Story 0943
December 11, 1941 1300 near the Thai-Malayan border
A company of Punjabi infantry ambushed a Japanese infantry column supported by three tanks near the Thai border. They had arrived in the village two days before and spent most of their time digging in. Clear lines of fire were prepared for the Vickers machine guns and the section of anti-tank guns. Engineers had placed demolition charges in every culvert. A dozen landmines lined the road and a line of observation posts extended two hundred yards into the jungle.
The forward listening post had sent a runner back to the main position fifteen minutes ago that the first Japanese column had been sighted. Three tanks and three companies of infantry with a pair of mountain guns were marching down the road. The lead company was the vanguard with the tanks separating that company from its fellows. Twenty minutes and the Japanese would make contact with the main delaying positions.
Every man waited. Nineteen year old volunteers who wanted an adventure or at least a sight of the world beyond the flooded river valleys and the back end of an ox that was their home clutched their rifles tightly and put out a brave face when their sergeants came by their fox holes and told them to relax and remember their training. A Viceroy Commissioned Officer, a gnarled veteran of many deployments looked over his position one last time and worried about his tea going cold.
The two English officers were nervous; one had fought in France and was injured during the evacuation from Dunkirk.
The other was a novice, and afraid to show his inexperience and his fear. The fear that he could fail, the fear that he were not who they imagined himself to be, the fear that his men would die pointlessly, the fear that the elephant would trample him as he saw it the first time.
Fear of dying was real, but it was not a primary fear for these young men who everyone else counted on to keep their heads despite this being their first action.
Suddenly, the lead Japanese company came into view. They had spread out as they entered the town and advanced warily. This was a natural choke point and ambush position. Three eight ton tanks followed them, silence filled the road as civilians had fled when they could and taken cover when they could not. No one was about. Violence was in the air.
A pop of a flare gun went off and a green flare arced over the Japanese force. This was the signal for the ambush. Anti-tank guns barked and Vickers chattered in controlled bursts. Riflemen ran through the routine, shoot,shoot, shoot, move to a new position. Within seconds the Japanese infantry had hit the ground and started to return fire
Ten minutes of intense fighting left three tanks burning as ammunition cooked off. The two-pounder anti-tank guns and a section of Boys anti-tank rifles left all three Japanese tanks on fire. Heavy machine gun fire forced the Japanese infantry to the ground until darkness. In the dark, the second company was able to slip into the jungle and re-appear behind the Punjabi’s half an hour later. Fierce hand to hand fighting punctuated by the din of pistol shots and bursting grenades relieved the pressure on the rest of the Japanese advance guard. The flanking company was beaten off, but the Punjabis hurried to their dozen bivouacked trucks and withdrew down the road, abandoning a pair of machine guns and a single anti-tank gun.
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