SQUIRE PUBLICATION ENGLISH VERSION

Special Quarterly Edition Issue NR 1 July 01 2017INDIAN FORCESCAPTUREDRANGOON.....A BRIEF HISTORY STORY-LESSONOPERATIONDRACULA During World War II, Operation Dracula was the name given to an airborne and amphibious attack on Rangoon by British, American and Indian forces, part of the Burma Campaign.‘SQUIRE’ PUBLICATION -VOLUME 1 1

By: Rob VanekerTHE PLAN IN MID-1944 The plan was first proposed in mid-1944 when the Allied South East Asia Command was preparing to reoccupy Burma, but was dropped as the necessary landing craft and other resources were not available. In March 1945 however, it was resurrected, as it was vital to capture Rangoon before the start of the monsoon (which was expected in the second week of May) to secure the lines of communication of the Allied troops in Burma.During April 1945, units of the British BACKGROUNDFourteenth Army advanced to within 40 miles(64 km) of Rangoon, but were delayed until 1 Rangoon was the capital and major port of Burma.May by an improvised Japanese force which In December 1941, Japan entered World War II byheld Pegu. On the same day, as part of attacking United States territory and the FarOperation Dracula, a composite Gurkha Eastern colonial possessions of Britain and theparachute battalion landed on Elephant Point at Netherlands. After occupying Thailand, thethe mouth of the Rangoon River. Once they had Japanese attacked southern Burma in Marchsecured the coastal batteries, minesweepers 1942. The British, Indian and Burmese forces werecleared the river of mines. On 2 May, the Indian outmatched and were forced to evacuate26th Division began landing on both banks of Rangoon. This made the long-term British defencethe river. The monsoon also broke on this day, of Burma impossible, as there were then noearlier than had been expected. However, the proper alternate supply routes overland fromImperial Japanese Army had abandoned India. The British and Chinese forces wereRangoon several days earlier, and the units of compelled to evacuate Burma and withdraw intothe Indian 26th Division occupied the city and India and China.its vital docks without opposition. They linkedup with Fourteenth Army four days later. 2

Picture top: A 25-pdr field gun being bought ashore from a landing craft atElephant Point, 2 May 1945Picture bottom: SIGNING OF THE JAPANESE SURRENDER IN BURMA, 1945 3

ALLIED DRACULA FORCES IN LAUNCHED INDIA An air force observation post, a small detachment There was stalemate for a year. By from Force 136 and a 700-man strong Gurkha 1944, the Allied forces in India had composite parachute battalion from the 50th been reinforced and had expanded Indian Parachute Brigade were dropped from their logistic infrastructure, which made C-47s of the 2nd Air Commando Group on it possible for them to contemplate an Elephant Point at the mouth of the Rangoon River attack into Burma. The Japanese in the middle of the morning. They eliminated attempted to forestall them by an some small Japanese parties, either left as invasion of India, which led to a heavy rearguards or perhaps forgotten in the confusion Japanese defeat at the Battle of of the evacuation, and captured or destroyed Imphal, and other setbacks in Northern several guns overlooking the sea approaches to Burma. Their losses were to handicap Rangoon. They themselves suffered thirty their defence of Burma in the following casualties from inaccurate Allied bombing. year. Once Elephant Point was secured, minesweepers cleared a passage up the river, and landing craftAlthough the British knew by 24 April from Signals began coming ashore in the early hours of theintelligence that Burma Area Army HQ had left morning of 2 May, almost the last day on whichRangoon, they were not aware that the Japanese beach landings were possible before the heavywere about to abandon the city entirely. It was swell caused by the monsoon became too bad.believed that the landings would meet strongresistance. Under the modified plan for Dracula, the 4Indian 26th Division under Major General HenryChambers would establish beachheads on bothbanks of the Rangoon River. The British 2ndDivision would follow up through thesebeachheads several days later to launch the mainassault on the city.The Indian 26th Division andother forces sailed in six convoys from Akyab andRamree Island between 27 April and 30 April. Thenaval covering force consisted of 21st CarrierSquadron of four escort carriers two cruisers andfour destroyers, and the 3rd Battle Squadroncommanded by Vice Admiral Walker consisting oftwo battleships HMS Queen Elizabeth (and theFree French battleship Richelieu) , two escortcarriers, four cruisers (one Dutch) and sixdestroyers. Another flotilla of five destroyers wasresponsible for the destruction of the mainJapanese evacuation convoy. 224 Group of theRoyal Air Force, under Air Vice Marshal the Earl ofBandon,covered the landings from the airfieldsaround Toungoo and on Ramree Island.Early on 1May, eight squadrons of B-24 Liberator and four ofB-25 Mitchels, and two squadrons of P-51Mustangs from the 2nd Air Commando GroupUSAAF bombed and strafed known Japanesedefences south of Rangoon.

RECONNAISSANCEAIRCRAFT Meanwhile, an Allied Mosquito reconnaissance aircraft flying over Rangoon saw no sign of the Japanese in the city, and also noticed a message painted on the roof of the jail by released British prisoners of war. It read, Japs gone. Extract digit - Royal Air Force slang for \"Get your finger out\" or \"Hurry up\".Boldly, the crew of the plane tried to land at Mingaladon Airfield, but damaged their tailwheel on the potholed runway preventing them taking off again. They walked to the jail, where they found 1,000 former prisoners of war who informed them of the Japanese evacuation. The aircrew then went to the docks, where they commandeered a sampan and sailed it down the river to meet the landing craft.The troops of the Indian 26th Division began AFTERMATHoccupying the city without opposition on 2 May.The British were joyfully welcomed, perhaps not Matsui's Kani Force joined the remnants of theuniversally as liberators, but certainly as they could Japanese Twenty-Eighth Army in the Pegu Yomas.restore order and bring in food and other During July, these forces tried to break outassistance. When the Japanese and Ba Maw's eastwards to join the other Japanese armies east ofofficials left Rangoon, widespread looting and the Sittang. Matsui's men suffered slightly lighterlawlessness had broken out and continued for casualties in this costly operation than most of theseveral days. The retreating Japanese had burned other Japanese units involved. However, the navaldown the jail housing Burmese prisoners. They had personnel in Matsui's force broke out separatelyalso destroyed St. Philomena's Convent, which had from the main body and several days later, whichbeen used as a hospital, killing 400 of their own allowed Allied units to concentrate against them.men. After three years of war and deprivation, the They were effectively wiped out, only a handfulcity was deep in filth, many of the population had surviving...fled to escape the Kempeitai (Japanese militarypolice) and those remaining were in rags. Dacoits(armed bandits) plagued the outskirts and variousinfectious diseases were rife.Units of the 26th Division moved out along themain roads to link up with Fourteenth Army. On 6May, they met the leading troops of 17th Division,pushing their way through floods southwards fromPegu, at Hlegu 28 miles (45 km) north east ofRangoon. Fourteenth Army and the other Alliedforces in Burma thus had a secure line ofcommunication. 5

PERCY BERNARD Who was Percy Bernard,5th Earl of Bandon Air Chief Marshal Percy Ronald Gardner Bernard, 5th Earl of Bandon, GBE, CB, CVO, DSO (30 August 1904 – 8 February 1979) was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat who served as a senior commander in the Royal Air Force in the mid-20th century. He was a squadron, station and group commander during the Second World War, and the fifth Commandant of the Royal Observer Corps after the war. He was awarded the American Distinguished Flying Cross and Bronze Star Medal in 1946. The Earl graduated from Cranwell in December 1924 and was posted as a pilot to No 4 Squadron RAF in the rank of pilot officer. Two years later he was promoted to flying officer and appointed as a Qualified Flying Instructor (QFI) at No 5 Flying Training School RAF. In retirement the Earl discovered the pleasures of fishing, particularly in the River Bandon which was well stocked with salmon, and in shooting, snipe and woodcock found in large numbers near Castle Bernard.He was also developing an enthusiastic skill as a gardener with a particular knowledge of rhododendrons. The Earl died on 8 February 1979 at Bon Secours Hospital in County Cork. aged 74 and without male issue. Consequently, on his death all his titles became extinct. He was survived by Lois, Lady Bandon who died in 1999 and the two daughters from his first marriage, Lady Jennifer Jane Bernard, of Castle Bernard (30 Apr 1935 – 3 Jun 2010) and Lady Frances Elizabeth Bernard (born 4 February 1943). A portrait in oils (painted 1969) of the Earl, in his uniform as an Air Chief Marshal together with his robes as a peer of the realm, hangs in the main dining hall at the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell.6

NEXT EDITION OF'SQUIRE' WILAPPEAR IN MID-SEPTEMBER 2017 SQUIRE is a special and additional quarterly spin-off publication from the Military Journal Magazine and intended for its readers!Issued and published by: Media HillPublications NetherlandsMailto: Email, [email protected] 7