Lance Corporal Toshiyuki Sakano, 4th Company, 1st Battalion, 214 Infantry Regiment, 33 Division, Japanese Imperial Army.

We were ordered in the coming big operation: 'Advance straight into the enemy key area. Keep going ahead and do not take care of the fallen comrades. Carry seven hand grenades and as much as possible of other ammunition, but only three days rations. If the food is not enough, get it from the enemy.' This was a harsh order, which meant that I might not be able to return home. We cut our nails and hair, wrapped them in paper and sent them back to the rear in case our bones were not recovered and could not be sent home. I put pictures of my family in my helmet.

At 8 p.m. on 3 February 1944, we left our positions, assembled at the company headquarters and prepared for the fight. We fixed bayonets on our rifles and pasted mud on them so that they did not reflect light. Sound-proofing was done on all metal articles: Company Commander Marukawa gave an address of instruction: 'Let everyone toast their lives to me in this operation' He was speaking in tears. Then about ten porcelain cups were brought in, filled with Japanese sake, and circulated among us. After we all had a sip the cups were thrown at a rock to be broken in pieces - a ritual before going into a hard battle.

We moved to a hill with a withered tree on it, located north of Buthidaung, where other units were also arriving. We lay flat on the south slope and waited. The enemy mortars shelled the hilltop at intervals of about 20 minutes with explosions on the other side of the hill but sometimes shells burst behind our rear. A shell burst where our machine gun company was and caused severe damage. We waited for almost seven hours. It was really torture to be kept waiting under the threat of shelling. In fact a shell exploded in our rear and shrapnel fell near my feet.

I felt relieved when I heard a low but stern voice, 'Prepare for departure!' The moon was still shining above the western hills, and I wondered whether we would be able to penetrate through the enemy line. We lined up where our comrades fell and smelled blood.

At 3.00 a.m. we started to advance towards the enemy in four lines. The moon was still slightly above the hill, and we hoped that it would go down soon. Fortunately the usual morning mist came flowing and covered us. Sixth Company led the advance followed by our 4th Company and then other units. We were worried about the sound of our army shoes treading the grass.

We came within 100 metres of the enemy front line, then 50 metres, but heard no enemy reactions. We advanced quietly, praying that nothing would happen. We advanced between two long hills, both about 70 metres high and stretching from north to south. I wondered why the enemy did not find us, so many troops advancing in a column of four lines.

As we advanced about one kilometre in the enemy area, we saw a light on our left. The sentry there seemed to be sleeping, and was killed by men of the advance platoon by bayonet. We walked or half-ran at a very fast pace without resting, and when we came to 2 kilometres from Taung Bazar, where we assumed the enemy headquarters would be, the dawn came up. We were really tired and kept tripping over for several hours. Our battalion commander ordered us to be the leading company, and we had to run fast to pass the 4th Company.

In front of Taung Bazar was a branch of the Mayu River, into which we jumped and waded through as the water was low. While we were climbing its steep north bank, we heard the sound of many planes. Instantly we thought they must be enemy planes, but this time they proved to be Japanese; we saw the red round marks clearly on their wings. The enemy stopped shooting and shelling all at once and we realised how helpful the powerful planes were. However, we seldom saw our planes. We got into Taung Bazar and captured many weapons. Then we chased the enemy retreating towards Sinzweya. As we came close to Sinzweya and looked down from the surrounding ridges, we saw enemy anti-aircraft guns in the tiny basin. We fired all our weapons at them and saw enemy soldiers running away here and there. After a while we were shelled heavily from the direction of Sinzweya; the shells exploded in our vicinity, wounding our battalion commander and company commander.

Our company went back to a Japanese position north-west of Buthidaung and received rations and ammunition, and then went up the winding river bed of the Ngakyedauk Creek to a western ridge surrounding Sinzweya, while the enemy mortars kept shelling on us at random.

As I looked down from the ridge, the enemy in the basin seemed wholly surrounded by our troops. In the night hundreds of tanks and armoured cars took position all around a small hill in the centre of the basin which formed a solid defence circle. Big transport planes flew over the basin and dropped plenty of supplies. After dark on 13 February, we arrived on the ridge of Point 1033 and rested until the moon came up as it was too dark to recognise our route. I lay on the rugged hillside and slept with knapsack on and rifle in my hands. After a while I woke up as it was very cold and when I tried to sleep again I heard three sounds of firing which were followed by deafening explosions and flashes. We lay flat in depressions preparing for the next development. I thought that some of us must have been hurt, but it was still very quiet. Then our medic Hayashi shouted out, 'Any men the 4th Company around? The Command Unit has been wiped out. A shell exploded in the centre of the headquarters of our company killing nine men and badly injuring five; only the commander and the medic were not hurt. I helped to bury the dead just as the moonlight came up. I missed Sergeant Nagao, whose home was close to mine.

The wounded soldiers were sent back to the rear, and we started moving and soon were met by men of Matsukihira (1st) Battalion of 112 Regiment. We were surprised to hear that Point 1033 where our Command Unit perished, was a fake headquarters \where a Japanese flag had been hoisted intentionally to attract enemy shelling. This was a favourite tactic of Major General Sakurai, our infantry group commander. We were sorry that we had halted at a most inappropriate place! We took over the roadblock, the only outlet to the west from the basin. I was impressed to see such a fine road in the mountain area which must have been built in a very short time. We built our positions on the slope, and small raiding parties were sent out under cover of night but were repulsed by the strong formation of tanks.

On 16 February we were shelled heavily by mortars from the rear of our positions. Somebody cried, 'Enemy attack!' Enemy soldiers came very close to us, so we threw hand grenades to daunt them and fired our machine guns and rifles with the utmost ferocity; to defend our positions. After a long fight the enemy finally retreated, but our company was surrounded, whereas we thought the Japanese had been encircling the British-Indians in the basin. Many of our men were killed or wounded, and the second toe of my right foot was injured by a mortar fragment.

On 19 February, after transferring our positions to Matsukihira Battalion, we moved eastward. I could not wear shoes as my right foot was bandaged, so I tied my shoes at my waist and kept up with the march. The wounded were carried on makeshift stretchers.

When we came to a ridge south of Point 1033, we heard a buzzing in the northern sky which turned out to be a formation of about twenty planes. We prayed that they would pass over us, but they dived and dropped many black objects with a whirring sound. They were coming towards us. We had been identified, and I covered my ears and lay flat on the ground as they exploded with a huge noise, dust and blast around us. I heard moans here and there in the thick dust. I thought I was saved. The severely wounded were carried on stretchers and the lightly wounded walked with sticks

While we were crossing Point 1033 at high speed, again we were shelled by mortars and two men were killed. Stretchers formed a longer line. We had run out of our food, and had not eaten for the past two days. It was very difficult to go down the mountain carrying stretchers when we were so exhausted and hungry. The line of stretchers was a miserable sight of defeated men.

At last we broke through an enemy advance post, and returned to our base in Buthidaung. After a brief rest, we moved to Kaladan Valley where 81 West African Division was advancing from the north.