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Part VI A

We Go Into Action Once Again

The year One Thousand nine Hundred and Forty Four held a wonderful future for us, but we did not know it at the time when we were training hard in India. At the beginning of the year we were ‘jungle training’ at Belgaum, this was supposed to get us all accustomed to fighting in the jungle where we would meet the Japs,-how we were looking forward to that? In the March of the same year there was a small leave party sent to Bombay for fourteen days away from the unit, I was a member of that party,….strange as it may seem. From the depth of the ’jungle’ we made our way by road to Bombay, we did this in four stages and had quite an enjoyable trip, at times the roads were far from comfortable, not a bit like the roads of England, still what could one expect, they were built by the Indians! We had been on leave about two days when we were informed that we had to report back to the unit immediately, this came as rather a shock to us as we had looked forward to having a fairly good time together, one did not get leave very often in those days, asking for leave was as bad as asking for discharge from the Army. We returned to find the rest of the unit packing up all the stores in readiness for moving, something was definitely happening this time. It was in the papers a few days before our arrival at the unit that the Japs had crossed the borders of the Manipur State, so we had some idea as to where we should end up. Tuesday the 28th of March saw us entraining at Ahmednager Station, the Indian trains offer as much comfort as the French ones so we were looking forward to the journey. Once more the wheels of the Army began to revolve, the usual embellishment of Red Tape was attached to everything that we did, of course this came under the heading of discipline. The seats in the train were wooden which after a long journey gave one posterior a square countenance….nevertheless it was a seat. We were packed tightly into carriages complete with kit and rifles, we had heard rumours that we should get off the train fighting but luckily that was not true. The men in my carriage were from all walks of life but in the Army for the same reason, they came from all over the country, but where would we have been without the Cockney humour or the Scotsman’s jokes about Eastbourne’s bandstand, such things made life in the Army bearable. All and sundry soon settled down and the cards were taken from their packet, card playing would continue for the rest of the journey while other men would try to sleep or read. Before the journey started the carriages were full of smoke, rather like a London fog, the cigarettes at the time were really horrible, and we all wondered what they were made of, many suggestions were often put forward as to the content of the cigarette papers…..I will say no more on that subject. Before the train pulled out of the station hordes of native children swarmed around the coaches crying for the usual ‘backshees’, they were always told to go away… or words to that effect, one could never tell when the children blushed under the tropical tan! The odours at this station were not so pungent as usual, most Indian stations have a smell to themselves really beyond description. Up to now I have said nothing about the Officers,- this story would not be complete without a few words about them. As we passed the carriage allotted to them we came to the conclusion that their posteriors were even softer than ours as soft cushions were in their second class compartment which was theirs for the duration of the journey, also it appeared that they could not stand the heat, as fans were playing a soft breeze on their fevered brows. We waited about two hours before the rolling stock of the Indian Railways began to move, the train moved up and down the platform several times but we found out that it was good for the morale of the troops. The train pulled slowly out of the station, we were on our way so we could try and settle down, the heat at the time was terrific so those who were sleeping would dream of ‘A White Christmas’…..wonderful things are dreams. The moon presented itself soon after the journey had started, a very romantic sight for the Peace time traveler but for us it was just another moon. Bedtime came, some slept on the floor while others tried to find room on the seats, there was a little noise at first but this died down as each man was transported away on the wings of Morpheus. We were on the train for five days before we came to that great river the Bhramaputra, there are no bridges across this river as the tide has too great a rise and fall, especially in the Monsoon season. A ferry takes everybody across, naturally this is packed with troops before it sails, ‘standing room only’ is the cry. On the other side one has to walk quite a distance to get to another train, for the civilians there are coolies who carry all the kit, but as usual the soldier carries his own. This stage of the journey is done on the single gauge railway, at the time when we travelled the Americans were driving the trains and we wondered if we should ever arrive at our destination safely, I am certain that the wheels were off the track some of the time. The country now was changing, the jungle was getting thicker but there was no sign of any monkeys or Japs. The train stopped and every man was told to get out, the station was Dimapur, this was in the Manipur State where the Japs were supposed to be sending out patrols. We moved away from the station and marched for a short distance until we came to a small river, here we camped for the night. It was a damp, dark tropical night, no one was feeling very excited but things had to be organized. The first night passed without any trouble but we were glad to see the daylight. The second day found us moving once again, this time we went right on to the river bank and dug fresh positions, these positions formed a box or four sides of a square similar to the days of the settlers in the West, the effect was good and offered fairly good protection to the troops. At night the guard was mounted, not with the usual pomp and ceremony but only told where to go and what to do in case of any visiting Japs. In the middle of the night orders were passed round to double the guard as Jap patrols were expected, we had no patrols but we did get a Tiger in the Brigade box, one of our men saw it but was too frightened to fire at it, by the look of that the Japs would have an easy time with our section! Work started once again, roads had to be made because the mud was making transportation very difficult and at this time we needed as many stores as possible which were being brought up the road. And so the Unit set to work laying many miles of Summerfield track, this is thick wire netting which is unrolled on brushwood to make a new road, but even this will not stop mud from coming through the mesh. After being in that position for two days we were told the object of the campaign which was about to start. We were to relieve the Royal West Kents who were completely cut off by the Japs and were really on their last legs, the road to Kohima had to be opened and from Kohima came the road to Imphal… we knew our task and we also knew that the following weeks would not be too pleasant for us but we had a job to do and had to carry on. On Monday the tenth of April the Division moved forward to prepare for action, the move was done in transport and we arrived in time to get everything organized for the night in case of any Jap movement. On the following day we were going into battle, each section had a certain job to do, and in turn each subsection had a particular task allotted. Water Supply was given to 1 section and 2 section had a bridge to repair which had been under heavy enemy mortar fire. The day came to move off, the morning was fine, we carried very little kit, the only thing to keep us warm or dry was a thin gas cape which did not offer much protection against wind or rain. The convoy lined up and moved off when everything was ready, so we began our slow journey towards action. The road was narrow and winding with a sheer drop on one side and a high cliff on the other, the convoy would stop and start as we approached each bend in the road but we managed to carry on without any trouble. At the 32 milestone the Brigade took up their first position, a desolate place with hills on each side, a few small trees scattered here and there, the road was a mass of transport which offered a grand target for enemy aircraft, fortunately for us the Jap did not have many in this theatre of war. About fifteen minutes after our arrival the artillery went into action, at his time we had 25 pounders in support of the Brigade, as soon as the guns opened fire we all expected shells to come back in reply, but nothing happened. The section took up there positions in the form of a box, positions were dug as best as possible, the ground was rather hard for one thing and there was also plenty of work to be done. The Water Point was opened as soon as possible after our arrival, water would be difficult to find as we moved on along the road, this was a one way street with no way out, at least that is what we thought at the time.
Dusk had fallen, all was quiet, nobody was to move as the Jap liked moving during the hours of darkness and some people might have been shot without any cause. The night go colder, we were all sitting in our holes shivering because we had nothing to keep us warm, and so we sat there waiting but what for we did not know. Time passed until the stillness of the night was broken by the rattle of machine gun fire, Verey Lights lit up the sky and the crack of a Mortar could be heard, what was this? for the first night in action it was certainly a good start for us. The noise continued for some time and slowly died away until all could be heard was the blowing of the night winds. Number 2 section went out on their task of repairing a bridge, it was still under fire, it was here that Mr. Bilham was seriously wounded, he died the next day. The same night 2 section box was attacked by the Japs, some how or other the enemy managed to set up a machine gun in their box and held quite a picnic, this time we lost another old member of the unit, Tiny Barret was killed and Ted Norris was injured either by bayonet or sword, all these events made us realize that we were really at war, we also realized that our turn could come at any time, death was just around the corner! Some distance down the road was a feature which covered our advance, Japs had made good use of it and were fairly well dug in, they had to be removed by one way or another.
The artillery would pound the objective for some time and then the Infantry would go in with fixed bayonets to clear away anybody who was left. The artillery opened fire, vivid flashes followed by explosions continued for some considerable time, it went quiet and the Infantry went in with fixed bayonets, this was the Cameron’s job. The Worcesters had already been in action and had a very bad time. After a short while the feature was cleared of the enemy and the Cams consolidated, here they rested until they were given their next task. It was at this point that I was given the task of taking my subsection forward to clear all the Jap corpses of Booby Traps, we collected our kit and set off. Along the winding road we went, we were stopped once or twice by an enemy sniper but no one was hurt. We arrived at the scene of the recent battle, the green hill was blasted almost beyond recognition, Jap corpses lay in various poses, their prominent yellow teeth grinning in the sun, some were still in their quickly prepared foxholes, our job was to search the bodies for anything which might go off with a bang. These sons of Nippon had been dead for only a few hours but already the smell of death hung heavy in the air. We began our search, ropes were tied to the bodies, the men stood away and the rope was given a sharp pull to explode any Booby trap which could have been hidden on the corpse, perhaps nothing would happen, perhaps the limb would come off and the whole job had to be done again. Forty or fifty corpses were dealt with in this manner, by this time some of the chaps were beginning to feel rather sick at the sight of blood, brains and intestines strewn across the green grass of Assam, but the job had to be done and we carried on, there was one chap on whom the job had no ill effect, he was an Undertaker in peace time! Some loot was found, Jap flags were in nearly every pack, a revolver and various types of arms were taken back for inspection and the job came to an end. It would be interesting to note that most of the corpses had been well fed, they had plenty of ammunition and were not short of clothing, we had been told things which were quite different, in fact exactly the opposite.

Continued in Part VI B

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