World War II Database

In Mar 1944, Colonel Charles Hunter of the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), more popularly known as the Merrill's Marauders, led a combined force consisted of the 150th Chinese Regiment, the First Marauder Regiment, the 3rd Company Animal Transport Regiment, and part of the 22nd Division artillery against the village of Lazu, 35 miles from Myitkyina. They arrived at Lazu on 10 Mar, and immediately started to make plans to assault Myitkyina. Hunter was notified that his force, known as H Force, was to be the leading assault group, while Colonel Kinnison was to protect his east flank and Colonel McGee's M Force was to protect the west flank.

On 3 Apr 1944, American General Joseph Stilwell met with his British counterparts to learn their strategic objectives. British leaders Louis Mountbatten and General William Slim affirmed Stilwell that he should not worry about the possibility of a British withdrawal in Burma in order to better defend against the Japanese expedition into India, for that they were confident of the eventual victory at Imphal and Kohima. In a surprising move, Slim turned over the command of the guerrilla Chindits over to Stilwell to better coordinate the combined efforts of the Chindits and Merrill's Marauders. It was a move that Major General Orde Wingate, the former commander of the Chindits, probably would not have approved had he not have perished on 24 Mar in an air crash. In hindsight this move reflected the lack of communications between the top leaders Mountbatten and Stilwell. While Mountbatten's intentions were to give Stilwell the responsibilities of conducting a disruptive campaign and leave the actual liberation of Burma operation to the British troops, it also showed that Stilwell's campaign to take Myitkyina was not communicated to Mountbatten. When queried by Prime Minister Winston Churchill about the recent American movement against the city, Mountbatten could only respond by saying he only incidentally heard about this plan, and noted he would write Stilwell to inform the American general that the British were not prepared to reinforce Myitkyina to hold the city after a successful American campaign while a majority of British troops were held up at Imphal and Kohima. It was rather unclear why Mountbatten appeared to be uninformed of this move in Stilwell's campaign, especially when considerable numbers of British personnel were involved in the actual operation.

Late Apr 1944, Chiang Kaishek held up his end of the bargain with SEAC and launched an attack with 40,000 men from Yunnan under the command of General Huang Weili. Within the next few days, the number grew to 72,000, overpowering the Japanese forces in northern Burma. On 17 May 1944, Merrill's Marauders led the way for a Chinese-American combined force and attacked Myitkyina; however, lack of coordination between Merrill's Marauders and the stronger regulars behind them gave the Japanese an opportunity to reinforce the town, making the attack on Myitkyina a long campaign. While Myitkyina was besieged, the Japanese troops under the command of Mutaguchi on the extended campaign at Imphal and Kohima in India began to withdraw back into India. As the Japanese withdrew, British Lieutenant General Geoffrey Scoones gave chase and destroyed many demoralized Japanese units. Attacks from various directions outflanked the Japanese 15th Division, and territory west of the Chindwin River near the Burma-India border was regained. The siege at Imphal and Kohima were declared broken early in Jul 1944 with the largest defeat in Japanese thus far in the war. 55,000 casualties were suffered by the Japanese forces, with the majority to non-combat causes of starvation, exhaustion, and disease. In comparison, the Allied troops suffered 17,500 casualties. Mutaguchi was relieved of his command after this defeat, succeeded by Hyotaro Kimura.

At Myitkyina, flawed American intelligence seriously underestimated the number of Japanese soldiers at Myitkyina. At peak time during the battle the Japanese forces totaled about 4,600 men, but the American estimate was a quarter of that quantity. The Japanese, similarly, could not estimate the number of the attackers, though they made the opposite mistake of grossly overestimating the size of the Allied forces. The result was a flawed campaign from both sides. While the Americans took on risks by making rapid moves against an enemy that was stronger than they had estimated, the Japanese fought unnecessarily conservatively and had forgone many opportunities of counteroffensives for believing that the Allied forces were much larger.

In May, the 14th Evacuation Hospital was moved forward to the general area with the primary duty of caring for the sick and wounded Marauders. The hospital staff recorded that

The harsh conditions the Marauders fought in were made worse by their constant fighting in the jungles without adequate rest and recuperation. Colonel Hunter made a report of complaint to General Stilwell noting that his men had been overworked even at the face of a lack of promotion and decoration (except for Purple Hearts for those wounded). Even promises that they would not be used as spearheads for Chinese troops were broken, as shown by the current campaign at Myitkyina. Nevertheless, the Marauders stayed in the campaign, and fought on valiantly.

On 3 Jun 1944 the 42nd and the 150th Chinese Regiments made an attack on the town, only to be pushed back by the Japanese after heavy casualties. Though starting to have a sense that the Japanese garrison was stronger than expected, the Allied command still believed that the town was only defended by fewer than 1,000 Japanese troops. Over the next month, a battle of attrition wore down both sides, with exhaustion and disease claiming a significant portion of casualties. The first signs that the Japanese were starting to lose the battle of attrition appeared in the last week of July when Kachin rangers operating in Detachment 101 found Japanese field hospital patients being floated on rafts downstream by hospital staff, in hope that they would be received by Japanese garrisons down the river. Even the natives were reporting that the Japanese were starting to hire them to make rafts and build booby traps. Rumors were also being spread by means of captured Japanese prisoners of war that a small number of key officers at Myitkyina had committed ritual suicide. The suspicions of a upcoming victory began to actually materialize only a couple of days later, on 26 Jul, when the American 3rd Battalion of the Marauders made a significant gain by capturing the northern air field at Myitkyina. Over the next week, Japanese resistance was noticeably weaker. On or about 1 Aug, General Mizukami committed suicide after seeing the main part of his army safely withdrawing from the area. Before he did so, however, he ordered for those wounded that could not be evacuated efficiently to stay behind as rear guard and hold the town as long as they could.

On 3 Aug 1944, Myitkyina was finally captured, restoring use of the key airfields there. At its conclusion, the Allied command totaled its casualties, and the number ran high. 972 Chinese were killed and 3,184 were wounded; after adding the 188 sick who were evacuated earlier, the Chinese suffered a total of 4,344 casualties. The Americans suffered 272 killed, 955 wounded, and 980 evacuated for sickness; the American casualties totaled 2,207. As for the Japanese, almost the entire force of 4,600 died defending the town. Colonel Maruyama was able to escape with 600 men, while 187 were captured by the Americans and Chinese after the town fell.

After a short time to regroup, Allied forces pushed south again. At this stage of the Burma Campaign, after the immense loss at Imphal and Kohima earlier, then allowing the Allied forces to gain use of the Myitkyina air fields which drastically increased the Allied maneuver room and logistical capabilities, the Japanese strategy would dramatically shift to a conservative defensive campaign to hold southern Burma, completely abandoning the notion of maintaining a northern flank to threaten China's supply situation. The Japanese forces there saw a change in personnel as well. After the combined failures, Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi was relieved, replaced by Lieutenant General Shibachi Katamura, formerly of the Japanese 54th Infantry Division. The Burma Area Army saw a new commander as well in Lieutenant General Kimura Hyotaro, formerly of the Ordnance Administration Headquarters in Tokyo.

Photographs

Share this article with your friends:

Delicious   Digg   Facebook

Reddit   StumbleUpon   Twitter

Stay updated with WW2DB:

Subscribe to RSS Feeds

Advertise on ww2db.com

Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Cleve Archibald says:
   14 Oct 2006 04:19:56 PM
   
   This a search to idetify Caribbean countries whose citizens made up Merrils Marauders in operation Galahad in the libaration of Burma (1943-1944.
   
   Thank you,
   Cleve
2. Anonymous says:
   4 Sep 2007 05:24:40 PM
   
   This is a fine report despite minor typosgrammar errors. It would have been excellent if it had maps! Without maps, it is really hard to grasp the story.
3. Alan Chanter says:
   14 Jan 2008 02:56:25 AM
   
   At 1000hrs on the 17th May 1944, under cover of an attack being made by the 150th Regiument of the Chinese 50th Division, Galahads 1st Battalion slipped over the Irrawady by ferry, and within an hour had surprised and captured the nearby airstrip. Stilwell, in typical unco-operative fashion, then took it upon himself to order up reinforcements without first consulting the Supreme Commander (Mountbatten). The latter to his credit did sent a congratulatory message to the tactless Stilwell, but Churchill was utterly enraged when he learnt, not only of Stilwells blatant act of insubordination, but that, in fact, the important town had not been captured at all (as Stilwell was now boasting) only that the now utterly shattered Galahad Force held just a meagre bridgehead across the river. A situation that would now require substantial resources, to maintain the siege of the town, which might have been better employed in accordance with Allied Forces plans elsewhere.
4. Alan Chanter says:
   15 Jan 2008 04:44:24 AM
   
   The first Allied formation to actually enter the town of Myitkyina was the 72nd Brigade (6th Bn,The South Wales Borderers, 9th Bn, The Royal Sussex Regiment, 10th Bn,The Gloucestershire Regiment) of 36th Infantry Division (the only British Division in Theatre operating under American Command).
5. sean says:
   17 Sep 2008 08:33:38 PM
   
   Hello, if anyone knows any veterans from the marauders, I would be interested in interviewing them for a history project. I can be contacted at siegfried1313@hotmail.com
6. My Cousin was KIA at Myitkyina with 5307th says:
   12 Feb 2009 08:30:08 AM
   
   Seeking any info on battle and units. My cousin reported to 5307th on 1 Jun 44 and KIA 28 Jun 44 battle for Myitkyina. He was a replacement leaving Hampton Roads, VA POE 20 Apr 44 I believe on the the Wm. Mann. Any details appreciated arrived Bombay (record not clear). Thanks Vin

Posting Your Comments on this Topic

Your Name
Your Email
	Your email will not be published
Your Comments
Security Code

Note: Please refrain from using strong language. HTML tags are not allowed. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment.