Battle of Elephant Point

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Coordinates: 16°27′N 96°19′E / 16.45°N 96.32°E / 16.45; 96.32
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Battle of Elephant Point
Part of
Rangoon
16°27′N 96°19′E / 16.45°N 96.32°E / 16.45; 96.32
Result Allied victory
Belligerents  United Kingdom
 India  JapanCommanders and leaders Major Jack Newland Empire of Japan UnknownStrength Composite Parachute Battalion Japanese forcesCasualties and losses Disputed (See Notes) Disputed (See Notes) First major airborne operation by 44th Indian Airborne Division

The Battle of Elephant Point was an

26th Indian Division
, would sail up the Rangoon River, but before it could do so, the river would have to be cleared of Japanese and British mines. In order to achieve this, coastal defences along the river would have to be neutralized, including a battery at Elephant Point.

This task was given to 44th Indian Airborne Division, but the division was in the middle of a reorganization, and as such a composite battalion was formed from two Gurkha parachute battalions. The battalion assembled and then trained throughout April, and then early in the morning of 1 May was dropped near Elephant Point. As it advanced towards the battery one of the battalion's companies was attacked by American bombers, causing a number of casualties. Despite this, and torrential rain, the battalion successfully assaulted Elephant Point and neutralized the battery there after a fierce firefight. It remained around Elephant Point until 2 May, when 26th Indian Division conducted its amphibious assault and secured Rangoon.

Background

Main article: Operation Dracula

On 22 March, as the joint

Rangoon, the capital of Burma, would have to be captured before the onset of the monsoon rains, which would impede any Allied advance over land; the Allied Chiefs of Staff worked on the assumption that this would occur before June.[1] After Rangoon had fallen, a force of between four and five divisions would be landed in Western Malaya in an operation code-named Zipper, which would itself be followed by Mailfist, the capture of Singapore.[2]

To accommodate all of these goals, Mountbatten insisted that Rangoon be taken by May.[2] Slim had initially planned to take the city in a pincer movement, with XXXIII Corps advancing towards the city down the east bank of the Irrawaddy river via Hlegu, and IV Corps taking a shorter route along the Sittang River valley to the east. Slim believed that the Japanese had insufficient forces to block both thrusts, and one of the corps would therefore be able to capture Rangoon.[1] However, Mountbatten was unsure that a purely overland advance would be successful, and that a joint airborne-amphibious assault would therefore be the better option. Slim and others, such as Slim's superior, General Oliver Leese (commander of Allied Land Forces, South East Asia), initially opposed such an operation, fearing that it would divert vital resources from Fourteenth Army. By the time of the meeting at Monywa, however, Slim had come around to Mountbatten's way of thinking, fearing that a purely overland advance would meet fierce Japanese resistance, as it had at Meiktila, and be delayed at the end of an overextended supply line. As such, a combined airborne and amphibious assault would be ideal as Fourteenth Army neared Rangoon, Slim arguing that it would be "a hammering at the back door while I burst in at the front."[3] On 2 April orders were issued for the operation to go ahead, with the proviso that Rangoon be in Allied hands by 5 May at the latest.[4]

Planning

The joint operation was christened Dracula, and its schedule was decided by the

B-25 Mitchell bomber squadrons.[5]

More of a concern to Dracula's planners, however, were the land-based threats to the landing craft carrying the assault troops of

Toungoo were captured in the days leading up to Dracula.[6] There was also the problem of the defences in and around the River Rangoon, up which the landing craft were to sail. The river itself was heavily mined, a result of Japanese defensive measures as well as RAF offensive operations earlier in the conflict, and it would have to be swept and cleared of mines before any amphibious assault could take place. Before this could occur, however, the coastal defences along the banks of the river would have to be neutralized; a particular worry was the presence of an artillery battery at Elephant Point on the west bank of the river. The geography of the area ensured that the battery could not be destroyed through artillery bombardment or airstrikes, and weather conditions precluded an early amphibious assault.[7] As such, it was decided that a day before Dracula began on 2 May, a parachute battalion would be dropped near Elephant Point with the task of assaulting and destroying the battery.[8]

Indian paratroops waiting to jump over Rangoon, Burma, 1945.

The task was given to

2nd United States Air Commando Group.[7]

Battle

Men of the 15th Indian Corps land near Elephant Point at the beginning of operation "Dracula", 2 May 1945

At 02:30 on 1 May, a C-47 of 317 Tactical Control Squadron USAAF departed for Rangoon carrying a twenty-man pathfinder team, followed by a CCG[expand acronym] plane carrying a pair of VCP[expand acronym], to mark and defend the landing zone at Tawhai. The rest of the composite battalion boarded thirty-eight Dakotas and took off thirty minutes later, and at 05:45 jumped over the drop zone; there were only a few casualties, one being a medical officer attached to the battalion.[10] It encountered no Japanese opposition, and after it had rallied, advanced towards Elephant Point and the artillery battery. It halted 3,000 yards in front of the battery to allow B-24 Liberators from the USAAF to carry out a preliminary bombing attack on the battery. Unfortunately, despite officers and other ranks wearing yellow recognition panels and carrying orange umbrellas to identify themselves, C Company was bombed and strafed by the bombers, causing a number of casualties.[Note 1] As a result, a Forward Air Controller attached to the battalion ordered a halt to all further bombing runs on the battery.[7][10]

After moving through torrential rain,[11] the battalion reached Elephant Point at 16:00, and close-quarters fighting then took place, with flame-throwers being used against several Japanese bunkers guarding the battery.[12] About forty Japanese soldiers and gunners were killed during the assault, and the battalion also sustained several casualties.[Note 2] After the battery had been secured the battalion dug in around Elephant Point and awaited the arrival of the relief force, which landed at Thaunggon at 15:30, with a supply drop following it several minutes later. As it neared the position of the battalion, the surgical team accompanying the relief force was accidentally fired upon by the Gurkhas, causing four members of the team to be wounded. The battalion remained where it was through the night, although high tides submerged a number of trenches and forced the battalion to higher ground.[13] By the dawn of 2 May, after it had cleared a number of nearby bunkers, the battalion was able to watch as minesweepers cleared the Rangoon river for the columns of landing craft following behind them.[12]

Aftermath

Operation Dracula was a complete success, as Japanese forces had actually vacated Rangoon several days prior to the amphibious landing; 36th Indian Infantry Brigade was able to occupy the city without encountering any Japanese opposition.[13] On 3 May the composite battalion moved to Sadainghmut, and two days later, leaving one company behind, it was transferred to Rangoon where it conducted anti-looting operations and also searched for Japanese stragglers remaining in the city. It left the city on 16 May and travelled to India by ship, where it rejoined 44th Indian Airborne Division. It had been the division's first major airborne operation.[13] The 2nd Air Commando Group's C-47s, which had transported the parachute battalion, returned to Kalaikunda and then moved to Comilla. The 317th Tactical Control Squadron spent the next two weeks supplying XV Corps who were engaged with Japanese forces northeast of Rangoon and returned to Kalaikunda on 19 May. The group's fighter squadrons provided air cover for Rangoon until 9 May when they too returned to home station.[14]

Notes

  1. ^ Sources disagree on the exact number of casualties. Allen (p. 479) states that "over thirty casualties" were caused, whilst both Tugwell (p. 284) and Latimer (p. 414) give the figure of "forty casualties". Harclerode (p. 640) provides the exact figures of fifteen killed and thirty wounded.
  2. ^ Once again, the figures given for Japanese casualties and prisoners vary. Tugwell (p. 285) states that forty-three Japanese soldiers were killed, while Harclerode (p. 461) states thirty-seven. Allen (p. 479) gives the figure of thirty-seven, but says that thirty-six were killed and one taken prisoner. British casualties are also varied. Tugwell (p. 285) gives the figure of seven casualties during the assault, and Harclerode (p. 461) a total of forty-one during the entire action, including the casualties caused by friendly fire.

References

  1. ^ a b Allen, p. 459
  2. ^ a b Allen, p. 460
  3. ^ Allen, p. 461
  4. ^ Latimer, pp. 407–409
  5. ^ a b c Allen, p. 467
  6. ^ Allen, p. 468
  7. ^ a b c Tugwell, p. 284
  8. ^ Harclerode, p. 639
  9. ^ Harclerode, pp. 639–640
  10. ^ a b c Harclerode, p. 640
  11. ^ Allen, p. 479
  12. ^ a b Tugwell, p. 285
  13. ^ a b c Harclerode, p. 641
  14. ^ Y'Blood (2008), pp. 195–198

Bibliography

  • Allen, Louis (1984). Burma: The Longest War 1941–45. Book Club Associates.
  • Harclerode, Peter (2005). Wings Of War – Airborne Warfare 1918–1945. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
    ISBN 0-304-36730-3
    .
  • Latimer, Jon (2004). Burma: The Forgotten War. John Murray.
    ISBN 0-7195-6575-8
    .
  • Tugwell, Maurice (1971). Airborne To Battle – A History Of Airborne Warfare 1918–1971. William Kimber & Co Ltd.
    ISBN 0-7183-0262-1
    .
  • Y'Blood, William T. (2008). Air Commandos Against Japan: Allied Special Operations in World War II Burma. Naval Institute Press.
    ISBN 1-59114-993-2
    .

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