Tank Tracks to Rangoon

by Bryan Perrett

Oh sorrow, the Gurkha Sahib has died, and they are laying him down. They are not laughing now. We all work trying to tow the Sahib’s tank clear. We dig and try again. It is no good. The Sahib tells the Risaldar Sahib to take his tank back to the paltan position, and try to get some more men so that we can make a position round the tanks. The Risaldar Sahib takes his tank back.

  The Sahib goes round checking the positions. We dismount our AA guns and put a gunner in each tank. He seems to think that everything is all right. Perhaps the Sahib is as mad as the Gurkhas. He is very comforting. We all eat a little and have a drink. The Gurkhas are smiling again. Everything is very quiet. We are waiting.

  There is suddenly a great noise of firing from our paltan position behind us. Flares go up, and verey lights. Many bombs go off. We can hear shouting quite clearly. It must be the Japs. The noise gradually dies down, and then we can hear a tank engine. The Risaldar Sahib brings his tank back, but there are no infantry with him. He says that the paltan second-in-command in the rear position says he is very sorry, but he had so few men he can spare none just now. He has been heavily attacked, and expects another attack any moment. He suggests that our Sahib leaves his tank and comes back to help him defend the perimeter. He has heard on the wireless that the rest of our squadron has come into the area, and more tanks and infantry should come up and help us tomorrow. In any case, in the morning he will try and help to get our tank out.

  Our Sahib says nothing, and thinks for a while. Then he says, ‘I am not going to leave these tanks, or even the one that is stuck. These Gurkhas have fought so stoutly, we can fight as well. Everything is very quiet, and perhaps the Japs don’t know exactly where we are. If you go back now, they will think from the noise that all the tanks are back in the position. The paltan Sahib will be able to spare men in the morning when his position is easier to defend. You, Risaldar Sahib, will take your tank back, and bring help in the morning.’*

  The Risaldar says, ‘If you stay here, I will stay too. Together we can defeat the Japs. Where shall I put my tank and dismount my Browning?’

  The Sahib says, ‘Sorry, Risaldar Sahib, but you will go back and return with help in the morning.’

  The Risaldar Sahib salutes, and gets back in his tank. I think he does not agree with the Sahib’s plan.

  Everything is very quiet. Suddenly, a Gurkha challenges in a quiet voice. Then he fires a short burst. There is a cry, and the noise of people scrambling down the khud.† He scrambles forward; there is a strangled cry. The Gurkha comes back grinning, and wiping his kukri. He says there was one dead and one wounded man left behind; now there are two dead. Everything is very quiet again. Even if permission were given, no one could sleep or rest. I do not feel tired. We wait for day.

  Is the night never going to end? The moon comes up early in the morning, but there are clouds and we can hardly see. Then the pale dawn starts breaking. We hear a tank engine start up and come towards us. It gets a little lighter. It is still quiet. Then everything happens at once.

  I do not know what happened even now. There were mortar bombs, and grenades exploding everywhere. Everyone is shooting. Men are rushing about and falling everywhere. There is shouting, I see a crowd of Japs rushing at us. They come right into the middle of their own bombs. I fire my ack ack Browning until it stops. The Risaldar Sahib’s tank comes up and drives right over them. There are more Japs. Gurkhas charge with the bayonet and shoot at the same time. A Jap falls out of a tree nearly on top of me. His head is a horrible mess. There is some fitful firing, and then things are quiet. A mortar bomb falls every now and then, but they are landing down the khud below us. Is anyone alive? I can see the Jemadar Sahib staggering about. He is hurt with blood streaming from his neck and shoulder. I can see the Sahib’s gunner, lying half out of his turret. He must have been looking over the top.

  The Sahib gives orders. He is looking happy. He must be quite mad. The Sahib says, ‘Quickly, Dafadar Hari Singh, get the breach block out of my tank, smash the wireless set, scatter the Browning parts down the khud, and then come and join me. Risaldar Sahib, and you Havildar, get all the Gurkha wounded you can on that tank, then take all the infantry wounded back to the camp. I shall collect the survivors of the tank crews and bring them back.’

  The wounded are collected, and the Sahib orders the Risaldar’s tank and the surviving Gurkhas back to camp.

  There are very few Gurkhas left. There are many Jap dead all round us—at least thirty. Dafadar Hari Singh and two men are still in the Sahib’s tank. The Risaldar Sahib and the Gurkhas are waiting. The Sahib tells them to be off and he will follow. They obey.

  The Sahib orders us to get into the Jemadar Sahib’s tank. We crowd in, six of us, including the wounded Jemadar. I am at my lap gun again. I have to bend forward as someone is pushing me in the back. The tank starts up and we start moving.

  ‘We shall soon be safe,’ the Sahib says, and then suddenly, ‘Gunner, traverse right! Quickly!’

  There is a terrible scramble in the tank. The Sahib says, ‘Steady … On! Can you see them?’ Japs coming down through the jungle. Fire cannister on my order. Operator, watch the front with that lap gun. Driver, keep moving, damn you! Jemadar Sahib, get someone to open the pistol port, and shoot through it with a tommy gun!’

  Bang—bang—bang! The tank is full of smoke.

  The Sahib says, ‘Pull the main fire extinguisher—quick, anyone who can reach it!’ Then, ‘Look out! Here they come, gunner! Fire!’ I see some Japs with something on the end of a pole. I fire the lap gun, traversing all I can. The Japs fall in heaps. The Jap with the pole reaches the tank and then there is another bang.

  Everything is suddenly very quiet. The Sahib says, ‘Driver, what’s the matter? Can’t you move?’ The driver says, ‘No. I think a track, or both tracks are broken.’ ‘Hell!’ says the Sahib.

  The Risaldar Sahib comes on the air.

  ‘Sahib, what has happened? Why aren’t you with us? I have run out of petrol on the way back, but am covered. The paltan Sahib says the rest of the squadron and two companies are coming up the road to relieve us.’

  The Sahib then explains what has happened and tells the Risaldar to send help as soon as it arrives, but not to send a few men, otherwise they would all get scuppered. Then he says to us, ‘Watch through the pistol port. Gunner, watch where you are facing. Operator, watch front. Help will soon be here.’

  It seems that hours pass. Nothing happens. It is terribly hot and stifling, all huddled up in this tank. The Sahib says, ‘Hullo, what’s this? He looks all right.’

  The Jemadar Sahib, looking through the pistol port, says, ‘Be careful Sahib. He is dressed like a Gurkha, but I don’t like the look of him. Shall I shoot?’

  There is silence, then the Sahib says, ‘He is holding a message. He must be all right. Here goes!’

  He opens the turret flap. Then it all happens. Shades of Rama, may I never experience the like again! Explosions—smoke—shouting.

  An order, ‘Abandon tank, and fight like hell!’ There is a foot in my back, another on my head. I am choking with smoke. I must surely die. Then I try to get out of the driver’s hatch. I cannot move. I am caught. I hold my breath. Then I take another breathful of smoke. My ears sing and I shake. This is the end. I give one more heave. Something gives and I struggle out and fall in front of the tank. There is smoke all round, and shots, and explosions, and shouting. They are all shouting in a strange language. I see that I am near a culvert, and dive into it. I hear a voice calling, ‘Come away anyone who is left, I will cover you!’ Then there is another rushing of feet, and more shooting. From the end of my culvert I see a Jap fall dead out of a tree. Everything is quiet, except for chattering, and then that ceases, and everything is quiet. I feel a string across my face. It is my lanyard which has broken. That is what caught in the tank. If I had not been caught, I should have been killed with the rest. I bless that lanyard.

  I wait. All is quiet. What shall I do? I cannot die here like a rat. I crawl to the khud si
de of the culvert and look out. The coast is clear. I gather my courage and make a rush down the khud. There is a shout and some shots, but I go down. Falling, rolling, slipping, bump! Am I dead? I lie quiet and dazed.

  Jot Ram spent the next thirty-six hours wandering in the jungle before he stumbled into A Squadron’s harbour area in a state of shock. Apart from Risaldar Bharat Singh’s crew, he was the troop’s only survivor. During the afternoon of the day that Morgan and his men died, No 2 Troop under Captain T. O. Cole had set out to relieve him with a company from 10th Gurkha Rifles, but abandoned the attempt after they met Bharat Singh, who told them what had happened.

  Two days later, a reconnaissance was made to establish whether it would be possible to recover Morgan’s derelict tanks. It was not, as the enemy had the position covered by fire from most directions, and was consolidating.

  Four days later, on 22nd March, a formal attack was mounted on the area, which had become known as Fir Tree Hill. Cole’s troop, joined by Bharat Singh, who badly wanted his revenge, supported 10th Gurkha Rifles, and the position was completely overrun with many Japanese being killed.

  The enemy had fought back hard, and had penetrated Jemadar Ram Gopal’s tank with a 75-mm AP shot which killed the gunner. In spite of this, the vehicle remained in action until success had been obtained. Cole’s tank was struck on the engine deck by a 4-inch mortar bomb which blew in the plating and started a fire. Pulling the main extinguisher, Cole carried on with the action, until a Japanese carrying a fire bomb tried to clamber aboard the rear of the vehicle. Cole shot him dead through the pistol port, but the damage had already been done, and the tank was on fire for the second time. Ordering his crew out, he covered them with Browning until they were clear, and then jumped clear himself. Bharat Singh now took over the troop, and made his enemies suffer. He was the fastest loader in A Squadron, and his passage through the Japanese position was marked at short intervals with piles of 37-mm cases.

  ‘It was considered great fun to stand literally ten feet away from the slit of a bunker and pump every available round into it, also to run backwards and forwards over the bunker until the whole thing collapsed.’

  For this action, and another two days later, Captain Cole was awarded the MC Risaldar Bharat Singh, who is spoken of as being a great man and the best type of long service VCO, was awarded the Indian Order of Merit; he eventually became his regiment’s Risaldar-Major.

  Vindictive fighters the men of the veteran Japanese 33rd Division might be, but there is every reason to believe that Morgan, Cole and Bharat Singh had given them a taste of 7th Light Cavalry they would rather forget.

  The fighting at Fir Tree Hill took place in the area of Milestone 99. On 22nd March, the enemy established a road block behind A Squadron, at Milestone 96. A simultaneous attack from north and south was planned to shift them, but when this went in on 26th March, the Japanese fled at the sight of the tanks, throwing smoke grenades over their shoulders to mask their withdrawal.

  On the 27th No 4 Troop, under Lt Harpartap Singh, set off with an infantry company to contact 17th Division, and Morgan’s tanks were recovered. Just after noon on the 29th General Cowan’s men began to pass through A Squadron, and by the evening of the 30th the whole division was through. Thereafter, A Squadron formed the rearguard for the remainder of the withdrawal to the Imphal plain. Once or twice, the Japanese tried to interfere, but would not press the point when the Stuarts appeared, and usually took to their heels.

  ‘It did all our hearts good to know that after all the tanks had proved their worth,’ wrote an officer of A Squadron. It was a quiet understatement, very much in the regimental tradition.

  25th Dragoons begin bunker-busting in the Arakan. (Imperial War Museum)

  Close quarter action at Hill 1070, Ngakyedauk Pass. (Imperial War Museum)

  B Squadron 3rd Carabiniers and 1st Dogras begin to climb Nunshigum. (Imperial War Museum)

  British infantry, supported by Lees, clear a village during the Imphal battle. (Imperial War Museum)

  An historic meeting—Jem Karnail Singh of 7th Light Cavalry welcomes the leading troop of 149 Regiment RAC at Milestone 108 on the Imphal-Kohima road. (Captain H. Travis)

  Waiting to cross. A troop of 7th Light Cavalry preparing to cross the Irrawaddy into 20th Indian Division’s bridgehead. (Imperial War Museum)

  A Carabinier Lee comes ashore in 2nd Division’s bridgehead. (Imperial War Museum)

  On the road to Mandalay. A Troop of C Squadron, 7th Light Cavalry, part of Stilettocol. (Imperial War Museum)

  Tanks of 150 Regiment RAC, with Mandalay hill in the background. (Imperial War Museum)

  A Sherman of the Royal Deccan Horse in action at Yewe, near Yindaw. (Imperial War Museum)

  The Carabiniers support an infantry attack on 33 Corps’ axis of advance. (Imperial War Museum)

  The dash to Rangoon. The tank commander is Lt. Gurchuran Singh, who rose to command 7th Light Cavalry after independence. (Imperial War Museum)

  *Depression – 7 degrees.

  *One example amongst many will suffice. During the Imphal battle, C Squadron’s mess waiter tried to put out the cooks’ fire with a can of petrol, effectively destroying the mess tent. Such goings-on were regarded as being rather more of a threat than the Japanese.

  †Bread.

  *Cannister ammunition has the effect of turning the tank’s main armament into a gigantic shot-gun. Even fired from the small 37-mm of the Stuart it was horribly effective – when fired against Chinese mass attacks by 20-pdr marks of Centurion in Korea it was utterly devastating.

  †Internal abuse should be reserved for the inter-comm system; if the control is set at A instead of I/C, everyone on the same frequency can hear what is being said. This is often interesting, but prevents other traffic.

  *Shut up!

  *Jot Ram’s account does not mention that one of the drivers had been killed in the attempt to recover Morgan’s tank; this could well have influenced Morgan’s decision to remain with his vehicles. In fact, Ris. Bharat Singh brought up more Gurkhas twice during the night, but on each occasion they were all killed.

  †Slope.

  6

  U-Go: The Siege

  On 29th March 1944 Lt-General Yamauchi’s 15th Division cut the road north of Imphal at the village of Kanglatongbi, and a few days later Lt-General Sato’s 31st Division invested Kohima. The troops on the Imphal plain were completely isolated from the rest of India.

  The plain itself covers an area of some 700 square miles, and is 2,500 feet above sea level. It is entirely surrounded by mountains up to 8,000 feet in height. Through it, from north to south, runs the Manipur River, draining a marshy area known as the Log Tag Lake at the southern end of the plain. The only reasonable road is that from Dimapur, which enters from the north after passing through Kohima, crosses the plain, and winds southwards through the mountains towards Tiddim.

  If Imphal town was the centre of a clock, the Dimapur road would leave it at twelve. At one o’clock is a massive detached hill feature known as Nunshigum. At two, some thirty miles distant, is the Ukhrul saddle, giving access by the most primitive of tracks to the upper reaches of the Chindwin, many miles beyond. At four o’clock is the Shenam saddle, and the road to the Kabaw valley. At six, the Manipur River and Log Tag Lake. At seven, the Tiddim road, with the villages of Bishenpur, Potsangbam* and Ningthoukong along it; and at nine o’clock, another primitive track which snaked through the mountains to Silchar in Assam, some sixty miles distant.

  The Battle of Imphal was an untidy battle. Both geographically and in time it is not possible to say exactly where or when it began and ended. Broadly speaking, it lasted from the end of March until the middle of June, and was fought out around the edges of the plain and the approaches to Imphal town. To the north, another battle, strategically interconnected, raged around Kohima.

  6 The Imphal Plain

  It might, perhaps, assist the reader to see the course of the action if he imagines it as being an en
ormous reconstruction of the Admin Box battle. This time the garrison consisted of the entire 4 Corps, which had been joined by 5th Indian Division, flown in from the Arakan. As in the case of the Admin Box, supplies, and reinforcements, came in by air.

  The Japanese attacks, too, resembled those on the Admin Box. All their skill in jungle movement was wasted by unco-ordinated arrivals and piecemeal attacks, frittering away their slender resources. Their communications between units was virtually tribal, their supply system taxed beyond its creaky capacity and harried by Chindits, and their medical services little short of grisly. At the end, they ate grass and slugs, but only left when they had nothing with which to fight, those of them who had not been killed starved to death or died of tropical fevers.

  Again, just as 5th Indian Division had fought its way through the Ngakyedauk Pass to relieve the Admin Box, so too did 33 Corps, under Lt-General Sir Montagu Stopford battle its way past Kohima and effect a junction north of Imphal with 4 Corps.

  To tell in detail all that 254 Tank Brigade did to assist die infantry to final victory would require far more space than I have available, and for this reason I have selected those actions which had a direct bearing on the outcome of the battle, and of these the most desperate and dramatic was the fight for Nunshigum.

  This feature was an isolated ridge which towered 1,000 feet over the plain, dominating several road junctions, and, infinitely more important, 4 Corps’ principal airstrips. If Nunshigum fell to the Japanese, the end of the Battle of Imphal might well have had more like that of Dien Bien Phu than the Admin Box.