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N0KFQ > TODAY 24.03.12 23:40l 57 Lines 2601 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 19557_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Mar 24
Path: IZ3LSV<IK2XDE<DB0RES<DK0WUE<7M3TJZ<JE7YGF<F6CDD<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 120324/2110Z 19557@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.49
Mar 24, 1944:
Wingate dies in Burma
On this day, Maj. Gen. Orde Wingate, leader of the 77th Indian
Brigade, also called the Chindits, dies in a transport plane
crash. He was 41 years old.
Wingate, a graduate of the Royal Military Academy, was a famous
eccentric who both quoted the Bible and advocated irregular
warfare tactics. His career as a guerrilla fighter began as he
organized Jewish underground patrols to beat back Arab raids in
British-controlled Palestine in the 1930s. In 1941, Wingate led a
mixed Ethiopian and Sudanese force in retaking Addis Ababa, the
capital of Ethiopia, from the Italians, who had invaded in 1935.
Upon the beginning of Japan's China-Burma campaign, Wingate was
sent to India to employ his experience as a guerrilla fighter and
organize what became known as the Chindits--a brigade of
specially trained Gurkha (Nepalese), Burmese, and British troops.
The Chindits were composed of two units of Long Range Penetration
Groups, each made up of men-and mules. Wingate and his brigade
entered Japanese-controlled Burma from the west, crossed the
Chindwin River, and proceeded with sabotage activity: sneakily
penetrating Japanese-held territory, attacking supply lines, and
cutting communications. Once in the field, the Chindits were cut
off from other units and could be supplied only by airdrops.
One of the most effective Chindit attacks was against the
Mandalay-Myitkina railway, when they blew up three bridges while
also beating back Japanese troops determined to stop the
demolitions. The Chindits continued to wreak havoc--at one point
killing 100 Japanese soldiers while suffering only one loss
themselves--until a lack of supplies and troublesome terrain
forced them back to India.
On the night of March 24, Wingate boarded a transport plane at
the Broadway Base in Burma, destined for India. The pilot had
complained earlier about the performance of one of the plane's
twin engines, but after Wingate talked with the aircrew, a
decision was made to take off. The plane never made it to India.
The crash was so violent that virtually none of Wingate's remains
were found.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill eulogized Wingate before
the House of Commons that August: "There was a man of genius who
might well have become also a man of destiny. He has gone, but
his spirit lives on in the long range penetration groups, and has
underlain all these intricate and daring air operations and
military operations based on air transport and on air supply."
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
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