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Battle of Paungde
The Battle of Paungde took place on 28-29 March 1942 between Allied and Japanese forces during the first phase of the Burma Campaign, which lasted from 1942 to 1945.
After occupying Rangoon (Yangon) on 8 March 1942, the Japanese 15th Army (consisting of the 18th, 33rd, 55th, and 56 Divisions) rapidly advanced northward. Their immediate objectives were to take the Yenangyuang oilfields, located in the Irrawaddy River valley some 250 miles north of Rangoon, and to drive a wedge between the Allied Burma Corps (consisting of the 1st Burma Division, 17th Indian Division, and 7th Armoured Brigade) and a Chinese Expeditionary Force sent to reinforce Allied defensive efforts. A further objective was to push Chinese forces back and advance on the town of Lashio in northeast Burma in order to cut the Burma Road that linked Burma with China’s Yunnan province and allowed the re-supply of Allied forces in southern China.
Situated in the Irrawaddy valley nearly halfway between Rangoon and Yenangyuang and about 20 miles east of the river, the town of Paungde sits astride a railway and one of the valley’s main north-south roads. By late March, Allied forces had retreated to a defensive line stretching from Paungde to Toungoo, a town approximately 80 miles northeast of Paungde. On 27 March, advance elements of the Japanese 33rd Division arrived in the Paungde sector. On 28 March, the Burma Corps attacked the Japanese at Paungde and at Prome (Pyay), a town about 20 miles to the northwest on the eastern bank of the Irrawaddy, to relieve pressure on Chinese units under heavy attack in the area around Toungoo. The action around Paungde was fierce and lasted two days; Allied casualties were high. On 30 March, the Chinese retreated from Toungoo, exposing the left flank of Burma Corps units at Paungde and Prome and forcing them to fall back toward Yenangyuang. British units participating in the battle of Paungde included 7th Queen’s Own Hussars, 2nd Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, 1st Royal Gloucestershire Regiment, 1st Cameronians, and an Essex Yeomanry battery.
28th Mar 1942 Harrassing
29th Mar 1942 Cut Off
29th March 1942 Walk to China
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Those known to have fought in Battle of Paungde during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Coningham William Donald Meryck. Capt. (d.30th March 1942)
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Capt. William Donald Meryck Coningham 2nd Btn. Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment (d.30th March 1942)  In February 1942 the 2nd Battalion was hastily mobilised and sent to reinforce Burma. Within a week of landing at Rangoon the battalion was in the rearguard action defending the bridge across the river Sittang, which was then blown up before the battalion could withdraw across the river.
They were in action in the Battle of Paungde in March that year and the campaign became a long retreat until they reached India in May.
Captain Donald Coningham, 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Wellingtons Regiment, according to those who served with him, was a very brave man who sacrificed his life in order that his company might be successfully withdrawn.
He was killed at Paungde at 4:30pm on March 30, 1942. He was put in for a DSO but Brigadier Slim didn't award it. His men still contended that the award was well deserved.
Details of the action in which Donald Coningham lost his life can be found in: Burma: The Longest War 1941-45 by Louis Allen, Phoenix Press 1984. (pp40 & 62).
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