So I have found my Step Father was an emergency commissioned 2nd Lt in this Regiment from 1943 onwards, he had been in the London Scottish Heavy AA beforehand and when making Bombardier saw a post asking for men to go to India and become an Officer. However I cannot find out what Battalion he was in as the Indian Army List just says the Regiment, I know he was in India then to Burma, picked up an ear infection there which never materialised till the early 1970s. Looking to see if anyone would have an idea or a book which would help detail which Battalion, he was there from 1943 till 1946, came back on a ship transporting released and recovered POWs. Sadly after the first night he had to order guards on each doorway, as two ex-POWs jumped overboard.
This is their history: https://web.archive.org/web/2020052..._Content/PLF/000013/OCRed/Valour Triumphs.pdf
Thank you, it appears so far he was with the I/19 Hyderabad Regiment, as he said they had a Yank General in charge of them later on in the war, and he remembered eating strawberries in a village after beating some Japanese troops, i remember thinking he had lost the plot when he told me that, as i did not know they grew in the jungle. Looking at the book, he must have seen some heavy action, which might have explained him later on in life.
Glad it was helpful. The next step is probably to get hold of their war diaries from Kew. As an officer, there's a reasonable chance he'd get a mention in them.
Here is a very brief summary of the history of the 1st Battalion 19th Hyderabad Regiment: 1st (Russell’s) Battalion 19th Hyderabad Regiment Bombay District – 3 September 1939 to November 1939 The battalion was organized with ‘A’ (Jat), ‘B’ (Ahir), ‘C’ (Kumaonis), and ‘D’ (Mixed) Companies and was located at Ahmedabad in the Bombay District at the start of the war. Razmak Brigade – November 1939 to 12 April 1941 It moved to Razmak in November 1939 and came under the Razmak Brigade. The Razmak Brigade operated against the Ahmedzai Salient in February 1940 and was in action against the tribes until the last week of May 1940. It again moved out of Razmak on August 12th, 1940 on a punitive column against Mohammed Khel and the Mulakh Daus of the Tochi Valley. It was ambushed four days later but fought its way out. It fought further actions against the Mahsuds in December 1940. It remained on the frontier for a total of eighteen months until it was relieved there on April 12th, 1941. 26th Indian Infantry Brigade – 12 April 1941 to 13 April 1945 It then moved to Secunderabad and came under command of the 26th Indian Infantry Brigade. It embarked at Bombay on October 4th, 1941 and landed at Basra, Iraq with the brigade on October 10th. It began to train for desert warfare on arrival. Between January and February 1942 it moved into road protection duties on the Sripoole-Zuhab stretch of the route to Russia. In mid-1942 the battalion moved to Palestine with the brigade and then to Ismailia, Egypt on July 14th, 1942. It left Egypt in September 1942, moving to Syria, then Palestine. It stayed in Palestine until January 18th, 1943 when it returned to Iraq. It continued on garrison duties in Iraq through November 27th, 1943 and then moved into Persia for similar duties. It left Persia on December 12th, 1943 and returned to Iraq. It did LOC duties at various locations including Kifri and Kirkuk. It was sent by sea to India on July 31st, 1944 and remained at sea until August 10th, 1944. The brigade remained in India until December 6th, 1944 when the brigade was sent to join the 36th Indian Infantry Division of NCAC at Katha, where it arrived at the end of December 1944. To get there the battalion had travelled from Shimoya, Mysore to Ledo and then by air to Katha. The brigade acted as the divisional reserve during the advance toward Mongmit, Magok and eventually Kyaukme. The division met no opposition until January 18th, 1945 when it arrived north of Twinnge. At Bahe, nine miles short of Myitson, the 26th Brigade passed through the 72nd Indian Infantry Brigade. The brigade crossed toward Myitson, but was attacked and lost one-fourth of its strength. The battalion cleared bunkers on the north bank, patrolled the area and then attacked Myitson on February 9th, 1945. The division was then in action in the area of Myitson until it resumed its advance on Mongamit on March 1st. The battalion took Magok on March 19th with no opposition and then took Namsaw on March 24th. On the same day, the Kachins captured Kyaukwe. The division then came under the command of the 14th Army for the advance on Mandalay. The battalion arrived at Maymyo on April 8th, 1945. The brigade was then retitled as the 26th British Infantry Brigade on April 6th, 1945 since it was to be converted to an all British brigade by exchanging battalions with 20th Indian Infantry Division. 80th Indian Infantry Brigade – 13 April 1945 to 31 August 1945 The battalion replaced the 1st Devonshire Regiment in the 80th Indian Infantry Brigade on April 13th at Zayetkon near Meiktila. The brigade then went on the attack on April 16th to capture Magwe and the battalion moved into Natmauk, followed two days later by arriving at Leikkan. The battalion entered Magwe behind two Royal Armoured Corps squadrons on April 20th. The division then began its advance on Prome with the brigade to establish a cordon around the Allanmyo-Prome road for the advance. Prome was captured on May 3rd and the brigade then operated around Dayindabo on the Irrawaddy. The battalion was used to round up Japanese in the area and between May 14th and 21st it killed a great many in the Wettigun area. The 80th Indian Infantry Brigade then moved south and the battalion was detached to the 33rd Indian Infantry Brigade of the 7th Indian Infantry Division. It was established at Kungyigon on May 24th and patrolled the area of Hill 536 near Kywethe until June 1st. The battalion then moved to Hmawbi to rest, refit and train. It joined ‘Flewforce’ on July 19th to operate in the Kun Chaung-Pyu Chaung area to prevent the Japanese breakout from the Pegu Yomas. It served in this role from the 21st to the 29th of July when it rejoined the 80th Indian Infantry Brigade. It remained in Burma until the end of the war and flew out of Hmawbi on September 12th for Saigon.
Thanks very kind of you. I'm now thinking he may have not been with the 1st Battalion, as he went to India in 1942, i know he did a jungle warfare course etc before joining the Hyderabad Regiment, but if the 1st did not return till August 1944, he must have been with another Battalion. Possible he could have been sent to the 1st on their return i guess, but nearly 2 years in the Regiment are unknown. He did have a photo album of when he went to the Gurkha Regiment next door on a day they sacrificed a Bull, and he had pictures of a burnt out Indian convoy which he said was on the way to Nepal area when the Japanese bombed it.
That Burma was wall-to-wall 'jungle' is a very common misconception. The area around Maymyo was rather famous for its strawberries.
All of the following battalions of the Hyderabad Regiment also fought in Burma: 2/19th Hyderabad Regiment - Burma 8/19th Hyderabad Regiment - Arakan
2/19 Hybad was in 23 Ind Div and did not enter Burma. 8/19 Hybad; not sure there were that many strawberries in the Arakan. It may sound silly but I think that the strawberry reference pins it down to 1/19 Hybad at Maymyo.
Yes, hopefully i can find some reference to him being transferred to the 1st Battalion, im thinking he was with the 2nd Battalion at first, as they went to Agra severely depleted, just before his arrival in India. Plus being in Agra rings a bell for some reason. Anyway thank you all, will let you know if i find anything. Most helpful.
Hello Simon165, I have found your post after a longish absence from WW2Talk. I am very much interested in your inquiry as my father, who had an Emergency Commission, served in training battalions of the 19th in 1942 through mid to late 1944, from Afghanistan and other places that my father and I never really discussed. In Mid to late 1944 he joined the 1st Battalion and stayed with them until the end of the war. He fought with them in the places mentioned by member dryan67 in his post above. After the Japanese surrendered, the battalion became the 1st Kumaon, which formed as an airborne unit, requiring the requisite parachute training jumps. In September 1945, they were airlifted to Saigon, FIC with the 20th Division under General Gracey, The battalion headquarters was in the Cholon district where things were relatively quiet with intermittent firefights with the Viet Minh. Having held the door open for the French, the battalion was moved in mid-January 1946, via ship, to Macassar in Celebes, DEI to take formal surrender of the Japanese units and to organise their repatriation. The battalion returned to India and Dad was demobbed. Something that might be of interest to you is the General Service Medal with a S.E. Asia clasp that was awarded to servicemen in that region. A former colleague had a very keen interest in WW2 and was quite knowledgeable about awards. As we nattered about our fathers' experiences, he stated that my father must have the GSM and clasp. Long story is that I provided him with my fathers name, substantive rank and number, and unit. His medal arrived with his name, rank and number engraved on the edge. Dad was very happy to have it. It is now in my possession. So, I can provide some names for you to see if these ring any bells. The battalion CO was Lt Colonel Joseph Trotter; the 2nd IC was Major John Skipworth, and another officer was a Canadian named "Ham" Malone. I did know the names of several other officers but at my age of 72, my memory is failing me. I have a few photographs of the battalion officers that I can share with you if that will help. My dad departed in 1994 and I have so many questions for him that I formed after he was gone. I no longer live in the UK and do not know how, or if, I can get remote access to his and his unit's records in Kew. My family surname is Houghton, which your step father might recognise. Perhaps you could send your step father's surname? I hope this helps. Regards
Thanks for the reply Simon165. My father never mentioned your step father's name. My father served in Company C (Kumaoni) and he only mentioned the Jat and Ahir companies in general terms. He was very fond of both and greatly admired their fighting abilities. I have a few photographs of some of the battalion officers. I had one that showed a larger number of officers but I have misplaced it. I will ask my siblings if they have a copy and post it here.
This sort of thing caused problems in 36 Division, which ended up as one of the most multi-ethnic formations in Burma: by 1945 it had collected British, Indians of all creeds, Gurkhas, Chinese, Americans, plus Kachins and other Burmese guerilla groups. The division had two Gurkha units: 1/1 Gurkha Rifles (part of 26 Brigade, along with 1/19 Hyderabads) and 88 Indian Infantry Coy (8 Gurkha Rifles), which was the Division HQ defence company. A warning on the subject from 36 Div HQ: Also from the Div HQ diary, here is the report of 1/19 Hyderabads in action at Myitson on 9 Feb 1945, as mentioned in dyran67's history of the battalion above:
Many thanks for this. I remember he said the youngest Gurkha had to take the head off the bull, and he was given a lot of rum beforehand, which caused much hilarity among them, though he still managed to take the head off.
Just found a couple of articles written by my step-dad in the British Newspaper Archives, bemoaning the fact that an Army dentist in Burma destroyed his chances of being a jazz band trumpeter, amazing what I found on there, about his Brothers, one killed in the RNR 1943, and his other one was on Artic convoys.
Very, very good attachments. Thank you, PackRat. My father told me about the action in Myitson and the intense shelling by the Japs with their 75s. He called them "whizz bangs" and these dropped on his company's position.
Hello Simon165, One of my brothers found the large photograph I mentioned. I am attaching the photograph and the reverse where my Dad wrote down the names of the officers. I did not spot your step father's name. I do not know where or when this shot was taken. It seems odd that neither Lt Colonel Trotter nor Major Skipworth are in the shot
