Info Please: Australian? in Allied Unit, 884038,James Ernest Kane, 321st (8th Batt The Gordon Highlanders) Battery 122nd Light Anti Aircraft/Anti-Tank Regiment Royal Artillery Why was he with this regiment? Any information would be appreciated. This one seems to be from Yorkshire re NOK CWGC. Need assistance on Who/Where/What/How for this man who is on the Australian Commemorative Roll which is for those "Australians" who died in other Allied Services. If proved not to be "Australian" their names will not be removed from the Commemorative Roll however their details will be updated accordingly. I have researched the Air Force members but there are many more Land and Sea deaths in a myriad of different forces. There is not a lot of information on these people that can be accessed easily and I ask your assistance to fill in at least some of the gaps. Hopefully some relatives may see this thread and add more. I will make a different thread for each along the way as they may tend to get lost if clumped together. In Memory of Gunner JAMES ERNEST KANE 884038, 321 (8th Bn. The Gordon Highlanders) Bty., 122 Lt. A.A./Anti-Tank Regt., Royal Artillery who died age 24 on 09 February 1945 Son of John and Evelyn Kane, of Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Yorkshire. Remembered with honour TAUKKYAN WAR CEMETERY
Nothing of assistance so far, no hits in the newspapers - they’re normally my first port of call for these sorts of investigations. My theory is that if someone in Australia cared enough to add them to the commemorative roll when it was created in the 1950s, then they probably placed an in memoriam notice in the paper when they first found out about the casualty. Some of the CommRoll entries though appear to have been placed by siblings after they emigrated to Australia post-war (that is the only conclusion I can arrive at sometimes). Next I thought I would try to work out where he might have been when he died as the TAUKKYAN cemetery was used a “collection” cemetery post-war for casualties from battle-fields all over Burma. He is listed on the CommRoll as being with 321st (8th Batt The Gordon Highlanders) Battery 122nd Light Anti Aircraft/Anti-Tank Regiment Royal Artillery I have cobbled together a few bits from Wiki & Google & the book by General Sir Martin Farndale, KCB - “History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery - The Far East Theatre 1941 - 46”. The 8th (City of Aberdeen) Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders was converted to artillery, becoming the 100th (Gordon Highlanders) Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery. This battalion served with the 2nd Infantry Division in the Burma Campaign. In 1943, 321 Anti-Tank Battery left 100 Anti-Tank Regiment and joined 122 (Royal Warwickshire) Anti-Tank Regiment which was part of 36th Indian Division of 15th Indian Corps. At the end of 1944 the regiment was at Katha and in April 1945 it was at Maymo then Meiktila then Imphal. (Note - in September 1944 the 122th was re-designated from a Light Anti Aircraft/Anti-Tank Regiment to an Anti-Tank Regiment
Thanks Dave, Seems you may be right with the Siblings. Wendy at AWM may have some further info! Cheers Geoff
I wonder if his unit was involved here: 26th Brigade's advance on Myitson (9/2/1945) Synopsis Preparations for an attack by British troops on Myitson, North Burma. Unloading and use of pontoon boats to cross the river by the 26th Brigade, 36th Division, near Myitson. Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) lead the way up the beach with company commander Major Miles Cranfield followed by a Gurkha defence platoon and Brigadier Jennings (commander of 26th Brigade) and his Brigade Major, Major Brett. Dead Japanese soldiers, some floating in the water, are passed… Preparations for an attack by British troops on Myitson, North Burma. Unloading and use of pontoon boats to cross the river by the 26th Brigade, 36th Division, near Myitson. Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) lead the way up the beach with company commander Major Miles Cranfield followed by a Gurkha defence platoon and Brigadier Jennings (commander of 26th Brigade) and his Brigade Major, Major Brett. Dead Japanese soldiers, some floating in the water, are passed by British soldiers. Notes At this point 36th Division (commanded by Major-General F W Festing) was part of Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) under the American Lieutenant-General Daniel Sultan. NCAC was a multi-national force comprising Mars Task Force (American and Chinese) and two Chinese Armies (New First Army and New Sixth Army) in addition to 36th British Division.
This film apparently covers his unit around the time of his death..... Crossing the Shweli River for Assault on Myitson Object description In northern Burma, troops of 2nd Battalion The Buffs cross the Shweli River before the assault on Myitson, with machine gun, mortar and artillery fire in support, as the divisional commander watches. Full description In the jungle near the Shweli river a group of Indian Engineers bring up a rolled inflatable rubber boat. The boat is inflated by blowing into it and by a foot pump. On a track through the jungle a wounded Indian man is tended to by two British; others kneel nearby waiting to move. Two soldiers move off into the jungle carrying a third man. Looking out over the Shweli river with rubber boats on the water; one is full of troops. British troops near the water’s edge. A British officer (?) looks out with binoculars. Out of focus shot shows a soldier hurrying along a track. Focus corrected; British troops including stretcher bearers go forward along the track. A rubber boat is handled into the water. Men board the boat. A rubber boat is paddled. A rigid boat with outboard motor is used to tow rubber boats. An inflated boat is carried through undergrowth. Looking over the river with smoke trails from covering mortar fire. Boat is put into the water. A smoke bomb from a mortar falls into the river. Empty rubber boat at the water’s edge. Men pile in and the boat is paddled away. Bren gunners lay down covering fire; one man changes magazines with smoke pouring from his gun. Looking over the river with boats in midstream and smoke. More men hurry into a boat. Men run and take cover on the riverbank; one man appears to have, most unusually, attached a Lee Enfield sword bayonet to his Thompson submachine gun. Shots of 6-pounder anti-tank gun, operated by the Gordon Highlanders, in action against Japanese bunkers. A British soldier, apparently not wearing any equipment, sits in the open on the river bank and snipes across the river with his rifle; a boat can be seen on the water. More of the 6-pounder. A group of British soldiers, apparently posing for the camera; one man fires his rifle past the camera (in a brief shot before this there appears to be another cameraman (an American?) with an Eyemo camera entering the bottom of frame). River with boat midstream. Boats with men wading in the water; spurts of water suggest near misses. 6-pounder in action. Major-General Festing, commander 36th Division, watches progress from the frontline with his aide de camp (ADC), an unnamed brigadier (in square hat with slung M1 Carbine, probably Brigadier M B Jennings) and the battalion commander of the Buffs. Moving the 6-pounder. More of the gun in action. The brigadier speaks to another officer. Festing watches through binoculars with his brigadier.
