Battle of the Sittang Bend
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The Battle of the Sittang Bend and the Japanese Breakout across Pegu Yomas were linked Japanese military operations during the Burma Campaign, which took place nearly at the end of
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 ...
. Surviving elements of the
Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
who had been driven into the
Pegu Yoma The Pegu Range ( my, ပဲခူးရိုးမ; Pegu Yoma or Bago Yoma) is a range of low mountains or hillsSeekins, Donald M. (2006) ''Historical dictionary of Burma (Myanmar)'' Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Marylandpage 357 and uplands between ...
attempted to break out eastwards, to join other Japanese troops retreating from the British forces. The break-out was the objective of the Japanese Twenty-Eighth Army with support at first from the Thirty-third Army and later the Fifteenth Army. As a preliminary, the Japanese Thirty-third Army attacked Allied positions in the Sittang Bend, near the mouth of the river, to distract the Allies. The British had been alerted to the break-out attempt and it ended calamitously for the Japanese, who suffered many losses, with some formations being wiped out. Around 14,000 Japanese were lost, with well over half being killed, while British forces suffered only 95 killed and 322 wounded. The break-out attempt and the ensuing battle became the last significant land battle of the Western powers in the Second World War.Tucker p 60


Background

By early 1944, the British forces in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
had been reinforced and had expanded their supply infrastructure, which made it possible for them to contemplate an attack into Burma. The Japanese attempted to forestall them by an invasion of India (
Operation U-Go The U Go offensive, or Operation C (ウ号作戦 ''U Gō sakusen''), was the Japanese offensive launched in March 1944 against forces of the British Empire in the northeast Indian regions of Manipur and the Naga Hills (then administered as part ...
), which led to a great Japanese defeat and other setbacks in Northern Burma. Following a further defeat at the hands of
William Slim William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
and the Fourteenth Army at Meiktila and Mandalay and Operation Dracula, the recapture of Rangoon, the Japanese were further handicapped in their defence of Burma. By this time the
Burmese National Army The Burma Independence Army (BIA), was a collaborationist and revolutionary army that fought for the end of British rule in Burma by assisting the Japanese in their conquest of the country in 1942 during World War II. It was the first post- ...
under
Aung San Aung San (, ; 13 February 191519 July 1947) was a Burmese politician, independence activist and revolutionary. He was instrumental in Myanmar's struggle for independence from British rule, but he was assassinated just six months before his go ...
had switched sides (becoming the Burma Patriotic Army) and was hunting down Japanese patrols and foraging parties.Farquharson pp 298–300 During April, the British and Indian IV Corps advanced from Central Burma down the valley of the
Sittang River The Sittaung River ( my, စစ်တောင်းမြစ် ; formerly, the Sittang or Sittounghttps://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/8th-uncsgn-docs/inf/8th_UNCSGN_econf.94_INF.75.pdf ) is a river in south central Myanmar in Bago ...
. Japanese rearguards prevented them advancing all the way 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 ...
, the capital and main port of Burma but on 2 May, Rangoon fell to an Allied amphibious landing (
Operation Dracula Operation Dracula was a World War II-airborne and amphibious attack on Rangoon by British and Anglo-Indian forces during the Burma Campaign. The plan was first proposed in mid-1944 when the Allied South East Asia Command was preparing to reoccupy ...
). On 6 May, the leading troops of 17th Division, leading the IV Corps advance, linked up with the troops who had carried out ''Dracula'' at
Hlegu Hlegu ( my, လှည်းကူး, ) is a small city in Yangon Division, Burma (Myanmar) about 45 km north-east of Yangon. It is located on both sides of the Ngamoyeik River (Ngamoyeik Chaung).Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
to plan operations to recapture
Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
and Singapore. A new Twelfth Army headquarters under Lieutenant-General
Montagu Stopford General Sir Montagu George North Stopford (16 November 1892 – 10 March 1971) was a senior British Army officer who fought during both World War I and World War II. The latter he served in with distinction, commanding XXXIII Indian Corps in t ...
was formed from XXXIII Corps HQ. It took over IV Corps in the Sittang valley and directly commanded some divisions in the Irrawaddy valley. The Japanese Twenty-Eighth Army under Lieutenant General
Shōzō Sakurai was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Biography Sakurai was born in Nagoya, although his official records list Hagi city, Yamaguchi prefecture as his hometown. After Sakurai ...
, after retreating from
Arakan Arakan ( or ) is a historic coastal region in Southeast Asia. Its borders faced the Bay of Bengal to its west, the Indian subcontinent to its north and Burma proper to its east. The Arakan Mountains isolated the region and made it accessi ...
and the Irrawaddy valley, had reached the
Pegu Yomas The Pegu Range ( my, ပဲခူးရိုးမ; Pegu Yoma or Bago Yoma) is a range of low mountains or hillsSeekins, Donald M. (2006) ''Historical dictionary of Burma (Myanmar)'' Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Marylandpage 357 and uplands between ...
, a range of low mountains, hills and uplands between the Irrawaddy and the Sittang River in central Burma.Seekins, Donald M. (2006) ''Historical dictionary of Burma (Myanmar)'' Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland
p 357
They were joined by Major General Hideji Matsui's 105th Independent Mixed Brigade, also known as "Kani" Force (men of anti-aircraft batteries, airfield construction battalions, naval anchorage units and NCO schools) which had faced IV Corps. The Japanese trapped in the Pegu Yomas prepared a break-out operation to rejoin the
Burma Area Army The was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. History The Japanese Burma Area Army was formed on 27 March 1943, under the control of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group as a garrison force to defend the nominally-ind ...
and escape into Thailand with them. The Sittang was unfordable and was therefore a significant military barrier, as it had been in 1942 during the first Burma campaign. General
Heitarō Kimura was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death by hanging. Biography Kimura was born in Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo, but was raised in Hiroshima prefecture, which he considered to be h ...
, the commander of Burma Area Army, ordered the Thirty-Third Army to cover this break-out by a diversionary offensive across the Sittang, although the entire army could muster the strength of barely a brigade. In support, the Fifteenth Army were to co-ordinate their efforts with the Twenty-eighth Army, if the operation was failing to meet its objective.


Operation

British intelligence were aware of the intended break-out but had no detailed information, so Stopford ordered General
Frank Messervy General Sir Frank Walter Messervy, (9 December 1893 – 2 February 1974) was a British Indian Army officer in the First and Second World Wars. Following its independence, he was the first Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army (15 August 1947 ...
the IV Corps commander to spread the corps over more than a hundred miles of front to block their way. On 2 July 1945 a
Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recruit ...
patrol ambushed and wiped out a small Japanese force and captured a dispatch bag containing the complete operational plan for the Japanese break-out. The intelligence was quickly distributed among the British forces, which had two weeks to prepare. One of the intended Japanese routes of march lay directly across the 17th Indian Division headquarters at Penwegon and Messervy reinforced this critical sector with 64th Indian Brigade from the
19th Indian Division 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full r ...
. The Japanese planned to advance to the Sittang in three columns, under strict rules of engagement forbidding use of firearms in favour of the bayonet and forbidding any radio communication, once they had crossed the Sittang on rafts mostly made of bamboo. Sakurai underestimated the British strength arrayed against him but believed he could get over half his force across in fighting shape.


1st Battle

The Japanese Thirty-third Army attacked the Sittang Bend on 3 July 1945, attempting to assist the break-out. The attack was mistimed, taking place a week before the Twenty-eighth Army made its advance to the river. The Japanese were allowed to advance, unaware that their plans were known to the British, until many of their troops were in exposed positions and then a barrage of shell fire and bombing started. Artillery bombarded the Japanese attack;
Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
forward observation officers (FOOs) continually monitored Japanese movements and gave the signal to fire.
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
cab rank A cab rank (in British English) or taxicab stand (in American English) is an area where taxicabs queue to await passengers. Cab rank may also refer to: * Bank (in Cockney rhyming slang) * A flying reserve of fighter-bomber aircraft that can be cal ...
patrols under the direction of visual control posts, called upon squadrons of
Spitfires The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...
and
Thunderbolts A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the 'Sky Father'; this association is also found in later Hell ...
on Japanese targets. The destruction on 4 July of three 105 mm guns by the Thunderbolts of No. 42 Squadron was an example of air power success. By 7 July, Kimura ordered Thirty-third Army, having suffered casualties, to halt operations and pulled them back hoping it would be enough to enable the Twenty-eighth army to break-out. The British knew of this anyway and switched their attention to that sector.


Battle of the Breakout

On 15 July the Twenty-Eighth Army, despite the mistiming of the Thirty-third Army's attack, began their break-out attempt, unaware that the British knew of their plans. The
monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...
had begun and the British created two killing fields, the first for artillery (targeting twelve Japanese crossing points along the highway) and the second using aircraft (which were able to fly even in poor weather conditions) to attack those who managed to cross the road, especially between the Sittang and the Salween rivers. FOOs were used in the air and the ground. Tanks and infantry motorised and on foot, covered the gaps between the positions despite the monsoon. The Allied Patriotic Burma Forces would deal with any survivors on the east bank of the Sittang. As such, the Japanese 55th Division ran straight into the 19th Indian Division strong point at Penwegon; tanks and infantry repelled every attack inflicting huge losses. British forward observation officers on the far side of the Sittang, continued to call down artillery fire on the Japanese as the survivors attempted to reform and move south; casualties were appalling and it was in reality a one-sided battle. The RAF had also attacked troop concentrations and river craft of all kinds; 273 Squadron and 607 Squadron had killed about 500 Japanese in the village of Hpa-An, when British and Burmese troops came in to take control. The 600 men of the Japanese 13th Naval Guard Force broke out separate from the main body, due to confusion and ambushes and only a handful survived. On 21 July the Japanese began the last and most desperate attempt to cross the Sittang with the remaining 10,000 troops, many of whom were sick. The 54th Division having suffered heavily from
cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
and
dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...
, stepped off from the Pegu Yomas and crossed the flooded paddy fields to the Sittang. Every available Allied tank, gun, mortar and machine gun was at once thrown in against them and despite low clouds and heavy rains, every squadron which was able to sortie. The Thunderbolt could carry three bombs and the Spitfire a bomb and these played havoc among concentrations of moving Japanese troops. Many incidents occurred where RAF ground observers exposed themselves to
friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while eng ...
. A visual Controller, Flight Lieutenant J. Taylor and a corporal, were able to direct around seventeen aircraft at a time on to targets only from their post – both were wounded by bomb-splinters from RAF fighter-bombers. With British guns, in particular the devastation caused by the 5.5-inch, 4.5-inch and the 25-pounders already shelling the routes, the Japanese were slaughtered and this would last until the end of July. File:Burma - 14th Army- the Battle of the Sittang Bend. Men of the Queen's Own (royal West Kent) Regiment Making an Armed patrol Art.IWMARTLD5617.jpg, Royal West Kents making an armed patrol deep in flooded paddy fields during the battle. Painting by Leslie Cole File:The War in the Far East- the Burma Campaign 1941-1945 CF660.jpg, A
Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...
Mark VIII of No 607 Squadron is prepared by an RAF crew during monsoon conditions at
Mingaladon Mingaladon Township ( my, မင်္ဂလာဒုံ မြို့နယ် ) is located in the northernmost part of Yangon, Myanmar. The township comprises 31 wards, and shares borders with Hmawbi Township in the north, North Okkalapa Towns ...
for a sortie against the Japanese break-out attempt at Sittang


Last Actions

On July 28th, a last desperate offensive of the Japanese had been brought to a halt. The Japanese Fifteenth Army then stepped in to help the shattered survivors of the 28th Army. The
Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...
guerrillas were able to ambush hundreds of Japanese soldiers and attack elements from the Fifteenth Army. The Allied liaison organisation
Force 136 Force 136 was a far eastern branch of the British World War II intelligence organisation, the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Originally set up in 1941 as the India Mission with the cover name of GSI(k), it absorbed what was left of SOE's Or ...
operated with them and used
Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's ...
s to remove the seriously wounded, prisoners and documents and bring in urgent stores. They provided targets not only for Spitfires and Thunderbolts but called on the Beaufighters and
Mosquitos Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "litt ...
of the
Tactical Air Force The term Tactical Air Force was used by the air forces of the British Commonwealth during the later stages of World War II, for formations of more than one fighter group. A tactical air force was intended to achieve air supremacy and perform grou ...
. By 29 July, the Fifteenth Army retired, realising that the break-out was a disaster but had succeeded in at least rescuing a number of scattered groups. By the time the battle had died down only a few Japanese units made it across, having reached the Sittang by 7 August before the whole area was cleared by Allied infantry.


Aftermath

The break-out was a dismal failure and sapped Japanese morale further; the ragged elements were continually harassed by Karen guerrillas and the RAF. Messervy and Stopford described the break-out as a heroic effort and stated that most of the 740 prisoners were taken only because they were incapable of further effort, highlighting the tenacity of the Japanese soldier even when starved and disease ridden. Of the Japanese losses the unit that suffered the lowest percentage of casualties was in the 105th Independent Mixed Brigade, of 4,173 men more than 2,000 got across the Sittang. The 13th Naval Guard Force was annihilated, with only a handful of its original 600 men escaping. A substantial number, at least 70 and perhaps more, deserted while still in the Pegu Yomas. This force suffered the heaviest casualties of any formation in this costly operation. The 54th Division had suffered huge losses, more than 5,000 were lost breaking out across the Sittang. Of the 9,000 men of the 55th division that started the break-out, fewer than 4,000 made it to the Tenasserim. Out of 18,000 men directly controlled by Twenty-eighth Army less than 6,000 in total managed to reach the east bank of the Sittang. The British and Allied forces in addition to having claimed 1,500 being sick to disease throughout the period had suffered no more than 95 men killed and 322 wounded, a small number of these coming from 'friendly fire'. The Royal Air Force flew a total of 3,045 sorties and dropped some of bombs. The loss of so many Japanese troops was largely due to British air power and artillery fire; the soldiers that fought here coined the battle a ''gunners war''. With this defeat, the Japanese Burma Area Army was reduced to an ineffective fighting force. With the majority of Burma liberated, word that Japan had surrendered on 15 August only increased the anxiety of the Japanese to get to the Tenasserim hills. They did not however wish to be immobilised on the eastern bank of the Sittang so another 2,000 more died after the battle had been fought, many in the first days of peace. It was the last big battle on land of World War II involving the Western Allies. On 13 September 1945, the remaining units of the once formidable Japanese Burma Area Army surrendered to the British.Topich & Leitich p 69


References

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Bibliography

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External links


JAPANESE BREAKOUT FROM THE PEGU YOMAS TO THE EAST (21/7/1945)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sittang Bend World War II operations and battles of the Southeast Asia Theatre Military history of Burma during World War II 1945 in India 1945 in Burma Land battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom July 1945 events in Asia August 1945 events in Asia