About one hour before first light on the morning
of May 13th 1944, 47 Column, Leicestershire Regiment were
ambushed in their bivouac, by a patrol from the Japanese 53
Division. This was the Columns second choice bivouac site,
the first had generated a sense of unease and the Column had
retreated further away from the railway corridor into the
jungle
Two officers, a sergeant major and six privates
were killed, thirteen men were wounded and five were missing.
Harold, was one of the wounded, shot through
the lower leg. In 1990 he recalled:
"There was a hell of a racket,
some were still asleep, others were brewing up when all
hell let loose,at first I didn't realise how badly I`d
been wounded, I was more concerned for the mule that was
carrying all the column's money..it was so badly
wounded it had to be shot. Major Yeatman-Biggs, tried
to lead a counter attack, but as he stood up he
fell dead with a bullet through the head, we then dispersed
further into the jungle, I was lucky as I could still
walk after a fashion, lots of Japanese were killed, and
as we scrambled up a steep mountainside, and over a river
we lost lots of mules, either through falls or drowning.
We shouldn't have been there, the Japanese seemed well
prepared and although this first bivouac was cancelled
due to the danger we sensed, we were still too near a track" |
The column were not pursued, and although not
having a dispersal map reference, quickly managed to regroup,
and two days later also made contact with the Nigerians, further
to the west. Harold feels it was due to the help of the Nigerians,
and the constant attention of the Column's Medical Officer,
that he lived to tell his tale.
The column missed one of the supply drops due
to the ambush, and had to sample the delights mule meat, the
discomfort compounded by the full onset of the monsoon, when
the column was on the steep exposed mountainside. In "The
Chindit War", by Shelford Bidwell,(Hodder and Staughton),
the "escape":
"The terrain to the west of the Railway
Valley is difficult enough in dry weather. Ridge and valley
have no distinguishing pattern......the spot-heights
on the map jump from 1000 ft to 5000ft and the whirls of
the contours are so close that at first glance the map presents
a uniformly brown tinge. Every step of the way was
up one impossible slope and down another.........When the
monsoon downpour began, the hundreds of chaungs draining
the area changed from clear rills or dry ravines to torrents
of foaming water that could sweep away a man or mule.
The flanks of the hills became mud slides. Steps had to
be cut and revetted with bamboo, mules off-loaded and led
to the top while the men carried up the weapons and heavy
gear. a good day's march was five miles, a bad one a mile,
but in that country horizontal distance meant nothing"
Harold was evacuated by light aircraft from
an airstrip on the shores of Lake Indawgyi, then by Dakota
to India where he was hospitalised for several weeks in a
temporary military hospital where his wounds were "cleaned
up", before being transferred by boat for a 4 day journey
down the Bramaputra River to a larger hospital and, and then
to Madras, enduring several painful skin grafts.
It was only then that Harold realised how lucky
he was when he learned the full extent of the casualties in
the ambush.
Harold`s real fear was
that he would become separated from his colleagues, in the
confusion and darkness after the ambush, but due to the professionalism
of his colleagues, and the dispersal plans that the column
had practised time and time again, his worries were unfounded.
The evacuation of casualties, was a wonderful
morale booster for the Chindits second Expedition, following
the heavy casualties of the Chindits first expedition. John
Masters, in "The Road Past Mandalay (Michael Joseph 1961}
writes about an incident during training when an emergency
called for speedy evacuation:
"The strip for an L-5 was supposed to be 500 feet absolute
minimum, but the only place available at the scene of the
accident was a bumpy field no more than 4500 feet long. An
l-5 went in, rescued the wretched man and took off safely.
The whole force had heard of it within 5 hours. The commander's
hopes and the soldier's morale rose sky-high. Now if we got
hit in the middle of Burma we would not be left under a bush
to die."
In one case, two men were
evacuated within 10 minutes of getting wounded, and time after
time again the American pilots risked there own lives to evacuate
wounded and ill Chindit's, from obscure, bumpy tree shrouded
strips ,many miles behind enemy lines.
From
Harold's memories and various written sources, it has been
possible to locate of the Commonwealth War Commission's "Debt
of Honour" website, the following soldiers of 47 Column,
7th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment who lost their lives
on Saturday May 13th 1944. I do not believe this is the full
record of those who lost their lives, and would welcome any
additions of amendments.
The following roll is designed
as a further memorial to these brave men
Private JOHN HENRY ARABIN
4864336, 7th Bn., Leicestershire Regiment
who died age 31
on Saturday 13 May 1944.
Private ARABIN, Son of Enoch and Jane Arabin; husband
of Violet Betsy Howarth Arabin, of Northampton.
Remembered with honour
TAUKKYAN WAR CEMETERY
Lance
Corporal FRANK STANLEY BREAKSPEAR
2145574, 7th Bn., Leicestershire Regiment
who died age 32
on Saturday 13 May 1944.
Remembered with honour
TAUKKYAN WAR CEMETERY
Private
THOMAS JOSEPH EVANS
3714155, 7th Bn., Leicestershire Regiment
who died age 26
on Saturday 13 May 1944.
Remembered with honour
TAUKKYAN WAR CEMETERY
Corporal,E.
GLOVER,
4864936, 7th Bn., Leicestershire Regiment
who died age 33
on Saturday 13 May 1944.
Corporal GLOVER, Son of William and Lois Glover; husband
of Mavis Lucy Glover, of Leicester.
Remembered with honour
TAUKKYAN WAR CEMETERY
Corporal
WILLIAM DOUGLAS HARRIS
5571128, 7th Bn., Leicestershire Regiment
who died age 25
on Saturday 13 May 1944.
Corporal HARRIS, Husband of A. H. Harris, of Lostwithiel,
Cornwall.
Remembered with honour
RANGOON MEMORIAL
Warrant
Officer Class II PHILIP KENNETH HOLMES
4856216, 7th Bn., Leicestershire Regiment
who died age 31
on Saturday 13 May 1944.
Warrant Officer Class II HOLMES, Son of Mr. and Mrs.
Albert George Holmes; husband of Peggy Holmes, of Cleethorpes,
Lincolnshire.
Remembered with honour
TAUKKYAN WAR CEMETERY
Lance Serjeant PENNEY
4864487, 7th Bn., Leicestershire Regiment
who died age 33
on Saturday 13 May 1944.
Lance Serjeant PENNEY, Son of Charles and Lucy Penney;
husband of Jane Penney, of Calow, Derbyshire.
Remembered with honour
TAUKKYAN WAR CEMETERY
Corporal GEORGE SIMS
4856542, 7th Bn., Leicestershire Regiment
who died age 30
on Saturday 13 May 1944.
Remembered with honour
RANGOON MEMORIAL
Second
Lieutenant JOHN HENRY SUTTON
315036, attd. 7th Bn., Leicestershire Regimentwho died
on
Saturday 13 May 1944 . Age 20
Private COLIN HIGGON WILLIAMS
7947010, 7th Bn., Leicestershire Regiment
who died age 22
on Saturday 13 May 1944.
Remembered with honour
RANGOON MEMORIAL
Major
ARTHUR HUYSHE YEATMAN-BIGGS
40701, 10th Bn.,
Green Howards (Yorkshire Regt.)
attd. 7th Bn., Leicestershire Regiment who died on
Saturday 13 May 1944 . Age 36
Son of William Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs and Muriel Barbara
Yeatman-Biggs, of Stockton, Wiltshire; husband of Katharine
Edith Clare Yeatman-Biggs, of Stockton. M.A. (Oxon.).
Information used by permission of
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, who retain full
copyright
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