‘Scraggy’

Perhaps the most spectacularly successful attack carried out by 10th Gurkha Rifles in the Second World War was 3rd Battalion’s capture of a hill called ‘Scraggy’ in Burma in 1944.

A Gurkha beside a Jap's Bunker

In fact 3rd Battalion fought several actions on scraggy and nearby peaks in the Shenam Pass , during the British breakout from the Imphal plain into the open central region of Burma. First the Battalion defended Scraggy in May 1944, when heavy casualties were inflicted on the Japanese attackers, including 93 dead inflicted on them in one night, When D Company met them in the open in hand-to-hand combat. Later, on 23rd May,No.3 platoon of B Company, commanded by Jemadar Bakhatbahadur Rai, recaptured Gibraltar hill in what the Regimental History describes as ‘one of those great moments which make regimental history,…. so satisfyingly typical of the Gurkha at his best’. ‘The remaining short distance to the summit was almost sheer, but Bakhatbahadur carried the attack irresistibly on and, drawing their kukris, the men stormed up the slope and fell upon the enemy in fierce hand-to-hand combat. After a few minutes the Japanese broke and fled and Bakhatbahadur and his gallant men were left in possession of the summit and the Japanese flag was hauled down. After the battle the dead bodies of 125 of the enemy were counted on Gibraltar…’ Bakhatbahadur received a well-earned MC.

3rd Battalion on the summit of Lynch Hill after capturing

3rd Battalion fought further defensive actions on the lower slopes of Scraggy in mid-June, and then on 24th July 1944 the whole Battalion was detailed to capture the rest of Scraggy and several other nearby peaks- the key to the whole pass. At 0440 hours in heavy rain and mist the attack went in. Twenty ladders were carried, so steep was the ground ahead of them. After heavy fighting on the approaches, A and B Companies attacked the main Jap position: within a few minutes shouts of ‘Bhagyo! Bhagya!’ (‘They’re running away!’) were heard as one of the enemy’s forward bunkers was taken. At about 0640 the final attack on the summit went in, and the Regimental History records that ‘Battalion Tactical Headquarters could hear the men shouting their battle-cry of ‘Gurkhali Ayo!’ as they went in for the kill,’ In bitter hand-to-hand fighting Jemadar Kharkabahadur Rai won an immediate Indian Order of Merit. Scraggy fell soon after 0700, then Lynch Hill, Flat Top and Scraggy Pimple. The Japs had had enough, and offered no resistance to our next attack on Crete West. ‘ The 3rd Battalion of the Regiment had covered itself with glory and had secured this vital key position in the face of difficulties of ground and weather conditions which might have been deemed impossible by legs gallant and determined troops’.

Gurkha Success after Long Jungle Pursuit