Can someone please tell me or give me a clue as to where to look for the whereabouts of the 1st Bn Beds/Herts on 5th February 1943 please.. I see they were on Chindit operations later, but can find nothing about this particular time My man, Pte 5955828 Sidney James PERRY rests in Imphal. Regards Tony
Hi Tony, According to the National Archives war diaries they were already in India, although I do not know exactly where. The diary references are WO172/848 for 1942 and WO172/2495 for 1943. There is not much written about this unit even during the Chindit operation of 1944. We have discussed the Chindit side of things before on the forum, follow the link below and the subsequent links on the thread and hopefully you might pick up some useful info. http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/48050-beds-herts-reg-involvement-with-chindits/?hl=%2B1st+%2Bbeds+%2Band+%2Bherts
The brigade was in the area of Ranchi, in Bihar, until 05/43 when they went to the Arakan. How Perry and Beaufoy came to be buried at Imphal is a mystery.
I was thinking that he may of been hospitalised at Imphal and sadly died there. Just guesswork as you say Charpoy Chindit.
Even allowing for subsequent grave concentration, Imphal is a long way from Ranchi, so an attachment to another unit would seem likely if it were not for the fact that Beaufoy, another member of 1 Bedf Herts, died on the same day and was buried in the same place. These are the only two 1 Bedf Herts men buried at Imphal. Perhaps the WD will provide an answer.
[Gasp...] Someone abbreviated their name...! [/Gasp...] :smash: No references in my sphere of research, I'm afraid... Good luck with the hunting though...
According to the regimental history,: "At the beginning of 1943 we sent a platoon under command of Lieutenant A.R. Baker to do an attachment to a forward post of Gurkha troops near Fort White on the Assam-Burma frontier. They were away for two months. During this time they took part in guerrilla operations against the Japs. The Battalion derived enormous benefit from their experience of jungle warfare." Anon. The Story of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment: Volume II: 1914-1958. The Royal Anglian Regiment, n.d.
That might very well explain it, and possibly a 1 Bedf Herts Lt on the Rangoon Memorial too. I was aware of this practice during the later stages of the Burma war, but it is interesting to note it at this earlier date, during what might be considered the darkest days.
Miscellaneous groups of soldiers travelled with Operation Longcloth up until and just after the Chindwin River (February 1943), these included some Seaforth Highlanders, Sikh Mountain Artillery and men from 3/5 Gurkhas. I'm not suggesting that Pte. Perry was involved here, but both the Seaforths and 3/5 Gurkha remained in the vicinity and were on stand by to help the returning Chindits regain the west banks of the Chindwin in April/May that year.
1 Seaforth and 3/5 RGR were units of 23 Ind Div; they were operating in those areas long before Longcloth, and fighting there long after. If the Bedf Herts guy were at Fort White, much further South, then they were probably with 17 Ind Div. I'm always a bit worried that people get a bit too focused on the Chindits to the exclusion of all else.
Have you got map coordinates for Fort White by any chance, I was trying to locate it the other night on the Texas University archive website.
Steve... try using Thangmual Road Myanmar, and/or Fort White Myanmar in google maps, then cross reference it to the TU maps...
Thanks Charpoy Chindit, I've grabbed a screenshot of the relevant map location from HC's advice and your coordinates. This will prove very useful for me, but it is not related to this thread, so I will leave it there.
14th British Brigade at Ranchi under command 70th British Division until 20th February 1943 when it came under command 101 Line of Communication Area The brigade's infantry battalions had been in tank/infantry training with 50th Indian Tank Brigade: 1st Beds & Herts in November 1942, 2nd Yorks & Lancs in January 1943 and 2nd Black Watch in March 1943 As Dryan67 has noted, it could have been that as 1st Beds &Herts had completed it's tank/infantry training, the next stage would have been to gain actual combat experience for some men and so a platoon was detached
