Burma Borders, 1944

The Regiment's connections with the East go back to the 34th and 55th Foot in the 19th Century. The early 20th Century saw the Borders in Burma and then the North-West Frontier, but it was World War 2 that brought the largest number of men from the Regiment to India and Burma.

Japanese high tide

Three battalions of the Border Regiment served in the region during the Second World War. 2 Border and 9 Border in Indian Army Infantry Divisions and 4 Border in the Chindit long-range penetration force, all three units were part of General Slim's 14th Army. And in the Spring of 1944 the three battalions faced the last major Japanese offensive in Burma an attempt to reach India.

 2 Border - 20th Indian Division

2 Border had arrived in Calcutta in 1938. When mobilised for service with the Indian Army in Burma in 1942, the battalion lacked Bren guns or modern signalling equipment.

The Japanese advance was so fast that the Borders were recalled from Burma and returned to Calcutta. A transfer to Sri Lanka followed and intensive training. They returned to India from Sri Lanka and reached Burma and the hill town of Imphal in October 1943. They were now serving alongside two Indian Army battalions as part of 20th Indian Division.

4 Border - 23 Brigade Chindits

4 Border had arrived in India at the start of 1942 as part of 70th Division. They were to have formed part of the troops defending Burma, but the speed of the Japanese advance confined them to India. Here they spent some time carrying out internal security duties, before the Division transferred to special duties and became Chindits.

Units were re-organised so that each battalion was divided into two columns. The Borders became columns 34 and 55 in 23 Brigade. Training in jungle survival was intense and malaria was rife. They were to operate against the communications of Japanese Thirty-third Army operating in north-eastern Burma, however by the time the Japanese offensive against Imphal started 23rd Brigade, with the 4 Borders columns, had yet to be inserted alongside the other Chindits.

9 Border - 17th Indian Division

9 Border had arrived in India in July 1943. They joined the 17th Indian Mountain Division in Assam. The battalion's organisation as a 'light' battalion was a HQ Company and four Rifle Companies. The battalion had a small number of jeeps, but was expected to rely on mules and ponies.

1943

Jungle warfare training, mule transport, the Chindits, re-equipping with modern equipment, developing air supply, these were all responses to the poor jungle fighting capability that had led to the fall of Burma. By the end of 1943 General Slim had been appointed commander of the British 14th Army, following the failure of the 1943 Arakan offensive. As well as the Indian Army, the American General Stillwell was operating on the China-Burma-India region building a road to make it easier to provide supplies to the Chinese. The Japanese had reached northern Burma.

The Japanese plan for 1944

The Japanese commander, Lieutenant-General Renya Mutaguchi, believing that the widely scattered British and Indian troops facing him were of low quality, decided to attack into Brahmaputra Valley from northern section of the Burma-India frontier. The terrain made resupply for the Japanese difficult and their troops had to rely on what they could take with them or by capturing British depots.

Imphal sat in a bowl surrounded by hills on the road that led north and then west into the Brahmaputra Valley. If Imphal was the door to India, Kohima to the north was its bolt. Both needed to be taken if the the Japanese were to succeed.

Some Japanese planners' had doubts about Mutaguchi's plan, but they were over-ruled. It was possible that exaggerated British claims for the ability of troops to survive in the jungle following the first Chindit operation, the previous year, was a factor in the plan being approved.

Operation Ha-Go

The Japanese hoped to draw British troops south away from Imphal by an preliminary offensive towards the Arakan by their 28th Army. Initial success in surrounding the defending troops led to disaster for the Japanese, when they ran out of food and supplies. The surrounded Indian and British troops were supplied from the air by American and British aircraft. It was a sign of things to come.

The offensive showed how far British troops had come in learning the lessons of jungle warfare. Units might be ambushed or surrounded, but both situations could be overcome and did not mean they had been defeated. Air supply would be a major factor in the coming battles at Imphal and Kohima.

Operation U-Go

The Japanese offensive started in March 1944. One axis of their attack was through 2 Borders positions on the Tamu road into Imphal from Burma. 2 Border were directly on the India-Burma frontier, above the Chindwin river, with the rest of 20th Division and were the most advanced British troops. 9 Border and 17th Division were a little further south.

General Slim was aware of the planned attack and intended to pull his troops into defensive boxes at Imphal and make the Japanese fight at the very limit of their logistics. 20th Division withdrew as planned but the move of 17th Division took place later than planned.

Borders besieged

9 Border had their withdrawal blocked by Japanese troops who had got round their flank. Three Military Medals were won as they fought their way north and joined the Imphal perimeter. Throughout April Imphal was under siege. Whilst 14th Army were supplied by air: the Japanese starved.

2 Border were dug in on steep hillsides on the south-east of Imphal. The position of 'A Company' was overrun and despite artillery bombardment, air attack and attacks by the battalion and 3/1 Gurkha, the enemy could not be evicted. However they failed to get any nearer to Imphal and the Borders retained their other positions.

At the same time Kohima on the road into Imphal was also was surrounded. With British IV Corps committed at Imphal, XXXIII Corps was brought from southern India with the task of clearing Kohima and relieving Imphal from the north. Road access to Imphal was regained on 22 June.

Whilst their sister battalions were occupied in close quarter fighting at Imphal, 4 Border and the rest of 23 Brigade, had been preparing for a deep penetration by air behind the Japanese Thirty‑Third Army, who were facing Stillwell's Chinese‑US forces. As the fighting at Imphal intensified 23 Brigade remained in India guarding the left flank of XXXIII Corps.

Counter-attack

At the end of May, Slim launched his counter-offensive. 23 Brigade hooked around Kohima and cut off the retreating Japanese. It was horrible country. 23 Brigade's route took them through jungle, up and down steep hillsides often 4,000' high. Five miles on the map might take a day of hacking a way up and down valleys. And in the midst of everything the monsoon arrived. But 14th Army were ready for it and fought on.

Afterwards

2 Border spent most of the monsoon in camp at Imphal. In early 1945 they joined the advance by 20th Indian Division, with the objective of Mandalay. They formed the assault battalion for the crossing of the Irrawaddy

4 Border were withdrawn in July 1944, with a large number of men suffering from malaria and dysentery. In February 1945 the Chindits were disbanded. The Battalion undertook security duties in Burma before amalgamation with the 9 Battalion in October 1945.

9 Border moved into Imphal in July and in September were withdrawn to Ranchi in India to rest and reorganise. They then played a major part in the advance into Burma in early 1945. The 17th Indian Division had the initial objective of Rangoon, but before they reached the city it fell to seaborne assault.

Peter Green