Milling About

While Major Oki’s men secured Tavoy, a sister battalion of the 112th Infantry Regiment made preparations to cross the Burmese frontier in strength. Before sunrise on 20 January, a platoon of Gurkhas garrisoning the border village of Miyawadi was caught unawares, and quickly scattered by a large force of Japanese. …

1942-01-20

AP086

While Major Oki’s men secured Tavoy, a sister battalion of the 112th Infantry Regiment made preparations to cross the Burmese frontier in strength. Before sunrise on 20 January, a platoon of Gurkhas garrisoning the border village of Miyawadi was caught unawares, and quickly scattered by a large force of Japanese. The surviving Gurhkas scrambled back to D Company’s main position atop hills some two miles to the rear. The Japanese followed. By mid morning, the enemy had enveloped the Gurhka company, and ammunition began to run low. Then the telephone line was cut. The Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, 7th Gurkha Rifles, Lieutenant-Colonel White, cobbled together a relief force from three different units, and personally led it forward. The column ran headlong into the lead elements of the Japanese 1/112th.

Miyawadi, Burma

The Burma campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II took place over four years from 1942 to 1945. During the first year of the campaign, the Imperial Japanese Army with aid from Burmese insurgents had driven British forces and Chinese forces out of Burma, and occupied most of the country. From May to December 1942, most active campaigning ceased as the monsoon rains made tactical movement almost impossible in the forested and mountainous border between India and Burma, and both the Allies and Japanese faced severe logistical constraints. When the rains ceased, the Allies launched two offensives. One, an attack in the coastal Arakan Province, failed, with severe effects on Allied morale. This was restored partly by improvements to administration and training, and partly by the much-publicised results of a raid by troops under Brigadier Orde Wingate. This raid may also have goaded Japanese commanders into launching major offensives the following year, which failed disastrously.

Japanese / Burmese

British

Scenario Type = Standard