The Irrawaddy River in central Burma is 2,000 yards wide in its middle stretches, threaded with shifting sandbars that make any crossing treacherous. In February 1945, General William Slim needed to get an army across it. The Japanese had been shattered at Kohima and Imphal the previous year -- fifty thousand dead -- but they still held the far bank, and a direct opposed crossing would have been a bloodbath. What Slim devised instead was one of the war's great deceptions: a feint in the north to draw Japanese attention toward Mandalay, while the real blow fell in the south, at a town called Pakokku, where Gurkha riflemen would fight their way to the river's edge and open the door to victory in Burma.
The plan required the 7th Indian Infantry Division to move nearly 300 miles south through the Gangaw Valley, seize a bridgehead at Pakokku, and then strike southeast toward Meiktila -- the railway junction whose capture would sever Japanese supply lines across central Burma. The operation began with the 114th Indian Infantry Brigade building 180 miles of motorable road from Tamu to Gangaw in just 15 days, a feat of engineering through difficult terrain during the monsoon. The 4th Battalion, 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles -- 4/5 GR -- left Merema on December 4, 1944, and reached the Pakokku area by early February 1945. The Japanese had not anticipated a major offensive during the monsoon, and the sheer distance the division covered without detection was itself an achievement. By the time the enemy understood what was happening, Gurkha soldiers were already closing on the Irrawaddy.
On February 5, 1945, three companies of 4/5 GR moved to encircle the village of Kahnla on the Irrawaddy's southern bank. Japanese defenders held strong positions there and had been shelling the approaching troops. Captain Fisher, Major I.M. Brown, and the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel J.H. Turner, led the encirclement from multiple directions. One company attacked from the northeast under intense fire while a second formed up in the village for an assault from the west. At 5:30 in the evening they fought through, overrunning half the Japanese position and a fortified machine-gun bunker. At least 30 Japanese soldiers were killed. Among the Gurkha wounded was Company Havildar Major Bhagta Bahadur Gurung, whose courage during the assault earned him the Indian Order of Merit. The fighting ground on for days. By February 10, the main attack went in without air support due to bad weather, backed instead by tanks of the 255th Indian Tank Brigade. The battalion captured its objective that afternoon, but paid heavily: Lieutenant Colonel Turner was killed in the fighting. Japanese resistance was ferocious -- only a single prisoner was taken from 51 counted dead. Six counterattacks came that night, and infiltration attempts continued through February 12. By February 13, 4/5 GR had fought its way into Pakokku itself.
With Pakokku secured, the river crossing began on February 14. The 7th Division pushed across on a wide front at Nyaung-U, just north of the ancient capital of Pagan with its thousands of Buddhist temples. A secondary crossing was attempted at Pagan itself. Both were initially disastrous. Assault boats broke apart under machine-gun fire sweeping across the water. The defenders at Nyaung-U and Pagan included battalions of the Indian National Army's 4th Guerrilla Regiment, and at Pagan the INA's 9th Battalion inflicted severe casualties on the 1/11th Sikh Regiment before withdrawing to Mount Popa. It took tanks of the Gordon Highlanders firing from the western bank and concentrated artillery to suppress the defenders at Nyaung-U and force a surrender. The cost of crossing that 2,000-yard stretch of water was high, measured in soldiers who never reached the far bank -- men from India, Nepal, East Africa, and Britain who died on a river most of their countrymen had never heard of.
By February 20, the bulk of Allied forces were across the Irrawaddy and driving toward Meiktila, exactly as Slim had planned. The capture of Pakokku opened the way for the 17th Indian Infantry Division to push through, and the seizure of Meiktila cut the Japanese army in central Burma off from its supply lines. Through April, 4/5 GR continued clearing operations west of the Irrawaddy, fighting for villages like Letse and Seikpyu. On April 24, leading troops were pinned by fire from a ridge crowned with a golden pagoda and a monastery; a company under Captain G.W. Maycock, supported by heavy artillery, took the position, recovering 39 Japanese dead. By April 30 they had secured Pwinbu and turned to clear the area around Pagan itself, launching concerted assaults from May 5 to 8.
While these actions played out along the Irrawaddy, the Battle of Mandalay had been decided. The Japanese army in Burma, except for forces east of the Sittang River, had ceased to exist as an organized fighting force. Rangoon fell on May 2, 1945, bringing General Slim's campaign to what one historian called a triumphant conclusion. On May 14, 4/5 GR left Pagan hoping for a monsoon rest, but new orders sent them to Prome by May 27. The battle honour "Irrawaddy" was awarded to the battalion -- two words on a regimental color representing months of jungle marching, river crossings, and close combat. The men who earned it -- Gurkhas, Sikhs, East Africans, Highlanders -- had fought through one of the most demanding campaigns of the Second World War, across terrain that punished every step, against an enemy that rarely surrendered. Their victory on the Irrawaddy broke the spine of Japanese power in Burma.
Located at 21.33N, 95.06E near the Irrawaddy River in central Myanmar. The broad river and town of Pakokku are visible from altitude. The Bagan Archaeological Zone with its thousands of pagodas lies to the north-northwest along the river. Nearest airports include Nyaung-U Airport (VYNU) and Pakokku. The Irrawaddy's wide channel and sandbars are prominent visual features. Best viewed at 3,000-5,000 ft AGL to appreciate the river crossing distances and terrain.