Arakan Campaign 1942–1943
Encyclopedia
The Arakan Campaign of 1942–1943 was the first tentative Allied attack into Burma, following the Japanese conquest of Burma earlier in 1942. The British Army
and British Indian Army
were not ready for offensive actions in the difficult terrain they encountered, nor had the civil government, industry and transport infrastructure of Eastern India been organised to support the Army on the frontier with Burma. Japanese defenders occupying well-prepared positions repeatedly repulsed the British and Indian forces, who were then forced to retreat when the Japanese received reinforcements and counter-attacked.
(mainly because the heavy monsoon
rains descended at this point and made the roads and tracks through the mountainous frontier between India and Burma impassable), the Allies (in particular the British India Command) feared that they would attack again after the monsoon ended. The Government of India and the state governments of the eastern provinces of Bengal
, Bihar
and Orissa
faced widespread disorder and a growing famine which would eventually become the disastrous Bengal famine of 1943
.
The British reorganised their command in eastern India. The headquarters of Eastern Army, under Lieutenant General Charles Broad
, were at Ranchi
in Bihar. This army command was originally a peacetime administrative headquarters for depots and units stationed in Eastern India. It unexpectedly found itself in control of a very large rear communications area, and the troops on the frontier with Burma, roles for which it had not prepared in peacetime. Its fighting formations were the IV Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Noel Irwin
, at Imphal
in Manipur
, and the newly-formed XV Corps, commanded from 9 June 1942 by Lieutenant General William Slim, with its headquarters at Barrackpore
, near Calcutta.
XV Corps in turn commanded 14th Indian (Light) Division
which was stationed around Chittagong
and faced the Burmese coastal province of Arakan, and the 26th Indian Infantry Division in the Ganges Delta
. The 14th (Light) Division had been raised at Quetta
in Baluchistan
and was originally intended to form part of the Allied forces in Iraq
and Persia
. It was fully formed and equipped but lacked training, particularly in jungle warfare. The 26th Division was still forming, and was engaged in training and in internal security duties.
, the Commander in Chief in India
, was making plans to mount offensives into Burma even as Allied troops were retreating into India. On most parts of the front, roads and other lines of communications had to be improved or built from scratch before attacks could be considered, a task which would take at least a year, but on the Arakan front, distances were comparatively short and the necessary communications could theoretically be completed by the time the monsoon ended. In fact, the time required to improve the poor roads in the region delayed the start of the offensive until mid-December 1942.
In July, General Broad retired and Lieutenant General Irwin was appointed to command Eastern Army. He informed Lieutenant General Slim that the headquarters of Eastern Army and XV Corps were to exchange places for the offensive. Eastern Army HQ would move to Barrackpur and take direct command of the Arakan offensive, while XV Corps HQ moved to Ranchi to restore order in Bihar, and raise and train fresh divisions for later combat in Burma.
The limited goal of the British advance in Arakan in 1942 and 1943 was Akyab Island
. This held a port and all-weather airfield, which were prominent in Allied plans to recover Burma. Fighters and transport aircraft, operating at a radius of 250 miles (402.3 km) from Akyab, could cover most of Central Burma, and medium bombers operating from Akyab could range as far as Rangoon
, the capital of Burma, 330 miles (531.1 km) distant. The island lay at the end of the Mayu Peninsula. This was marked by a narrow but precipitous and jungle-covered range of hills, the Mayu Range, which separated the narrow coastal plain from the fertile rice-growing valley of the Kalapanzin River, which became the Mayu River below the town of Buthidaung
. The only permanently-established route across the range was a disused railway track, converted into a road, which linked Buthidaung with the port of Maungdaw
on the west coast of the peninsula.
Wavell's plan to capture Akyab was codenamed Operation Cannibal. It was originally planned in September 1942 that Akyab would be taken by an amphibious assault launched by the British 29th Brigade, while the 14th Indian Division mounted a subsidiary advance down the Mayu peninsula. The amphibious part of the plan was dropped because 29th Brigade and the necessary landing craft could not be made available in time. Instead, it was planned that once 14th Division had reached Foul Point at the extreme southern end of the Mayu peninsula, it would improvise an attack by the British 6th Brigade
across the narrow channel which separated Akyab Island from the peninsula. (By late December, five motor launches, 72 landing craft and three paddle steamers were available.)
, began advancing south from Cox's Bazaar
near the frontier between India and Burma, on 17 December 1942. The Japanese defending the Arakan front were "Miyawaki Force". This consisted of two battalions of the 213th Regiment (part of the Japanese 33rd Division
), a mountain artillery battalion and various supporting arms detachments, commanded by Colonel Kosuke Miyawaki. Although the forward unit (the second battalion of the 213th Regiment, known as "Isagoda battalion" after its commander) had spent fifty days digging defensive positions to cover the Maungdaw-Buthidaung road, they were ordered to pull back to join the main body of the force near the tip of the Mayu peninsula. Lloyd's division captured the road on 22 December.
under Lieutenant General Takeshi Koga, less a regiment which was serving in western New Guinea
, had been dispatched from Central Burma to Arakan. He was ordered to move forward to Donbaik on the Mayu peninsula and Rathedaung
on the east bank of the Mayu River, to secure positions from which this division could operate. On 28 December, the "Isagoda Battalion" occupied Rathedaung and forestalled the attempt by the 123rd Indian Infantry Brigade to capture the town. On 9-10 January, renewed attacks on Rathedaung were thrown back.
While most of Miyawaki's remaining troops occupied Akyab, a single Japanese company occupied the narrow front between the sea and the foothills of the Mayu Range 1 miles (1.6 km) north of Donbaik, protected by a chaung (a tidal creek) with steep banks 9 feet (2.7 m) high. They constructed well-concealed and mutually-supporting bunkers of timber and earth. Between 7 and 9 January 1943, the 47th Indian Infantry Brigade
attacked this line but were repulsed. The bunkers could not be penetrated by field artillery, and if British or Indian infantry reached the bunkers, the defenders could call down artillery and mortar fire on their own position.
Wavell and Irwin visited Lloyd on 10 January. Lloyd asked for tanks to deal with the bunkers. Irwin in turn demanded a single troop of tanks from 50th Indian Tank Brigade
, part of Slim's XV Corps at Ranchi. Both Slim and the brigade commander protested that a complete regiment (of 50 or more tanks) would be required, but they were overruled. On 1 February, 55th Indian Infantry Brigade
, supported by only eight Valentine tank
s, attacked the Donbaik position. Some of the tanks became stuck in ditches, while others were knocked out by Japanese shellfire; the brigade's attack subsequently failed.
The third battalion of the Japanese 213th Regiment had been sent to Arakan ahead of the 55th Division. During February, it cleared detachments of the British irregular V Force
from the valley of the Kaladan River
, where they had been threatening the Japanese lines of communication. V Force warned the British of the large numbers of Japanese approaching the battlefield.
Even before this last attack on Donbaik was launched, the Japanese crossed the Mayu River and attacked Indian 55th Brigade, forcing it to retreat. This left the Indian 47th Brigade isolated, and against Irwin's instructions Lloyd ordered it to fall back across the Mayu Range. Irwin rescinded the order and dismissed Lloyd on 29 February, taking command of the 14th Division in person until the headquarters of the Indian 26th Division, commanded by Major-General Cyril Lomax, could take over.
, which had been preparing to attack along the spine of the Mayu Range, was diverted to the Mayu valley to help the units withdraw.
On 3 April, while "Uno Force" (the Japanese 143rd Regiment) pressed northwards up the Mayu River valley, the main body of the Japanese 55th Division ("Tanahashi Force", consisting mainly of the 112th Regiment) crossed the Mayu Range at a point where British officers had regarded the range as impassable and cut the coastal track behind the leading British troops. They captured the village of Indin, where they also captured the headquarters of British 6th Brigade and its commander, Brigadier Ronald Cavendish. Cavendish was killed shortly afterwards, probably by British artillery fire as the British guns opened fire on Indin to cover the troops withdrawing to the north. The isolated 47th Indian Brigade was forced to retreat across the Mayu Range in small parties, abandoning all its equipment and ceasing to exist as a fighting force.
Indian XV Corps headquarters under Lieutenant General Slim belatedly took charge of the Arakan front. Although the British 6th Brigade was still formidable in spite of its recent defeats, Slim was concerned that the other troops on the front were tired and demoralised. Nevertheless, he and Lomax anticipated that the Japanese would next try to capture the Maungdaw-Buthidaung road and planned to surround and destroy them. While the British 6th Brigade defended the coastal plain, eight British and Indian battalions were deployed to encircle the Japanese as they neared the road at a point where two tunnels carried it through the Mayu range.
In late April, the Japanese attacked northwards, as Slim and Lomax had predicted. They met stiff resistance on the flanks and advanced instead in the centre. On 4 May as Slim prepared to order two Indian battalions to surround the Japanese, a British battalion defending a hill referred to as Point 551 gave way, allowing the Japanese to cut the Maungdaw-Buthidaung road. Counter-attacks failed and the British and Indian troops in Buthidaung and the Kalapanzin valley were cut off. As there was no other route for motor vehicles across the Mayu Range, they were forced to destroy their transport before retreating north up the valley.
Irwin ordered Maungdaw at least to be held but Slim and Lomax decided that the port was not prepared for a siege and that Japanese artillery could dominate the Naf River
on which the port stood, preventing reinforcements and supplies reaching it. They also feared that the exhausted troops which 26th Indian Division had inherited could not be relied upon to defend the port resolutely. On 11 May, the port was abandoned and XV Corps fell back to Cox's Bazaar in India, where the open rice-growing country gave the advantage to British artillery. The monsoon rains also descended at this point (Arakan receives 200 in (5,080 mm) per annum), dissuading the Japanese from following up their successes.
Lieutenant General Irwin attempted to dismiss Slim from command of XV Corps, but was himself relieved of command of Eastern Army, and returned to Britain on sick leave. His replacement at Eastern Army was General George Giffard
, a very different character from the abrasive Irwin. Giffard concentrated on restoring the Army's morale and improving its state of health and training. The first Chindit raid under Brigadier Orde Wingate concluded about this time, and its successes were widely publicised to counter the depressing news from the Arakan.
As part of a general shuffle of the senior appointments in the Allied, British and Indian armies about this time, Wavell became Viceroy of India and General Claude Auchinleck
became Commander in Chief in India. The Indian Army establishment was reorganised to concentrate on fighting the Burma campaign, with success in the following two years.
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and British Indian Army
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
were not ready for offensive actions in the difficult terrain they encountered, nor had the civil government, industry and transport infrastructure of Eastern India been organised to support the Army on the frontier with Burma. Japanese defenders occupying well-prepared positions repeatedly repulsed the British and Indian forces, who were then forced to retreat when the Japanese received reinforcements and counter-attacked.
Situation in 1942
In May, 1942, the Allies retreated from Burma, accompanied by many refugees, mainly Indian and Anglo-Burmese. Although the Japanese halted their advance on the Chindwin RiverChindwin River
The Chindwin River is a river in Burma , and the largest tributary of the country's chief river the Ayeyarwady . It flows entirely within Burma and is known as Ning-thi to the Manipuris.-Source:...
(mainly because the heavy monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
rains descended at this point and made the roads and tracks through the mountainous frontier between India and Burma impassable), the Allies (in particular the British India Command) feared that they would attack again after the monsoon ended. The Government of India and the state governments of the eastern provinces of Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
and Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
faced widespread disorder and a growing famine which would eventually become the disastrous Bengal famine of 1943
Bengal famine of 1943
The Bengal famine of 1943 struck the Bengal. Province of pre-partition India. Estimates are that between 1.5 and 4 million people died of starvation, malnutrition and disease, out of Bengal’s 60.3 million population, half of them dying from disease after food became available in December 1943 As...
.
The British reorganised their command in eastern India. The headquarters of Eastern Army, under Lieutenant General Charles Broad
Charles Broad
Lieutenant General Sir Charles Noel Frank Broad KCB DSO was a British Army General during World War II.-Military career:Educated at Cambridge University, Broad was commissioned in 1904 and went to the Staff College, Camberley in 1914....
, were at Ranchi
Ranchi
-Climate:Ranchi has a humid subtropical climate. However, due to its position and the forests around the city, it is known for its pleasant climate. Its climate is the primary reason why Ranchi was once the summer capital of the undivided State of Bihar...
in Bihar. This army command was originally a peacetime administrative headquarters for depots and units stationed in Eastern India. It unexpectedly found itself in control of a very large rear communications area, and the troops on the frontier with Burma, roles for which it had not prepared in peacetime. Its fighting formations were the IV Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Noel Irwin
Noel Irwin
Lieutenant General Noel Mackintosh Stuart Irwin CB, DSO & Two Bars, MC was a British soldier, who played a prominent role in the British Army after the Dunkirk evacuation, and in the Burma Campaign...
, at Imphal
Imphal
Imphal is the capital of the Indian state of Manipur.In the heart of the town and surrounded by a moat, are ruins of the old Palace of Kangla. Kangla Fort used to be the home of the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force and on November 2004 it was handed over to state of Manipur by Prime minister Dr....
in Manipur
Manipur
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
, and the newly-formed XV Corps, commanded from 9 June 1942 by Lieutenant General William Slim, with its headquarters at Barrackpore
Barrackpore
Barrackpore or Barrackpur is headquarters of Barrackpore subdivision in North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The town was a military and administrative center under British rule, and was the scene of several acts of rebellion against Britain during the 19th century...
, near Calcutta.
XV Corps in turn commanded 14th Indian (Light) Division
14th Indian Infantry Division
For the World War I formation see 14th Indian DivisionThe Indian 14th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II...
which was stationed around Chittagong
Chittagong
Chittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading...
and faced the Burmese coastal province of Arakan, and the 26th Indian Infantry Division in the Ganges Delta
Ganges Delta
The Ganges Delta is a river delta in the South Asia region of Bengal, consisting of Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal, India. It is the world's largest delta, and empties into the Bay of Bengal...
. The 14th (Light) Division had been raised at Quetta
Quetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...
in Baluchistan
Balochistan (Pakistan)
Balochistan is one of the four provinces or federating units of Pakistan. With an area of 134,051 mi2 or , it is the largest province of Pakistan, constituting approximately 44% of the total land mass of Pakistan. According to the 1998 population census, Balochistan had a population of...
and was originally intended to form part of the Allied forces in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Persia
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. It was fully formed and equipped but lacked training, particularly in jungle warfare. The 26th Division was still forming, and was engaged in training and in internal security duties.
Allied plans
General Archibald WavellArchibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell
Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell GCB, GCSI, GCIE, CMG, MC, PC was a British field marshal and the commander of British Army forces in the Middle East during the Second World War. He led British forces to victory over the Italians, only to be defeated by the German army...
, the Commander in Chief in India
Commander-in-Chief, India
During the period of the British Raj, the Commander-in-Chief, India was the supreme commander of the Indian Army. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his staff were based at General Headquarters, India, and liaised with the civilian Governor-General of India...
, was making plans to mount offensives into Burma even as Allied troops were retreating into India. On most parts of the front, roads and other lines of communications had to be improved or built from scratch before attacks could be considered, a task which would take at least a year, but on the Arakan front, distances were comparatively short and the necessary communications could theoretically be completed by the time the monsoon ended. In fact, the time required to improve the poor roads in the region delayed the start of the offensive until mid-December 1942.
In July, General Broad retired and Lieutenant General Irwin was appointed to command Eastern Army. He informed Lieutenant General Slim that the headquarters of Eastern Army and XV Corps were to exchange places for the offensive. Eastern Army HQ would move to Barrackpur and take direct command of the Arakan offensive, while XV Corps HQ moved to Ranchi to restore order in Bihar, and raise and train fresh divisions for later combat in Burma.
The limited goal of the British advance in Arakan in 1942 and 1943 was Akyab Island
Sittwe
-Economy:In February 2007, India announced a plan to develop the port, which would enable ocean access from Indian Northeastern states, so called "Seven sisters", like Mizoram, via the Kaladan River....
. This held a port and all-weather airfield, which were prominent in Allied plans to recover Burma. Fighters and transport aircraft, operating at a radius of 250 miles (402.3 km) from Akyab, could cover most of Central Burma, and medium bombers operating from Akyab could range as far as Rangoon
Yangon
Yangon is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Region . Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of over four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial...
, the capital of Burma, 330 miles (531.1 km) distant. The island lay at the end of the Mayu Peninsula. This was marked by a narrow but precipitous and jungle-covered range of hills, the Mayu Range, which separated the narrow coastal plain from the fertile rice-growing valley of the Kalapanzin River, which became the Mayu River below the town of Buthidaung
Buthidaung
Buthidaung is a town in the Rakhine State of westernmost part of Myanmar. It is the administrative seat of Buthidaung Township. It lies on the west bank of Mayu river. Flood hit in July 2011.-External links:*...
. The only permanently-established route across the range was a disused railway track, converted into a road, which linked Buthidaung with the port of Maungdaw
Maungdaw
Maungdaw is a town in the Rakhine State of westernmost part of Myanmar. It it the administrative seat of Maungdaw Township and Maungdaw District.Since September 1995, border trade between Maungdaw of Myanmar and Teknaf of Bangladesh is formally established....
on the west coast of the peninsula.
Wavell's plan to capture Akyab was codenamed Operation Cannibal. It was originally planned in September 1942 that Akyab would be taken by an amphibious assault launched by the British 29th Brigade, while the 14th Indian Division mounted a subsidiary advance down the Mayu peninsula. The amphibious part of the plan was dropped because 29th Brigade and the necessary landing craft could not be made available in time. Instead, it was planned that once 14th Division had reached Foul Point at the extreme southern end of the Mayu peninsula, it would improvise an attack by the British 6th Brigade
6th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)
- World War I :The brigade was part of 2nd Division. It was composed as follows;*1st Battalion, The King's *2nd Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment*13th Battalion , The Essex Regiment...
across the narrow channel which separated Akyab Island from the peninsula. (By late December, five motor launches, 72 landing craft and three paddle steamers were available.)
Advance begins
The 14th Indian Division, commanded by Major General Wilfrid Lewis LloydWilfrid Lewis Lloyd
Major-General Wilfrid Lewis Lloyd CBE, DSO, MC was an officer in the British Army and the Indian Army during World War I and World War II.-World War I:...
, began advancing south from Cox's Bazaar
Cox's Bazar District
Cox's Bazar District is a district in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh. It is named after Cox's Bazar, which is one of the world's longest natural sea beaches . It is located south of Chittagong. Cox's Bazar is also known by the name Panowa . Another old name was Palongkee...
near the frontier between India and Burma, on 17 December 1942. The Japanese defending the Arakan front were "Miyawaki Force". This consisted of two battalions of the 213th Regiment (part of the Japanese 33rd Division
33rd Division (Imperial Japanese Army)
was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the .-History:The 33rd Division was raised in Utsunomiya, Tochigi prefecture, but its headquarters was in Sendai. It was raised from conscripts largely from the northern Kantō prefecturers of Tochigi, Ibaraki and Gunma...
), a mountain artillery battalion and various supporting arms detachments, commanded by Colonel Kosuke Miyawaki. Although the forward unit (the second battalion of the 213th Regiment, known as "Isagoda battalion" after its commander) had spent fifty days digging defensive positions to cover the Maungdaw-Buthidaung road, they were ordered to pull back to join the main body of the force near the tip of the Mayu peninsula. Lloyd's division captured the road on 22 December.
Advance stalls
At this point, Miyawaki was informed that another division, the Japanese 55th Division55th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)
-History:The 55th Division participated in the invasion of Burma during the Burma Campaign.General Officers 55th Division* 1940 - 1941 Lieutenant-General Torazo Ishimoto* 1941 - 1942 Lieutenant-General Hiroshi Takeuchi, Thailand-Burma...
under Lieutenant General Takeshi Koga, less a regiment which was serving in western New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, had been dispatched from Central Burma to Arakan. He was ordered to move forward to Donbaik on the Mayu peninsula and Rathedaung
Rathedaung
-External links:*...
on the east bank of the Mayu River, to secure positions from which this division could operate. On 28 December, the "Isagoda Battalion" occupied Rathedaung and forestalled the attempt by the 123rd Indian Infantry Brigade to capture the town. On 9-10 January, renewed attacks on Rathedaung were thrown back.
While most of Miyawaki's remaining troops occupied Akyab, a single Japanese company occupied the narrow front between the sea and the foothills of the Mayu Range 1 miles (1.6 km) north of Donbaik, protected by a chaung (a tidal creek) with steep banks 9 feet (2.7 m) high. They constructed well-concealed and mutually-supporting bunkers of timber and earth. Between 7 and 9 January 1943, the 47th Indian Infantry Brigade
47th Indian Infantry Brigade
The 47th Indian Infantry Brigade was an Infantry formation of the Indian Army during World War II. The brigade was formed October 1942, at Secunderabad in India and assigned to the 19th Indian Infantry Division...
attacked this line but were repulsed. The bunkers could not be penetrated by field artillery, and if British or Indian infantry reached the bunkers, the defenders could call down artillery and mortar fire on their own position.
Wavell and Irwin visited Lloyd on 10 January. Lloyd asked for tanks to deal with the bunkers. Irwin in turn demanded a single troop of tanks from 50th Indian Tank Brigade
50th Indian Tank Brigade
The 50th Indian Tank Brigade was an armoured formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed for service in the Burma Campaign of World War II from units of the British Army and the British Indian Army...
, part of Slim's XV Corps at Ranchi. Both Slim and the brigade commander protested that a complete regiment (of 50 or more tanks) would be required, but they were overruled. On 1 February, 55th Indian Infantry Brigade
55th Indian Infantry Brigade
The 55th Indian Infantry Brigade was an Infantry formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in April 1942, in India. and assigned to the 7th Indian Infantry Division. In July to September 1942, it was attached to the North Western Army. Afterwards the brigade was assigned to...
, supported by only eight Valentine tank
Valentine tank
The Tank, Infantry, Mk III, Valentine was an infantry tank produced in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. More than 8,000 of the type were produced in 11 different marks plus various purpose-built variants, accounting for approximately a quarter of wartime British tank production...
s, attacked the Donbaik position. Some of the tanks became stuck in ditches, while others were knocked out by Japanese shellfire; the brigade's attack subsequently failed.
The third battalion of the Japanese 213th Regiment had been sent to Arakan ahead of the 55th Division. During February, it cleared detachments of the British irregular V Force
V Force
V Force was a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering organisation established by the British during the Burma Campaign in World War II.-Establishment and organisation:...
from the valley of the Kaladan River
Kaladan River
The Kaladan River is a river in eastern Mizoram State of India, and in Chin State and Rakhine State of western Myanmar. It forms the international border between India and Burma between 22° 47′ 10" N and 22° 11′ 06" N.-Geography:The river arises in central Chin State as the Timit, 22° 49′ 28″ N ...
, where they had been threatening the Japanese lines of communication. V Force warned the British of the large numbers of Japanese approaching the battlefield.
Last British attacks
In spite of the growing threat to the left flank of 14th Division, General Irwin demanded that another attack be made on the Donbaik position, using the powerful and well-trained British 6th Brigade. By this time, Irwin had lost confidence in Lloyd and his brigadiers, and laid down the plan of attack himself. The brigade attacked on 18 February, and in spite of heavy artillery support, also was unable to deal with the bunkers and suffered heavy casualties. After this repulse, Wavell and Irwin ordered the ground already taken to be held.Even before this last attack on Donbaik was launched, the Japanese crossed the Mayu River and attacked Indian 55th Brigade, forcing it to retreat. This left the Indian 47th Brigade isolated, and against Irwin's instructions Lloyd ordered it to fall back across the Mayu Range. Irwin rescinded the order and dismissed Lloyd on 29 February, taking command of the 14th Division in person until the headquarters of the Indian 26th Division, commanded by Major-General Cyril Lomax, could take over.
Japanese counter-attack
In the first week of March, the third battalion of the Japanese 213th Regiment attacked the Indian units north of Rathedaung and forced them to retreat. The 71st Indian Infantry Brigade71st Indian Infantry Brigade
The 71st Indian Infantry Brigade was an Infantry formation of the Indian Army during World War II. The brigade was formed in March 1942, at Nowshera in India. The brigade was assigned to the 26th Indian Infantry Division on formation...
, which had been preparing to attack along the spine of the Mayu Range, was diverted to the Mayu valley to help the units withdraw.
On 3 April, while "Uno Force" (the Japanese 143rd Regiment) pressed northwards up the Mayu River valley, the main body of the Japanese 55th Division ("Tanahashi Force", consisting mainly of the 112th Regiment) crossed the Mayu Range at a point where British officers had regarded the range as impassable and cut the coastal track behind the leading British troops. They captured the village of Indin, where they also captured the headquarters of British 6th Brigade and its commander, Brigadier Ronald Cavendish. Cavendish was killed shortly afterwards, probably by British artillery fire as the British guns opened fire on Indin to cover the troops withdrawing to the north. The isolated 47th Indian Brigade was forced to retreat across the Mayu Range in small parties, abandoning all its equipment and ceasing to exist as a fighting force.
Indian XV Corps headquarters under Lieutenant General Slim belatedly took charge of the Arakan front. Although the British 6th Brigade was still formidable in spite of its recent defeats, Slim was concerned that the other troops on the front were tired and demoralised. Nevertheless, he and Lomax anticipated that the Japanese would next try to capture the Maungdaw-Buthidaung road and planned to surround and destroy them. While the British 6th Brigade defended the coastal plain, eight British and Indian battalions were deployed to encircle the Japanese as they neared the road at a point where two tunnels carried it through the Mayu range.
In late April, the Japanese attacked northwards, as Slim and Lomax had predicted. They met stiff resistance on the flanks and advanced instead in the centre. On 4 May as Slim prepared to order two Indian battalions to surround the Japanese, a British battalion defending a hill referred to as Point 551 gave way, allowing the Japanese to cut the Maungdaw-Buthidaung road. Counter-attacks failed and the British and Indian troops in Buthidaung and the Kalapanzin valley were cut off. As there was no other route for motor vehicles across the Mayu Range, they were forced to destroy their transport before retreating north up the valley.
Irwin ordered Maungdaw at least to be held but Slim and Lomax decided that the port was not prepared for a siege and that Japanese artillery could dominate the Naf River
Naf River
Naf River It is an elongated estuary in the extreme southeast of Cox's Bazar district dividing the district from Arakan, Myanmar. It rises in the Arakan hills on the southeastern borders of the district and flows into the Bay of Bengal. Its width varies from 1.61 km to 3.22 km. The river...
on which the port stood, preventing reinforcements and supplies reaching it. They also feared that the exhausted troops which 26th Indian Division had inherited could not be relied upon to defend the port resolutely. On 11 May, the port was abandoned and XV Corps fell back to Cox's Bazaar in India, where the open rice-growing country gave the advantage to British artillery. The monsoon rains also descended at this point (Arakan receives 200 in (5,080 mm) per annum), dissuading the Japanese from following up their successes.
Aftermath
Irwin, Slim and other officers were frank about the chief cause of failure in the Arakan. The average British and Indian soldier was not properly trained for fighting in jungle, which together with repeated defeats adversely affected morale. This was exacerbated by poor administration in the rear areas in India. Drafts of reinforcements sent to replace casualties were found in some cases to have not even completed basic training. There were several contributing factors. At one point, 14th Indian Division HQ was controlling no less than nine infantry brigades (instead of the usual three) and a large line of communications area. It was not equipped to handle this enormous responsibility. The road used as supply routes were inadequate, and there were insufficient landing craft and small ships as an alternative.Lieutenant General Irwin attempted to dismiss Slim from command of XV Corps, but was himself relieved of command of Eastern Army, and returned to Britain on sick leave. His replacement at Eastern Army was General George Giffard
George Giffard
General Sir George Giffard GCB DSO was a British military officer, who had a distinguished career in command of African troops in World War I, rising to command an Army Group in South East Asia in World War II.-Early career:...
, a very different character from the abrasive Irwin. Giffard concentrated on restoring the Army's morale and improving its state of health and training. The first Chindit raid under Brigadier Orde Wingate concluded about this time, and its successes were widely publicised to counter the depressing news from the Arakan.
As part of a general shuffle of the senior appointments in the Allied, British and Indian armies about this time, Wavell became Viceroy of India and General Claude Auchinleck
Claude Auchinleck
Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, GCB, GCIE, CSI, DSO, OBE , nicknamed "The Auk", was a British army commander during World War II. He was a career soldier who spent much of his military career in India, where he developed a love of the country and a lasting affinity for the soldiers...
became Commander in Chief in India. The Indian Army establishment was reorganised to concentrate on fighting the Burma campaign, with success in the following two years.