Bolt Action Blog - East of the Empire
Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 11:06 am
When most folks think of the great battles of WW2, some names stand out from the rest. Dunkirk, El Alamein, Monte Cassino, Stalingrad, Kursk, The Bulge, Arnhem, Remagen, Berlin. This hobby blog isn't about any of them. This is about a series of battles located rather more to the East. Even then, you'll probably think of Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima. However, my interest lies to the West of those famous sites.
For a while now, I have had more than a passing interest in the battles around the frontier of India and Burma. From the campaigns around Arakan in Burma (Now known as Rhakine in Myanmar, a name you'll no doubt be familiar with from the news), to the attempted Japanese invasion of India, which lead to the twin sieges of Kohima and Imphal and on to the battle of Meiktila, it is an interesting theatre of war. The terrain was vastly different to that fought over elsewhere, relatively few armoured vehicles were used compared to Europe or Africa, and a diverse British Imperial army took on the (at the time) premiere jungle fighting army of the world, the Japanese in an environment which was as hostile as the enemy themselves.
I'm not entirely sure what my long term goal is with this, but I certainly plan to build and paint large forces of Japanese, British and Colonial troops, make some terrain for some of the battlefields and post some pictures and some historical info along the way.
As I said above, there was a very diverse British army fighting in these battles. Being based in India, the 14th Army included Sikh, Hindu, Muslim and Nepalese units. The local forces were often brigaded with a British unit on a 2:1 basis of Indian:British (a throwback to the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny of 1857). British troops came from as far north as Ross-shire in Scotland and as far south as Devon in England. A fair number of regiments from the north of England were present as well, including my hometown regiment, the Durham Light Infantry. (Which isn't surprising since the DLI had 15 battalions and served in most of the British campaigns of WW2 to some degree).
In addition to British and Indian forces, three African Divisions were present in the campaign to liberate Burma. Troops from Nigeria, The Gold Coast, Gambia, Uganda and Kenya were shipped over to the Indian subcontinent where they took part in the advance into India.
More specialist troops such as the Indian Parachute Brigade and a few Royal Marine Commando units were involved at various points, as were native troops who served as guides, spies and advisors to the British troops moving through their territory.
Some of the more historically minded of you may be wondering why I haven't mentioned the Chindits. (The Chindits were a long range reconnaissance/ saboteur formation if you weren't aware of them). Honestly speaking, I'm not all that interested in them. They certainly did an amazing job, cutting supply lines and harrassing the enemy, but as an elite, all volunteer formation that mainly took part in small skirmishes with enemy patrols, they just don't grab my attention all that much.
Likewise, the Americans who fought to keep the Burma road open to supply their Chinese allies just don't do an awful lot for me I'm afraid.
So for the allies, I'll be focussing on British Imperial forces for the main part.
Facing off against the British 14th Army was the Japanese 15th Army. After fighting the British forces to a standstill in the Arakan, General Mutaguchi launched an invasion of India through the jungles and hills of Northern Burma. A feat of incredible daring, the British were caught flat-footed by the unexpected and sudden advance of three Japanese infantry divisions consisting of over 80,000 battle hardened troops. The Japanese themselves had thought such a move impossible until late 1943. It was the success of the first Chindit operation which had shown the Japanese high command that large bodies of troops could penetrate the overgrown terrain and attack from an unknown direction.
Unlike the British, the Japanese army was much more homogeneous. They did have some allied forces though. Upon entering Burma, the Japanese had encouraged the Burmese to rise up against the British. Anti-Imperial sentiment was very strong in Burma and soon the Japanese had a large force of irregular troops aiding them. However, once it became clear that the Japanese were not likely to be leaving anytime soon, a lot of the Burmese volunteers chose to fight against both sides for their independence. The Burmese leader was General Aung San, the father of the current Prime Minister of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi. Due to the unreliable nature of the Burmese forces, they remained in Burma as rear echelon troops.
In addition to the Burmese, a small force of Indian troops was formed to begin the liberation of India. The Indian National Army was set up by a pro-independence political leader and rival of Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose. After leaving India at the beginning of the war, he had first approached Germany and then later Japan with the proposition of forming an army to kick the British out of India. Japanese leadership agreed that it was a worthwhile proposal and allowed him to recruit from the Indian troops in POW camps and from Indian civilians within Japanese held territory. For the battles in 1944, the INA had roughly 6000 men available, though they were lightly equipped. While some of the troops were die-hard believers in independence, a lot had joined up simply to escape the POW camps. As a result quite a few deserted at the first opportunity. The INA troops took part in several battles around Imphal, where they discovered that the Indian troops on the British side considered them the worst kind of traitors. INA troops caught by their countrymen were often shot out of hand. The Imperial troops could understand the desire for independence, (survivors of the INA were well received in India after the end of the war), but despised them for betraying their oaths of allegiance during a time of war. Armed with captured British equipment and outdated uniforms unsuited for jungle warfare, the INA were often outmatched by their former brothers in arms. They do however provide a characterful opportunity for modelling, so at some stage I will definitely be trying to put together a small force to use alongside my planned Japanese army.
And that's about it for now. I will try to keep this thread updated with my plans, progress and thoughts as I go. Now all I need is a lot of time, energy and the ability to avoid my focus drifting off to another project.
For a while now, I have had more than a passing interest in the battles around the frontier of India and Burma. From the campaigns around Arakan in Burma (Now known as Rhakine in Myanmar, a name you'll no doubt be familiar with from the news), to the attempted Japanese invasion of India, which lead to the twin sieges of Kohima and Imphal and on to the battle of Meiktila, it is an interesting theatre of war. The terrain was vastly different to that fought over elsewhere, relatively few armoured vehicles were used compared to Europe or Africa, and a diverse British Imperial army took on the (at the time) premiere jungle fighting army of the world, the Japanese in an environment which was as hostile as the enemy themselves.
I'm not entirely sure what my long term goal is with this, but I certainly plan to build and paint large forces of Japanese, British and Colonial troops, make some terrain for some of the battlefields and post some pictures and some historical info along the way.
As I said above, there was a very diverse British army fighting in these battles. Being based in India, the 14th Army included Sikh, Hindu, Muslim and Nepalese units. The local forces were often brigaded with a British unit on a 2:1 basis of Indian:British (a throwback to the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny of 1857). British troops came from as far north as Ross-shire in Scotland and as far south as Devon in England. A fair number of regiments from the north of England were present as well, including my hometown regiment, the Durham Light Infantry. (Which isn't surprising since the DLI had 15 battalions and served in most of the British campaigns of WW2 to some degree).
In addition to British and Indian forces, three African Divisions were present in the campaign to liberate Burma. Troops from Nigeria, The Gold Coast, Gambia, Uganda and Kenya were shipped over to the Indian subcontinent where they took part in the advance into India.
More specialist troops such as the Indian Parachute Brigade and a few Royal Marine Commando units were involved at various points, as were native troops who served as guides, spies and advisors to the British troops moving through their territory.
Some of the more historically minded of you may be wondering why I haven't mentioned the Chindits. (The Chindits were a long range reconnaissance/ saboteur formation if you weren't aware of them). Honestly speaking, I'm not all that interested in them. They certainly did an amazing job, cutting supply lines and harrassing the enemy, but as an elite, all volunteer formation that mainly took part in small skirmishes with enemy patrols, they just don't grab my attention all that much.
Likewise, the Americans who fought to keep the Burma road open to supply their Chinese allies just don't do an awful lot for me I'm afraid.
So for the allies, I'll be focussing on British Imperial forces for the main part.
Facing off against the British 14th Army was the Japanese 15th Army. After fighting the British forces to a standstill in the Arakan, General Mutaguchi launched an invasion of India through the jungles and hills of Northern Burma. A feat of incredible daring, the British were caught flat-footed by the unexpected and sudden advance of three Japanese infantry divisions consisting of over 80,000 battle hardened troops. The Japanese themselves had thought such a move impossible until late 1943. It was the success of the first Chindit operation which had shown the Japanese high command that large bodies of troops could penetrate the overgrown terrain and attack from an unknown direction.
Unlike the British, the Japanese army was much more homogeneous. They did have some allied forces though. Upon entering Burma, the Japanese had encouraged the Burmese to rise up against the British. Anti-Imperial sentiment was very strong in Burma and soon the Japanese had a large force of irregular troops aiding them. However, once it became clear that the Japanese were not likely to be leaving anytime soon, a lot of the Burmese volunteers chose to fight against both sides for their independence. The Burmese leader was General Aung San, the father of the current Prime Minister of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi. Due to the unreliable nature of the Burmese forces, they remained in Burma as rear echelon troops.
In addition to the Burmese, a small force of Indian troops was formed to begin the liberation of India. The Indian National Army was set up by a pro-independence political leader and rival of Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose. After leaving India at the beginning of the war, he had first approached Germany and then later Japan with the proposition of forming an army to kick the British out of India. Japanese leadership agreed that it was a worthwhile proposal and allowed him to recruit from the Indian troops in POW camps and from Indian civilians within Japanese held territory. For the battles in 1944, the INA had roughly 6000 men available, though they were lightly equipped. While some of the troops were die-hard believers in independence, a lot had joined up simply to escape the POW camps. As a result quite a few deserted at the first opportunity. The INA troops took part in several battles around Imphal, where they discovered that the Indian troops on the British side considered them the worst kind of traitors. INA troops caught by their countrymen were often shot out of hand. The Imperial troops could understand the desire for independence, (survivors of the INA were well received in India after the end of the war), but despised them for betraying their oaths of allegiance during a time of war. Armed with captured British equipment and outdated uniforms unsuited for jungle warfare, the INA were often outmatched by their former brothers in arms. They do however provide a characterful opportunity for modelling, so at some stage I will definitely be trying to put together a small force to use alongside my planned Japanese army.
And that's about it for now. I will try to keep this thread updated with my plans, progress and thoughts as I go. Now all I need is a lot of time, energy and the ability to avoid my focus drifting off to another project.