Warrior 136 - Chindit 1942–45 (2009).pdf

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CHINDIT 1942– 45
TIM MOREMAN
ILLUSTRATED BY PETER DENNIS
WARRIOR • 136
CHINDIT 1942–45
TIM MOREMAN
ILLUSTRATED BY PETER DENNIS
Series editors
Marcus Cowper and Nikolai Bogdanovic
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION – THE CHINDITS AND ORDE WINGATE
CHRONOLOGY
RECRUITMENT
TACTICS AND TRAINING
Training for Operation
Longcloth
and Operation
Thursday
4
7
9
12
BELIEF AND BELONGING
APPEARANCE, EQUIPMENT AND WEAPONRY
LIFE ON CAMPAIGN
IN BATTLE
Operation
Longcloth:
No. 3 Column, February–April 1943
Operation
Thursday
: the capture and defence of White City
Operation
Thursday
: 111th Indian Infantry Brigade and the defence of Blackpool
22
25
32
39
THE DEMISE OF SPECIAL FORCE
MUSEUMS, COLLECTIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
60
62
63
64
3
CHINDIT 1942– 45
INTRODUCTION – THE CHINDITS AND
ORDE WINGATE
The Chindits – the brainchild of the idiosyncratic Major-General Orde Wingate,
who went on to lead them in battle in Japanese-occupied Burma between 1942
and 1944 – were arguably the most controversial body of fighting men raised
by Great Britain during World War II. Named after a mispronunciation of
the Burmese word
Chinthe,
the mythical half lions/half dragons that guarded
temples and monasteries in Burma, this specially organized, trained and
equipped body of men employed innovative fighting methods based on ideas
originally developed by its commander in Palestine and Ethiopia. This new
approach to war fighting was dubbed long-range penetration (LRP), in which
lightly armed and equipped troops, operating without conventional artillery,
tank and logistical support, carried out offensive operations deep in the jungle
behind enemy lines with the aim of collecting intelligence, cutting enemy
lines of communication, disrupting command and control, attacking base
installations and diverting troops from other tasks. To accomplish this essentially
guerrilla mission, Long Range Penetration Groups (LRPGs), using radios for
air–ground communication, were supplied by transport aircraft, dispensing with
fixed lines of communication, and were given close air support by fighters and
bombers in lieu of normal artillery.
Long-range penetration was tested experimentally by the Chindits against
the Imperial Japanese Army during Operation
Longcloth
between February
and May 1943, when 77th Indian Infantry Brigade, composed of British,
Gurkha and Burmese troops, marched cross-country from Manipur into central
Burma through Japanese lines. A series of hit-and-run raids were successfully
carried out in the Japanese rear areas by small columns of troops, briefly
interdicting the rail network, before the exhausted survivors marched to safety,
covering over 1,000 miles on foot. Despite having suffered heavy losses to
enemy action, tropical disease and the hot and humid climate, and having
achieved little of lasting military significance, on their return the Chindits were
lionized by the British press desperate to report a success in Burma, where
hitherto the Japanese had been in the ascendant. As a result Operation
Longcloth
was trumpeted worldwide as a physical and psychological victory
over the jungle and the Japanese.
The Chindits – given the name Special Force or 3rd (Indian) Division as
a security measure – underwent massive expansion in size during the summer
and autumn of 1944, with powerful personal support from Prime Minister
4
Winston Churchill (frustrated by lack of progress in South-East Asia) and
the Combined Chiefs of Staff easing the way. It was achieved primarily by
breaking up the conventional British 70th Division and creaming off the best
manpower from other units, despite vehement opposition from critics in India
Command who regarded it as a diversion from the main war effort and a
misuse of highly trained troops. Eventually six LRP brigades were raised for
operations in Northern Burma in 1944 along with a separate organization for
their administration, supply and training. A lavish scale of arms, and new
equipment, moreover, was made available in quantities hitherto unknown in
the Far East. To facilitate operations, the US authorities also placed No.1 Air
Commando at Special Force’s disposal, which was equipped with US Army
Air Force (USAAF) light aircraft, transport and close-support aircraft and
also briefly the US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) – better known as
Merrill’s Marauders – to be trained in LRP. Overall the expansion of Special
Force entailed a massive increase in status for Wingate, who had never so
much as commanded a battalion in battle and had now suddenly taken charge
of what was in reality a small corps. A period of intensive training was carried
out in Central India and the tactics of LRP further refined based on combat
experience gained during 1943. Henceforward, instead of small striking
columns roving over the countryside, fortified ‘strongholds’ would be
constructed at key points in the jungle that the Japanese would have to attack
in strength.
Special Force was flown into battle in Northern Burma on 5 March 1944
over 200 miles behind enemy lines by transport aircraft or glider, with the
exception of 16th Brigade, which marched overland from Ledo to Indaw.
Unfortunately Major-General Orde Wingate died in an air crash in Manipur on
23 March, leaving the Chindits bereft of his leadership. For the next five months
its officers and men, deployed in brigade-sized Long Range Penetration Groups,
fought under appalling climatic conditions deep in the jungle, in operations
The Dakota transport aircraft,
flown by both the US Army
Air Forces and Royal Air Force,
was the workhouse used
to re-supply the Chindits
throughout Operation
Thursday.
(IND 5277)

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