



Operation Thursday

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseIn late Jan 1944, Orde Wingate convinced William Slim to authorize a second operation behind Japanese lines in Burma utilizing irregulars that Wingate named the Chindits, though Slim provided Wingate far fewer men than what Wingate had initially wanted. The operation launched on 5 Mar 1944. The original plans called for the transport by glider of troops to three landing zones codenamed Piccadilly, Broadway, and Chowringhee, but Piccadilly was found to be occupied by Japanese troops by a pre-operation reconnaissance flight; the Japanese were actually military lumberjacks who were there purely by coincidence, but it had aroused much suspicion in Wingate toward Slim and the Chinese. The operation carried on nevertheless, with troops arriving at Broadway in the night of 5 Mar and at Chowringhee on the next day. 600 further sorties in the following week brought in more men, by which time about 9,000 Chindits (supported by over 1,000 animals) were present in Burma. The Chowringhee site was abandoned at this time, while Broadway was reinforced to form a field garrison. Two new field bases, codenamed Aberdeen and White City, were subsequently established north of Indaw and at Mawlu, respectively. By 18 Mar, the Chindits were on the offensive, attacking Kenu that day and Indaw on 21 Mar. On 27 Mar, the Japanese launched an attack on Broadway, which was repulsed by the start of Apr 1944.

ww2dbaseOn 21 Mar, Wingate decided to move his headquarters from Imphal to Sylhet in India, which caused some interruption in communications during the attack on Indaw. Just as that difficulty was being resolved, Wingate died when the aircraft which he was traveling aboard crashed in an accident. Walter Lentaigne was named Wingate successor by Slim despite opposition by Chindit field commanders, for that Lentaigne had long doubted Wingate. With the arrival of Lentaigne came many changes, including the abandonment of Broadway and White City, the establishment of a new forward base to be codenamed Blackpool, and the scaling back of supplies for Operation Thursday in favor of traditional operations near the Indian-Burmese border where the Battle of Imphal-Kohima was raging. On 17 May, while Lentaigne remained the chief of Chindit operations, Slim passed operational control over to Joseph Stilwell, who gave Chindits objectives which supported the American-Chinese operations in northern Burma. The Blackpool base faced Japanese artillery and infantry attacks almost immediately, and on 24 May penetrated Chindit defense lines and forced the Chindits to abandon Blackpool on the following day.

ww2dbaseBetween Jun and Jul, the Chindits in Burma sustained heavy casualties, and slowly they were pulled out of Burma. The last Chindit left Burma on 27 Aug 1944.

ww2dbaseSources:

Frank McLynn, The Burma Campaign

Wikipedia



Last Major Update: Apr 2012

Operation Thursday Timeline

Did you enjoy this article? Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you. Share this article with your friends: Facebook

Reddit

Twitter

Stay updated with WW2DB: RSS Feeds

Visitor Submitted Comments

Show older comments

All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.