On the night of February 15, 1943–a year to the day after the fall of Singapore to the Imperial Japanese Army–about 3,000 British troops crossed into Japanese-occupied Burma. The majority of the men crossed the Chindwin River at two locations, up to their chests in the dark water, fighting the current while grasping at a guide rope that had been towed across. A small armada of rafts and native boats carried a slew of supplies: recalcitrant mules, backpacks loaded with 72 pounds of gear and supplies each, and a surprising number of soldiers who could not swim. For the first time during the war in south Asia, the British were on the offensive.
The men who made this crossing were known as “Chindits.” The name derives from chinthe, the Burmese word for lion, and the same name given to stylized lion statues guarding Buddhist temples and shrines. Despite limited training in jungle warfare, the Chindits would become one of the most celebrated special forces teams of WWII.
This initial Chindit action was given the name “Operation Longcloth.” It was conceived and commanded by Orde Wingate, an eccentric general who thought up a new “long range penetration” force. This first mission was to be a coordinated effort between the Chindits and a Nationalist Chinese force to invade Burma from the north and disrupt Japanese supply lines, but in early 1943 the Chinese invasion component was not ready. Nonetheless, General Wingate convinced General Wavell (who was then Commander-in-Chief of British forces in India) to allow the Chindits to proceed and demonstrate what they could do operating behind enemy lines and being supplied by air drops deep in the Burmese interior.
While the Chindit forces included a small group of “commandos” known as the 142 Commando Company, as well as a battalion of Gurkha Rifles and a unit of Burma Rifles (Burrifs), the majority of the force was made up of the 13th King’s Regiment out of Liverpool. The force consisted of seven columns of approximately 425 men each. Column Four was commanded by Major Michael Calvert (who had been chief instructor of the Bush Warfare School in Burma before it was overrun by invading Japanese troops in April 1942) and Column Five was under the helm of young major named Bernard Fergusson. Both Calvert and Fergusson wrote memoirs of their times in Burma, and Fergusson would even go on to become the last Governor-General of New Zealand.
The goal of the initial incursion was to remain undetected until the Chindits reached well into the interior of Burma and struck key transportation and supply infrastructure—in particular a major rail bridge crossing at the Irrawaddy River near the town of Bonchaung. Two of the seven columns crossed the river further south of their comrades as a diversionary force.
The Chindits reached their main targets and surprised the Japanese, who had no idea a significant force was operating behind their lines. But the going had not been smooth in the jungle; in particular, the aerial resupply operation encountered several problems. By the time the Chindits completed their objectives, they had received only a fraction of the supplies they anticipated.
After blowing the bridge over the Irrawaddy near Bonchaung, the main force moved on to another town on the Irrawaddy River where General Wingate and the column commanders had to decide what to do next. Despite their lack of supplies and the knowledge that powerful Japanese forces were moving towards them, they unanimously decided to cross the Irrawaddy with the help of local boats, drive deeper into Burma, and unite with the more southerly diversionary force, which they had learned had already crossed the river.
That decision was a mistake.
Not long after crossing the river, General Wingate received orders to return, as the force was now out of range of fighter support for the supply aircraft. At this point, Wingate decided it would be best to ditch their mules and heavy equipment and split into small disbursal units of about 40 men each to make their way independently back to India. The smaller units, Wingate reasoned, would be more difficult for the Japanese to locate in the jungle.
And so, the Chindits began an epic trek back across the Irrawaddy and towards the Chindwin and safety in India. All they had to do? Avoid the swarming Japanese army and their Burmese spies while finding the supplies needed to keep alive in an unforgiving environment. Many Chindits were killed or captured by the Japanese or died of disease on the way. But of the 3,056 soldiers who took part, 2,182 made it back to tell the tale. The returning Chindits had been in enemy territory for about 93 days; between what they carried in and what they received in air drops, they had been supplied with rations to last 20 days.
The success of Longcloth has been a subject of debate. Winston Churchill hailed it as a great morale-building offensive, but most of the actual damage done to Japanese infrastructure by the Chindits was repaired by the Japanese in a matter of weeks. Longcloth, however, also had an impact on Japanese strategic planning, which may have delayed and hampered their later attempts at invading India.
A much larger Chindit operation known as “Operation Thursday” took place in 1944, and Wingate, Calvert, and Fergusson all played a role in that operation too, though Wingate died early on in a plane crash. Though the Chindits performed with distinction, there was much criticism about how they were utilized by the American commander “Vinegar Joe” Stillwell. Many (especially on the British side) accused Stillwell of being anti-British, uncaring about the Chindits’ suffering in prolonged jungle deployments and misusing the Chindits in conventional infantry roles.
As we approach the 81st anniversary of the start of Operation Longcloth, few Chindits remain. While often overlooked, the Chindits’ story is both an important and inspiring moment in the history of the south Asian theater of WWII.
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