My grandfather Bertram Rae, a senior policeman in Burma, was in some kind of special ops in Burma in WW2 but I've never been able to find out what unit he was in. The Civil List lists him as SODD although it's not clear whether this is a unit or a position. The only other person so described seems to be Cecil Bruce Orr, another senior policeman. I had hoped that Orr's memoirs would shed light on what SODD was but all he says is that he was doing something sensitive in Arakan and that he wore a badge which said police on one side and army on the other - it's not clear whether this last is literal or metaphorical. Major Sam Newland, one of the Z-Force Johnnies in the Chin Hills, who was a friend of Bertram's, records that on 28th September 1943 Bertram left Hakha, heading south or south-west, and by 21st October he was back in Hakha again so I assume - and it is just an assumption - that in the intervening three weeks he went to Arakan to liase with Orr. We know from family memories that Bertram had his own private radio operator, that he was working close to the Japanese lines and collecting information from native agents, that he had a fixed base (which was attacked and burned down) and that the Japanese were aware of him and threatened him. Now Sam's cryptic notes about his wartime service have thrown up another dilemma. He writes: Other Intelligence Organisations in the South Chin Hills. I.S.L.D. (G.S.I.(X)). Two officers of this organisation came to Haka during the rains of 1943 and were there till October 1943 when they were recalled and left on the 21st. G.S.I.(K). Two officers of this organisation were in the Chin Hills during the rains of 1943 and one came to Haka in October 1943 and was withdrawn in November the same year. Civil Intelligence Bureau. Three officers of this bureau were operating from the Chin Hills with HQ at Falam and were in the Hills till the Jap occupation of Falam, when I heard they pulled out. Their activities as last year were mainly concerned with information of political value and propaganda. The GSI(K) ones could possibly be Bertram Rae and Cecil Bruce Orr, or these might be yet another group. Any of these groups could be either British or American, since there was a lot of overlap between the forces (Bertram's brother Bobby Rae was the "Rocky" who taught jungle warfare skills to OSS 101). Does anybody recognise any of these groups/designations? : S.O.D.D. I.S.L.D. (G.S.I.(X)) G.S.I.(K) Civil Intelligence Bureau
I just asked a mate of mine, who works at Kew, about Force 136. He said he'd have a dig around for some books for me but recommended Patrick Howarth’s “Undercover" as a start. Well, overlap, yes but hardly much in the way of friendly cooperation. Borrowing gurkha troops and Dakotas, blowing stuff up even, that would be stepping on other people's toes. Ethnic Burmese groupings, the Indian national army, the Burmese National Army and its disaffected, the Burmese Communists, Islam and Hinduism. General Stillwell, an anglophobe, the Chinese? Old duffers of the raj who just wanted everything to go back to how it had been. A lot of people fishing at the same water hole, all with their own agendas. Trust nobody, and sleep with a gun under your pillow.
