I_Ain_39_t_Been_Shot_Mum_-_Bloody_Burma.pdf

Burma

The Invasion of Burma:

8 th December 1941 to 20 th May 1942

A Campaign & Scenario Booklet for

“I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum!”

By Robert Avery

Bloody

Index

Introduction

Page 2

Notes

Page 3

Figure Requirements

Page 7-8

The Scenarios

1. Operation Yacht

9th December 1941

Page 9

2. Kawkareik

20th January 1942

Page 18

3. Moulmein

30th January 1942

Page 27

4. Paung

9th February 1942

Page 38

5. Kuzeik

10th February 1942

Page 49

6. Danyingon

16th February 1942

Page 58

7. The Yinon Road

17th February 1942

Page 69

8. Bilin

20th February 1942

Page 79

9. Pagoda Hill

22nd February 1942

Page 88

10. Mokpalin

23rd February 1942

Page 98

11. Payagyi

6th March 1942

Page 109

12. Pegu

6th March 1942

Page 122

13. Taukkyan

7th March 1942

Page 131

14. Pyuntaza

11th March 1942

Page 143

15. Henzada

15th March 1942

Page 151

16. Kyungon

23rd March 1942

Page 159

17. Shwedaung

28th March 1942

Page 169

18. Kokkogwa

12th April 1942

Page 181

19. Myingun

14th April 1942

Page 190

20. Yenangyaung

19th April 1942

Page 199

21. Htuchaung

19th April 1942

Page 209

22. Kyaukse

28th April 1942

Page 218

23. Monywa

2nd May 1942

Page 226

24. Shwegyin

10th May 1942

Page 236

Aftermath

Page 246

Appendices

Appendix A: British Orders of Battle

Page 247

Appendix B: Japanese Order of Battle

Page 256

Appendix C: Chinese Order of Battle

Page 258

Appendix E: Bibliography

Page 260

Campaign Maps

Page 6

Appendix D: Rank Equivalents

Page 259

INTRODUCTION

The Japanese invasion of Malaya in December 1941 and the subsequent fall of Singapore was to be

a body blow to the British Empire and a humiliating defeat at the hands of a nation that had

previously been considered to be an outdated military pygmy. Even while Japanese forces were

driving southwards in that campaign, events were occurring that posed an ever greater threat to

British interests: a drive northwards into Burma that would, eventually, threaten the borders of India

itself, the brightest jewel in the Imperial Crown.

Superficially the fall of Burma, happening in a few short months in 1942, is a disastrous tale of

military failure and collapse. This, however, does not give the full picture. British resistance

during the first Burma campaign displayed much of the resilience that has typified campaigns

fought by Britons and their Imperial troops throughout history; where the refusal to give in has led

to ultimate victory over a foe that, initially, appeared invincible.

For the Japanese the campaign offered potential victory beyond their wildest dreams. The natural

resources of Malaya and Burma were significant, but the riches of India seemed then to be close

enough to be attainable, especially with Britain under pressure all around the globe. A speedy

advance through Burma would provide the key that could see their dreams of an Asia under

Japanese domination come to fruition.

Once again Robert Avery has provided a comprehensive work that not only captures the unique

flavour of the campaign, with twenty-four scenarios for wargamers that cover all the key battle, but

that also provides the reader with a clear understanding of the issues that were at stake at every

stage of the fighting.

The reader will note that throughout the campaign it was key individuals who came to the fore to

stamp their mark on the battles, these larger than life characters, Big Men in the parlance of I Ain’t

Been Shot Mum! , crop up with a regularity throughout the history of warfare, exerting an influence

that far outweighs what we would expect of one man alone, and this work is a fitting tribute to those

individuals - of all nations – who stand tall in the spotlight of history.

Richard Clarke

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks to Dom Skelton for proof-reading this scenario booklet: his eye for detail is surely

second to none!

NOTES

Layout

Each scenario is presented in the same way. First there is the Game Briefing that contains all the

information that the Umpire needs to run the scenario. Then there are individual briefings for both

the British and Japanese commanders.

The Umpire needs to read all three briefings as there is occasionally some information on the

players’ briefing sheets that is not duplicated on his own. Players should only read their own

briefing sheet. All Umpires need to do is to print off the players’ briefing sheets and hand them

over: players require no additional information.

A map is provided for each scenario. Some scenarios allow both players access to the map prior to

the game; some scenarios allow only one side to prepare their tactics and deployment in advance.

Details are given in the Umpire’s briefing.

Nomenclature

Unlike the largely homogenous Japanese army, the ‘British’ forces in Burma were from the

multitude of distinct nationalities that comprised the British and the British Indian army:

Englishmen, Yorkshiremen (who have always considered themselves a breed apart), Scots,

Gurkhas, Punjabis, Sikhs, Rajputs, Dogras and so on. For the sake of simplicity, however, I have

sometimes used the word “British” as a catch-all to mean any troops from the British or Indian

armies.

Where, however, a formation is further defined, such as the British and Indian army’s habit of

describing a battalion by its geographical base (e.g. 2/9th Punjabi) or the Japanese army’s habit of

describing a formation by the name of its commander (e.g. the Saeki Detachment), I have

sometimes used the descriptive as a collective e.g. “the Punjabi’s advanced…”, “the Saeki’s

advanced…”. Additionally, the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and battalions such as the

Inniskillings or Cameronians are also variously described as being Yorkshiremen, Scots or Scottish.

The above does not necessarily apply to individual player briefings, as each side does not possess

such perfect knowledge of the other’s troops.

Big Men

Where known, I have given Big Men the actual names of the participants in the actions described,

and marked their names with an asterisk*. Where I have not been able to identify particular

personalities, I have given a rank and a name based on the numbering system of the language used

by that Big Man. Anonymous Punjabi Big Men, for example, are known as (number: yk, do, tyn,

car etc) Singh; anonymous Gurkhas as (number: ek, dui, tin, etc) plus the honorific bahadur plus a

randomly chosen tribe; and anonymous Japanese Big Men as (number: ichi, ni, san, chi etc).

As a justification for this, I quote from Scott Gilmore, an officer of the Gurkhas: “There were so

many Lalbahadur Gurungs in my battalion that, to avoid confusion, the individual was often

identified by the last one or two digits of his army serial number. During their favourite game,

basketball, one might hear the exhortation "Ja char bisi panch" ("Go, eighty-five!").”

The exceptions to this are any anonymous British Big Men, who are named John Smith, Tom

Brown etc.

Turn Cards

When required by a scenario, you will need to include a Turn Card into the pack. This is distinct

from the Tea Break card, and governs when certain scenario events happen. Reinforcements for one

side, for example, might arrive on the fifth appearance of the Turn Card, no matter how many times

the Tea Break card has been turned.

Climate, Terrain & Visibility

Burma has three main seasons. From November to March, the climate is temperate and pleasant.

From April to May it is “blindingly hot”. Some time in May/June, the monsoon sets in, and through

to November the country is subject to constant torrential rain that turns all land into swamp and all

rivers ( chaungs ) into raging torrents.

Much of the terrain in Southern Burma is heavy jungle: dense teak woods or bamboo (woods

around Rangoon and the central region, bamboo in the Tenasserim region) that can only be

penetrated by men on foot moving at –3” per initiative dice rolled for movement. Heavy jungle

provides excellent cover from spotting, and good cover from fire. Visibility between units whose

line of sight is either in or interrupted by heavy jungle is limited to 12 inches.

What terrain is not heavy jungle tends to be light jungle. Light jungle still provides excellent cover

from spotting and good cover from fire, but movement is only penalised at –1” per initiative dice

rolled, and visibility is limited to 18 inches.

Cultivated land tends to be paddy fields (growing rice) which are described as being rock hard in

the summer and swamps in the monsoon season. At the time of year in which most of the actions

involving paddy fields are set, units moving through paddy fields will subtract 1” from each dice

rolled for movement. Vehicles may also bog down, but the individual scenarios give you the rules

on that. Note that even in “open” country, visibility should be limited to 30 inches: representing the

wild and uncleared nature of the terrain.

Central Burma is higher and drier than Southern Burma. Even the river valleys in which most of

this section of the campaign were fought should consist of arid terrain covered in patches of dried

out vegetation. Cultivated land is mostly dry-zone crops (toddy palms, millet and ground nuts) or

rice fields which, in April/May, are largely dried out.

Night Time

The Japanese, unlike the British, used night attacks as a standard tactic. Unless otherwise specified,

the following rules apply when a scenario takes place at night:

• All spotting rolls are at –3 unless the target is illuminated (i.e. either has a light shining upon it,

or is shining a light itself) in which case the roll is at +3.

• All fire outside short range is shifted one column to the right.

• Each side will have an extra 1d3 Blinds.

• See the note on visibility, above: distances are halved at night. Illuminated targets, however,

should be visible from distances longer than the wargaming table, although terrain features will

obscure vision as normal.

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