WEST AFRICANS IN THE EAST

Evening Star, Issue 25677, 28 December 1945, Page 6

WEST AFRICANS IN THE EAST

GRIM FIGHTING IN BURMA IMITATING THE CHINDITS ■lt is a far cry from the West Indies to East Africa and Northern Rhodesia, from Nigeria to the Solomon Islands, but all these places contributed an immensely important share tq the defeat of the common enemy (writes Captain R. F. Coliin-Smith, in ‘ London Calling’). Not least unstinting have been the four West African colonies of Nigeria, the Gold Coas't. Sierra Leone, and Gambia, and the mandated territories of the “ coast,” with their 25.000,000 population and colossal natural resources. After West Africa’s troops had proved their mettle in Abyssinia, the four colonies prepared to put in the field a complete division. And, for the first time in history, units of the Royal West African Frontier Force were sent in 1943 to fight outside the African Continent. Within a year West Africa had the largest colonial force fighting overseas. In 1944 their force was about 100.000 strong. It was made up of infantry, gunners—aek-ack, field, and anti-tank —sappers, hospital staffs, and all the appendices of a self-contained expeditionary force. At first glance that may not seem a large contribution from an area with 25,000,000 inhabitants. But remember that, before 1939. thousands of men and women in the four colonies had never seen a white man. The African members of the Royal West African Frontier Force are all volunteers. Their role after the fall of France was the defence of the British West African frontiers against the threats of Vichy-controlled Africa. True, that threat never materialised; but Japan was pressing at the gates of India. On March 1, 1943. the Eightyfirst (West African) Division was formed under the command of Majorgeneral C..G. Woolner. Earlier in t.v* war he was a brigade commander in the British Expeditionary Force under Field-Marshal Montgomery. . That division arrived in India in the summer of 194*k Before the end of the year the Eighty-first was . forging its way into Burma. It had studied the methods of General Wingates famous Chindits; it lived exclusuelj on supplies dropped from the air. In a short time the division Wasted a deep track'—the famous “West African Way ’’—across four ranges of mountains. to reach the Kaladau (River in the' Burmese Ara'kan. oyer 60 miles to the east of troops of Lieutenant-gene-ral Sir Philip Christison’s Fifteenth Indian Corps. (By March of 1944 they had advanced to within 30 miles of Akyab, one of 'Burma’s principal ports, which was not taken by their British and Indian colleagues until January of this year.

TOUGH AND MOBILE WARRIORS. From March to mid-April the division fought its, way back up the Kaladan, finally turning . west tq_ threaten the'Japanese forces in the Kalajianzin foothills, where they; .were iii contact with British and Indian troops. Ihe West Africans are exceptionally tough and mobile in country where vehicles and animals cannot be used; their cheerfulness under the worst possib.e conditions is amazing, and their natural courage astonishing. • I was with, the Gambians after they had been relieved"* by the Sixteenth Punjab Regiment. I remember, after tlieir epic siege on Frontier Hill, malicing a terrible four-day march to a place called Tanclii. While wo were wading through ( river bed after river bed up to our waists in water, clinging desperately to a single rope 1 to keep our balance, against Abe surge of;the waters,, I watched our inile-long column—all .with, head loads, some of them as much as 901 b—following across’ still grinning and laughing as if they had just come from a highly, enjoyable afternoon at a pantomime. _ . During all this time there bad been other* West African troops with the famous Chindits and still more ack gunners mostly—guarding the railhead at Dimapur, 40 miles from Kohima, during that little Naga town s most heroic defence. At the end of September, 1944, the Eighty-first (West African) Division, this time under. Major-general LoftusTottenham, started off again for the Kaladan. But this time the Division was entirely on foot, taking no heavy artillery, no vehicles, no animals. Their only means of locomotion were tlieir legs. Back at Frontier Hill, the Sierra Leonians were given the. task of, recapturing the mountain citadel. They had to overcome four lines of concentrated defences, improved by the Japs, after the Gambians had been ordered to withdraw in June. They regained it only after some thrilling fighting. i was with them during this assault. On one occasion 1 was in the mortar observation post, rather less than 700 yards from the Jap. trenches. ‘An air strike had been requested. « Lightnings, Spitfires, and Hurri-bombers were sent to strafe and bomb in order to facilitate the infantry attack. They dived down right over our heads and dropped their loads of 1,000pounders and 250-pounders right on the spot indicated by the Sierra Leonians smoke shells. We could see a few inches of track running ‘ through the defences; we watched the explosions and then we heard and saw the terrific cannonade of machine-gun fire which followed. The air attack lasted for three-quarters of an hour; then the infantry went in. DENSE JUNGLE. Although we were less than 700yds from the Japs, and could hear the bul-lets-whistling and whining in the bamboo all round us; although we were in a strategic position looking down on the battle, the only signs we got of its progress were the firing and the occasional movements of the trees as the troops passed. And when it was all over I could not say that I could see a single tree awry or an isolated scar on the countryside, so thick was the jungle. When I reached the spot it was, of course, a mass of bomb craters and broken and withering undergrowth. But you would only see that if von were right on the spot. The final assault on the summit was the occasion of a number of examples of outstanding heroism. The approach was practically vertical, and involved coming round a hairpin corner into the open 60yds from the Jap. bunker positions on either side. Three young Sierra Leonians led that attack —one armed with a Bren gun, another with a spare magazine, and the third with two primed grenades,, which he hurled, as soon as he rounded the bend. The remainder followed in their footsteps. When I examined the foxholes thev were riddled with bullet marks all round the framework of the firing slits and embedded in the interior walls. The coolness and expert marksmanship of those men under such conditions must have been astounding, amazing forced march.

The Gold Coasters bad made an amazing forced march across the ridges

further south to come out 20 miles behind the Jap. front lines. Their route had been made through the virgin jungle, entirely by compass. Once on the Kaladan, they drove down both .banks with lightning rapidity, sweeping the enemy before them so quickly that at one stage even the Japanese themselves were leaving notes behind congratulating them on the swiftness of their advance. And ahead all the time was the Divisional Reconnaissance Regiment shooting up supply convovs, mapping the country, bringing back vital information. And so the division went oil to reconquer, for good this time, the whole of the Kaladan Valley, and link up with the comparatively recently arrived Eighty-second (West African) Division at Myohaung, the original capital of the Arakau. By the time it had returned to India for a rest. H.Q columns of this division had marched in the two campaigns nearly 700 miles, while tlie infantry had all done at least 1,000 miles. From Myehaung, the West Africans share in the Battle of Burma Tell to the lot of - the Eighty-second (West African) Division, under Major-general Hugh Stock well. A large number of these men were veterans from Abyssinia. The division had ■ entered the Arakau in November, 1944, well to the west of the Eighty-first. Ihe Gold Coast brigade had captured the important town of Buthidaung. and its Nigerians had then led the advance east over the Kalapanzin River, the Ivanzauk Pass, and the Kaladan, to reach Myohaung. Now the division wheeled south-east as the left pincer of the Fifteenth Indian Corps. JAPS. BADLY DEFEATED.

After the third of the biggest rivers of the Arakan, the Lemro, bad been crossed, the Nigerians marched off into the jungle to the east to cut the Jap. escape routes, while the Gold Coasters forced the main body of the enemy into the Kangaw trap, where the Twentyfifth Indian Division and the Commandos were waiting for them. Kangaw was one of the biggest defeats the Japs, 'suffered in the Arakana. and the. Gold Coasters added to the rout in bitter fighting to the east of the town. Then, embarking in landing craft from the coast, they took part in the gruesome and magnificent landings at Ru-Ywa. It was at iRu-Ywa that a voting African, with his leg blown off just, below the knee, and badly wounded, sough hard to persuade his platoon commander to go away and leave him while the shelling was on, and when that failed and the doctor arrived, he urged the ALO. to take cover and cease to worry about his wounds.

Needless to say. his endeavours were in vain, and, when waiting to embark on the hospital craft, the firing still on, lie rose from his stretcher when no one was looking and hobbled on to the ship unaided, it was a valiant endeavour to help the over-worked medical staff. From iRu-Ywa the Gold Coasters made a detour through virgin jungle to get behind the enemy. I had just failed to arrive in time to start off with them. But on the way I asked the brigade major, of a British and Gurkha brigade the route they had taken. He pointed towards a forbidding series of bamboo-covered hills and said. “ There is no track over there, but those West Africans can go anywhere. They seem to be able to carry any darned thing on tlieir heads.”

By dusk we reached a casualty clearing station. A cheerful doctor whispered to”ine: “They are up there on that hill,” but he meant the Jajis. Eventually I did link up with the battalion which was hoping to be the first to cut the Jap. main road. The first night 1 was witli them the enemy attacked us four times and probed to within two or three yards of our perimeter. We had to bring down mortar fire only 20yds from our own trendies. We marched for four days, and then we heard that another battalion had found an easier route.

' And so the campaign of the Eightysecond went on, a continuous and bitter struggle against both a ferocious enemy and terrible terrain. In all, they marched nearly 400 miles from Razabil, near the coast, to Gwa in the southern extremities of the Arakan Yomas, near where they were still fighting during the monsoon when the Japanese surrender came through. Newest of the South-east Asia Command’s divisions, the “ Crossed Spears ” killed at least 1.400 of the enemy, wounded many hundreds of others, exhibited tremendous jungle prowess, and earned the highest praise from both Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten and Lieutenant-general Sir Philip Christison.