Fort Hertz was a remote British Military outpost in northeastern

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

in the district of Putao in what is now the

Kachin State Kachin State (; Jingpho language, Kachin: ) is the northernmost administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. It is bordered by China to the north and east (Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet and Yunnan, respectively), Shan State to the sou ...

near the present town of

Putao Putao may refer to: China * Putao, Guangxi, a town in Yangshuo County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region * Putao, Xinjiang, a town in Turpan, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Myanmar * Putao District, a district of Kachin State * Putao Township, i ...

. It was named after William Axel Hertz. Hertz led the first expeditions into the far north of Burma in 1888, was responsible for the 1912 Gazetteer of Kachin Hills area and served as the first Deputy Commissioner of the Government in the Putao District. The military post was established in 1914 and given the name ''Fort Hertz'' in 1925 on the retirement of William Hertz from the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

World War II

Up until 1942, Fort Hertz was maintained as an outpost of the Myitkyina Battalion of the

Burma Frontier Force The Burma Frontier Force was a paramilitary police force in British Burma. It was created in 1937 by the Burma Frontier Force Act (Burma Act I of 1937), when Burma was detached from British India. It was formed from battalions of the Burma Military ...

. During the 1942 Japanese invasion of Burma, various retreating soldiers of the British/Indian Burma Garrison remained in the Fort Hertz area. The military authorities in India had no direct contact with Fort Hertz during most of the summer of 1942. Troops were parachuted into

Upper Burma Upper Myanmar ( or , also called Upper Burma) is one of two geographic regions in Myanmar, the other being Lower Myanmar. Located in the country's centre and north stretches, Upper Myanmar encompasses six inland states and regions, including ...

on 3 July 1942. Led by Captain J.O.M. Roberts of the 153rd (Gurkha) Indian Parachute Battalion, the men had orders to investigate the state of the

Myitkyina Myitkyina (, ; Jingpho language, Jinghpaw: ''Myitkyina'', ; , ''Sèna'') is the capital city of Kachin State in Myanmar (Burma), located from Yangon, and from Mandalay. In Burmese language, Burmese it means "near the big river", and Myitkyina i ...

area and then march 150 miles north to Fort Hertz. On 12 August 1942, Major Hopkins of the

50th Indian Parachute Brigade The 50th (Independent) Parachute Brigade is a brigade sized formation of the Indian Army. Its main force is formed of battalions of the Parachute Regiment. It consists of Parachute Regiment battalions and the President's Bodyguard, supported by ...

overflew the Fort and discovered that it was unexpectedly in British hands. Captain Roberts had reached the fort some days before. The

landing strip In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (grass, dirt, gravel, ic ...

at the fort was however unusable. The next day, a party led by Captain G.E.C. Newland of the 153rd Indian Parachute Battalion parachute dropped into Fort Hertz with engineering supplies. By 20 August, the airfield had been repaired enough that aircraft could land. Lieutenant-Colonel Gamble, the new commander of the area arrived on that date quickly followed by a company of the 7/9th Jat Regiment. The party led by Captain Roberts was extracted around the same time together with troops withdrawing from the Japanese advance into Burma, among others Captain Arthur Leonard Bell Thompson, later to be known under his pen name Francis Clifford.Desperate Journey Its garrison, consisting of various battalions of the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

and the Northern Kachin Levies, formed an isolated Northern post of the Allied Armies engaged in the

Burma Campaign The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of British rule in Burma, Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II. It primarily involved forces of the Allies of World War II, Allies (mainly from ...

. With the assistance of Kachin irregulars, the route north from Japanese-held Burma to Fort Hertz was defended against a series of minor attacks in 1942 and 1943. In 1943 and 1944 the primary purpose of Fort Hertz was to gather intelligence and to cover an airstrip which served as an emergency landing ground for planes flying

The Hump The Hump was the name given by Allies of World War II, Allied pilots in the Second World War to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains over which they flew military transport aircraft from British Raj, India to Republic of China (1912- ...

from India to China over the eastern end of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

. This same airstrip was the only supply line for Fort Hertz. There was also eventually a radio beacon navigation check point at the site. Large-scale official training of the Kachin Levies did not start until August 1943 when a

V Force V Force was a reconnaissance, intelligence-gathering and guerrilla organisation established by the British against Japanese forces during the Burma Campaign in World War II. Establishment and organisation In April 1942, when the Japanese drove ...

team was sent to Fort Hertz. An American advisory team of eight officers and 40 sergeants (radiomen, cryptographers and medics) also flew into Fort Hertz. The American forces raised their own Kachin force in a Myitkyina area in 1944 which were known as the Kachin Rangers. When General

Joseph Stilwell Joseph Warren "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell (19 March 1883 – 12 October 1946) was a United States Army general who served in the China Burma India theater during World War II. Stilwell was appointed as Chief of Staff for Chiang Kai-shek, the Chine ...

's Chinese

X Force X-Force is a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #100 (April 1991 ...

started the advance to cover the building of the

Ledo Road The Ledo Road () was an overland connection between British India and China, built during World War II to enable the Western Allies to deliver supplies to China and aid the war effort against Japan. After the Japanese cut off the Burma Ro ...

and American

Northern Combat Area Command The Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) was a subcommand of the Allies of World War II, Allied South East Asia Command (SEAC) during World War II. It controlled Allied ground operations in northern Burma. For most of its existence, NCAC was com ...

operation, forces from Fort Hertz advanced on Stilwell's left flank and captured Sumprabum. They then continued their advance towards

capturing Tiangup and eventually linking up with X Force. The operational forces at Fort Hertz were maintained solely by air for around 25 months, from August 1942 to August 1944.

Notes

References

* * * "The Hump" by Jack Barnard

World War II

See also

Notes

References

Further reading