Fourteenth Army (United Kingdom)

Eighth Army
Shoulder badge
active	October 15, 1943 to November 1, 1945
Country	United Kingdom
Armed forces	United Kingdom Armed Forces
Armed forces	British Army
Type	army
Commander in chief
list of	Commander in chief
Important commanders	William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim

The Fourteenth Army ( German  14th Army ) was a major unit of the British Army in World War II . The 14th Army, formed in the East Indies in the autumn of 1943, consisted of units from almost every country in the Commonwealth . Their task was to liberate Burma, which was occupied by the Japanese . As early as 1944, during its operations, it was considered a "forgotten army" because the sub-war scene in Burma in 1944 received no attention from the contemporary British press in Europe. It was numerically the largest Commonwealth army ever assembled.

Established in 1943

General William Slim, the Commander in Chief of the 14th Army

In August 1943 the Allies set up a joint Southeast Asia Command (SEAC) because of the Japanese invasion danger in the East Indies , the direction of which was taken over by Lord Louis Mountbatten in December 1943 . On October 15, 1943, the British ground forces in the newly formed 14th Army had been reformed under the command of Lieutenant General William Slim . The multinational 14th Army consisted largely of units from the Indian Army , had British cadres throughout and also included African contingents. At the time of formation, the 14th Army was organized into two corps, the XV. (African 11th, 81st and 82nd Divisions) operated in the south against the Arakan Mountains and the IV Corps was in the central area of ​​the Manipur province .

In the autumn of 1943 the security of the provinces of Assam and Bengal east of the Meghna was a priority. As in the previous year, the regular troops were supported by the Chindits guerrillas, who operated behind the Japanese lines during the Burma campaign . On September 21, 1943, the Indian 14th Division had started a new campaign south of Chittagong along the coast of the Bay of Bengal . In December 1943, the XV Corps attempted to advance on Akyab .

1944

In February 1944, the Japanese attacked the Arakan Front. The Indian 7th Infantry Division, parts of the Indian 5th and the West African 81st Division were quickly bypassed and enclosed by the Japanese. Lieutenant General Slim was initially surprised by the attack, but he was able to shift his forces quickly. Two battle-hardened infantry divisions were airlifted from the combat area in Arakan straight to the hot spots in the north. The operations around Arakan were only a diversionary maneuver; the main Japanese attack on the central front was directed against Imphal and Kohima from the beginning of March . Strong British-Indian units were again included in the Imphal, Sangshak and Kohima areas. But they were supplied with supplies from the air, so that the lost supply lines were of little importance.

In March 1944 the number of troops had grown to over 260,000 men, which the 14th Army for better guidance with the newly formed command of the British-Indian XXXIII. Corps had to be reinforced.

Burma campaign June 1944-May 1945

IV. Corps (Lieutenant General Geoffrey Scoones, from December 12, 1944 Lieutenant General Frank Messervy )

• Indian 20th Infantry Division ( Douglas Gracey )
• Indian 23rd Infantry Division (Ouvry Lindfield Roberts)
• Indian 5th Infantry Division (Harold Rawdon Briggs)
• British 36th Infantry Division ( Francis Festing )

XV. Corps (Lieutenant General Philip Christison )

• Indian 7th Infantry Division ( Frank Messervy , Geoffrey Charles Evans from December 12th)
• Indian 17th Infantry Division (John Smyth, later David Tennant Cowan)

XXXIII. Corps (Lieutenant General Sir Montagu Stopford )

• British 2nd Infantry Division (John Grover)
• Indian 19th Infantry Division (Thomas Wynford Rees)
• Indian 26th Infantry Division (Cyril Lomax, later Henry Chambers)

Arakan group

• 11th (East African) Infantry Division (Charles Christopher Fowkes)
• 81st (West Africa) Infantry Division (Christopher Woolner)
• 82nd (West Africa) Infantry Division (George McIllree Stanton Bruce, later Hugh Stockwell )

Chindits Brigades (Major General Orde Wingate from March 24 Brig. Gen. Walter Lentaigne)

• 14th, 16th and 23rd Brigade (Thomas Brodie, Bernard Fergusson , Lancelot Perowne)
• Indian 77th Brigade (Mike Calvert)
• Indian 111th Brigade (Walter Lentaigne, from March 24th John Masters )
• West African 3rd Brigade (Argyle Henry Gillmore)

In March 1944, the Japanese began Operation U-gō with the aim of capturing Imphal and Kohima, which failed with heavy losses until June. The offensive planned by General Mutaguchi turned out to be a complete failure and resulted in the highest operating casualties the Japanese suffered in the entire war. By June 22, 1944, the 14th Army had split up the Japanese front again and had itself counter-attacked. General Slim rearranged his army: the IV. Corps now operated with the Indian 17th and 20th divisions, while the XXXIII. Corps continued the pursuit of the Japanese to the south with the 2nd Division, the Indian 5th and 20th, and the East African 11th Division.

From autumn 1944 General Slim tried to advance directly to central Burma from the Imphal area by means of his own offensive. During this time, the superior 11th Army Group (General Sir George Giffard ) was dissolved and a new supreme command for the Allied Land Forces South East Asia was established. In the course of this organization the 14th Army was the XV. Corps on the Arakan coast withdrawn and placed under the direct command of the new high commander General Oliver Leese .

On November 19, 1944, the 14th Army began its advance on Mandalay ( Operation Extended Capital ). The IV. Corps crossed the Chindwin at Sittaung and the XXXIII. Corps (Stopford) at Mawlaik and Kalewa. After the connection with the Chinese troops under General Joseph Stilwell near Banmauk had been established on the left wing in mid-December , the 14th Army had reached the Irrawaddy between Katha and Seikpu by the end of December . The Japanese 15th ( Katamura Shihachi ) and 33rd Armies ( Honda Masaki ) tried to hold out on the eastern bank of the Irrawaddy. Slim thoughtfully shifted the bulk of IV Corps (Messervy) south to cross the river at Pakokku . The supply lines stretched hundreds of kilometers through impassable jungle, a danger that could be countered by adequate air supply.

The Japanese 28th Army ( Sakurai Shōzō ) had meanwhile orders to defensively with only two divisions on the Arakan coast up to 56 kilometers north of Kyaukpyu . While the 54th Division to the Indian XV. Corps defensively blocked the path, the 55th Division had to withdraw to secure the Irrawaddy Delta. There was also the danger that the lines of retreat of the Japanese 15th Army between Meiktila and Rangoon would be cut off.

1945

The Indian 19th Division was attacked by the Japanese in January on the northern section at Thabeikkyin. The XXXIIII. Corps encountered strong resistance on February 12 at the river crossing at Ngazun. In the south, meanwhile, the Indian 17th Division succeeded in conquering Meiktila on March 3, the possession of this railway junction also cut off the supply of the northern city of Mandalay. After changeful fighting the situation of the Japanese became untenable. On March 20th, after street fighting, Mandalay fell into the hands of the Indian 19th Division. The British, thanks to their air superiority, retained the initiative and went into a war of movement that broke out of their positions and encircled and consumed the Japanese forces. The southern advance of the 14th Army along the Irawadi and Sittang brought the capture of Pegu and Prome on May 2nd and 3rd . Burma's capital, Rangoon , was retaken almost without a fight by the 14th Army on May 3, 1945 using a combined amphibious operation. The last organized Japanese resistance in Burma did not go out until August 15, 1945.

At the end of May 1945, Army Command 14 was designated by the commander of the Allied Land Forces in Southeast Asia (ALFSEA), General Oliver Leese, for the planned Operation Zipper (invasion of Malaya ). Shortly thereafter, however, the guidelines were transferred to the newly formed 12th Army and became obsolete due to the previous end of the war. The 14th Army was still occupying Burma and was finally deactivated on November 1, 1945.

literature

• Peter Young (Ed.): Atlas for the Second World War. Südwest Verlag, Munich 1974, pp. 178-186.
• Eddy Bauer: The Hell of Burma (= The Second World War. ). Lekturama et al., Rotterdam et al. 1979.

Web links

The Circumstances of the War in Burma