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This story is submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by a member of Market Harborough Branch, Royal British Legion on behalf of Ken Harrison and has been added to the site with his permission. Mr Harrison fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

A Burma Incident

by Ken Harrison ex- Captain, York and Lancaster Regiment

A bright afternoon in Burma and the sun was shining in a perfect blue sky. It was March 1945 and all was at peace with the world with one rather big exception. Apart from factual evidence that they were on the run, the Japanese army was in an unknown position. But where? Suddenly, out of the blue, a Japanese Paymaster appeared, complete with escort, heading towards Chittagong. That was a formidable journey for them because General Bill Slim's 14th Army occupied a large portion of the Arakan coast. They must certainly have been mad. They were completely outnumbered and one Jap Paymaster was killed and two prisoners were taken.

The British Army had gained another financial victory except, of course, the money was worthless to the British Tommy who at that time had no purchase power. The only use would be to buy information from Burmese villagers. Such information proved useful sometimes, but only if we could really trust it. We were always suspicious, particularly when Japanese soldiers appeared in the middle of our defences, which it will be remembered were extended many jungle miles. It was sometimes hard to realise we were supported by other platoons, companies and battalions.

I was a Subaltern with one of the few fully-manned infantry platoons a n d we were part of an Indian Division. Such was my initiation into real jungle warfare. Our only items of equipment were what we could carry. By this stage steel helmets were worn night and day and Green drill battledress, which we never changed, was the order of the day. A pack contained a few changes of other essential clothing. But, the most important kit was a few hand grenades which were always maintained in a working condition. As a Battalion we had paid the price for that. A faulty pin resulted in an accident and three more of our depleted number disappeared. This was tragic and sent shudders through the infantry platoons.

A very secret message was received that afternoon. We were moving rapidly down the Arakan coast towards Rangoon and the battle was on and Malaya was our next target. Our destination was u n k n own a n d t h e brief included only one item of information: water was very scarce. We must fill our water bottles and a new issue of chlorine tablets was made. We were destined for a very important secret mission and there was much speculation among the lads. We were to rendezvous on the coast to be picked up that evening by the Royal Navy. Corvettes were operating in very limited numbers in the Indian Ocean. Rations were sparse and mainly American, which was disappointing for Tommy. The brew-can was just as important as a rifle, and both were carried at all times. Badges of rank were removed at a very early stage as it was known Jap sniped at rank. We were duly collected without incident and, during the late evening at sea, I received my brief. We were the supporting platoon of British soldiers in an Indian Brigade. We were on the ocean preparing for a beach-head landing into the unknown with hot wet jungle to negotiate. It was a frightening thought and the only comfort was that we all shared the same feeling.

The boys were given instructions to rest, fully clothed and equipped, for a dawn raid and, if we were successful, we would be supported. by the remainder of the Battalion. This was my first occasion on an initial assault. Previously I had watched British Commandos doing the pioneering operation but their numbers had been sadly reduced on a previous raid. We had been trained to keep advancing and we kept up the assault at all costs, there was no going back. Training in all conditions had been rigorous in North Wales and the Indian hills, to say nothing of a monsoon in Burma. Life was tough, but there was a job to do and the prestige of the Battalion was at stake. How deep the muddy banks were we could not see. In the early hours I could just make out the land in front through binoculars.

A rum ration was issued in conjunction with the Royal Indian Navy. A landing was to be made before daylight and we were glad of it to keep out the cold. Some of the lads made the most of the bottle of rum I carried, which was part of the equipment on a raid of this kind. We were now entering a chaung, a cutting in a narrow riverside. The corvette was grounded but not too deeply so that its engines could pull away at short notice. The initial wave of British Tommies was about to land on Burmese soil for the umpteenth time. Some of us had completed many beach-head landings by this time. I rather enjoyed the element of surprise. There was always more to come when Jap really found out he was being gradually cut off from supplies and his limited communications. Hundreds of Japanese died, but we must not minimise our own losses. Our boys were going down like nine-pins with dysentery and malaria.
The assault was on and there was one thought - we must get away from the beach-head as soon as physically possible. It was hard graft cutting our way through the already steamy jungle as the sun was beginning to rise. Occasionally I stopped to think what a wonderful sight if only we could enjoy life without the enemy.

The larding was completed without incident. We used Indian Sappers to put down chestnut palling for the advancing troops to follow. Our task was nearing the end. Advance we did and g lad of it. By now the second wave of Indian soldiers was beginning to land and, at first, we really thought Jap did not know about this one. However, we were soon under heavy shell fire. The noise was terrible, sparks began to fly and bombs were raining down on the beach-head..
Rations were limited and our precious lifeline was disintegrating before our very eyes. But we advanced further and further away from the sea. A lonely little platoon of British soldiers almost lost in the deep, deep jungle of Burma. The Royal Indian Navy had given us bearings which became rougher and rougher as we progressed until we only had a vague idea of our position. That night we dug in with the pioneer miniature shovels we had learned to use. It was a dark night. However the shell fire had petered out at dusk and our thought were such that Jap knew the British and Indian Army had ceased to follow-up the initial assault. We were relying on my compass as the only guide, which was a great comfort to me as I had developed absolute faith in the compass in jungle warfare. Water was running out and we were much too active to sleep. The following day we learnt that casualties were light and we were joined by our own Battalion but it was regretted water supplies were non-existent. Another 24 hours went by before our own Pioneer Platoon struck a weak supply of infected water. Jap was good at poisoning the streams which trickled on some of the dried-up rivers. However after the elementary tests had been carried out we discovered that limited treated matter was available for boiling. A small amount of tea was produced from nowhere and, typical of Tommy it was share and share alike. But there were no cigarettes. An air drop was forecast and it came a day later. Although food was limited, communications were good.
We were making progress. Patrols were carried out despite constant sniping from pockets of troops from Japanese artillery and infantry regiments in the vicinity. Life as uncomfortable for many days and sleepless nights were spent listening to Jap calling out 'Tommv I can hear you, Tommy I can hear you'. We maintained maximum silence.

Morale was high in spite of mail getting through only spasmodically either way. Limited news was reaching home, so our Colonel wrote a collective note for his troops. We just had not time during operations for any mail. This proved to be our last raid and we were withdrawn for a rest period to be trained for more important missions, the grand assault on Malaya.

Life was just beginning to be tolerable once again and we had to get used to fresh food and even a bed. My first experience of civilization en route to Madras was a bout of malaria. I had been lucky to escape both malaria and dysentery throughout the Burma campaign.
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Footnote
In World War Two, the 2nd Battalion of the Yorkand Lancaster Regiment went from the Sudan to Palestine, then Crete and Egypt. After fighting against the Vichy French in Syria and North Africa, the Battalion moved to India. In 1944 it was reformed into two Chindit columns for the re-occupation of Burma. The 2nd Battalion was disbanded in 1947, but was subsequently amalgamated with the 1st in 1948. The regiment was finally disbanded in 1968.

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