Tank Tracks to Rangoon (7 page)

There was nothing wrong with his plan, and in fact he was in Rangoon on the morning of 8th March. The fault lay in his flank guard commander, who, whilst obviously a good tactician at the local level, lacked the imagination to see beyond his own arc of fire. The very strength of the British attacks on his position must have warned him something big was happening, and a simple patrol through the jungle alongside the road would have told him what it was. He could then have informed Division what was going on, and all Division had to do was turn east to produce a disaster comparable to Singapore. Instead, when the last of 33rd Division had crossed the road, he followed them, in accordance with his orders.

*
This was Captain Plough’s battle.

Many years after the incident at the Taukkyon road block, a troop leader of 2 RTR set down his experiences of the retreat in
The Tank
magazine, and in his account he included the following lines, composed by a tea planter at the time, concerning the plight of the refugees, most of them Indian traders and small businessmen and their dependants, who filled the roads of Burma.

They were coming in their thousands, they were streaming thro’ Tamu,

The young and old, infirm and fit, determined to get through,

‘Twas survival of the fittest, and downfall for the weak,

As the countless hordes pushed onward, security to seek,

From the shore of Irrawaddy, from bazaars of Mandalay,

They had clutched their goods and chattels ere they started on their way;

And along the Chindwin Valley, in Rangoon and far Moulmein,

They had seen their houses burning, they had left their kindred slain.

And many were the aged who faltered on the way,

Whose heart and nerve and sinew had known a better day;

Grim death soon claimed his victims, dread dysentery was rife,

As the multitude pressed forward, goaded on by love of life.

And many were the stragglers, who e’en with succour nigh,

Just fell out by the roadside, in loneliness to die.

The choice of Kipling’s metre is a reminder that the Soldier’s Poet should be read twice in a lifetime; once when one is young, and again, much later in life.

This, then, was the background to the longest retreat in British military history. For the time being, however, contact with the Japanese was broken, and with 2 RTR acting as rearguard, the army retired northwards to Tharrawaddy. Here, both 7th Armoured Brigade’s regiments were able to enjoy several days of much needed rest and maintenance, and afterwards carried out a number of patrols. During the next week, the withdrawal continued, first to Gyobingauk, then to Paundge, and finally to Wettigan, north-east of Prome. Here, the lull ended.

By now, the Japanese were on the move again, and had reached Paundge. Elsewhere, Chinese troops of General Chiang Kai Shek’s Nationalist Army had entered Burma to assist in the defence of their major supply route, the Burma Road, and were under great pressure at Toungoo, in the Sittang valley, where Japanese were also advancing. To take the pressure off the Chinese, Major-General Cowan, now commanding 17th Indian Division, was ordered to mount a spoiling attack on Paundge, and exploit towards Okpo southwards.

2 The longest retreat: the route from Rangoon to Imphal

Cowan’s plan provided for 7th Hussars, with infantry support, to smash through the enemy’s position, and for 2 RTR to leapfrog forward towards Okpo. Unfortunately, the plan had been made without any real knowledge of Japanese strength in the area, and in fact the enemy was present in considerable numbers and being reinforced constantly from the south.

On 28th March the Hussars moved down to Inma, and joined the Gloucesters, who had been in action all that day. The following morning the attack went in.

A Squadron had been detailed to capture Padigon, just north of Paundge, but found it a difficult nut to crack, losing two tanks to anti-tank guns. Lt Barton cleared a road block near the village, but came under heavy fire, and was forced to withdraw. Meanwhile, C Squadron, under Major J. Congreve, had fought their way into the village of Paundge itself, killed a number of Japanese and shot up their transport. The enemy, reinforced, had mounted a counter attack, and forced the British out, damaging two tanks and causing the infantry heavy casualties; in this action, one company of the Gloucesters was surrounded in a wood, to which the Japanese set light

At this point, with the attack already going badly, news was received that the enemy had constructed a strong road block at Shwedaung, ten miles
north
of Paundge, and were holding it with a force estimated to be between 500 and 1,000 strong. Japanese jungle mobility had been badly under-rated.

What this meant, in effect, was that 7th Armoured Brigade HQ, 7th Hussars, the infantry and artillery, were trapped, and as the column numbered some 300 vehicles, it was going to be no easy task to break out.

B Squadron, with D Troop Essex Yeomanry and two infantry companies were sent at once to start fighting their way through. Leading was Lt Palmer’s troop, with Lt Patteson’s close behind.

We moved off from Inma about 6 pm since it would be completely dark by 8 pm. We had to move fast. Wireless atmospherics were very bad and I soon had difficulty in communicating with Squadron HQ. About two miles further on, my troop sergeant, Sgt Davies, who was commanding the leading tank, reported an obstacle across the road just short of the village of Shwedaung. I had a good look at it, but by now it was becoming quite dark. I could see no sign of the enemy, and accordingly we gave the area an intense going over with Browning fire and the Yeomanry brought down a concentration on the area. It appeared to be clear. I ordered Kildare Patteson to move up to the obstacle and have a closer look. He reported that it was all clear and I decided to push on. By now it was dark.

3 Actions fought in the Prome area

I followed Kildare through the block followed by the rest of the troop and the OP. The squadron leader told me to get a move on. We had no sooner passed the first obstacle than all hell broke loose—flares, tracer and heavier hardware came at us from all directions and at this moment the wireless set went dead. I was immediately out of touch with everyone including my troop. I well remember seeing Kildare’s tank in front of me and then suddenly it disappeared.

We were moving quite fast—about 10 mph—when suddenly I saw a large obstacle across the road. It appeared to be a large tree trunk, Tpr Watson, my driver, saw that it was too late to stop and we hit it with an awful bump, and hurdled it in the best Beechers Brook style. We hurtled down the embankment but by a miracle of good driving Watson managed to get back on the road. I had
knocked my head an awful bang on the turret and was only semiconscious. However it was no time for self commiseration; we were now properly in the soup. It was quite obvious that there could be no question of the regiment getting through in the dark but I could not get a report back to them and I appeared to have lost my other tanks. There was only one thing for it, and that was to push on through the block until I could stop and get the radio right.

I could see no sign of Kildare to my front, but shortly afterwards was relieved to see Sgt Davies and Cpl Barr close up behind me. We put on speed to about 25 mph and charged down the road, being shot at all the way and hit several times by quite heavy bits of ironmongery. We were also showered with petrol bombs which helped to light our way. In the next three miles or so we hit at least four more blocks. My tank was hit by an anti-tank shell which brought down a shower of bits and pieces in the turret. I was for a time blinded by blood from a cut on my head, but Watson drove the tank magnificently and somehow managed to keep us on the road. Suddenly things went quiet and we appeared to be through.

But more was to come. We went round a sharp bend onto a narrow viaduct and I was horrified to see a large trunk across the road in the middle of the viaduct. We had no alternative but to charge it and hope for the best. We hurdled it once more and seemed to leap into the air. Our 13 tons hit the bridge and I expected it to collapse but it was obviously an advertisement for British Colonial engineering. My troop stuck to me and followed in similar style. The block did not appear to be covered by the Japanese and soon we seemed to be out of trouble. After a couple of miles I decided to stop and take stock. Kildare was obviously missing and had obviously been knocked out. I tried to get the radio going but found the aerial had been shot away. I tried to contact the squadron on Davis’s radio but by now we were well out of range. We were all in rather a bad way, two of the drivers having head wounds and suffering from blindness and reaction.

All the tanks had been hit and one of my bogies was in a very shaky state. One of my track links was held together by only one bolt. While we were checking up, Joe Greenhill of 2 RTR came up and told me that 17 Division HQ was just up the road at Prome and I decided to push on as I felt it essential to put the regiment in the picture as to what they were up against.

I reported to General Cowan but got rather an acid reception. I think they believed I was acting the ‘last survivor’
*
and did not
seem to believe my story, and seemed to think that the regiment could get out of their difficulties by working round a flank along the line of the railway. However, they did not get through to our HQ.

I found out where our ‘B’ Echelon was and joined them. We dropped in our tracks and spent an exhausted night sleeping it off. Next morning our wounds were treated—luckily all very superficial—and I met Jim Astley-Rushton, who was most surprised as he thought no one had managed to get through.

Back at the road block, Lt Patteson was a prisoner in Japanese hands. His tank had run off the road down the embankment, where it had to be abandoned, and whilst his crew made good their escape, Patteson himself was captured. As a matter of course he was kicked, slapped, punched and beaten all over with the flat of an officer’s sword. How much artillery did the trapped force possess? the Japanese asked repeatedly between beatings. How many guns? How many? Answer!

Bruised, shaken and half stunned, Patteson thought his problem through. Obviously it would be better if the Japanese were not prepared for artillery, but would they believe him if he answered none?

Their reaction was the last one he expected, for he had touched a chord in the Japanese sense of humour. Yells of laughter had greeted his statement, and he was told that if indeed there were no guns, then he had nothing to fear, and would not mind being tied to the road block to await the arrival of his friends. Still laughing, they bound him to a wrecked ambulance, and left. Their laughter had saved his life, for they did not even bother to shoot him.

There he remained until the 25-pounders opened up on the block, with no illusions as to his prospects. Luckily for him, they
were ranging 100 yards over the block, and by one of those strange chances that make fact more bizarre than fiction, the force of the explosions shifted the vehicle slightly, enabling him to slide clear of the ropes. With his hands tied behind him he made a wide detour through the enemy lines, arriving back at the column in C Squadron’s area, apparently very little the worse for his ordeal.
*

Patteson had broken free at about 0400, when a further attempt to break through the block had failed. It was then decided to await first light before trying again.

At 0700 D and E Troops Essex Yeomanry opened up, and B Squadron advanced giving direct fire support to the two weak infantry battalions that were working their way forward on either side of the road. During this advance, the Japanese sent a force of their own through the jungle, which suddenly emerged behind the Yeomanry, and attacked the guns. These people were seen off by a troop of tanks and some infantry, and B Squadron was able to batter its way through, although the defenders were present in such strength that before anyone else was able to follow, the block was re-established.