Bates was serving with the 3rd Battalion 8th Gurkha Rifles (3/8 GR) when, on March 4 1945, an attack was launched to clear the route between Mayogon and an isolated garrison in the Western Irrawaddy bridgehead.
Despite the support of Stewart tanks, the men ran into stiff opposition from the Japanese. At a critical point in the battle, the company commander was hit and fell into long grass. Bates was sent forward from Mayogon with orders to take over. He rallied the company, which was under heavy shelling and machinegun fire, and led an assault on the enemy’s main position on the river bank.
Inspired by his leadership, his men charged and overran the Japanese bunkers. They killed many of the enemy and drove the rest out into the open where they were targeted by mortars and grenades. As a result of his action, a secure corridor was established through which two battalions were brought out from a perilous position. Bates’s outstanding courage was recognised by the award of an immediate MC.
Colonel Eric Wilde
Officer who bravely rescued a wounded comrade and was thrice injured himself
In October 1942, Wilde, then a second lieutenant, was regimental navigating officer with the 5th Battalion Royal Tank Regiment (5RTR). On October 25, during the Battle of El Alamein, a patrol of Grant tanks was ordered on a reconnaissance mission, only for one to be set on fire 200 yards from an enemy position.
The crew was brought back in another tank, but then another figure was spotted beside the burning tank. He waved a hand, but it was clear that he was badly injured and unable to move. While a plan was being made to bring him back, Wilde, at great personal risk, dashed out in his scout car and drove right up to the tank, which was by then burning furiously and likely to explode at any moment.
He placed the wounded man on the front of his scout car and lay across him to hold him on and protect him. They returned under heavy shelling but succeeded in reaching safety. In the first three days of the battle, all the troop leaders in two squadrons were wounded. Wilde, who repeatedly assisted in the rescue of wounded men in exposed positions and under fire, was awarded an immediate MC.
Group Captain Ron Duckenfield
RAF fighter pilot who was a PoW in Japan but came to love that country
Duckenfield rejoined No 501 just as the Battle of Britain began. Flying from Hawkinge on the Kent coast he was soon in action and shared in the destruction of a Stuka dive-bomber over Dover on July 29. On August 15 he shot down a Dornier bomber and damaged a second. Flying almost every day as the Battle intensified, he shot down two Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. He was mentioned in despatches.
In September 1940 Duckenfield joined the Air Fighting Development Unit to test new fighters and captured enemy aircraft. After a year which he described as “the most rewarding of my RAF career” he was awarded the AFC. In February 1942 he was appointed to command No 615 Squadron flying Hurricanes and a month later sailed with the squadron for India. Flying from Jessore, operations against the Japanese commenced in December as the enemy advanced into the Arakan.
Duckenfield flew armed reconnaissance sorties and on December 27 led eight Hurricanes to attack Magwe airfield. Over the target his engine failed and he was forced to crash land in a creek 200 miles behind enemy lines. He was soon captured and put in solitary confinement before being taken to the notorious Rangoon Jail.
'Бій відлунав. Жовто-сині знамена затріпотіли на станції знов'
