Our last open day of the year was held on Sunday October 28^th 2001. It was one of the best attended days of the year. There was a heavy Si-Fi/Fantasy theme to most of the games, which included a War Hammer game, a War Hammer 40k game, and a Chronopia game. Martin Game also brought along his chariot racing game and Ken McKewan brought along his newly painted Gothic Horror figures to try out the rules.

I took part in Ian Willer’s Burma game. Ian has been organising a series of Rapid Fire games based on actual battles in the WWII Burma campaign. The games have been played in chronological order. Towards the end of March 1942 the Commonwealth 17th Division attacked the Japanese, pushing them back towards Rangoon. However the Japanese launched an attack from the area of Toungoo to the East on the Sittang River. This attack cut the 17^th Division off from the main Commonwealth lines so they had to fight their way back. The particular battle we fought on the open day represented this breakout at Shwedaung, on the Irrawaddy River.

I started with an Indian battalion, which represented the main Commonwealth lines. Walter Robinson & Martin Game played the 17^th Division force that had been cut off by the Japanese. Hidden between us where the Japanese & Burmese Independence Army forces played by Ian Ransome & Henry Scrivens. The initial skirmishes began between my Indians and Henries BIA, who retreated back toward the town in the middle of the table, inflicting several casualties on the Indians as they went. The 17^th Division’s breakout was hindered by the fact they were all coming down one road and it took time for them to deploy. Matters where further complicated when the Gurkhas found a particularly dense pieces of jungle to get through, leaving the 7^th Hussar’s Hoinies without infantry support for long periods.

As the battle continued into the afternoon I manage to cause enough casualties on Henry’s BIA forcing him to do a morale check. Imaging my delight when he rolled a 1 and they routed from the table. My joy was short lived as by now I had found some Japanese and they forced my Indians into a morale check. It was now my turn to roll a 1, (and there was no Chris Bignall in site,) result bye-bye Indians.

By this time all the ground forces where committed to the battle, so it was lucky for me that just as I lost my battalion an RAF Bristol Blenhiem arrived over the table, so I took command of that. My first target was a Japanese field gun in the town. Again luck was against me and on this first attack my plane was shot down. In a matter of minutes I had lost a battalion of infantry and an aircraft.

The Commonwealth forcers began to get the upper hand, steadily clearing the Japanese from the town. The advance was slowed for a short while as Japanese reinforcement arrived in landing craft on the Irrawaddy River. Ian Willer was desperate for these to appear as he had only just finished his landing craft and nobody knew that he had them. These were further helped when a Japanese gunboat appeared, (another one of Ian’s new models,) and started to shell the Commonwealth troops. As I had nothing to do at this time I took command of this gunboat and its company of Marines. I am happy to say that despite being set of fire after it had landed its Marines it did manage to limp off the table edge and survive the battle, the only thing I played in this battle that did.

The superior numbers of the Commonwealth forces started to tell as the Japanese where whittled down. One by one Japanese battalions where either destroyed or routed, leaving just my company of marines who refused to surrender and eventually where killed.

That was the end of the battle and we all learned a few things, like sake seems to affect your hearing if its not warmed to 50 degrees.

Robert Young