THE R.A.N. in BURMA ARD Pressed on the East in the Philippines In
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CHAPTER 2 0 THE R.A.N. IN BURM A ARD pressed on the east in the Philippines in November 1944, th e H Japanese now found themselves increasingly under pressure in th e west in Burma, where the tide had turned in the Allies' favour . A com- parison between maps of the situation in Burma in the first half of 194 4 and at the end of the year shows how strongly that tide had run. In March 1944 the Japanese opened their main offensive in the north-west . They crossed the border from Burma into India and besieged Imphal an d Kohima, but though the garrisons were hard pressed they received supplie s and reinforcements by air and repelled all attacks. Meanwhile the Japanes e were suffering severe interference with their supplies as a result of th e British air offensive from Indian airfields, and the activities of the Chindits , flown into the Irrawaddy Valley between Indaw and Myitkyina, toward s which General Stilwell was advancing southwards from Ledo. By the middle of May the Japanese had been halted, and were faced with th e necessity of retreating to the Chindwin River through the monsoon, wit h their rear communications cut . Their losses were heavy. In June the 2n d British and 5th Indian Divisions met just north of Imphal and, as th e Supreme Commander S .E.A.C., Admiral Mountbatten, said in his repor t at the time: "The Japanese bid for India was virtually over, and ahea d lay the prospect of the first major British victory in Burma." Improved transport and medical treatment enabled the British, contrary to Japanese expectations, to pursue their advance through the monsoon . They crossed the Chindwin River in November and December, and soon the whole Fourteenth Army—the largest single army in the war—wa s driving eastward towards the plain above Mandalay. With the army now extending its lines of communication, air transport from the Indian air - fields would be unable to keep up supplies, and an alternative bas e had to be found . Akyab, on the Arakan coast, was the choice . From airfields there it would be possible to supply the army as it advance d down the central Burma valleys . Thus Akyab, the last Burmese por t from which the British withdrew before the Japanese occupation of th e country in May 1942, was to be the first to which the British would return now that the tide of victory had set . As Commodore Cosmo Graham, then Commodore Commanding Burma Coast, said in his report on the nava l side of the 1942 campaign, the naval contribution was slight, but th e retention of Akyab did ensure that the Japanese could not use the airfiel d until the safe retreat of the army was ensured and time had been gaine d to build up an air force in the eastern provinces of India. Now the securing of Akyab was going to provide the British with that air support which had been denied to the Japanese nearly three years before . AAlr.1 (R .A.N . Hi.%torical Section ) H .M .A .S . Au .st,aliu, showing damage incurred in Lingayen Gulf, January 1945 . (Kei tone Pres ., A,gen<T ) (Department .{ lnfrrrnmtinr U On hoard Australia in England, July 1945 . Captain J . M . Armstron g Captain H . .1 . Buchanan, Captain ID) 7th Flotilla . points out to Mr S . M . Bruce, the Australian High Commissioner i n London . the propeller of one of the Kami! aze aircraft . Dec1944 OFFENSIVE IN ARAKAN 559 It was decided that an amphibious assault should be launched against Akyab to coincide with an offensive by Lieut-General Christison'sl XV Corps which was in the area Maungdaw-Buthidaung . These two ar e separated by twelve miles stretching E .N.E. across the northern base of the Mayu Peninsula, from Maungdaw on the Naf River to Buthidaung on the Kalapanzin . About seven miles south of Maungdaw the Naf River runs into the sea, and from there, S .S.E. 37 miles to its southern extremity o f Foul Point, the Mayu Peninsula is bounded by the sea on the west, an d the Kalapanzin River and its continuation, the Mayu, on the east . Where the Mayu empties into the sea at Foul Point it joins with the water s of the Kywede River, also there entering the sea from a network o f waterways and islands. One of these, four miles across the Mayu-Kywed e estuary from Foul Point, is Akyab, on the south-east corner of which lie s the harbour and town of that name . For 100 miles south of Akyab the Arakan coast of Burma is broken by indentations and channels lying behind an archipelago of islands, the largest being the Borongas—three long slim fingers stretching S .S.E . from the nether side of the Kaladan River, on the north bank of which is the harbour of Akyab—and, 30 miles S.S.E. from them, Ramree and Cheduba . South of Cheduba the coast stretches, almost clear of offshore islands, some 170 miles to Pagoda Point, south-western extremity of Burma, and of the river-tattered coasta l fringe leading to Rangoon, 200 miles to the north-eastward . Originally the assault on Akyab was planned for 18th February 1945 . Naval forces for the operation were under the command of Rear-Admiral B. C. S . Martin, Flag Officer Force W . They consisted of flotillas o f landing craft of various categories, M.L's, H.D.M.L's, frigates and sloops . These would maintain the communications of the army . An offshore and bombardment force—Force 61—under the command of Rear-Admiral A. D. Read, comprised Queen Elizabeth, Newcastle (Flag), Nigeria, Kenya, H.M.A. Ships Napier, Nepal, Norman, and two other fleet destroyers, th e escort carrier Ameer,2 and 23 personnel and store ships. The troops to be landed were the 26th Indian Division and the 3rd Commando Brigade. Meanwhile the army in Arakan opened its offensive on 12th Decembe r 1944. Of the XV Corps, which carried out the main Arakan offensive, the 25th Division was to advance down the Mayu Peninsula with the 74th Brigade on the right supported and supplied by naval forces, and the 53r d Brigade on the left supplied by boats of the Inland Water Transport fro m the Mayu and Kalapanzin Rivers . The advance of the 25th Division wa s rapid. Its lines of communication were secure on its sea flank, despite the Japanese following tactics which had previously been successful, and cutting in behind the division and severing its land communications . On 26th December the 74th Brigade reached Foul Point and, after an advance of 30 miles in 14 days, opened the mouths of the Mayu an d 1 General Sir Philip Christison, GBE, CB, DSO, MC. Comd XXIII and XV Indian Corps 1942-45 ; C-in-C ALFSEA 1945. Regular soldier ; b . 17 Nov 1893 . 2 HMS Ameer, escort carrier (1942), 11,420 tons, two 5-in guns, 20 aircraft, 16 kts . 560 THE R .A.N . IN BURMA 1944-45 Kywede Rivers for the operations of light naval forces and for seaborn e maintenance . In less than three weeks the 25th Division had secured it s objectives a fortnight ahead of schedule, and was ready for the occupation of Akyab Island. In this Arakan campaign the navy had anticipated the army's offensiv e with operations by coastal forces which started in October 1944 . These forces, consisting of flotillas of M .L's, had as their objective the disruption of Japanese communications on the coast, and penetration into enemy-hel d harbours and waterways so as to interrupt his supply routes . It was a task they carried out with considerable success . With the opening of the army' s offensive, another naval side came into being, that of direct support of th e army's right flank . This support was afforded by a group consisting o f Napier and Nepal of the 7th Destroyer Flotilla, and two British H .D .M.L's, 1275 and 1303. II During 1944 the ships of the 7th Destroyer Flotilla had refit spells i n Australia . Because of the shortage of escort vessels in the Indian Ocean they had been largely divorced from Fleet duties to engage in convoy escor t work. Buchanan, in Norman, commented on this when at the beginnin g of the year the Eastern Fleet was built up with the arrival in the Indian Ocean of Renown, Queen Elizabeth, Valiant and Illustrious . In his report of proceedings for January 1944 he remarked : The arrival of Force "A" shows that the Eastern Fleet will at last be able to tak e an active part in the war at sea, and the realisation of this and the more stimulating atmosphere that goes with a modern fleet unit should do much to shake us ou t of a state of "convoyitis". Norman arrived in Sydney for refit in April, and on 9th July sailed from Fremantle to resume her duties in the Indian Ocean . She left Australia in company with a tanker, and with the Eastern Fleet corvettes Cairns and Wollongong, which were also returning to Indian Ocean work afte r refitting in Australia. August, September and October were spent by Norman mainly on convoy escort work—with the break in October when she took part in the diversionary attack on the Nicobar Islands area, o f which mention has been made . Napier (Lieut-Commander Green) sailed from Addu Atoll for her refi t on 17th July escorting the American tanker American Arrow (8,327 tons ) towards Fremantle in company with Tamworth and Ipswich, both bound for a dockyard spell in Australia .