153 Gurkha Parachute Battalion and the Defence of Sangshak

Formation and training:

In June 1940, in the wake of the British Army’s defeat in France and Belgium, Winston Churchill instructed the War Office to investigate the idea of forming a new Corps of parachute troops. This directive trickled across to the British Indian Army in October 1940, but it was not until a year later, after many organisational challenges, that the 50^th Indian Parachute Brigade was formed. The brigade consisted of three battalions: 151 battalion (British), 152 battalion (Indian), and 153 battalion (Gurkha).

After formation, training began at the Air-Landing School at Delhi’s Wellington Airport. As well as parachute instruction, the paratroopers also trained in jungle warfare and sabotage, preparing them for missions behind enemy lines. This training took the better part of two years, and aside from some small reconnaissance operations and a spell of peacekeeping duty in the summer of 1942, it wasn’t until the beginning of 1944 that the brigade would see serious action.

In February 1944, the brigade arrived at Kohima in northeast India. Unbeknownst to the men of 153 Bn, they had stepped into the path of a looming Japanese invasion.

 

 

 

 

The Battle of Sangshak:

After several weeks of patrols in the Kohima area, 50 Indian Infantry Brigade was moved to Imphal. The impending invasion was now apparent to British and Indian forces, and Imphal was in chaos as troops dug in for the attack.

152 Bn, the Indian contingent of 50 Indian Parachute Brigade, was positioned in the area of Ukhrul, with 153 Bn a few miles behind. On March 16th, the Japanese fell on 152 Bn’s positions in force and effectively annihilated its forward company.

On March 21st 1944 50 Brigade was ordered to move to Sangshak, a small village in the Naga hills in a strategic position on the approaches to Imphal. The defence of Sangshak was left to 153 Bn, the remainder 152 Bn , 4^th/5^th Mahratta Light Infantry, two companies of the Nepalese Kalibahadur Regiment, a mountain battery of the Royal Artillery, and a few support troops. Most of these units were understrength, with their combined total being around 2,000 men.

This makeshift force found Sangshak a far less than ideal defensive position. It had no water source, the jungle crept up to the perimeter providing excellent cover for attackers, and the rocky ground meant that deep trenches were impossible to dig. To top it all, the defenders had almost no barbed wire. Despite these challenges, a roughly pear-shaped perimeter was hastily constructed around an area of 700 by 350 yards.

 

 

The first Japanese attack came in the waning hours of March 22nd. After a suspenseful wait, the dusk was suddenly lit up by flares, tracer bullets and mortars as waves of Japanese soldiers poured out of the jungle. The battle stretched through the night. On March 23rd, the sun rose on a scene of utter devastation around Sangshak, with the ground littered by Japanese dead. The attack had been stopped, but it was clear to the defenders that the ordeal was only beginning.

For the next two days they suffered constant sniping, harassing fire, and night raids by Japanese patrols. Water was scarce, resupply was by air and infrequent, and there was no way to evacuate the wounded. As a final anguish, the constant threat of attack meant that there was little chance to rest, leaving the garrison exhausted.

The situation worsened the next day when the Japanese brought their artillery into range of Sangshak and began sporadic heavy shelling onto the village. Bombardments and limited attacks continued throughout March 25th.

The critical last day of the battle came on March 26th. In the early hours the Japanese attacked the ruins of an old missionary church that was previously held by 152 Bn. After overwhelming both companies of the Kalibahadur Regiment, the Japanese succeeded in making a toehold within the garrison’s perimeter.

In order to save the desperate situation, ‘A’ Company of 153 Bn was sent to reinforce the beleaguered men of 152 Bn and to carry forward a counterattack. With very little in the way of supporting fire, the Gurkhas rushed the Japanese positions. A Japanese survivor would later recall the intensity of the Gurkha attack, remembering the way the Gurkhas had screamed as they surged forward and that many of them continued advancing despite receiving wounds. The attack quickly devolved into ‘hell on earth’, with hand-to-hand fighting and grenade duels breaking out across the line.

After hours of confused fighting the men of 152 and 153 Bn’s recovered the positions at the church. Despite forcing the Japanese to withdraw, this effort had been the last burst of energy that the defenders of Sangshak could muster. Low on ammo, dehydrated, and exhausted, the men began to reconsolidate their positions with the grim knowledge that the next attack might prove to be the breaking point. But just when the situation seemed hopeless, a new order reached brigade headquarters; ‘fight your way out’.

As night fell on the 26^th, soldiers began slipping away from Sangshak in parties of 20 – 30. The wounded who could not be carried had to be left behind. The survivors of Sangshak trekked through the jungles, dodging the Japanese as they went. Although some men were captured along the way, most made it back to British lines at Imphal.

Despite the survivor’s feelings of disillusionment and defeat, it’s now known that the brigade’s white-knuckled defence of Sangshak had delayed the Japanese offensive by a week. Those crucial days that the brigade won for the defenders of Imphal gave them time to prepare for the hard fighting to come.

Unfortunately, this extra time had come at a high cost. It has been estimated that 152 Bn lost 80% of its strength, with 153 Bn losing 35%. The number of British and Indian casualties overall have been the subject of debate, though generally lie between 600 – 900.

After a period of refitting, 153 Bn spent several months near the frontlines, carrying out deep patrols into Japanese held territory to harass the enemies lines of withdrawal. It was finally sent back to India in July 1944, where it reorganised into the 2nd Battalion, Indian Parachute Regiment. In this new unit, the Gurkhas would drop near Rangoon (now known as Yangon) as part of Operation Dracula, the Allied effort to liberate the city in May 1945.

If you would like to read more about Operation Dracula, including the Gurkhas fight for Elephant Point, you can read our previous article about it here.