Okla-homey
2/8/2008, 08:56 AM
February 8, 1943: Britain's Indian Brigade begins guerrilla operations in Burma.
On this day 65 years ago, under the command of Major General Orde Wingate, the 77th Indian Brigade, also called the Chindits, launch its first raids behind Japanese lines in Burma in Operation LONGCLOTH.
http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/42420/2002454741703693630_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002454741703693630)
MG Orde Wingate. He liked to quote scripture while wreaking havoc on the enemy.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/42229/2005181644141024354_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005181644141024354)
A Chindit column crossing a river in Burma
Wingate was an eccentric British officer famous both for quoting the Bible and advocating irregular warfare tactics. His career as a special forces leader began when he organized Jewish underground patrols to beat back Arab raids in British-controlled Palestine in the 1930s.
In 1941, Wingate led a mixed Ethiopian and Sudanese force in retaking Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, from the Italians, who had invaded in 1935.
Upon the beginning of Japan's China-Burma campaign, Wingate was sent to India to use his experience as a special operations guy to train and organize the Chindits--a brigade containing three battalions of specially trained Gurkha (Nepalese), Burmese, and British troops.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/42469/2002435684663166748_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002435684663166748)
The ‘Chindits’ were named after the Chinthe, the mythical guardian of Burmese temples. The creature was sort of a ferocious lion-monkey hybrid
The Chindits were ultimately orgainized into two units of Long Range Penetration Groups, each made up of men and mules. Wingate and his 3000 men entered Japanese-controlled Burma from the west, crossed the Chindwin River, and launched their campaigns: penetrating Japanese-held territory, attacking supply lines, and cutting communications.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/43924/2002413347876356762_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002413347876356762)
Chindits and their equipment carriers
Once in the field, the Chindits were cut off from other units and could be supplied only by airdrops. Altogether, in the operation that began on this day in 1943, the Chindits marched over 1000 miles through the rugged Burmese jungle.
One of the Chindits most effective attacks was against the Mandalay-Myitkina railway, when they blew up three bridges while also beating back Japanese troops determined to stop the demolitions.
http://aycu03.webshots.com/image/43762/2002459171561351277_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002459171561351277)
A Chindit column on a jungle path
The Chindits continued to wreak havoc--at one point killing 100 Japanese soldiers while suffering only one loss themselves--until a lack of supplies, disease and troublesome terrain forced them back to India. They were disbanded in the latter half of 1945 near WWII's end.
Wingate did not survive the war having died in a transport crash enroute back to his Chindits after a militray planning conference in India.
Chindit and Wingate's legacy in evolving British military art and science
http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/41979/2002489640361581088_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002489640361581088)
LTG William Slim was not a big fan of special ops forces. He thought they were wasteful in terms of the bang you got for the buck.
The views of the majority of the post-war British military establishment were made succinctly by Lt. General William Slim (commander of the Fourteenth Army), when he wrote:
"... the Chindits, gave a splendid examples of courage and hardihood. Yet I came firmly to the conclusion that such formations, trained equipped and mentally adjusted for one kind of operation were wasteful. They did not give, militarily, a worth-while return for the resources in men, material and time that they absorbed. ... [Special forces] were usually formed by attracting the best men ... The result of these methods was undoubtedly to lower the quality of the rest of the Army." -- LTG Bill Slim
Slim made several other arguments against special forces, about the danger of ordinary battalions thinking that some tasks could only be performed by special forces, and that special forces can only stay in the field for relatively short periods compared to regular battalions. He sums up that "Anything, whatever the short cuts to victory it may promise, which thus weakens the Army spirit is dangerous." To underline his point he suggests that:
"This cult of special forces is as sensible as to form a Royal Corps of Tree Climbers and say that no soldier, who does not wear its green hat with a bunch of oak leaves stuck in it should be expected to climb a tree". -- LTG Bill Slim
Slim did acknowledge the need for small units to stir up trouble in the enemy's rear area but did not think they needed to be specially trained and equipped for the mission since airborne troops existed for that role.
Despite Slim's post-war disdain for the relative impact of special forces given the vast resources they require, special forces now exist as part of the British military establishment. One of the best in the world, the British Special Air Service (SAS) was initially composed of several officers who had served with the Chindits in Burma
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/43903/2002444082411824979_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002444082411824979)
There is a memorial to Orde Wingate and also to the Chindits on the north side of the Victoria Embankment next to the Ministry of Defence headquarters in London. The memorial was unveiled on 16 October 1990 by HRH The Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh. The front of the monument is in memory of the Chindits and also mentions the four men of the Chindits awarded the Victoria Cross: Major Frank Gerald Blaker, Captain Michael Allmand and Lieutenant George Albert Cairns and Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun.
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/43072/2002460683286089051_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002460683286089051)
http://aycu03.webshots.com/image/43762/2002421613800985424_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002421613800985424)
On this day 65 years ago, under the command of Major General Orde Wingate, the 77th Indian Brigade, also called the Chindits, launch its first raids behind Japanese lines in Burma in Operation LONGCLOTH.
http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/42420/2002454741703693630_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002454741703693630)
MG Orde Wingate. He liked to quote scripture while wreaking havoc on the enemy.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/42229/2005181644141024354_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005181644141024354)
A Chindit column crossing a river in Burma
Wingate was an eccentric British officer famous both for quoting the Bible and advocating irregular warfare tactics. His career as a special forces leader began when he organized Jewish underground patrols to beat back Arab raids in British-controlled Palestine in the 1930s.
In 1941, Wingate led a mixed Ethiopian and Sudanese force in retaking Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, from the Italians, who had invaded in 1935.
Upon the beginning of Japan's China-Burma campaign, Wingate was sent to India to use his experience as a special operations guy to train and organize the Chindits--a brigade containing three battalions of specially trained Gurkha (Nepalese), Burmese, and British troops.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/42469/2002435684663166748_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002435684663166748)
The ‘Chindits’ were named after the Chinthe, the mythical guardian of Burmese temples. The creature was sort of a ferocious lion-monkey hybrid
The Chindits were ultimately orgainized into two units of Long Range Penetration Groups, each made up of men and mules. Wingate and his 3000 men entered Japanese-controlled Burma from the west, crossed the Chindwin River, and launched their campaigns: penetrating Japanese-held territory, attacking supply lines, and cutting communications.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/43924/2002413347876356762_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002413347876356762)
Chindits and their equipment carriers
Once in the field, the Chindits were cut off from other units and could be supplied only by airdrops. Altogether, in the operation that began on this day in 1943, the Chindits marched over 1000 miles through the rugged Burmese jungle.
One of the Chindits most effective attacks was against the Mandalay-Myitkina railway, when they blew up three bridges while also beating back Japanese troops determined to stop the demolitions.
http://aycu03.webshots.com/image/43762/2002459171561351277_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002459171561351277)
A Chindit column on a jungle path
The Chindits continued to wreak havoc--at one point killing 100 Japanese soldiers while suffering only one loss themselves--until a lack of supplies, disease and troublesome terrain forced them back to India. They were disbanded in the latter half of 1945 near WWII's end.
Wingate did not survive the war having died in a transport crash enroute back to his Chindits after a militray planning conference in India.
Chindit and Wingate's legacy in evolving British military art and science
http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/41979/2002489640361581088_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002489640361581088)
LTG William Slim was not a big fan of special ops forces. He thought they were wasteful in terms of the bang you got for the buck.
The views of the majority of the post-war British military establishment were made succinctly by Lt. General William Slim (commander of the Fourteenth Army), when he wrote:
"... the Chindits, gave a splendid examples of courage and hardihood. Yet I came firmly to the conclusion that such formations, trained equipped and mentally adjusted for one kind of operation were wasteful. They did not give, militarily, a worth-while return for the resources in men, material and time that they absorbed. ... [Special forces] were usually formed by attracting the best men ... The result of these methods was undoubtedly to lower the quality of the rest of the Army." -- LTG Bill Slim
Slim made several other arguments against special forces, about the danger of ordinary battalions thinking that some tasks could only be performed by special forces, and that special forces can only stay in the field for relatively short periods compared to regular battalions. He sums up that "Anything, whatever the short cuts to victory it may promise, which thus weakens the Army spirit is dangerous." To underline his point he suggests that:
"This cult of special forces is as sensible as to form a Royal Corps of Tree Climbers and say that no soldier, who does not wear its green hat with a bunch of oak leaves stuck in it should be expected to climb a tree". -- LTG Bill Slim
Slim did acknowledge the need for small units to stir up trouble in the enemy's rear area but did not think they needed to be specially trained and equipped for the mission since airborne troops existed for that role.
Despite Slim's post-war disdain for the relative impact of special forces given the vast resources they require, special forces now exist as part of the British military establishment. One of the best in the world, the British Special Air Service (SAS) was initially composed of several officers who had served with the Chindits in Burma
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/43903/2002444082411824979_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002444082411824979)
There is a memorial to Orde Wingate and also to the Chindits on the north side of the Victoria Embankment next to the Ministry of Defence headquarters in London. The memorial was unveiled on 16 October 1990 by HRH The Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh. The front of the monument is in memory of the Chindits and also mentions the four men of the Chindits awarded the Victoria Cross: Major Frank Gerald Blaker, Captain Michael Allmand and Lieutenant George Albert Cairns and Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun.
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/43072/2002460683286089051_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002460683286089051)
http://aycu03.webshots.com/image/43762/2002421613800985424_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002421613800985424)