Photos of 81st West African Division in Burma

Discussion in 'Burma & India' started by sol, Sep 1, 2010.

  1. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    Owen likes this.
  2. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Nice find sol,

    I met a member of the 9th Nigerian's when I was in Burma, Lieutenant Jack Osbourne. Told me some wonderful stories: 'one supply drop just after 'White City' was given up in 1944, the M.O. was looking for a box of blood plasma he had ordered. No one could find this box, so he radioed again for a replacement. A few minutes later a Nigerian NCO strolls into the officers tent and asks if there is anymore of that jam, from the last food drop!!

    Jack was 98.B)

    Bamboo.
     
  3. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Here's a great photo of a small group of RWAF's form 1944. I cannot remember where I found it.

    It shows their proud nature from serving in the British forces. Most of the men of the 9th Nigerian's were said to have been convicts before the war and being given the choice of signing up to the Army or staying put in jail?

    Another story I was told was that you must not give orders using the direction left and right. The West Africans had an uncanny knack of getting back to base even in the deepest of Burmese jungle. But, once an officer told a platoon to head to the left, they strolled calmly in to a Japanese position, realised their mistake, stole a couple of enemy bicycles and rode them back to their own lines.

    Bamboo.
     

    Attached Files:

  4. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

  5. WhiskeyGolf

    WhiskeyGolf Senior Member

    Good pics Sol, thanks for sharing.
    WG
     
  6. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    Indeed nice little sequence Sol, I have always wanted to know more about Loftus- Tottenham.
     
  7. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    Indeed nice little sequence Sol, I have always wanted to know more about Loftus- Tottenham.

    Me too. But not much info is available on the net

    Major-Gen. Frederick Joseph Loftus Tottenham (1898-1987), C.B.E. (1947), D.S.O. (1944) and Bar (1945). Commissioned in 2nd K.E. VII O. Gurkha Rifles, 1916. Service in World War I and II. Lt.-Col., 1940. Raised Gurkha Parachute Regiment, 1941. Commanded the 81st West African Division in Burma, 1944-46. G.O.C. Iraq, 1946-47. G.O.C. 7th (Pakistan) Division and Rawal Pindi District, 1948-50. He married the daughter of Alfred Dare, of Kobe, Japan. Address:- Quarry Farm, Aughnahoe, Lisburn.
    From here. Also not mentioned here is that at the beginning of the war he commended 1st/10th Gurkha Rifles on the North-West Frontier, and between 1942-1944 he led 33rd Indian Brigade of 7th Indian Division in Arakan and Kohima before he was promoted to CO of 81st West Afrikan Division. He had three sons, two of them died during the war

    John Richard Loftus Tottenham
    Ralph Frederick Loftus Tottenham

    His third son, Michael, also served in war with the Sherwood Foresters and 2nd Gurkha Rifles
     
  8. andy007

    andy007 Senior Member

  9. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    Thanks for the link Sol, the 81st West African Division is a unit I have always wanted to know more about. Has anyone read? War Bush: 81 West African Division in Burma 1943-1945: Amazon.co.uk: John A.L. Hamilton: Books
    Andy, I have it but as of yet have not read it but as with all books I buy it has had the once over and I would seriously recommend it, as it surely fills a gap in the literature on Burma.I also came across this which looks quite good. Civilians in uniform: a memoir, 1937 ... - Google Books
     
  10. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Super photos, good reminder of what a multi-ethnic army the 14th Army was.
     
  11. andy007

    andy007 Senior Member

    Cheers wtid45 looks interseting. Will add it to my ever growing list of books to get!
     
  12. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    Sol, I have found a small mention of Loftus-Tottenham in the Daily Telegraph book of military obituaries it adds little to that already mentioned but I found this which he said in reply to a rather popmpus office who tried to justify his actions, Loftus Tottenham demanded "surprise the enemy? or merely amaze him?". It comes to mind that he was a man not to suffer fools gladly!
     
  13. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    From Michael Lowry's "Fighting through to Kohima":

    I have already referred to our Brigade Commander, Freddie Loftus-Tottenham, always known as Loftus. We were very fortunate to have him as our commander. He was well over six feet tall, with a fine athletic frame and good strong-looking face, beetle-browed and with a proportionately large moustache. He had a lovely sense of humour and a packful of risque stories; he really looked a tenacious and dashing commander. I had already met him on operations when he was commanding a battalion of Gurkhas back in Waziristan in 1941 and was so impressed to see a colonel, of all people, running up a craggy hill with his men! He had also experienced battle during the First World War.

    Loftus was marvellous to watch giving out orders as we looked over his shoulder while he indicated with a circular motion of his thumb on a map where he wanted us to go; the exact position we have to clear with his staff, as his thumb would have covered about a square mile. Whilst his orders were never in doubt, he would invariably refer to his forays on the map as Loftus's rule of thumb!.
    Also found this interesting story (here):

    In January 1944, Armstrong took command of 136 (1st West Lancashire) Field Regiment, a unit, based in Liverpool, which had yet to see action.

    When the brigade commander of 33 Indian Infantry Brigade heard that Armstrong, now a lieutenant-colonel, was to be based at Brigade HQ as his artillery adviser, he sent a signal to the Commander Royal Artillery: "I would have preferred a regular, I would have accepted an emergency commissioned officer but you have sent me a bloody Territorial!"

    Next morning, the brigadier was going out on a visit when Armstrong turned up equipped with a revolver, kukri, rifle and binoculars. "Where do you think you are going?" he asked.

    "My orders, sir," replied Armstrong, "were never to let you out of my sight." The brigadier's initial scepticism soon gave way to a high regard for Armstrong's professionalism; he soon opened the "sundowner" each evening with the inquiry: "Well, Geoff, what do you think we should do?"

     
  14. andy007

    andy007 Senior Member

    I've just clicked.....I'm currently reading 'Not Ordinary Men' by John Colvin and thought I recognised the name Loftus-Tottenham and he is mentioned quite few times in there...does sound like a bit of a character. Described as "a bulldog of a man, a noisy beetle-browed giant, tenaciuos, stubborn, fine-looking, brave and dashing commander, conditioned by his Great War experiences but also by the philosophy of Sir John Moore of conserving men's lives and wasting the enemy's."
     
  15. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    I will have to have a looks see in regards to the books Sol and Andy mention as I have both, also I have a line on another book in regards to the 81ST WAFD will post details when I know more;)
     
  16. Warlord

    Warlord Veteran wannabe

    Also not mentioned here is that at the beginning of the war he commended 1st/10th Gurkha Rifles on the North-West Frontier,

    Can anyone tell me what use there was in having first-rate combat troops stationed deep inside India, while the Japanese juggernaut rolled all over south-east Asia? Fear of the Nazi bursting through Persia perhaps?
     
  17. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    Well the North West Frontier was cause of trouble for long time, since the Second Afghan War 1878-1880, and during ww2 there was need for large force there for protection that part of India. In 1941 Indian Army was already heavily engaged. There were 7 Infantry and 1 armoured divisions in the North Africa, Iraq and Persia, 2 infantry divisions in Malaya. Couple of new divisions were in the process of forming but still far from being effective force (17th Indian Infantry Division was one of them). Indian Army generally was in process of rising from pri-war little under 200000 to some 2.5 million men and there was shortage of everything especially officers and NCO's. And in the end, German was priority while Japan threat was mostly neglected.
     
  18. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    I will have to have a looks see in regards to the books Sol and Andy mention as I have both, also I have a line on another book in regards to the 81ST WAFD will post details when I know more;)
    Here is the book in question I have been in touch with the authors Sister in law she has copies available for £9.50 plus £3.00 p&p anyone who is intrested PM me:) Temporary Gentlemen
    John Rayment [​IMG]In his foreword Major General F. J. Loftus-Tottenham comments that ‘this is more than a story of the war in Burma during the Second World War. It is a study of the feelings and interplay of human relationships between British personnel of an Engineer Unit of the Royal West African Frontier Force and their Africans.’
    [​IMG]More importantly, this is an account of the West Africans and Non-Commissioned Officers who fought with loyalty and bravery and who were an integral part of ‘The Forgotten Army’. This is their story.
    [​IMG]John Rayment was born in 1916 and followed in his father’s foosteps by joining the Royal Engineers, albeit under age, where he too rose to the rank of Captain. John served in Malta, Singapore, B.E.F. in France ex Dunkirk and finally, in India and Burma. After the war John joined the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to advise on land drainage and water supplies, latterly in the Suffolk area, where he now lives with his wife, Joy.
     
  19. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Here is the book in question I have been in touch with the authors Sister in law she has copies available for £9.50 plus £3.00 p&p anyone who is intrested PM me:) Temporary Gentlemen
    John Rayment [​IMG]In his foreword Major General F. J. Loftus-Tottenham comments that ‘this is more than a story of the war in Burma during the Second World War. It is a study of the feelings and interplay of human relationships between British personnel of an Engineer Unit of the Royal West African Frontier Force and their Africans.’
    [​IMG]More importantly, this is an account of the West Africans and Non-Commissioned Officers who fought with loyalty and bravery and who were an integral part of ‘The Forgotten Army’. This is their story.
    [​IMG]John Rayment was born in 1916 and followed in his father’s foosteps by joining the Royal Engineers, albeit under age, where he too rose to the rank of Captain. John served in Malta, Singapore, B.E.F. in France ex Dunkirk and finally, in India and Burma. After the war John joined the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to advise on land drainage and water supplies, latterly in the Suffolk area, where he now lives with his wife, Joy.

    Jason,
    Thats a decent price for that book, I've seen the hardback edition on offer for many pounds sterling on Amazon etc.

    Other good books on the subject are:

    Chindit Column by Charles Carfrae.

    Burma Boy, by Biyi Bandele.

    Carfrae's book can get a little bogged down with officer detail, but its worth a look.
    Burma Boy is a charming little book about a boy soldier in the West African's.

    Bamboo.
     
  20. TONY CARTER

    TONY CARTER Junior Member

    I worked in Nigeria for 13 years (post-war) and met many Nigerian ex-soldiers....not keen on the Japanese "Japun number ten !! Momoh my garden boy often quoted this with a big wide grin on his wrinkled face. Tony
     

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