Description
Object description
British officer served as animal transport officer with No 8 Column, 3/2nd Bn Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles, 77th Indian Infantry Div during First Chindit Operation in Burma, 2/1943-6/1943
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of officer with 3/2nd Bn Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles, 77th Indian Infantry Bde in India, 1942: background to joining First Chindit Expedition; training with 3/2nd Bn Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles in India, 1942; character of First Chindit Expedition Operation Longcloth; 77th Indian Infanry Bde's order of battle; lack of tactical training for Gurkhas; arrival of mules; initial impression of Brigadier Orde Wingate; question of putting non-Gurkha officers in charge of Gurkha columns; getting to know mules; introduction to Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Scott commanding officer of No 8 Column; exercise in Sagar-Jhansi area; move to Burma frontier, 1/1943.
REEL 2 Continues: dealing with a drunken soldier and unsatisfactory NCO at Kohima; opinion of Nagas; sight of American General Joseph Stilwell during Field Marshal Archibald Wavell's inspection of Chindits. Recollections of operations as animal transport officer with No 8 Column, 3/2nd Bn Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles, 77th Indian Infantry Bde during First Chindit Expedtion Operation Longcloth in Burma, 2/1943-6/1943: move to River Chindwin via Palel; effects of marching through area were many refugees had died in 1942; reaching Tonmate on River Chindwin; Brigadier Orde Wingate's use of Old Testament for sending messages; effect of Brigadier Orde Wingate's order that wounded were to be left behind; method of getting mules across River Chindwin; first sight of Burmese village of Myene; first air supply drops near Sitsawk; description of rations dropped; equipment and clothing; development of galls by mules; opinion of mules; villages passed through.
REEL 3 Continues: receiving message from No 4 Column with information that it had been ambushed by Japanese; reaction to not being given information about purposes of march; Prem Bahadur Rai's flute playing to his mules; how he received news that Lance Naik Prem Bahadur Rai had been killed in Burma, 13/3/1945; crossing River Irrawaddy; effect of court martialling of Captain Joe Coghlan for his actions at Baw, 23/3/1943; ordering flogging of Gurkha who fell asleep on sentry duty; reduction of his havildar to ranks for failing to pass on orders; relations between Gurkha and British other ranks; move northwards from Baw to River Shweli; method of crossing to River Shweli; reaction to killing mule and taste of meat; question of bunching of troops on march; initial encounter with Imperial Japanese Army and question of use of Brigadier Orde Wingate's dispersal order; wounding of platoon NCO; sound of Japanese medium machine gun.
REEL 4 Continues: arrival of Brigadier Orde Wingate and his orders to 'disperse, get back to India'; column's march eastward away from River Irrawaddy; story of parents' knowledge of Japan and his apprehension about release of column's mules and horses; reaction to having abandon his horse Rati; first 'O' (Order) group and dispersal into small groups for journey back to India; discovery in 1990 that Imperial Japanese Army had three divisions hunting for Chindits; weight of pack; use of Burma Rifleman to contact local villagers in Irrawaddy Valley, 4/1943; crossing River Irrawaddy; reaction to infected toe; Burmese villager who informed Imperial Japanese Army that Chindits were coming; Imperial Japanese Army ambush at Thaiktaw, 14/4/1943.
REEL 5 Continues: escaping from Imperial Japanese Army ambush; reaction after ambush; news he received of fate of wounded men in ambush; bursting of abscess on toe; pre-dropping of supplies and question of potential Japanese ambushes on drop zones; disappearance of British other ranks who attempted to reach drop zones; reaction to being hunted; food supplied by Burmese villagers; degree to which he used Gurkha orderly; physical condition; crossing Mawhun-Mawlu road; entry into Mawhun Forest Reserve; thoughts of hymn 'One More River' on march.
REEL 6 Continues: living off food in jungle; problems of sleep at night; praying to God for help; shooting of buffalo in Mawhun Forest Reserve; preparations for cooking buffalo and attempts to live subsequently on dried meat; preparation of cheroots; question of recrossing 'The Escarpment' and which route to take; how comrade's fever slowed party down; asking for help from Kachin village; fear of running into Burma Independence Army (BIA); crossing Tangwin Chaung during approaching monsoon; running into Imperial Japanese Army troops led by elephant; escape from Imperial Japanese Army party; question of what he should have done during encounter with Imperial Japanese Army party.
REEL 7 Continues: condition of Chindit group on approaching River Chindwin; later information he found out about Imperial Japanese Army officers wearing white topees and shirts; aid from local villagers; discovery that Japanese had confiscated all boats on east side of River Chindwin; contact of with V Force, 6/6/1943; reaction to being back in safety; rations and mule provided by V Force; receiving news that Imperial Japanese Army patrol had been only half an hour behind his group; how group managed to reach safety two days before monsoon broke. Recollections of period as officer with 3/2nd Gurkha Rifles, 77th Indian Infantry Bde in India, 1943: return to Imphal; contact with staff officers at Headquarters, IV Corps; hospitalisation and encounter with Brigadier Orde Wingate; failure of army intelligence to question him.
REEL 8 Continues: false picture of Operation Longcloth's results painted by Indian press; question of his group being the last one out of Burma; month's leave in Srinagar; question of whether malaria would prevent his continuing soldiering. Aspects of service during First Chindit Expedition, Operation Longcloth in Burma, 1943: 3/2nd Bn Gurkha Rifle losses during expedition; opinion of Imperial Japanese Army troops and about Royal representation at Emperor Hirohito's funeral, 1989; assessment of First Chindit Expedition Operation Longcloth,; lessons he learnt during expedition including controlling fear, need for ambush drill, need to carry weapons to fire immediately and accurate navigation skills; question of beneficial use of fear by soldiers; question of debt he feels he owes to his Gurkhas.