Page 117 - Leadership in the Indian Army

accept him. The best way to do this was to lead them in a successful action,
and the opportunity to do this soon arose.
The battalion was part of 51 Indian Infantry Brigade, under the command

of Brigadier R.A. Hutton. It was also known as the ‘All Indian Brigade’,
since all the battalions were Indian, unlike other brigades which had at least
one British or Gurkha battalion. What is more, all three battalion
commanders were Indians. Apart from 2/2 Punjab commanded by Thorat,
8/19 Hyderabad was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel K.S. Thimayya
and 16/10 Baluch by Lieutenant Colonel L.P. Sen. In January 1945, the
brigade took part in the famous Battle of Kangaw, which lasted three weeks

and cost 2,000 lives, but succeeded in bloodying the nose of the Japanese.
Mountbatten called it the ‘bloodiest battle of the Arakan’. When it ended,
the Brigade Commander and the three Indian COs were all awarded DSOs.
In the Battle of Kangaw, 51 Indian Brigade suffered about 800 casualties,
while about 2,000 Japanese were killed or wounded. It was decided to send
the brigade back to India for rest and recuperation, and in February 1945

Thorat moved with his battalion to Pollachi in South India. Soon
afterwards, the Allied plan for the invasion of Malaya was finalised. The
invasion force was to comprise two corps, XV and XXXIV, and seven
divisions were to land at Port Swettenham in September 1945. The
operations commenced, but before the landings could take place the
Japanese surrendered and the war ended on 5 August 1945. The invasion
force, which included 51 Indian Brigade under 25 Indian Division, became

an occupation force after landing in Malaya. After spending a few months
in Kuala Lumpur, Thorat’s battalion was moved to Quantan on the east
coast of Malaya. He visited the battlefield where his parent battalion, 1/14
Punjab, had been overrun and captured by the Japanese in 1941. A large
number of its men had joined the Indian National Army as part of the
Japanese force, and had fought against the Indian troops.

Shortly after this, Thorat was called to the Divisional HQ, as the AA &
QMG. A large number of Japanese were being held as prisoners of war
(POW) and it was part of Thorat’s job to look after the POW camps. A
Japanese battalion had been detailed to clear and repair an airfield that had
been damaged during the war. Once, when Thorat was visiting the camp, an
elderly Japanese officer wearing the rank badges of a brigadier, came
running and saluted him smartly. When Thorat asked him why he was

running, he was told that the Supreme Commander had issued orders that