Airborne Gurkhas and Operation Dracula – May 1st 1945

In late 1941, the first ever unit of Gurkha paratroopers had been formed as 153 Gurkha Parachute Battalion. In December 1942, a second airborne Gurkha unit was formed, 154 Gurkha Parachute Battalion. In 1944, 153 Bn was heavily involved in the Battle of Sangshak, a brutal struggle to buy time for the defenders of Imphal. Reduced by casualties, 153 Bn was reformed as 2nd Battalion, Indian Parachute Regiment in March 1945. Its sister battalion, 154, was reformed as the 3rd Battalion, Indian Parachute Regiment.

That same month, after the decisive battles of Meiktila and Mandalay, plans for the final conquest of Burma and the recapture of Malaya were moved forward. Key to these plans was the recapture of Rangoon by May and the onset of Monsoon rains. This operation became known as Operation Dracula.

Rangoon was heavily defended, ruling out a purely land-based assault in favour of a joint amphibious-airborne one. This brought its own problems, as a number of airfields and coastal batteries needed to be captured before seaborne troops could land. In particular, the Rangoon River needed to be cleared of mines, which could only be accomplished through the prior destruction of an artillery battery known as Elephant Point on the west bank of the river. Weather conditions prevented deploying troops by sea, and so an airdrop was planned, with troops drawn from across the available parachute units and including several companies from a composite battalion formed from the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, Indian Parachute Regiment.

Despite logistical problems on 1st May 1945, the Gurkha paratroopers took part in the successful drop at Elephant Point beginning in the early hours. The over 700 Gurkha troops landed on time and on target, and in fact progressed ahead of schedule through their objectives. The force finally managed to capture the last points of resistance by 15:30 that day, with a bunker of Elephant Point falling to a flamethrower assault.

The Indian and Gurkha troops actions at Elephant Point out-performed all expectations and removed the danger to 26 Indian Division’s intended landing from the sea to relieve Rangoon, thus allowing the remainder of Operation Dracula to proceed as planned. The Gurkha paratroopers reached Rangoon two days later on May 3rd, Japanese troops having abandoned Rangoon to the approaching Allied forces.

The airborne aspects of Operation Dracula were some of the most important air assaults of the war in Burma and proved to be a model example of the effectiveness of airborne Gurkha soldiers. Today, a battalion of The Royal Gurkha Rifles forms part of the UK’s 16 Air Assault Brigade.