hill. One of the men went to wake up the others. After a few minutes the man he had left asleep felt a body dump down beside him. “You’ve been quick, haven’t you?” he asked, putting out his hand to the furry unresponsive body of a baboon. Baboon left in a hurry!’

Such were some of the strange vicissitudes of this peculiarly trying campaign. The 2nd Battalion gained the following immediate awards in Arakan:

Military Cross – Lieutenant S. Cockburn;
Military Medal – L/Sergeant S. Dunning

From Kohima to the Irrawaddy and St Valentine’s Day 1945
2nd BATTALION
On transfer to the 114th Indian Infantry Brigade, the 2nd Battalion joined its new formation near Bawli Bazaar at the end of April 1944, and at once began reorganising on the normal Indian establishment, which included animal transport. Fortunately this was not as difficult as it might have been, as the battalion still had some of the men who had had experience of handling the capricious ‘katchha’ during its previous tour in India.

It was not long before the move to the northern front began, and on the 9th May the battalion left Bawli Bazaar by route march and moved by rail, river steamer across the Brahmaputra to the Assam Railway, and hence to Dimapur, the starting point of the road to Kohima and Imphal across the Naga Hills. From Dimapur the battalion marched up the road and, on 20th May, arrived in a reserve area 12 miles short of Kohima. The monsoon had now started and the conditions were thoroughly uncomfortable, but whereas previously it had been the custom to cut down operations to the minimum during this season, it was not allowed to make any difference to the prosecution of the war and all ranks had to accustom themselves as best they could to the very trying circumstances of terrain and weather in these broken and rugged hills and ravines.

When the battalion arrived on this front the operations for the clearance of the Japanese from the hills about Kohima and the reopening of the road to Imphal were reaching there concluding stages, and the 2nd Battalion took over positions in the line, on the position known as Church Knoll, on the outskirts of Kohima, on the 1st June. The enemy had been in there positions here for several weeks and the area had been the scene of bitter fighting which had blasted all buildings to rubble and destroyed all vegetation, while the combination of shelling and rain had reduced the ground to a sea of mud in which there were still the remains of many bodies.

The battalion’s forward positions were here within fifty yards of the enemy, and on the night of its arrival a strong attack was delivered by the brigades on the right and left of the 114th which forced the enemy to withdraw and the battalion moved up next morning and took over the former Japanese positions. The pursuit of the retiring Japanese troops was taken up by battalions of the brigade in turn along the narrow, slippery tracks, which were now only passable by jeeps fitted with skid-chains, and the battalion went forward on the 5th June, covering ten miles on the first day and eleven miles the next day partly along the track and partly across country.

On the 7th orders were received for the battalion to move through the leading battalion of the brigade, which had struck across country and now occupied the village of Kezoma, situated on a high ridge at an altitude of 2,500 feet higher than the battalion’s position, and then to exploit further along the same ridge. ‘C’ Company, commanded by Major G. C. B. Sass, moved off at once, followed by the rest of the battalion, and at 1700 hours it had passed through the leading battalion and took up the pursuit. During this advance Lieutenant A. F. Macrae and Corporal Morgan of the mortar platoon captured the first Japanese prisoner to be taken by the battalion, and the miserable condition of this sorry specimen of the Japanese race did much to give the men’s morale a fillip.

As ‘C’ Company advanced its leading platoon ran into a small enemy light machine-gun post which was driven in without loss to ourselves and one Japanese killed. Very soon after this, just as it was getting dark, the company reached a position about 500 yards short of the village of Kidema and a fighting patrol was sent forward to reconnoitre. This patrol found an enemy bunker about 200 yards from the village and became engaged in a brisk little action in which it lost one other rank killed (Private 3656418 Samuel Cavanagh) and two wounded and inflicted casualties on the enemy before withdrawing. It was able to report that the enemy were in a strong position on the edge of a clearing in the jungle, and the company commander decided to send out patrols on the flanks to see if the position could be turned. Returning in the early hours of the morning, the patrols reported that the ground fell away very steeply on both sides of the village and Major Suss thereupon decided to launch a frontal attack at first light.

The attack was about to start when it was cancelled by the Commanding Officer, information having been received from natives during the night that the area of the village was held in strength by about 1,000 enemy infantry and 4 guns. ‘C’ Company was therefore ordered to dig-in on the saddle some 500 yards from the enemy positions, and ‘A’ Company, commanded by Major P. B. Watson, was sent up to join ‘C’ Company while the rest of the battalion dug-in further back.

The next three days were spent in probing and mortaring the enemy positions, and there were several patrol clashed in which ‘C’ Company lost one man killed (Private 14373013 George Nuttall Reed) and two wounded and inflicted heavier casualties on the enemy.

On the 10th June orders were received for the battalion to carry out an attack to drive the enemy from these positions and capture the village of Kidema, and the plan was for the attack to take place on the 12th after artillery and mortar concentrations on the enemy defences during the night. Colonel Hayes-Palmer’s orders for this operation provided for the battalion to be split up into two forces, commanded by Major P. B. Watson and Major G. Herbert respectively. Force 1 (Major Watson), consisting of ‘A’ and ‘C’ Companies, was to attack Kidema from the south and Force 2 (Major Herbert), consisting of ‘B’ and ‘D’ Companies of the battalion and the mortar platoon, together with the mortar platoon and a medium machine-gun section of the 4/5th Royal Gurkha Rifles, was to infiltrate into Kidema from the north, with fighting patrols making diversions east and west of the village.

‘A’ and ‘C’ Companies moved off at 1830 hours on the 11th and ‘B’ and ‘D’ moved off at 0330 hours on the 12th and were on their starting line by 0530 hours. Unfortunately, the ground to be covered by ‘A’ and ‘C’ Companies was found to be much more difficult than had been anticipated, being extremely broken and traversed by many nullahs which were now in spate, and the result was that these companies had only covered half the distance by 0400 hours, and at this time the leading platoon ran into an enemy outpost, so that by the time this obstacle had been side-stepped it was ‘H’ Hour, with the companies still a mile short of their forming up positions. Previous orders having stated that if they had not reached their forming up positions by ‘H’ Hour the companies were to withdraw, ‘A’ and ‘C’ did so and tool no further active part in the attack. ‘B’ and ‘D,’ however, launched their attack according to plan and on time, but were almost immediately met by heavy enemy fire, which pinned them to their ground. Nevertheless they cleared the first line of enemy bunkers, but were again held up by the second line and were eventually withdrawn.

Casualties in this action amounted to 2 other ranks killed (Private 3662124 Albert Grant and Private 3661698 Charles Robert William Lyde) and 2 officers Lieutenants H. G. Hall and C. J. Stein and 11 other ranks wounded, and at least 17 of the enemy were known to have been killed.

Patrol action and artillery concentrations continued on the next day and on the 14th a fighting patrol found Kidema unoccupied and the battalion moved up to occupy the village while the rest of the brigade passed through in pursuit. The battalion remained in positions in and abut Kidema for the next week, moving forward to rejoin the brigade at the village of Mao Sonsang, which had been captured in the continuing drive against the retreating Japanese. It was now back in divisional reserve and the division having been ordered back to Kohima for refit and rest, the battalion moved back to a rest camp in Kohima on the 28th.

During its first experience of this front, the battalion had tasted to the full the rigours of campaigning in these wild and broken Naga Hills at the height of the monsoon season, and nobody who has not experienced it can appreciate the sheer misery and discomfort of struggling up and down the steep slopes in pouring rain and with clothes perpetually wet. All supplies had to be brought forward on mule-back over slippery tracks, which were either ankle deep in mud or little more than torrents, and some of the men were beginning to show signs of malnutrition by the time the battalion was rested. Nevertheless, the enemy had been given no respite and the battalion had inflicted continuous casualties on him, while it self-losing 4 other ranks killed and 2 officers and 19 other ranks wounded.

The following immediate awards were made during this period:

The Military Medal – Corporal S. Green (Stretcher Bearer) and Private J. Davies (‘B’ Company)

Corporal Davies showed great gallantry and devotion to duty in attending to wounded men in the open and under heavy enemy fire during the attack on Kidema, and Private Davies acted with conspicuous courage and great initiative when the advance of the neighbouring troops was in danger of being halted through a misunderstanding. During an attack on Hunter’s Hill, Kohima, Private Davies saw that the attack was being held up until it had been established whether heavy fire from a flank was our own or the enemy’s and, being in a forward position where he could see that it was part of the supporting fire plan, he left his listening post and charged alone up the hill, thereby showing that the way was clear and the assaulting troops immediately followed his lead and overran the enemy positions.

The battalion was well satisfied with the results of its first encounter with the Japanese at Kohima, and all ranks were anxious to get to closer grips with them. Their wish was to be amply fulfilled in the near future.

Additional Information: Colonel John Kenyon, a lieutenant, serving with 5 (Bombay) Indian Mountain Battery, part of 25th Indian Mountain Regiment, was on June 12 a forward observation officer with a company of the 2nd Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment, which was mounting an attack near the village of Jessami, east of Kohima.

"Advancing in thick mist to within 40 yards of the Japanese, they suddenly came under heavy machine-gun, rifle and grenade-discharger fire from enemy entrenched in well-protected bunkers. Kenyon quickly brought down neutralising fire, which allowed the leading infantry to consolidate without further casualties.

"He then called down close supporting fire from two mountain batteries, which allowed his men to get within 20 yards of the bunkers before and led directly to their capture.

"Pouring rain, thick mist and the jungle terrain severely limited observation but his coolness, determination, accuracy and prompt action during nine hours under continuous heavy fire provided invaluable assistance to the infantry and saved many lives. He was awarded the MC".

Born on Dec 30, 1921, Kenyon was posted to 5 (Bombay) Indian Mountain Battery, part of 25th Indian Mountain Regiment in India.

The obituary added: "He developed a lasting affection for his mules. One night during close quarter fighting in the Arakan, a mule was badly wounded close to his trench. He got out to dispatch it, then returned to find that the trench had been destroyed by a shell.

"Having inflicted the first defeat on the Japanese in the Arakan, the 5th and 7th Indian Divisions - men, mules and guns - were then flown straight to Kohima without any rest. On operations, the 3.7-in pack howitzer (Kipling's screw gun) was transported in eight rapidly assembled mule-borne loads. The ability of the mules to operate in conditions inaccessible to vehicle-transported guns was a war-winning factor".