History of SOE Political Warfare Section, Force 136

Discussion in 'SOE & OSS' started by PsyWar.Org, May 4, 2013.

  1. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    Lee, many thanks for the follow up information but it has left me with more questions than answers :sign_question: ref my last post.
     
  2. PsyWar.Org

    PsyWar.Org Archive monkey

    Jason, the only mention of the location is the point "534".

    I presume the account of his death in the book you mention does not footnote the source of information? The use of the phrase "stray bullet" seems to imply an accidental wound rather than what actually happened in that he came under enemy fire from a previously unknown Japanese position.

    I'll dig out the 2 South Lancs war diary on my next visit to Kew to see if that gives any details as it appears he was patrolling with them at the time.
     
  3. zahonado

    zahonado Well-Known Member

    I seem to remember in the thread elsewhere about losses of members of the arisocracy when I mentioned my fathers interest, someone raised afew points about him that could be of interest. No idea if they are true...OK found it and managed to paste it in!
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    Posted 12 February 2013 - 02:43 PM



    Before he died, my father got very interested in some mystery surrounding this man's death, and tried to follow up on his suspicions that all was not as it seemed.
    I can well believe that. The Marquess was a character and a half, a heavy drinker deeply involved in Ulster politics and a friend of Churchill's. The whole family seems to have been a bit mad.
     
  4. PsyWar.Org

    PsyWar.Org Archive monkey

    Only a very brief mention in the 2 South Lancs war diary about the incident where Lord Dufferin was killed:

    Source: 2 South Lancs war diary, TNA: WO 172/7648
     
  5. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    Lee once again many thanks for the info, just to add to the mention of Letse, which it would seem is unrelated to my earlier mention of Mandalay hill I found this. Some time after, we were at Chauk where we re-crossed the river to Letse on the west bank of the Irrawaddy. My especial memory of that operation is of a mother elephant with her calf. Mummy was helping assemble parts of a Bailey Bridge but baby wouldn’t leave her side. All we could see of junior was his trunk acting as a snorkel while the rest of his body was totally submerged in the river.. We crossed on floating sections of the bridge and met up with some officers and NCO’s of the East Africans whose unit had just taken a hefty battering at Seikpu and the rank and file had fled, abandoning those officers and NCO’s.( I have to thank Gunner Bert Wilkins for that information). He was on loan to the battalion from the Royal Artillery for much of the way with his supporting 3” mortar which he put to excellent use on many occasions. Like putting down 252 bombs in about fifteen minutes, before being wounded when his company was also ambushed at Seikpu. Bert and I met for the first time sixty years later!
    It was when we were at Letse Box that a number of quite separate incidents occurred. Firstly, we had sent out a section patrol – a smallish group. Not too long afterwards there was the sound of gunfire from what seemed to be about half a mile distant. Our patrol had hit trouble. Like an idiot, I broke the most cardinal of infantry rules.- I climbed a nearby hill and stood on the skyline looking to see what was happening. I stood beside a tiny pagoda at the very top of the hill. Suddenly I heard a rifle shot and the pagoda received a bullet hole. I walked round behind the pagoda (to my surprise, quite unfazed). I wonder whether the sniper wasn’t as good a shot as he should have been or did his armourer do a lousy job on his rifle sights? Whichever, I am eternally grateful.
    The patrol returned with one wounded corporal and one 36-year old supported by his mates. He used his rifle as a crutch and complained bitterly that “I’m too old for this lark!” The corporal was a tall, handsome man of around 26 and was from the Manchester area. There was an enormous gap where his stomach had once been. I was with the Medical Officer as he tended him. The corporal asked for a drink of water – I looked to the MO who nodded agreement and passed me a swab of cotton wool soaked in water for the man to suck. The dreadful thing was watching as he sucked the water and seeing it dripping straight into the mass of twisted and torn intestines. He died shortly afterwards.
    Also at Letse we had a Captain Lewis – on attachment to the battalion from the Welch Regiment. We’d been without water for two or three days and were sucking smooth pebbles to keep our mouths moist. On the 30th March he ‘lost it’ and went stark, staring, raving mad. He too died
    A new officer arrived at Letse. He came from East Ham in London and had the most gorblimey Cockney accent imaginable. He was around five feet two and insisted on everyone calling him “Jim”. That kind of familiarity with an officer was counter-productive. It just couldn’t work. Nobody felt comfortable and he was returned from whence he came – pdq! (pretty damn quick). I wonder whatever happened to him?http://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/ww2/allied/southlancashireregiment.php
     
  6. zahonado

    zahonado Well-Known Member

    Wtid 45 How is your research coming on ? Do you have any more files re the IFBUs I wonder? I am still trying to find out more about these units and where they went...though I can hazard a guess!
     
  7. zahonado

    zahonado Well-Known Member

    Psywar Do you have any more files on the IFBUs ? Especially in 1945 ? You seem to be covering or should I say uncovering a lot of areas!
     
  8. PsyWar.Org

    PsyWar.Org Archive monkey

    Nothing new turned up recently I'm afraid but my research has gone off on a tangent and currently working on post-war Borneo.
    If I turn up anything more, I'll be sure to let you know.

    Lee
     
  9. Jedburgh22

    Jedburgh22 Very Senior Member

    I recently found the nominal rolls for the IFBU units will be formatted shortly
     
  10. zahonado

    zahonado Well-Known Member

    Anything about these units and where they operated would be good, especially in 1945. I am still confused about their role. I know there was broadcasting through loudspeakers etc, and production of propaganda materials . Anything on their role with the Indian National Army? My family thought my father was a spy at this point...on what, or who, was he spying?
     
  11. zahonado

    zahonado Well-Known Member

    Bumped this up to say that I have the list of no 2 IFBU personnel in August 45 if anyone would like the names. Has anyone got info on who SONG and BACON are in the report about Blackwoods death? They are not on my list of Aug 45. I wonder if they are code names...Has anyone access to an earlier list at all?
     
  12. zahonado

    zahonado Well-Known Member

    Have just discovered Bacon in another list, but not Song ...the trail has stopped!
     
  13. zahonado

    zahonado Well-Known Member

    Have just come across a recording at IWM made by Phillip Louis Daniels who was apparently filming the IFBU at the time of Blackwoods death and saw it all. So no mystery really, though he doesnt actually saythat he saw who actually shot him...Strangely Daniels must have met my father in 43 in the 69th LAA...and also mentions poor morale of that particular regiment at the time.
     
  14. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    This article 'Logistics: Supplying SOE in Burma' popped up on Twitter today and after a quick search this appears to be the best thread to place it.There is a better place: SOE Burma

    Clearly part of a larger website's collection and this is not my area so it is left for others to peruse.
     
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  15. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

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