Battle of Ramree Island
| date | January 14 to February 22, 1945 |
|---|---|
| place | Ramree |
| output | Allied victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
Japanese conquest 1941/42
Bilin - Sittang - Pegu - Toungoo - Taukkyan - Yunnan-Burma - Shwedaung - Prome - Yenangyaung
1942/43
Arakan I - The Hump - Chindits
1944
Arakan II ( Ngakyedauk ) - U-gō ( Imphal - Sangshak - Tennis Court - Kohima ) - Myitkyina - Mountain Song
1944/45
Meiktila / Mandalay - Pokoku -
Arakan III ( Kangaw and height 170 - Ramree ) - Operation Dracula ( Elephant Point ) - Sittang
The Battle of Ramree Island (also known as Operation Matador) was part of the Burma campaign during World War II . The fighting for possession of the island lasted six weeks, from January 14th to February 22nd 1945, before the survivors of the small but tenacious Japanese garrison withdrew from the island.
prehistory
In November 1944 the Allied 11th Army Group (General Sir George Giffard ) was disbanded and Lieutenant General Oliver W. Leese was appointed the new Commander in Chief of the Allied Land Forces in Southeast Asia (ALFSEA). When the monsoons ended in late 1944, the southern wing of the British-Indian 14th Army (General Slim ) resumed the advance on the coast of Arakan towards Akyab for the third year in a row . Goal of the British-Indian XV. Corps under Lieutenant General Philip Christison was to conquer the islands of Ramree and Cheduba (Manaung Island) , which had been occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army since 1942 . Cheduba, the smaller of the two islands, had no garrison, but Ramree Island was defended by Japanese troops. There bases for air supply for the mainland campaign were to be expanded.
The opposing Japanese 28th Army under Lieutenant General Sakurai commanded the coastal region of Arakan and the lower valley of the Irrawaddy Valley. The Japanese 54th Division (Lieutenant General Shigusaburo Miyazaki) defended the section on the Mayu Peninsula to the valley of the Kaladan River, the 55th Division (Lieutenant General Tadashi Hanaya) occupied the ports on the coast of southern Burma to the south, while the independent mixed 72nd Brigade secured the oil field at Yenangyaung and the southern Irrawaddy sector. The first main goal of the allied XV. Corps was the occupation of Akyab Island , which ruled the stretch of coast south of the Mayu Peninsula. The island had a port and an important airfield that the Allies wanted to use as a base for supplying troops in central Burma by air. Because the supply lines over Assam had become much too long, it was necessary to conquer airfields on the coast of Arakan to improve supplies. The expansion of the Allied fleets had also brought complete naval control in the Bay of Bengal . The supply lines of the Japanese troops on the Mayu Peninsula were to be cut during the new operation.
The Indian 25th Division advanced from the south of the Mayu Peninsula on Foul Point and Rathedaung. The West African 82nd Division cleared the valley of the Kalapanzin River and crossed a mountain range to the valley of the Kaladan River, while the West African 81st Division (Major General HC Stockwell ) moved along the Kaladan River and headed for Myohaung at the mouth of the Kaladan in January 1944. The Japanese, outnumbered here, evacuated the island on December 31, 1944, and from January 2 to 4, 1945 Akyab was evacuated without resistance from the XV. Corps occupied. The rapid occupation of Akyab made the XV. Corps free to attack Ramree Island, 110 km south of it, which had a mostly flat topography over a length of 80 km and a width of 32 km. The Indian 26th Division under Major General Cyril Lomax was ordered to occupy Ramree because the supplies of the Japanese 54th Division were handled through this island. The freed 82nd Division was supposed to act supportively along the coastal plain, while the Indian 25th Division and the 3rd Brigade commando troops should carry out an amphibious landing , which should also threaten the Japanese from the south.
course
In contrast to Akyab, the Japanese commander-in-chief, General Kawabe , gave orders to hold the offshore islands of Cheduba and Ramree as long as possible. The withdrawal of the Japanese 2nd Division from the Irrawaddy Delta forced Army Leader General Sakurai to move his 55th Division south, so he only had the 54th Division to defend the Arakan coast. Lieutenant General Shigesburo Miyazaki had to hold the passports of An and Taungup at all costs in order to be able to continue to control the important Japanese supply line between Meiktila and Rangoon. He therefore built a line of defense 64 kilometers east of Akjab that reached from the Kangaw area to the coast of the Myebon peninsula.
On January 13, 1945, British-Indian marines occupied Myebon, as well as the nearby village of Kantha. On January 21, 1945, after the air and sea bombing, the landing on Ramree Island began. The Japanese garrison on Ramree consisted of parts of the 54th Division, the 2nd Battalion of the 121st Infantry Regiment under Colonel Kanichi Nagazawa, which functioned as an independent force. From 9.42 a.m. the 71st Brigade under Brigadier RC Cotrill-Hill landed west of Kyaukpuy without encountering any resistance. The following day the 4th Brigade under General JFR Forman was drawn up and your beachhead was secured. Meanwhile, on January 25, Myohaung was captured by the West African 81st Division on the opposite mainland, the attack on Kangaw was prepared and Miyazaki's land forces were put under pressure. The fighting over the bridgehead was changeable, the Japanese recognized the danger of encirclement and threw all available troops into the fight. The Indian troops did not manage to turn the battle for a long time and only captured Kangaw on January 29th. In the meantime, the armed forces on the Myebon Peninsula fought with the 82nd Division. After the Allied landing on Cheduba (Operation Sankey) began on January 26th, the Japanese resistance also increased on Ramree. The city of Ramree was occupied by Coterill's troops only after lengthy fighting on February 9th, and on February 17th the last Japanese defenses were broken. In order to intercept the fleeing Japanese, the blockade was held until February 22nd.
consequences
The East African 22nd Brigade took over the occupation service on the islands of Ramree and Cheduba. After the coastal region was secured, the Allies were able to build new air bases and bring supplies via Ramree and Cheduba. Further actions of the XV. Corps were hired to concentrate all capacities to support the 14th Army on Rangoon. Planned forward movements of the 82nd Division and the 26th Indian Division to land at Taungup were abandoned or canceled and the XV. Corps focused on protecting the coast. The West African 81st Division and the Indian 50th Panzer Brigade were withdrawn to India.
literature
- Eddy Bauer: The Hell of Burma , Encyclopedia of the Second World War, Lekturama series, Rotterdam 1978, p. 132 f.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Allen, Louis: Burma: The Longest War. London 1984, ISBN 978-0-460-02474-7 .
- ↑ Sir James Butler: The War Against Japan: The Reconquest of Burma . In: Naval & Military Press (ed.): History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series . tape 4 . Uckfield 2004, ISBN 978-1-84574-063-4 .