Burma Rescue: How the RAF went to the aid of a Wingate Raiding Column’, 1943...

‘Burma Rescue: How the RAF went to the aid of a Wingate Raiding Column’, 1943. Photograph, World War Two, Far East (1941-1945), 1943. In the early months of 1943 Brigadier Orde Wingate’s Jungle Penetration Force (The Chindits) drove far behind the enemy's lines into the heart of Japanese-occupied Burma. During the mission they radioed the Royal Air Force’s transport command in Assam informing them that 17 soldiers were sick or wounded and they were short of food, ammunition and other supplies. Two aircraft set off on Easter Sunday 1943. The column was located and supplies dropped by parachute. However, their first attempt to land was unsuccessful. The Chindits therefore had to lay out a landing strip which included a message written on the ground with parachutes stating ‘Plane land here now’. A few days later an aircraft returned and landed successfully. The sick and wounded men were then evacuated to safety. One of 29 British official photographs relating to Burma, World War Two.