The Jungle, Japanese and the British Commonwealth Armies at War, 1941-45: Fighting Methods, Doctrine and Training for Jungle Warfare PDF
Preview The Jungle, Japanese and the British Commonwealth Armies at War, 1941-45: Fighting Methods, Doctrine and Training for Jungle Warfare
THE JUNGLE, THE JAPANESE AND THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH TR. MOREMAN ARMIES AT WAR 1941-45. ricutine merions, o 2TRINE AND TRAINING FOR JUNGLE WARFARE The Jungle, the Japanese and the British Commonwealth Armies at War, 1941-45 This book focuses on the British Commonwealth armies serving in SE Asia during the Second World War that, following the disastrous Malayan and Burma campaigns, had to hurriedly re-train, re-equip and re-organise their demoralised troops to fight a conventional jungle war against the Imperial Japanese Army. A range of formidable problems faced British forces in con- ducting operations across inaccessible, rugged and jungle-covered mountains on the borders of Burma. After a faltering start, however, they successfully adapted to the exigencies of conventional jungle warfare and later inflicted shattering defeats on the Japanese. This study traces how the military effectiveness of British and Indian troops in SE Asia was so dramatically transformed, with par- ticular attention to the two key factors of tactical doctrine and specialised training in jungle warfare. It closely examines how lessons were learnt and passed on between the British, Indian and Australian armies. It also briefly looks at the various changes in military organisation, medical support and equipment introduced by the military authorities in India Command, and covers the techniques evolved to deliver effective air support to ground troops. To demonstrate the importance of these changes, the battlefield performance of Commonwealth troops in such contrasting operations as the First Arakan Campaign and the defeat of the IJA at Imphal and Kohima is discussed in detail. T.R. Moreman is currently a freelance writer, who has previously held various appointments as Lecturer and Research Fellow in the Department of War Studies at King’s College, London, including a period as Acting Resident Historian at the Staff College, Camberley. His research interests include the British-Indian Army 1815-1947, colonial small wars and the history of counterinsurgency. The Jungle, the Japanese and the British Commonwealth Armies at War, 1941-45 Fighting Methods, Doctrine and Training for Jungle Warfare Cass Series: Military History and Policy Series Editors: John Gooch and Brian Holden Reid This series will publish studies on historical and contemporary aspects of land power, spanning the period from the eighteenth century to the present day, and will include national, international and comparative studies. From time to time, the series will publish edited collections of essays and ‘classics’. 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Mario Morselli Postwar Counterinsurgency and the SAS 1945-1952 A special type of warfare Tim Jones The British General Staff Reform and innovation 1890-1939 Writing the Great War Sir James Edmonds and the official histories, 1915-1948 Andrew Green Command and Control in Military Crisis Devious decisions Harald Hoiback Lloyd George and the Generals David Woodward Malta and British Strategic Policy, 1925-1943 Douglas Austin British Armour in the Normandy Campaign 1944 John Buckley Gallipoli Making History Jenny Macleod (ed.) British and Japanese Military Leadership in the Far Eastern War 1941-1945 Brian Bond and Kyoichi Tachikawa (eds) The Baghdad Pact Anglo-American defence policies in the Middle East, 1950-59 Behcet Kemal Yesilbursa Fanaticism and Conflict in the Modern Age Matthew Hughes and Gaynor Johnson (eds) The Evolution of Operational Art, 1740-1813 From Frederick the Great to Napoleon T.R. Moreman FRANK CASS LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2005 by Frank Cass 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Frank Cass 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Frank Cass is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group © 2005 T.R. Moreman Typeset in Times by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd, Pondicherry, India Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-714-64970-8 To Susie, Sarah and my parents This book is also dedicated to the memory of Brigadier David Wilson and Lt.-Colonel Ray Scott, whose generous hospitality and kind assistance with this project were much appreciated. Contents List of Maps viii List of Abbreviations ix Acknowledgements xi Introduction 1 1 The Opening Rounds, Malaya and Burma: December 1941—May 1942 11 2 The Lessons of Defeat, February—October 1942 46 3 Forging the Weapon, May 1943-September 1944 77 4 The Test of Battle: From Arakan to Imphal—Kohima, September 1943-June 1944 109 5 Learning the Lessons of Second Arakan and Imphal-Kohima, March—November 1944 143 6 From the Jungle to the Sea, November 1944—May 1945 174 Conclusion: Endgame in Burma, May—August 1945 204 Notes 219 Bibliography 249 Index 264 Maps 1 Burma and Malaya, 1941-42 2 The North-East frontier, 1942-43 3. India Command, 1942-45 4 The Arakan, 1942-43 5 Imphal, 1944 xiii xiv XV xvi xvii Abbreviations Adj.-Gen. Adjutant General AFV Armoured Fighting Vehicle AHQ Army Headquarters AP Armour Piercing AQ Army Quarterly Brig. Brigadier Capt. Captain CGS Chief of the General Staff CIGS Chief of the Imperial General Staff co Commanding Officer Col. Colonel CRA Commander Royal Artillery DCGS Deputy Chief of the General Staff DS Directing Staff DSD Director of Staff Duties GOC General Officer Commanding GOI Government of India GSO1 General Staff Officer Grade 1 GSO2 General Staff Officer Grade 2 HE High Explosive IAO Indian Army Order WA Imperial Japanese Army INA Indian National Army IWM Imperial War Museum JRUSI Journal of the Royal United Service Institute JUSIT Journal of the United Service Institution of India L/MIL Military Department Papers, India Office Library and Records L/WS War Staff ‘WS’ Series files, India Office Library and Records LHCMA Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King’s College London LMG Light Machine Gun Lt. Lieutenant Lt.-Col. Lieutenant-Colonel Lt.-Gen. Lieutenant-General x Abbreviations Maj. Maj.-Gen. MGRA MMG MT NAM NCO NWFP OR PRO QMG RA RAF RUSI TEWT USAAF VCO VCP WIC WO Major Major-General Major-General Royal Artillery Medium Machine Gun Motor Transport National Army Museum Non Commissioned Officer North-West Frontier Province Other Rank Public Record Office, Kew Quarter Master General Royal Artillery Royal Air Force Royal United Service Institution Tactical Exercise Without Troops Unites States Army Air Force Viceroys Commissioned Officer Visual Control Post War Information Circular War Office Acknowledgements My thanks are given to the staff of the following archives and libraries for their friendly assistance with my research: the Oriental and India Office Collection, London; the British Library, London; the Public Record Office, Kew; the Royal United Service Institution, Whitehall; the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King’s College London; the National Army Museum, Chelsea; the Imperial War Museum, Lambeth; the Gurkha Museum, Winchester; the Tactical Doctrine Retrieval Cell, Uphaven; the Institute of Historical Research; the School of Oriental and African Studies and finally King’s College Library. Crown copyright is acknowledged for citations from records from the Public Record Office and Oriental and India Office Collection. I also wish to thank the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives for permission to quote from papers held in their collections. Lt.-Colonel Patric Emerson and the Indian Army Association once again has provided invaluable assistance with my research. John Nunneley of the Burma Campaign Fellowship has also been helpful in contacting his members. Dr Peter Stanley and the staff of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra have given valuable help in exploring the Australian dimension to this study. My thanks also go to the Australian Army History Research Grants Scheme for funding part of this project and to Paul and Sally Ellis, who very kindly afforded me great hospitality during a research trip to Canberra. My particular gratitude goes out to my friends and former colleagues in the Department of War Studies for their help, comments and friendly criticism over the years — Professor Brian Bond, Professor Michael Dockrill, Professor Brian Holden Reid and Professor Andrew Lambert. My thanks also to Duncan Anderson at the RMA Sandhurst. Many former Indian Army officers have taken the time to assist this project either in the form of interviews or in personal correspondence. My particular thanks go to the following for their assistance and hospitality: the late Lt.-Colonel Ray Scott, Brigadier David Wilson and Major-General James Lunt, Patric Davies, Captain Bruce Rochard, Cecil Hopkins-Husson, Captain Peter Gutteridge, Stanley Menezes, Major-General Ian Lyall Grant, Major-General A.K. Luthera, Brigadier M.J. Chatterjee, Major-General A.K. Luthera, Theon Wilkinson, Lt.-Colonel Hugh Pettigrew, Barry Nicholas, Lt.-Colonel Archie Harrington, Captain John Tucker, Howell Parry, J.L. Bowen, Colonel M.C.R. Stevenson, xii Acknowledgements Ronnie McAlister, John Griffith, John Twells, Lt.-Colonel T.G. Blackford, Lt.-Colonel H.C. Gregory, D.G. Horsford, M.H. Magoris, Rodney Turk, Colonel Alan Watson, Peter Cashmore, Roger Neald, John Cross and Air Com- modore Geoffrey Bumstead. My thanks also to Andrew Humphrys, the editor at Frank Cass, for all his forbearance of various missed deadlines that work/family commitments have caused. All errors of fact and interpretation are, of course, the responsibility of the author alone. Map I Burma and Malaya, 1941-42. Map 2 The North-East frontier, 1942-43. (jf sourHeRN | ARMY MALDIVE If Map 3 India Command, 1942-45.
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