Fort Hertz was a remote British Military outpost in northeastern Burma in the district of Putao in what is now the Kachin State near the present town of Putao. It was named after William Axel Hertz. Hertz led the first expeditions into the far north of Burma in 1888, was responsible for the 1912 Gazateer of Kachin Hills area and served as the first Deputy Commissioner of the Government in the Putao District. The military post was established in 1914 and given the name Fort Hertz in 1925 consequent with the retirement of William Hertz from the Indian Civil Service.
Up until 1942, Fort Hertz was maintained as an outpost of the Myitkyina Battalion of the Burma Frontier Force. During the 1942 Japanese invasion of Burma, various retreating soldiers of the British/Indian Burma Garrison remained in the Fort Hertz area. The military authorities in India had no direct contact with Fort Hertz during most of the summer of 1942.
Troops were parachuted into Upper Burma on July 3, 1942. Led by Captain I.O.M. Roberts of the 153rd (Gurkha) Indian Parachute Battalion, the men had orders to investigate the state of the Myitkyina area and then march 150 miles north to Fort Hertz.
On August 12, 1942 Major Hopkins of the 50th Indian Parachute Brigade overflew the Fort and discovered that it was unexpectedly in British hands. Captain Roberts had reached the fort some days before. The landing strip at the fort was however unusable. The next day, a party led by Captain G.E.C. Newland of the 153rd Indian Parachute Battalion parachute dropped into Fort Hertz with engineering supplies. By August 20, the airfield had been repaired enough that aircraft could land. Lieutenant-Colonel Gamble, the new commander of the area arrived on that date quickly followed by a company of the 7/9th Jat Regiment. The party led by Captain Roberts was extracted around the same time.
Later during World War II its garrison, consisting of various battalions of the British Indian Army and the Northern Kachin Levies, formed an isolated Northern post of the Allied Armies engaged in the Burma Campaign. With the assistance of Kachin irregulars, the route north from Japanese-held Burma to Fort Hertz was defended against a series of minor attacks in 1942 and 1943.
In 1943 and 1944 the primary purpose of Fort Hertz was to gather intelligence and to cover an airstrip which served as an emergency landing ground for planes flying The Hump from India to China over the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains. This same airstrip was the only supply line for Fort Hertz. There was also eventually a radio beacon check point at the site.
Large-scale official training of the Kachin Levies did not start until August 1943 when a V Force team was sent to Fort Hertz. An American team advisory team of eight officers and 40 sergeants (radiomen, cryptographers and medics) also flew into Fort Hertz. The American forces raised their own Kachin force in a Myitkyina area in 1944 which were known as the Kachin Rangers.
When General Joseph Stilwell's Chinese X Force started the advance to cover the building of the Ledo Road and American Northern Combat Area Command operation, forces from Fort Hertz advanced on Stilwell's left flank and captured Sumprabum. They then continued their advance towards Myitkyina capturing Tiangup
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oddly enough this is one area of WW2 we don't cover a lot on this board and certainly an interesting area of the war.

Have you covered this chaps? You probably are familiar with Orde Wingate.


A Chindit column crossing a river in BurmaActive1942 – 1945CountryUnited Kingdom,
IndiaAllegianceAllies of World War IIBranchBritish Indian ArmyTypeSpecial forcesRoleAsymmetric warfareGarrison/HQJhansi, IndiaBattles/warsBurma Campaign of World War IIDecorationsFour members awarded the Victoria CrossCommandersNotable
commandersOrde Wingate,
Walter David Alexander LentaigneBurma CampaignChindits – Ngakyedauk – Imphal – Kohima – Central Burma


The Chindits (Officially in 1942 77th Indian Infantry Brigade and in 1943 Indian 3rd Infantry Division) were a British Indian Army "Special Force"[1] that served in Burma and India from 1942 until 1945 during the Burma Campaign in World War II. They were formed into long range penetration groups trained to operate deep behind Japanese lines.

I personally don't think this forum covers the contributions of countries that were not primary combatants well at all I would love to see more information about the involvement of countries like India (Commonwealth), the "Free" forces of Europe (Poland, France, Norway etc.) but to a large degree those flags need to be carried by board members from those nations.

Of course, The chindits did not fall into that category -they were british units behind enemy lines and were heavy combatants with the enemy. Early high experts in such warfare, who made a great contribution - 4 Vcs in that area as you can see. The Orde Wingate story is a very big one.
If i remember it right, the early influences of the SAS. i will have to re-check.

The 9 Gorkha Rifles dates back to 1817, when it was raised at Infantry Levy at Fatehgarh. In 1823, it became a regular unit as part of the Bengal Native Infantry. After the reorganisations post-1857, the designation was changed to 9 Bengal Native Infantry with one of its companies formed by Gorkhas and other hillmen. By then the Regiment had fought at Bhartpur and in the difficult battle of Sobraon in the Ango-Sikh War. In 1901, the Regiment was designated 9 Gorkha Rifles.
9 GR fought in the Great War in Europe and in the inter war years took part in the operations in the North West Frontier. In World War II, it fought in Italy and North Africa. The 3/9 GR and 4/9 GR formed part of the Chindits in Burma, and earned a reputation in the long range penetration operations. In the 1962 Indo-China War, the 1/9 GR fought under the most demanding conditions on the Namka Chu in NEFA (Arunachal Pradesh). The Regiment continued the fine traditions in 1965 and 1971 and earned Battle Honours and gallantry awards.

http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-F...s/9Gorkha.html

Charles Orde Wingate the man who conceptualised and led the Chindit operations was also the man who organized the Israelis to carry the battle into the heart of the marauding Arab tribes and organized them into a fighting force.The name Chindit has its origin in the name of the Chindit river which flowed in he erstwhile Burma aand the present day Myanmar.

I am assuming that Gorkha refers to the Gurkhas recognised by all British units as the greatest of comrades and fighting units. The were famous for valour and are always in the forefront of our spearheads.

They are beloved by the people of England who are up in arms at their treatment by the current government.

In retrospect they probably would have been my choice for the greatest fighting unit. They are very fierce and completey disciplined and reliable.
I seem to remember they were at The Falklands.

The daughter of mine who spent some years at the British Embassy in Washington was very proud to work with them on her return.

Their commissioned officers were British. There are none finer and they stem from Nepal, like Sherpa Tensing. Us British troops would have hated ever to been opposed by them.

YOUR ASSUMPTION IS CORRECT, SIR! AFTER INDIA'S INDEPENDENCE THE CHOICE WAS GIVEN TO THE GURKHAS TO EITHER JOIN THE BRITISH ARMY OR STAY PUT AS PART OF THE INDIAN ARMY. THE UNITS MENTIONED ABOVE ARE NOW AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE INDIAN ARMY.

Roverin my friend, you strike a chord with the british establisment and armies at the mention of the Ghurka. The people of this country and the military would hug The Gurkhas to its bosom. our government has no shame in its treatment of these heroes. I wish we could have them back here as our national security forces. They are fantastic. Good candidates for greatest fighters ever and our favourites in battle, no problem. if they are now your boys in India then I feel sorry for India's enemies. Enjoy.