Fighting Through to Kohima by Michael Lowry

Author:Michael Lowry
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783460137
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2013-05-29T16:00:00+00:00

We were to learn that Geoffrey Tattershall’s party broke into the Admin Box and became attached to the West Yorkshire Regiment. In the course of the encirclement, Geoffrey was killed in one of the many close-quarter nightly Japanese attacks. He had been one of the Battalion’s earlier and most effective draft reinforcements on the North West Frontier in 1941. Also at that time the Battalion had received Dick Kensington, now Adjutant in Burma, Tiny Taylor, my second-in-command, Harry Haines, the Mortar Platoon commander, and Graham ‘Polky’ Polkinhorne, our Signals officer. Tattershall had been one of the Battalion’s best hockey players. He was typical of that breed of young Englishmen never destined to become a soldier but caught up in the war, and he proved himself to be an excellent young officer, now cut down in his prime like so many others.

D Company were also pulled back this morning. Their position now is exactly similar to ours, but across the valley some 150 yards away on the ridge to the north; this gives the Battalion a stronger, cohesive defensive box, to be known in future as ‘Braganza Box’. B and D Companies had to find patrols first thing each morning to see if our old positions had been occupied by the Japanese and, if not, to light fires as we did normally each morning to simulate the cooking of breakfast. And so one patrol to each company area went out this evening to chuck the odd sixty-nine grenade down the slopes; this is a plastic-covered grenade and does not have such lethal effects as the No.36 Mills grenade and is very much cheaper to make. And so we hope to give the Japs the idea of normal occupation. When the patrols returned the next day, we heard that our B Company’s old position was not occupied by the enemy, but D Company’s old position was occupied.

The news on 10 February was a little rosier. The Japanese plan for their complete encirclement operation has been captured, but that is as much as I knew of it on this date. We are now in wireless communications with Division HQ; this is done through the tank No 19 sets, and so we were able to get a situation report this morning. But news is still scarce of the exact Japanese dispositions and strength in our rear. The most uncommon and cheering news is that some more prisoners have been taken: this was quite an excellent boost to everyone’s morale, and indicates that the enemy had taken a knock. We had further news of the promised reinforcements, they are still on the way!

We are beginning to feel the pinch of the ration situation. The CO has given us permission to send out organized patrols to round up stray cattle. The local villagers, I gathered, would be getting compensation.

I was very amused at the sight of three of our men chasing a four-legged piece of beef around the paddy-fields and driving it into our box; and

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