221.126.252.146 at 03:00, 7 November 2022

2022-11-07T03:00:53Z

New page

{{Use British English|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict = Battle of Sittang Bridge
|partof = The [[Burma Campaign]]
|image = File:Japanese Conquest of Burma April-May 1942.jpg
|image_size = 300px
|caption = Japanese Conquest of Burma April–May 1942
|date = 19–23 February 1942
|place = [[Burma]]
|coordinates = {{Coord|17|22|N|96|53|E|display=INLINE,title}}
|result = Japanese victory
|combatant1 = {{flagicon|UK}} [[United Kingdom|British Empire]]<br>{{flagicon|British Raj}} [[British India]]
|combatant2 = {{flagcountry|Empire of Japan}}
|commander1 = {{flagicon|UK}} [[Sir John Smyth, 1st Baronet|Sir John Smyth]]
|commander2 = {{flagicon|Empire of Japan|army}} [[Shōjirō Iida]]
|strength1 = 1 understrength division
|strength2 = 1 regiments
|casualties1 =
|casualties2 =
|campaignbox ={{Campaignbox Burma}}
{{Campaignbox South-East Asia}}
}}

The '''Battle of Sittang Bridge''' was part of the [[Burma campaign]] during the [[Second World War]]. Fought between 19 February and 23 February 1942, the battle was a victory for the [[Empire of Japan]], with many losses for the British [[Indian Army (1895–1947)|Indian Army]], which was forced to retreat in disarray. [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|Brigadier]] [[Sir John Smyth, 1st Baronet|Sir John George Smyth, V.C.]]—who commanded the British Indian Army at Sittang Bridge—called it "the Sittang disaster".<ref name="LH p.218">Liddell Hart 1970, p. 218.</ref>

The Sittang Bridge was an iron railway bridge spanning several hundred yards across the River Sittang (now [[Sittaung River|Sittaung]]) near the south coast of Burma (now [[Myanmar]]). The [[17th Indian Infantry Division]] had given "everything it had" at the [[Battle of Bilin River]] and was already weak.<ref name="LH p.216">Liddell Hart 1970, p. 216.</ref> Now in retreat, they finally received permission to withdraw across the Sittang on 19 February. They disengaged from the enemy under cover of night, and fell back {{convert|30|mi|km|-1}} westwards along the track that led to the bridge.

The Japanese 214th and 215th Regiments advanced, aiming to cut the British forces off at Sittang. Lieutenant General [[William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim|William Slim]] (later Field Marshal Sir William Slim), who took command of the Burmese theatre shortly after the battle ended, called the Sittang Bridge "the decisive battle of the first campaign".<ref name="Slim 1956, p. 18">Slim 1956, p. 18.</ref>

==Battle==
{{Quote box|width=25em|bgcolor=#D1EEEE|quote=Desperately and gallantly the two brigades still east of the river fought to break through to the great Sittang railway bridge, held by their comrades, their only hope of getting their vehicles, and indeed themselves, over the six-hundred-yard-wide stream. Then came tragedy.|author=—Field Marshal Sir William Slim.<ref name="Slim p.17">Slim 1956, p. 17.</ref>}}

===Retreat to the bridge===
[[File:The War in the Far East- the Burma Campaign 1941-1945 CB(OPS)5008.jpg|thumb|Sittang Bridge]]

21 February dawned bright and hot, and the 17th Division was short of water. Japanese aircraft strafed and bombed them on the road, inflicting serious casualties and forcing them to abandon vehicles and equipment. Many men took cover in a nearby rubber plantation, the Bogyagi Rubber Estate. At 05:00, the 17th Division's headquarters came under attack at Kyaikto, but the Japanese were beaten back. A small British Indian force made up of detachments from several different units (including the [[Duke of Wellington's Regiment]]) defended the bridge.

On 22 February, the [[Malerkotla]] [[Sapper]]s and Miners, led by Richard Orgill, had prepared the rail-cum-road bridge for demolition. However, the [[16th Indian Infantry Brigade]] and [[46th Indian Infantry Brigade]] of the 17th Division were still further to the east, cut off.<ref name="la">{{cite book |last1=Allen |first1=Louis |title=Burma: The Longest War 1941-45 |date=1984 |publisher=Phoenix Press |location=London |isbn=9781842122600 |pages=1-3,36-44}}</ref>

Fearing paratroop landings, Smyth deployed the [[4 Gorkha Rifles|1/4th Gurkhas]] to the western end of the bridge to hold it against attacks from the rear while the 17th Division crossed. He was obliged to send them back again when the [[33rd Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|Japanese 33 Division]] attacked from the east. Their first charge nearly took the east end of the bridge, and a British field hospital was captured. [[3 Gorkha Rifles|3rd]] and [[5 Gorkha Rifles|5th Gurkhas]], approaching the bridge from the east, counterattacked and drove off the Japanese in "a furious battle".<ref name="LH p.217">Liddell Hart 1970, p. 217.</ref><ref name=la/>

Jungle fighting at close quarters ensued, which lasted most of the day. The bridge was again nearly taken, and the attackers again beaten off. At dusk on 22 February, the British Indian Army still held the bridge.<ref name="LH p.217"/>

==="My unpleasant and devastating news"===
Smyth had ordered his sappers to get ready to blow the bridge. At 4:30 am, in the early morning on 22 February, it became clear that it might fall within the hour. Smyth's choices were to destroy the bridge, stranding more than half of his own troops on the wrong side, or to let it stand and give the Japanese a clear march to [[Yangon|Rangoon]]. According to Smyth, "Hard though it is, there is very little doubt as to what is the correct course: I give the order that the bridge shall be blown immediately." Yet only the Number 5 Span, counting from the east bank, dropped into the river, while Spans 4 and 6 were damaged but remained in place.<ref name=la/>

Smyth reported this "unpleasant and devastating news"<ref name="LH p.217"/> to General Hutton, overall commander of the Burmese forces. Slim (1956) says: "It is easy to criticize this decision; it is not easy to make such a decision. Only those who have been faced with the immediate choice of similar grim alternatives can understand the weight of the decision that presses on a commander."<ref name="Slim p.17"/> But Slim does not actually endorse Smyth's choice, and indeed Smyth was dismissed. He never received another command. [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|Brigadier]] [[David Tennant Cowan|David "Punch" Cowan]] replaced him in command of the division.

The Official History records that Smyth had wanted to move his troops across the Sittang much earlier, and had been refused. It says: "In view of the great importance of getting 17th Division safely across the Sittang, Hutton might have been wiser, once action had been joined on the Bilin, to give Smyth a free hand."<ref>Quoted in Liddell Hart, p.216</ref>

==Aftermath==
The Japanese could have wiped out the 17th Division, but they did not. They wanted to take Rangoon fast, and the delays involved in a mopping up operation were unacceptable; so they disengaged and headed north in search of another crossing-point. Later on 22 February, survivors of the 17th Division swam and ferried themselves over the Sittang in broad daylight. After smaller actions at the [[Battle of Pegu]] and [[Taukkyan Roadblock]], the Japanese went on to take Rangoon unopposed, on 9 March. Fortunately for the survivors of 17th Division, they had dismantled their roadblocks, so those Indians who had escaped Sittang Bridge were able to slip away to the north.<ref name="Slim p.17"/>

The 17th Division's infantry manpower after Sittang was 3,484—just over 40% of its establishment, though it was already well under-strength before the battle started.<ref name="LH p.218"/> Most of its artillery, vehicles and other heavy equipment was lost. Between them, they had 550 rifles, ten [[Bren gun]]s and 12 [[Thompson submachine gun|tommy guns]] remaining. Most had lost their boots swimming the river.<ref name="Slim 1956, p. 18"/> Still, 17th Division could be replenished and re-equipped, and it was. The artillery losses were of [[World War I|First World War]]-vintage [[Ordnance QF 18-pounder|18-pounders]], and the anti-aircraft provision had only been [[Lewis gun]]s.<ref>Jeffries & Anderson 2005, p.65.</ref> 17th Division remained in almost constant contact with the Japanese from December 1941 to July 1944, when it was taken out of the front line just before the [[Battle of Imphal]].<ref>Slim 1956, p. 294.</ref>

According to Louis Allen, "The blowing of the Sittang Bridge with two brigades still on the wrong side of the river was the turning point in the first Burma campaign. Once the Sittang Bridge had gone and the 17th Division rendered powerless, the road to Rangoon was open, and the fate of Burma sealed."<ref name=la/>

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{reflist|30em}}

'''Bibliography'''
{{Refbegin}}
* [[Basil Liddell Hart|Liddell Hart, B.H.]], ''History of the Second World War.'' New York: G.P. Putnam, 1970. {{ISBN|0-306-80912-5}}.
* [[William Slim|Slim, William]] (1956), ''Defeat Into Victory''. Citations from the Four Square Books 1958 edition which lacks an ISBN, but also available from NY: Buccaneer Books {{ISBN|1-56849-077-1}}, Cooper Square Press {{ISBN|0-8154-1022-0}}; London: Cassell {{ISBN|0-304-29114-5}}, Pan {{ISBN|0-330-39066-X}}.
* Jeffreys and Anderson, ''British Army in the Far East 1941–45.'' Osprey Publishing, 2005. {{ISBN|1-84176-790-5}}.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.euxton.com/Army-Battle-for-Sittang-16-23-February-1942.htm A soldier's account]

{{World War II}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sittang Bridge, Battle of}}
[[Category:Conflicts in 1942]]
[[Category:1942 in Burma]]
[[Category:South-East Asian theatre of World War II]]
[[Category:Military history of Burma during World War II]]
[[Category:Battles and operations of World War II involving India]]
[[Category:World War II operations and battles of the Pacific theatre]]
[[Category:Land battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom|Sittang Bridge]]
[[Category:February 1942 events]]

Battle of Sittang Bridge - Revision history

221.126.252.146 at 03:00, 7 November 2022