Burma - Battles behind the Lines

17th March 1944: In mid March both the American 'Merrill's Marauders' and the British 'Chindits' engage the Japanese deep in the jungle

A U.S. image of ‘Operations in North Burma 1944’ probably the Marauders departing on their long trek into Burma.

Another image from the same sequence.

Both the British and the Americans launched what would now be described as ‘Special Forces’ operations deep into Burma in the first months of 1944. The Chindits had pioneered a deep penetration operation in 1943 - disrupting the Japanese lines of communication way behind the acknowledged ‘frontline’.

Major General O C Wingate (1903 - 1944): Wingate after his return from the first 'Chindit' expedition into Burma.

Their commander, Orde Wingate, got support for a further operation when he attended the Quebec Conference of Allied leaders in August 1943. Partly as a consequence, the US Army decided they would also form a special unit to conduct a parallel operation in Burma in 1944.

The 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) was the consequence. They were soon better known as ‘Merrill’s Marauders’, after their commander. In early February 2,750 men began a 1,000 mile march across the Patkai mountains of northern Burma. It was an arduous trek and the nutritional value of the rations they carried was not equal to what was expected of them.

Nevertheless the Marauders succeeded in penetrating deep behind Japanese line and then engaging them in a series of violent clashes.

Captain Fred O. Lyons¹ left this account of one of their first engagements with Japanese:

Battalion headquarters was issuing orders to spread out in formation, and the column was splitting up ahead to move off the trail. Finally I learned what had happened. The pointmen - lead scouts - had run into four Japs riding an elephant. They had killed three, but one had escaped. We knew then the Japs would have us spotted. We circled into our wagon wheel and dug the holes for the coming scrap.