6th Bn OXF & BUCKS LI 1940-1945

LIGHTBOBS

6th BATTALION
OXFORDSHIRE & BUCKINGHAMSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY
1939-1945

6th Bn OXF & BUCKS LI 1940-1942

6th Bn OXF & BUCKS LI 1942-1944

6th Bn OXF & BUCKS LI 1944

6th Bn OXF & BUCKS LI 1945

OVERVIEW

BATTLE HONOURS

"ARAKAN BEACHES" "TAMANDU" "BURMA, 1943-45"

INTRODUCTION

From its formation in England in the darkest days of the war in Europe to its disbandment in India five and a half years later following the unconditional surrender of Japan, the 6th Battalion saw service in three theatres of war:-

HOME DEFENCE 1940-1942
DEFENCE OF SOUTHERN INDIA 1942-1944
ARAKAN CAMPAIGN IN NORTH-WEST BURMA 1944-1945

SCHEDULE OF POSTINGS

FROM

July 1940

November 1940

December 1940

December 1941

March 1942

May 1942

June 1942

August 1942

July 1943

November 1943

February 1944

March 1944

September 1944

January 1945

February 1945

March 1945

April 1945

September 1945

TO

October 1940

December 1940

November 1941

March 1942

May 1942

June 1942

August 1942

July 1943

November 1943

February 1944

March 1944

September 1944

January 1945

February 1945

March 1945

April 1945

September 1945

December 1945

LOCATION

Northwich, Cheshire

Newbury, Berkshire

Isle of Wight

Ringwood, Hampshire

Isle of Wight

Andover, Wiltshire

On board Empire Pride

Salem, Madras Presidency

Conjeeveram, Madras Presidency

Teppakadu, Mysore State

Vadigenhalli, Bangalore State

Maungdaw, Arakan

Advance to Akyab, Arakan

Myebon Peninsula, Arakan

Advance to Tamandu, Arakan

Akyab, Arakan

Coimbatore, Madras Presidency

Arkonam, Madras Presidency

COUNTRY

ENGLAND

INDIA

BURMA

INDIA

OUTLINE OF SERVICE

FORMATION
The 6th Battalion was formed at Cowley in June 1940 and comprised newly recruited war-time soldiers. Most of the recruits came from Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire and the majority were in their mid-twenties when they joined. Some were skilled tradesmen in civilian life; their skills were to prove invaluable in the years ahead, especially in India and Burma. Many individuals spent their entire military service in the same platoon and even in the same section; this created a strong sense of comradeship, which contributed to the excellent self-discipline and steadiness of the 6th Battalion noted on several occasions by inspecting generals.

HOME DEFENCE
Following basic training in Cheshire, the 6th Battalion fulfilled defensive roles on the Isle of Wight and in Hampshire against a threatened German invasion of Southern England. By early 1942 that threat had receded, but meanwhile the Japanese, who had recently swept over the whole of South- East Asia, were threatening to invade India and Ceylon where British resources were very meagre; consequently the 6th Battalion was sent to India in mid-1942.

INDIA
In the summer of 1942 Japanese power was at its height with Ceylon under aerial and naval attack. Southern India, as a stepping stone to Ceylon, was an obvious strategic prize to Japanese ambition. The few airfields in Southern India were mostly centred around Trichinopoly, some 200 miles north of the southernmost tip of India; the control of this area was equally essential to either side in the event of hostilities in Southern India. On arrival in India at Bombay the 6th Battalion travelled by train to Madras Presidency in South-East India, where it assisted in the defence of the Trichinopoly area as part of 74th Indian Infantry Brigade in the newly-formed 25th Indian Division.

JUNGLE TRAINING
By mid 1943 the threat to Southern India was starting to recede and the Division commenced intensive training for jungle warfare in preparation for offensive action against the Japanese in Burma. Training was carried out at special jungle camps where everyone learnt to become self-reliant in jungle conditions. By living, moving and exercising in it, every individual learnt that the jungle is neither impenetrable nor unfriendly. Later intensive training focused on developing the ability to move completely devoid of transport for up to five days at a time by man-packing everything. In March 1944 the Division sailed from Madras to Chittagong close to the India/Burma border ready to go into action in the Arakan region on the north-west coast of Burma.

BACKGROUND TO THE WAR IN BURMA
The Japanese had invaded Northern China in 1931 and by the late 1930s had occupied the whole of Eastern China following a brutal and ruthless campaign. However Japanese ambitions to get to India via China were thwarted by Chinese armies in South-West China. On the day following their attacks on Pearl Harbour and Hong Kong on 7 December 1941, the Japanese attacked Malaya and promptly signed a treaty with Siam which allowed Japanese forces to move freely through Siam to attack Burma; the treaty also enabled the Japanese to build the infamous Burma Railway through Siam to provide the key supply route for the intended Japanese invasion of Northern India. The Japanese commenced their invasion of Burma from the south and by late January 1942 they were thrusting rapidly northward along the central plain of Burma and northwestward into the Arakan region; the invasion only stopped when the monsoon rains broke. The stunning Japanese successes in Malaya and Burma were greatly assisted by air superiority. Also their forces were highly mobile as their policy was to live off the land; eventually that action was to backfire as inhabitants of occupied territories deeply resented having their animals and crops commandeered at gun-point.

EARLIER CAMPAIGNS IN THE ARAKAN
In September 1942 British forces attempted to clear the Arakan Peninsula and to capture the airfield on Akyab Island; tine airfield was of critical importance as it enabled the Japanese to bomb Calcutta and Chittagong and to attack vital shipping in the Bay of Bengal. The Japanese countered with a series of delaying tactics that created a stalemate until March 1943; the Japanese then counter-attacked and forced the British to retreat The British were hindered by inadequate intelligence data and lack of air-cover, and were not helped by defective small-arms ammunition; thus the first Arakan campaign ended in failure. The second Arakan campaign between December 1943 and March 1944 gained some ground but it was again unsuccessful in reaching Akyab; the British forces had to pull back to near Maungdaw when troops and equipment had to be sent to Northern India as reinforcements for the critical battles at Imphal and Kohima in Assam, which eventually stopped the Japanese from thrusting deeply into India. Having stopped the Japanese expansion, the British aim was to drive the Japanese out of India and Burma and then out of the other occupied colonies. To drive the Japanese out of Central Burma it was first necessary to prevent them from utilising their troops and heavy equipment based in the Arakan.

DESCRIPTION OF ARAKAN REGION
The Arakan region differs significantly, both physically and historically, from the rest of Burma from which it is isolated by inaccessible mountains and virtually impenetrable jungle. A range of mountains and hills runs almost north/south parallel to the nearby coast; the precipitous ridges are covered with tropical rainforest and the foothills with thick bamboo jungle and scrub. From the foothills to the coast there is a plain of sand, swamp and water-logged ricefields, intersected by a maze of tidal streams. Visibility everywhere is very limited making this the most difficult country on the Burma front The climate is strongly influenced by the adjacent Bay of Bengal creating a monsoon rainy season from June to September when some 40 inches of rain fall each month; this results in the tracks and paths being turned into torrents of mud and the thick jungle swarms with malarial mosquitoes, leeches and snakes. Historically the Arakan region was a separate kingdom until it was conquered by the Burmese in 1784. It came under British administration (from-India) following the 1st Anglo-Burmese War of 1824-1825, which resulted from a Burmese attempt to invade India. The other parts of Burma came under British administration (from India) following the 2nd and 3rd Anglo-Burmese Wars of 1852 and 1885; the whole of Burma became a British colony administered directly from London in 1935.

ARAKAN CAMPAIGN - MAUNGDAW
On crossing from India into Burma the 25th Division took up a defensive position near the coast at Maungdaw. As roads were non-existent lorries were exchanged for mules and drivers were retrained as muleteers. Shortly afterwards the 6th Battalion moved to forward positions on the southern edge of the British base where life was lived almost entirely underground as protection against shell-fire. An isolated outpost called Bolster Force was established well ahead of the other British positions to deter the Japanese from harassing the nearby villagers; the villagers provided invaluable intelligence and other assistance to the British at grave risk to themselves. Numerous Japanese attacks were repulsed and extensive patrol activity was continued throughout the monsoon season despite the appalling weather. Over the previous two years the Japanese had established very well constructed and effective defensive positions, making the most of the challenging terrain. The Japanese positions were generally dug in the foothills with observation posts on me ridges. Despite the fact that the positions were defended with fanatical zeal the Japanese were slowly forced from the area by intensive close-quarter fighting. Churchill famously likened re-conquering Burma by land to munching a porcupine quill by quill. Each gun emplacement was a quill that had to be munched before moving on to the next Fortunately this time the British forces had reliable intelligence data, thanks in part to the heroic efforts of the Arakan villagers, and the benefit of almost total air domination in the region.

MAYU PENINSULA & AKYAB
In December 1944 the 74th Brigade cleared the whole of the Mayu Peninsula with the 6th Battalion carrying out a daring all-night forced march of over twenty miles along the beach to capture the coastal town of Donbaik; this had been the scene of a courageous but disastrous assault by British forces in March 1943. The Brigade then prepared for an amphibious landing on Akyab Island and an assault on Akyab airfield and town which turned out to be unopposed as the Japanese had fled.

MYEBON PENINSULA & KANGAW
By this time the Japanese were attempting a co-ordinated withdrawal to conserve troops and resources for action in Central Burma. To frustrate this the 25th Division made a series of seaborne assaults to cut the enemy's only two lines of communication which led from their base at Tamandu to Central Burma; one led eastward via the An Pass to Minim and the other southward along the coastal road to Taungup and then inland to Prome. First the 6th Battalion and the rest of 74th Brigade made a sixty mile journey from Akyab on minesweepers and landing craft to support the capture of the Myebon Peninsula which covered the mouth of a maze of tidal waterways leading inland. In late January 1945 they sailed eastward to land on the Kangaw Peninsula and carried out a series of water-borne raids at night which culminated in the capture of Kangaw.

RU-YWA & TAMANDU
Meanwhile another of the Division's brigades had sailed fifty miles southward down the coast to land in the Japanese rear at Ru-Ywa. The initial landing had been unopposed but the Japanese who had been caught by surprise started to react. Consequently the 6th Battalion and the rest of 74th Brigade proceeded in landing craft through a maze of waterways to Ru-Ywa where a difficult landing was made in an exceedingly muddy mangrove swamp. They then moved northward towards Tamandu, which involved wading across a 100-yard wide waterway with close tank and artillery support. Despite heavy casualties from shell-fire on the start line the attack went in as planned and then the 6th Battalion pressed on northward destroying a number of enemy positions with great dash; speed was vital to the success of the whole operation. With the capture of Tamandu the final task was to capture an important feature which completely dominated the west-to-east road leading to the An Pass. A very stubborn action took place in which the 6th Battalion's mortars worked for four days and nights virtually non-stop and under great difficulties. Finally the few surviving Japanese ran away leaving their guns.

INDIA & DISBANDMENT
With all their objectives achieved the 6th Battalion sailed back to India in April 1945 after a short rest at Akyab, their first respite from a year-long campaign of continuous action. They then prepared for the next campaign in South-East Asia, the re-capture of Malaya. In the event hostilities ceased abruptly and the 25th Indian Division was disbanded. On disbandment the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief issued a Special Order which said in part:-

"You can justly be proud of having belonged to a first-class Division. The majority of your battles have been fought on the most difficult country on the Burma front - the Arakan. Thick bamboo jungle, precipitous ridges, swamps and waterlogged ricefields intercepted by numerous tidal rivers and creeks were obstacles which only the best troops could overcome; you overcame them all in your series of victorious offences. You mastered, too, one of the worst and most unhealthy climates in the world by your high morale and excellent discipline - in short, nothing could stop the 25th Indian Division."