The Battle of Bilin River was the first major battle of the
Burma Campaign in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Fought between 14 and 18 February 1942, the battle was a tactical victory for
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
over the
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...
, and it led to a decisive victory for Japan immediately afterwards at the
Battle of Sittang Bridge
The Battle of Sittang Bridge was part of the Burma campaign during the Second World War. Fought between 19 February and 23 February 1942, the battle was a victory for the Empire of Japan, with many losses for the British Indian Army (1895–1947) ...
.
Brigadier Sir John George Smyth, V.C.—who commanded
17th Infantry Division of the British Indian Army at Bilin River—said the Bilin River "at that time of year was only a ditch, but a good co-ordinating line".
[Liddell Hart 1970, p. 213.] 17th Division was, at that time, a new formation that had yet to see its first battle.
The Japanese 112th Battalion of the Southern Army entered Burma (now
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
) on 15 January. They took Tavoy (now
Dawei
Dawei (, ; mnw, ဓဝဲါ, ; th, ทวาย, RTGS: ''Thawai'', ; formerly known as Tavoy) is a city in south-eastern Myanmar and is the capital of the Tanintharyi Region, formerly known as the Tenasserim Division, on the northern bank of ...
) on 19 January, cutting off the garrison at
Mergui
Myeik (, or ; mnw, ဗိက်, ; th, มะริด, , ; formerly Mergui, ) is a rural city in Tanintharyi Region in Myanmar (Burma), located in the extreme south of the country on the coast off an island on the Andaman Sea. , the estimate ...
(which escaped by sea). In the process, they captured three small airfields, giving them close air support. They then advanced towards
Kawkareik
Kawkareik (; my, ကော့ကရိတ်, ; ksw, ဒူဖျၢ်ယၢ်ဝ့ၢ်ဖိ) also spelled as Kawkarike, is a town in Karen State, Myanmar. It is the capital of Kawkaraik District and Kawkaraik Township.
History
The K ...
.
Smyth wanted to withdraw immediately to better defensive terrain, but he was ordered to "stay put".
Prelude
On 26 January, the Japanese 55th Division advanced on
Moulmein
Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; th, เมาะลำเลิง ; mnw, မတ်မလီု, ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' south east of Yangon and south of Thaton, at th ...
. Taking the town would give them another airfield, but it was hard for the Indians to defend. It was also a difficult place from which to retreat, because there was no bridge over the
Gulf of Martaban
A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...
; any retreat would need to be by ferry.
The British Indian Army held out for two days of fierce fighting, and then got away on a river steamer.
In the process, they lost about 600 soldiers and a significant amount of materiel.
Smyth sent
Brigadier "Punch" Cowan to
Rangoon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
to speak with the Army Commander, General Hutton, and ask for permission to move to behind the Sittang River (now
Sittaung). In what Smyth called a "disastrous decision", and perhaps influenced by his own orders from higher up, Hutton refused.
The battle
17th Division held at the Bilin River for two days of close-quarters jungle fighting. The Japanese tactics were to outflank, and eventually with encirclement imminent,
[Slim 1956, p. 17.] Hutton came up from Rangoon and gave Smyth permission to fall back. 17th Division disengaged under cover of darkness and began a retreat along the dusty track to the Sittang Bridge.
Aftermath
17th Division slowly withdrew towards the bridge over the Sittang River. But it was outflanked by the Japanese who reached the area of the bridge and forced its demolition. The bulk of 17th Division was caught on the wrong side of the Sittang. While most of the men were able to eventually cross the river, almost all of their equipment had been lost.
References
Sources
*
Liddell Hart, B.H., ''History of the Second World War.'' New York: G.P. Putnam, 1970. .
*
Slim, William (1956), ''Defeat Into Victory''. Citations from the Four Square Books 1958 edition which lacks an ISBN, but also available from NY: Buccaneer Books , Cooper Square Press ; London: Cassell , Pan .
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