The independent 366 Battery of the original B.E.F. 140 Field Regiment RA returned from Iceland to the UK in January 1942, and was then merged with the 178th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, with 366 Battery joining its 122 and 516 Batteries.
178 Field Regiment had been formed in 1942 at Scarne Cross Camp, Launceston, Cornwall and assigned to 49th Infantry Division in Western Command. The Regiment was re-designated as an ‘Assault Field Regiment’ in August 1943. To some extent 366 Battery maintained a form of independence, as they were equipped with 3.7 inch Howitzer ‘screw‘ guns, so called as the gun breech and muzzle could be dismantled and more easily transported into rough terrain. By contrast, 122 and 516 Batteries were more conventionally equipped with 25-pounder field guns and a few Priest self-propelled 105mm guns.
Of the 366 Battery Dunkirk 1940 ‘veterans’, I’ve identified Robert Crichton-Brown (see Biography page) H.A.A. Baird and Clifford Hackett serving in this newly merged Regiment.
‘366 Battery (Independent). Officer Commanding Major C Hackett, 1943′ – with thanks to Martin Felstead (Robert Crichton-Brown is 14th from right)
The story of 178 Regiment’s formation, training in the UK and transfer into action in South-east Asia is beautifully described in an illustrated book ‘The Forgotten Army- a Burma Soldier’s Story‘ ISBN 13:9781781550472. It contains the diaries, photographs and sketches of Signaller James Fenton of B Troop, 366 Battery, 178 Rgt RA. His book contains this image (below) of B Troop in training in Felixstowe in 1943.
‘A Troop 366 Battery (Independent) 1943’- with thanks to Matin Felstead
178th Field Regiment RA sails to India
In June 1943, the 178th Regiment sailed from Liverpool to Bombay, India as one of 36 Infantry Division’s ‘light’ batteries.
The war diary describes 178 Regiment’s arrival in Kharakvasla, India on January 2nd 1944, an inspection by Supreme Commander, South East Asia Command Lord Louis Montbatten on January 23rd 1944, followed by target practice shooting at ‘ducks and alligators’ in Juhu.
178 Rgt War Diary Jan 2-30th 1944
178th Field Regiment joins the ‘Forgotten Army’ in Burma
178th Regiment was transported by train to north-east India and would see action in Arakan, Shillong, Ledo, Myitkyina and Mandalay.
Map of NE India & Central Burma showing Arakan & ‘Railway corridor’ from Myitkyina to Mandalay
366 Battery in action with a 3.7 inch Howitzer ‘screw gun’
Arakan (Battle of the ‘Admin Box‘) February-May 1944
178th Assault Field Regiment moved into the Arakan in February 1944; 122 Battery’s Priest guns were replaced by towed 25-pounders. By early March 1944 the Regiment was deployed south of Ngakyedauk (‘Okey-doke’) Pass and pushed eastwards to clear the railway tunnels as the besieged ‘Admin Box‘ was relieved.
178 Field Rgt War Diary March 1944, in action at Arakan
178 Field Rgt War Diary April 1944, in action at Arakan
During April 1944 the attack on Point 551 took place, which involved days of bitter fighting that effectively ended the Arakan campaign before the 36th Indian Division was withdrawn from Arakan in May 1944 and made available to reinforce the campaign in northern Burma. 178th Assault Field Regiment rejoined it for the move to Shillong, India, which was completed by 7th June 1944.
Ledo, Northern India, July 1944
The 36th Indian Division was now assigned to reinforce the American Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) at Ledo, commanded by General Joseph (‘Vinegar Joe‘) Stilwell. By July 1944 the 6th Indian Division had moved to Ledo, from where some of the infantry units were airlifted into Myitkyina airfield to replace the Chindit units participating in Operation Long Cloth. The 178th Assault Field Regiment, together with 321 Anti-Tank Battery, 122nd Regiment and 494 Battery, 130 Field Regiment were deployed into the forward areas in Assam on the India-Burma border.
366 Battery, 178 Regiment and 494 Battery, 130 Field Regiment, both being equipped with more portable ‘screw’ Howitzer guns, were flown into action in Burma while the other batteries of 178 & 130 Regiments (with heavier 25-pounders) were stuck in Assam awaiting the opening of the Ledo Road.
At Assam, it appears that Major Robert Crichton-Brown was transferred from 366 Battery to become temporary commander of 494 Battery, 130 Field Regiment RA
Pinbaw, Burma August 1944
On 18th August 1944, 36th Indian Division advanced on the Japanese stronghold of Pinbaw, augmented by six 366 Battery mountain howitzers, which were successfully dropped by parachute. Pinbaw was captured on 25th August 1944. 36th Division then began pushing along the ‘Railway Corridor‘ towards Mandalay, entirely supplied by air until the railway and roads could be repaired.
Mawlu, Burma September 1944
In September 1944, the remainder of 178th Assault Field Regiment were flown into Burma to join the division on 15th October 1944. When Stilwell’s NCAC began its post-Monsoon offensive on 16th October 1944, 36th Division was in contact with the enemy, and was the first to run into heavy opposition on 25th October 1944, at a Japanese defensive position that blocked all roads. This was broken through on 29th October 1944 and Mawlu occupied on 31st October 1944, but then the Japanese began to raid the division’s precarious supply route and the advance halted until a Chinese division broke through to Mawlu.
Major Robert Crichton-Brown, by now officer commanding 494 Battery, which in turn had assumed command of 178 Regiment, was injured in action at this battle, south of Mawlu 12th November 1944.
‘Officer Commanding 494 Battery Major R. Crichton-Brown reported wounded in action S of Mawlu’ –from 130 Field Rgt War Diary, 12th November 1944
178 Rgt War Diary Oct-Nov 1944
The Railway Corridor
Resuming its advance along the railway corridor, 36th Division captured Pinwe on 30th November 1944, reaching the Irrawaddy river during December. It continued to push along the river valleys in January 1945, meeting occasional rearguards, until it found the river crossing on the Shweli bend at Myitson.
178 Rgt War Diary, crossing the Irrawaddy December 1944
By the end of March 1945, the Anglo-Indian-Burmese Fourteenth Army, under the command of General Slim, had won the battle for Mandalay and was preparing to advance on Rangoon. The 36th Division was selected to be flown out before the onset of the monsoon and the withdrawal of US aircraft to China. On 5th May 1945, 178th Assault Field Regiment was flown back to India to Imphal and then moved to the rest areas round Poona, arriving there on 15th May 1945.
Victory Parade, Madras, India. September 1945
After the Japanese defeat, the 178th Regiment RA were transferred from Poona to Madras, India where the Allied victory was celebrated at a parade at St George’s Cathedral in September 1945.
St Georges Cathedral Madras, India [now Chennai]
The War diary records the men looking ‘very smart‘. The parade was followed by an issue of beer and one day of leave.
178 Regiment’s Casualties, Burma
There are thirteen 178 Regiment fatalities that I’ve found recorded from the Burma campaign; the burials are concentrated at the Taukkyan Commonwealth War Cemetery in Mynamar.
Gnr John Mossley 1150181. Died 6/3/1944
Gnr Francis Lamb 14250707. Died 6/3/1944
Gnr John Baxter 911408. Died 6/3/1944
Bmdr John Worthington 993805. Died 6/3/1944
Gnr William Ingham 1087197. Died 7/3/1944
Bmdr Gordon Gosling 984498. Died 28/3/1944
Gnr David Bradley 888438. Died 29/3/1944
Gnr Edward Davis 6104689. Died 2/10/1944
Gnr John Keelan 14389934. Died 17/1/1945
Sgt Hubert Hopkins 14215132. Died 1/2/1945
Gnr John Smith 109790. Died 12/2/1945
Gnr George Briggs 842016. Died 15/2/1945
Capt Norval Murray Wilson. 210475. Died 26/2/1945
Peacekeeping. Exercise ‘Pounce‘ Jakarta 1945-46
The Regiment was to remain in action in the Far East, allocated to peace-keeping duties in Jakarta, Indonesia as part of ‘Exercise Pounce’. This was a British mission to disarm the remaining Japanese forces in Java until they could be relieved by Dutch forces in April 1946.
On their arrival in Batavia (now Jakarta) they discovered that the Japanese had handed over their weapons to Indonesian nationalists, who attacked the British force knowing that the British intended to return Batavia to the Dutch. The brigade dispersed rioters and patrolled the city until they were moved to Semarang on the coast between Batavia and Surabaya in January 1946 to prevent nationalists entering the town, establishing patrols on the outskirts of the town and at the docks and airport.
Burnt-out car of Brigadier Mallaby, killed by Indonesian nationalists in Surabaya (Soerabaja) on 31st October 1945. Mallaby led the 49th Indian Infantry Brigade to Indonesia to find and repatriate former Japanese POWs.
Despite a number of guerilla attacks, the Indonesian nationalists were defeated. In April 1946, the British handed over control to the Dutch and returned to the UK via Singapore.
A number of fatalities are buried at the Commonwealth War Cemetry in Jakarta, all of whom died on active service many months after the official end of WW2. The final casualty, Gunner Kays, was recorded on 5th September 1946.
178th Regt Casualties, Jakarta Commonwealth War Cemetery, Indonesia
I’ve traced a total of six 178 Rgt members killed in action post-WW2 as part of the peacekeeping force in Indonesia
Gnr William James 5124665. Died 12/2/1946
Gnr Ernest Rice 1153956. Died 12/2/1946
Lt Anthony Phillips 346732. Died 19/5/1946
Gnr William Kays 14443474. Died 5/9/1946
Gnr John Bell 946258. Died 11/12/1945