This roll has been compiled by Lars Ahlkvist and Stephen Fogden. Lars is a medal collector from Sweden, who has the medals of Roy Renton, 5 column, in his care. Stephen is the grandson of Arthur Leslie Howney, also 5 column. Both Renton and Howney became Japanese prisoners, neither survived.
 

The 13th battalion of the King’s Regiment hade been formed in Scotland, and trained in England. The first part of their existence was spent on coastal defence as part of 208th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) from 6/10/1940 to 13/10/41, before being sent out to India and posted for garrison duty at Secunderabad.

In 1942 Brigadier Orde Wingate made plans for Long Range Penetration behind Japanese lines in Burma. As no special troops was available for this, the 13th King’s was transferred to make up 77th Indian Brigade (26/6/1942) along with 3/2 Gurkha Rifles and the 2nd Burma Rifle. The brigade assembled in the beginning of July 1942 in the jungle of the central provinces, near Patharia. In his book “Burma, the Longest War”, Louis Allen writes: “He (Wingate) was given a British battalion which, on the surface, could hardly have been worse suited to the task he had in mind. They had been on coastal duties in England before being drafted out to serve as garrisons in India. They were city-bred men, not only from Liverpool but from Glasgow and Manchester: most of them were married and many over thirty.” On training, many men were transferred to other units – the battalion’s CO and 250 men were replaced. As can be seen, many of the men listed in the roll originally enlisted with other regiments. A number of deaths in training also called for reinforcements.

Wingate said about his Chindits before the operation: “Most of my Chindit’s are not in their first youth, but married men between twenty-eight and thirty-five, who have previously done coastal defence and internal security work and never dreamt they would serve as shock troops doing one of the toughest jobs any soldiers have undertaken in this war. If ordinary family men from Liverpool and Manchester can be trained for this specialized jungle war behind the enemy’s lines, then any fit man in the British army can be trained to do the same, and we show ourselves to the world as fighting men second to none, which I believe we are”.