Road of Bones Page 59

  p. 194 ‘always been very puzzled’ Ibid.

  Thirteen: Onslaught

  p. 196 ‘It was up and down’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 196 ‘We took them to our’ IWM, file no. NRA 28568, Swinson Papers, Recollections of Yukihiko Imai.

  p. 196 ‘As soon as we reached’ Ibid.

  p. 197 ‘It was actually our men’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 197 ‘At the very top of the position’ Harry Seaman, The Battle at Sangshak, Burma, March 1944 (Leo Cooper, 1989), p. 65.

  p. 198 ‘the enemy had resisted’ Ibid.

  p. 198 ‘They were the sandals’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 198 ‘There was much confusion’ Diary of Lieutenant Colonel Jackie Trim cited in Lieutenant General Eustace D’Souza, Valour to the Fore, A History of the 4th Battalion Mahratta Light Infantry 1800–2000 (ARM Publications, Mumbai, 2000).

  p. 198 ‘The men were hungry’ Ibid.

  p. 198 ‘to our great disappointment’ Kazuo Tameyama and John Nunneley, Tales by Japanese Soldiers (Cassell, 2000), p. 158.

  p. 199 ‘With the firing’ Eric Neild, ‘Setting the Record Straight’, Burma Campaign Fellowship Group Journal (October 1998).

  p. 199 ‘It felt like hundreds’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 199 ‘We set up our machine’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 200 ‘Hearing my report’ Kazuo Tamayama and John Nunneley, Tales by Japanese Soldiers (Cassell, 2000), p. 159.

  p. 200 ‘could almost distinguish’ Seaman, The Battle at Sangshak, p. 80.

  p. 201 ‘anyone in the open’ Eric Neald, ‘Setting the Record Straight’, Burma Campaign Fellowship Group Journal (October 1998).

  p. 201 ‘Well done indeed’ Signal from General Sir Ouvrey Roberts, 23 Division to HQ 50 Indian Parachute Brigade, 24 March 1944, cited in Seaman, The Battle at Sangshak, p. 85.

  p. 202 ‘the rest of the company’ Seaman, The Battle at Sangshak, p. 81.

  p. 202 ‘how those who entered’ Burma Front: Reminiscences of the 58th Japanese Infantry Regiment (58th Infantry Regimental Association, 1964).

  p. 202 ‘The one I kicked’ Tamayama and Nunneley, Tales by Japanese Soldiers, p. 160.

  p. 202 ‘As I pulled him’ Susumu Nishida, A Last Drink of Water (Burma Campaign Fellowship Group Newsletter, Issue no. 7, September 2005, trans. by Keiko Itoh).

  p. 203 ‘Just one mouthful’ Ibid.

  p. 203 ‘Those who can move’ Ibid.

  p. 203 ‘a shambles of dead’ Lieutenant Colonel Paul Hopkinson, War Diary Report, 152nd battalion, 50th Indian Parachute Brigade (Airborne Forces Archive).

  p. 203 ‘lying by the path’ Narrative of Lieutenant Colonel Jackie Trim, cited in General Eustace D’Souza, Valour to the Fore (ARB Publications, Mumbai, 2000).

  p. 204 ‘a typical professional’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 204 ‘like a very beautiful fireworks’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 204 ‘Rations were down’ Lieutenant Colonel Paul Hopkinson, War Diary Report, 152nd battalion, 50th Indian Parachute Brigade (Airborne Forces Archive).

  p. 204 ‘imperturbable Gurkha cook’ Seaman, The Battle at Sangshak, p. 101.

  p. 205 ‘one was well on one’s way’ Lieutenant Colonel Paul Hopkinson, War Diary Report, 152nd battalion, 50th Indian Parachute Brigade (Airborne Forces Archive).

  p. 205 ‘We had completely occupied’ Seaman, The Battle at Sangshak, p. 96.

  p. 205 ‘He slowly raised both’ Ibid.

  p. 205 ‘What’s the matter’ Louis Allen, Burma: The Longest War (J. M. Dent, 1984), p. 218.

  p. 206 ‘Fight your way out’ Lieutenant Colonel Paul Hopkinson, War Diary Report, 152nd battalion, 50th Indian Parachute Brigade (Airborne Forces Archive).

  p. 206 ‘much discussion’ Eric Neild, ‘Setting the Record Straight’, Burma Campaign Fellowship Group Journal (October 1998).

  p. 206 ‘too worn out’ Ibid.

  p. 207 ‘At this distance’ Seaman, The Battle at Sangshak, p. 104.

  p. 207 ‘The trenches looked horrible’ Lieutenant Hiroshi Yamagami’s Memoir, in Burma Front: Reminiscences of the 58th Japanese Infantry Regiment (58th Infantry Regimental Association, 1964).

  p. 207 ‘He looked so young’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 208 ‘Our men were all moved’ Tamayama and Nunneley, Tales by Japanese Soldiers, p. 162.

  p. 208 ‘five or six of England’ IWM, Swinson Papers, file no. NRA 28568, Recollections of Yukihiko Imai.

  p. 208 ‘The Japanese soldier only’ Ibid.

  p. 209 ‘nightmare for the wounded’ Seaman, The Battle at Sangshak, p. 115.

  p. 210 ‘I had to say’ Tamayama and Nunneley, Tales by Japanese Soldiers, p. 162.

  Fourteen: To the Last Man

  p. 211 ‘lot of Japs with’ Richards Papers, ‘How I Came to Be at Kohima’ (private memoir).

  p. 211 ‘atmosphere of complete’ Ibid.

  p. 211 ‘could hold out’ Ibid.

  p. 212 ‘I said that it must’ Ibid.

  p. 213 ‘but very soon we heard’ Captain Michael Williamson, Assam Regiment, cited in Leslie Edwards, Kohima: The Furthest Battle (History Press, 2009), p. 97.

  p. 214 ‘It was felt that the’ NA, W0 172/5045, War Diary of 1st battalion Assam Regiment, Appendix A, Kharasom. D. B. Gurung, 2nd Lieutenant, A Company.

  p. 214 ‘I saw killed infantry’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 215 ‘Your correct course’ Arthur Swinson, Kohima (Arrow Books, 1966), p. 70.

  p. 215 ‘The man told me’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 216 ‘seeing the hopelessness’ NA, W0 172/5045, War Diary of 1st battalion Assam Regiment, Appendix A, Kharasom. D. B. Gurung, 2nd Lieutenant, A Company.

  p. 216 ‘could not leave the wounded’ Cited pp 52, ‘Not Ordinary Men.’ John Colvin. Pen and Sword. London 1994.

  p. 216 ‘As an example of’ Richards Papers, ‘Draft of Lecture’.

  p. 216 Later, the local Nagas RMAA, Pawsey Papers, Charles Pawsey narrative of the Siege.

  p. 217 ‘feverish preparation’ Pieter Steyn, A History of the Assam Regiment (Longman Orient,1959), p. 57.

  p. 217 ‘Spirits soured at the news’ Ibid.

  p. 217 ‘The Japanese were screaming’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 217 ‘Japanese grenades’ Steyn, A History of Assam Regiment, p. 68.

  p. 219 ‘We were shooting at him’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 219 ‘Had the Japs caught’ NA, W0 172/5045, War Diary of 1st battalion Assam Regiment.

  p. 219 ‘a liberal issue of rum’ Ibid.

  p. 219 ‘a fisherman’s paradise’ ‘The Indian Tea Association and the Manipur Road’ .

  p. 220 ‘Red Indians … carrying’ Robert Street, The Siege of Kohima: The Battle for Burma (Barny Books, 2003), p. 43.

  p. 220 ‘We were up for it’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 220 ‘Water situation is precarious’ NA, WO 172/4884, War Diary, 4th battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment, 1 April 1944.

  p. 220 ‘perhaps 3,000 leaderless’ NAM, Colvin Papers, file no. 9412-118-1-55.

  p. 221 ‘It turned out to be a cow’ IWM, file no. 4587 81/16/1, diary of Private Harold Norman.

  p. 221 ‘We got a message through’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 221 ‘smacked of confusion’ Colvin Papers, file no. 9412-118-1-55.

  p. 221 ‘It was the obvious time’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 222 ‘2,000 men left in Kohima’ IWM, Swinson Papers, NRA 28568, diary of Captain Arthur Swinson.

  p. 222 ‘With one Brigade in Kohima’ RMAS, Narrative of Kohima by Charles Pawsey, Pawsey Papers.

  p. 223 ‘left their equipment’ E. B. Stanley Clark and A. T. Tillot, From Kent to Kohima (Gale and Polden, 1951), p. 89.

  p. 223 It was a frightening’ Richards Papers, Speech to Assam Regiment Regimental Dinner, 29 September 1962.

  p. 223 ‘I had to refuse to listen’ IWM, Swinson Papers, Diary of Lieutenant Genera
l Montagu North Stopford.

  p. 224 ‘a hell of a row’ Ibid.

  p. 224 ‘202 Area Operation’ NA, CAB 44/190.

  p. 224 ‘If and when it is’ Ibid.

  p. 224 ‘such an announcement’ Ibid.

  p. 224 ‘I regarded this [order]’ Richards Papers, ‘How I Came to Be at Kohima’ (private memoir).

  p. 225 ‘real panic stations’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 225 ‘The defences were poor’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 225 ‘I remember saying’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 227 ‘Round about three or’ IWM, Oral History Project, file no. 18283, interview with Dennis Dawson.

  p. 228 ‘We went to try’ Letter of Lieutenant Bruce Hayllar to his parents, 20 April 1944.

  p. 228 ‘I felt very’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 228 ‘It was horrible’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 228 ‘It is pretty horrid to kill’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 229 ‘The immediate result’ NA, WO 172/5045, War Diary, 1st battalion, Assam Regiment, April 1944.

  p. 229 ‘The difficulty of’ IWM, file no. 2234 92/39/1, Papers of Major Walter Greenwood.

  p. 230 ‘This was answered by’ NA, WO 172/5045, War Diary, 1st battalion, Assam Regiment, April 1944.

  p. 230 ‘These positions were’ Ibid.

  p. 230 ‘could not be found’ Ibid.

  p. 230 ‘Sometimes they would shout’ Interviewed for this book.

  Fifteen: Siege

  p. 233 ‘He told me that’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 234 ‘the attitude of local’ Translation of Notebook of Major Yamaguchi, Staff Officer, 31st Division Infantry Group, found by CSM Bill Scarratt, 1/8 Lancashire Fusiliers .

  p. 234 ‘In some cases the’ RMAA, Pawsey Papers.

  p. 234 ‘did not behave like’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 234 ‘behaviour of the Japs’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 234 ‘On the first day’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 235 ‘My goodness’ NDL transcript of audio recording of talk given by Renya Mutaguchi, 1965.

  p. 235 ‘exchanges of violent’ NA, WO 303/6230, Essays and Interrogations of Lieutenant Colonel Iwaichi Fujiwara.

  p. 236 ‘It was the enemy’ Cited in Leslie Edwards, Kohima: The Furthest Battle (History Press, 2009), p. 107.

  p. 236 ‘When he came to’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 236 ‘I saw one of the Japanese’ RMAA, Pawsey Papers.

  p. 237 ‘But these Indian soldiers’ Ibid.

  p. 237 ‘and if the owners’ RMAA Pawsey Papers, ‘Account of Fighting in Kohima Village’ by Rushukhrie Angami.

  p. 237 ‘and snatched away’ Ibid.

  p. 238 ‘Under this brutal’ Ibid.

  p. 238 ‘I recall working’ Hansard, HC (series 5), vol. 487 (10 May 1951), Debate on Prisoners of War Compensation.

  p. 239 ‘affected the Gurkhas’ NA, WO 172/5045, War Diary, 1st battalion, Assam Regiment, April 1944.

  p. 239 ‘men were shaky’ Ibid.

  p. 240 ‘scurry around’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 241 ‘We think he may’ Correspondence with author, 3 September 2009.

  p. 241 ‘fully expecting’ Lieutenant John Faulkner, handwritten memoir.

  p. 241 ‘entirely ignorant’ IWM, Oral History Project, file no. 19090, interview with Harry Smith.

  p. 241 ‘There was all these’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 241 ‘Others ran, trotted’ Robert Street, The Siege of Kohima: The Battle for Burma (Barny Books, 2003), p. 44.

  p. 241 ‘Blimey they come’ IWM, Oral History Project, file no. 20461, interview with Ivan Daunt.

  p. 242 ‘disheartening stream’ NAM, Colvin Papers, file no. 9412-118-1-55, Lieutenant Thomas Hogg.

  p. 242 ‘Chaos and low morale’ NAM, Colvin Papers, file no. 9412-118-1-55, Letter from Thomas Hogg to John Colvin, 12 April 1993.

  p. 242 ‘Officers dispatched’ NA, WO 172/4884, War Diary, 4th battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment.

  p. 242 ‘the situation would’ Ibid.

  p. 242 ‘We just debussed’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 243 ‘past a very pleasant’ John Faulkner, handwritten memoir.

  p. 243 ‘all hell let loose’ NAM, Colvin Papers, file no. 9412-118-1-55, Lieutenant Thomas Hogg.

  p. 243 ‘You can imagine’ IWM, Oral History Project, file no. 20461, interview with Ivan Daunt.

  p. 243 ‘We was staggered’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 243 ‘They were the worst’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 243 ‘He said to me’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 244 ‘So we all bolted’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 244 ‘We saw a large’ IWM, Oral History Project, file no. 22636, interview with John Wright.

  p. 244 ‘There can be little’ Pieter Steyn, A History of the Assam Regiment (Longman Orient, 1959), p. 89.

  p. 244 ‘Our meeting was’ Richards Papers, draft of ‘How I Got to Kohima’.

  p. 244 ‘Where’s Kuki piquet?’ Ibid.

  p. 245 ‘no account had been’ NA, WO 172/4884, War Diary, 4th battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment.

  p. 245 ‘excellent material’ Ibid.

  p. 245 ‘a heavy liability’ Ibid.

  p. 246 ‘The Garrison Comd’s’ Ibid.

  p. 246 ‘Laverty brushed him’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 246 ‘Friction soon arose’ Pieter Steyn, A History of the Assam Regiment (Longman Orient, 1959), p. 91.

  p. 246 ‘The position as it’ IWM, Swinson Papers, Letter from Hugh Richards to Arthur Swinson, 28 April 1965.

  p. 247 ‘my relations with’ Firm and Forester: Journal of the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (April 1985).

  p. 247 ‘virtually assumed command’ H. D. Chaplin, The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment, 1920–1950 (Michael Joseph, 1954), p. 396.

  p. 247 ‘Christ, sir! John Faulkner, handwritten memoir.

  p. 247 ‘a dozen miniature’ Ibid.

  p. 247 ‘Would you mind’ Ibid.

  p. 248 ‘lying on his back’ Ibid.

  p. 248 ‘What happened?’ Ibid.

  p. 248 ‘pushed off’ Ibid.

  p. 248 ‘We were worn out’ Robert Street, A Brummie in Burma (Barny Books, 1997), p. 46.

  p. 249 ‘within a day or two’ NA, WO 172/4884, War Diary, 4th battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment.

  p. 249 ‘the door was shut behind us’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 249 ‘You don’t lead’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 250 ‘Now you’ve got to’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 250 ‘The Japs were close’ Letter of Lieutenant Bruce Hayllar to his parents, 20 April 1944.

  p. 250 ‘He had a wife’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 251 ‘One hundred and ten’ Kazuo Tamayama and John Nunneley, Tales by Japanese Soldiers (Cassell, 2000), p. 162.

  p. 251 ‘I sent the company’ Richards Papers, ‘How I Came to Be at Kohima’ (private memoir).

  p. 251 ‘The troops refused to pass’ J. M. P. ‘Kohima Diary’, Gurkha Rifles Regimental Journal, no. 13 (April 1958).

  p. 252 ‘At the time I thought’ Richards Papers, ‘How I Came to Be at Kohima’ (private memoir).

  p. 252 ‘I tried my best’ Ibid.

  p. 252 ‘All quiet except for’ Cited in Arthur Campbell, The Siege (Allen and Unwin, 1956), p. 58.

  Sixteen: Hey! Jonny, Let Me Through

  p. 254 ‘He was typical’ Correspondence with Margery Willis, daughter of Lieutenant John Bruce Faulkner, 17 March 2008.

  p. 254 ‘I heard the “thump”’ Lieutenant John Faulkner, handwritten memoir.

  p. 254 ‘strolling unconcernedly’ Ibid.

  p. 256 ‘slight and wiry’ C. E. Phillips, Springboard to Victory (Heinemann, 1996), p. 133.

  p. 256 ‘Typical symptoms’ NA, WO 17/2155, War Diary of the 75th Indian Field Ambulance, December 1943.


  p. 257 ‘Young was a very’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 258 ‘medical situation [was]’ NA, WO 17/2155, War Diary of the 75th Indian Field Ambulance, April 1944.

  p. 258 ‘I was told that he’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 258 ‘When I ran to’ Kazuo Tamayama and John Nunneley, Tales by Japanese Soldiers (Cassell, 2000), p. 162.

  p. 258 ‘Such a genuine man’ Ibid.

  p. 258 ‘“You see,” I said’ Cited in Arthur Swinson, Kohima (Arrow Books, 1966), p. 93.

  p. 259 ‘Hey! Johnny, let’ Arthur Campbell, The Siege (Allen and Unwin, 1956), p. 72.

  p. 259 ‘continuously amongst the’ NA, WO 373/22, Citation Recommending Military Cross for Lieutenant Philip Ernest Watts, 13 September 1942.

  p. 260 ‘The Japs made a’ Robert Street, The Siege of Kohima: The Battle for Burma (Barny Books, 2003), p. 54.

  p. 260 ‘They were about Ibid.

  p. 260 ‘I jumped into the’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 261 ‘We cut them to’ Street, The Siege of Kohima, p. 42.

  p. 261 ‘The only trouble’ Interviewed for this book.

  p. 262 ‘so close in some’ Lucas Phillips, Springboard to Victory, p. 141. Lucas Phillips is citing the “joint narrative” coordinated by several officers present at the battle as well as the war diary and a “brief narration” by Major Shaw, the wounded C company commander. Brigadier Lucas Phillips’s account of these events is the most reliable.

  p. 262 ‘So I had to say’ Tamayama and Nunneley, Tales by Japanese Soldiers, p. 165.

  p. 262 ‘shot at least 12’ Citation Recommending Military Cross for Second Lieutenant Peter Doresa, 22 April 1944.

  p. 262 ‘His first bag came’ NA, WO 203/4637, from an account by Captain Kitchen, Indian Army Observer (18 April 1944).

  p. 263 ‘He got ’em coming’ IWM, Oral History Project, file no. 20769, interview with Bert Harwood.

  p. 263 ‘his next contribution’ Ibid.

  p. 263 ‘At this stage the’ Tamayama and Nunneley, Tales by Japanese Soldiers, p. 166.

  p. 264 Searching in the ruins The figure of forty-four comes from the battalion war diary for 7 April. Private Norman gives a figure of seventy bodies. IWM, file no. 81/16/1, diary of Private Harold Norman.