大象传媒

The next landing was scheduled for a place called Leptan, a village lying astride the main track, you could hardly call it a road, running along the coast from north to south. It could hardly be called a seaborne attack as it lay some miles inland, reached by the many tidal creeks known to the Burmese as 'chaungs', and where the mangroves grew in profusion.
We landed on a fairly wide front and my party was allotted to the southernmost flank. The Burma coast was so very long that the Japanese found it impossible to guard it at all points, although they were usually quick to react as soon as they were aware of what was happening. Our first intimation of their reaction was the unmistakable sound of tanks rattling in our direction. The track at that point ran through a steeply wooded defile and before long four light tanks passed through. Knowing that we had a squadron of Shermans ashore a mile or so to the north, we sent through a quick message on the lines of, 'Visitors are coming to see you'. The answer came back, 'We will give them a good welcome'.
Meanwhile the Frontier Force Rifles made utmost haste to construct a road block, with timber, stones, brushwood, etc., in fact anything to make it look more formidable than it really was. Then we heard the satisfying sound of the 75 mm guns of the Sherman tanks banging away in the distance, eventually followed by the sound of one tank coming back in our direction. It came as far as the road block and stopped, much to the delight of the F.F.R. who fired one of their explsove devices at its tracks to render impossible any further movement. Then the hatch openened and two Japanese got out to see what had happened. This was the signal for a hail of shot and their bodies virtually disintegrated.
Looking inside the tank afterwards for any useful information regarding enemy strength and dispositions, etc., it was interesting to see that the tank commander in civilian life had been an agent of the Singer Sewing Machine Company based in Tokyo. One almost felt sorry for him, but that twinge of Christian charity soon passed, when one remembered the actions of his countrymen.
As soon as the Leptan area was cleared, a West African Division was put ashore with the intention of engaging the enemy inland from Leptan, and so drawing away potential opposition to the Fourteenth Army advancing down Central Burma.
The F.O.B. party were involved in one further minor landing several miles down the coast which was within range of the naval guns. The plan was to land the party together with a few infantry some three hours before the main landing, in the hope that we could proceed unobserved in the dark up a small hill and establish an obervation post ready to support the main landing when dawn broke. To our utmnost relief there were no Japanese on the hill, and the landing proceeded without undue incident.

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