A lot of Questions about WW2 Burma Campaign.

[Rob_bresnen]

World War Two is something of a mystery to me. I get very confused by force organisation and so on. Never the less, I have decide to start a Bolt Action campaign set in Burma, after 'accidentally' buying a lot of chindits on eBay. I have read the Ospary books on the chindits, and feel slightly more enlightened, but never the less I have a lot of burning questions.  

I also like the idea of building an British Indian Army representing the army struggling to hold back the Japanese invaders in the earliest part of the campaign.  

I was wondering if any of you can give me some advice about collecting and painting armies for a  'Burma' campaign.

Firstly some questions about the British Indian Army...

1) British Indian army fighting in Burma- did the where battle dress- like the ones made by Artizan Design ? If yes- what colour? Khaki of Jungle Green?
2) Same question but for regular British Army fighting as part of the British Indian Army in Burma (not chindits)?
3) Would Sikh and none Sikh units in the British Indian Army fight in the same units or would there be some segregation? If they were segregated, at what level? Platoon? Company or higher?
4) Were the officers of the British Indian Army white British, or Indian?
5) What tanks were the British Indian Army/7th Armoured Brigade using at the start of the Burma Campaign? What colour were the tanks painted?
6) Apart from Artizan does anyone else make British Indian figures?

Now for some other related questions...

7) What weapons/kit were used by the Indian National Army? How can I best represent them on the table top (in 28mm)? Did the INA have any armoured vehicals? if so, which ones?
Does anyone make suitable figures to represent the Chinese army in Burma?
9) Did all Japanese NCO's carry swords or was that reserved form certain classes?
10) Did the Chindits wear any unit makings and rank insignia on the shirts in the battle field? Most pictures do not show them with badges of any kind?
11) What uniform did the Chindit RAF officers wear?
12) Does anyone make figures suitable to use as Burmese civilians?
13) was the Japanese Imperial Army much different at the start of the Burma campaign, compared to the one that fought the Chindits later in the Campaign?
14) Similarly, what changes were made in the British Indian Army between the start of the campaign and the battles to retake Burma towards the end of the camping?

Now I appreciate that this is a lot of questions, but if any one could give some insight to even one or two that would help me a great deal. I might well add more questions to the list as I go along.

[David]

The indian army used the same equipment as the british army
British white officers
Tanks i know from pictures are the Honey, Grant and sherman
(Would Sikh and none Sikh units in the British Indian Army fight in the same units or would there be some segregation? If they were segregated, at what level? Platoon? Company or higher) Indian Battalions would have been made up from area eg Sikh battalion,Gurkhas etc
In the aftermath of the Indian mutiny, the three armies of the former Presidencies of the East India Company passed to the British crown.[4] After the Mutiny, recruitment switched to what the British called the "martial races," particularly Marathas, Bunts, Nairs, Rajputs, Yadavs, Kumaonis, Gurkhas, Garhwalis, Mohyals, Dogras, Jats, Sainis, Sikhs, Gakhars, Awans, Pashtuns, and Balochs.
Here some usefull information.
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?157120-British-Indian-Army-in-WW2
http://www.nwha.org/news_4Q2002/news_page12.html
http://www.ww2incolor.com/forum/showthread.php?1896-Gurkhas&s=e28efa77c8f7d23dedb3179c981bb313
http://www.ayo-gorkhali.org/index.php/en/gallery/aggallerywwtwo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Army_during_World_War_II
http://ww2total.com/WW2/History/Orders-of-Battle/Great-Britain/British-and-Empire-Armies-September-1939.htm
http://www.burmastar.org.uk/
http://www.rothwell.force9.co.uk/burmaweb/BurmaRegt.htm
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Military-History-669/2009/3/WWII-burma.htm
http://www.history.co.uk/explore-history/ww2/burma.html
hope this helps

[Helen]

Hi Rob,

I'll make a number of replies. I hope the link below offers some assistance.

Allied AFVs:

http://www.fireandfury.com/painting/burmaarmypaintingguide.pdf

Japanese ncos did carry swords.

Japanese organisations did change to meet operational requirements.

Google is your friend. You will be surprised what comes up.

Cheers,

Helen

[SpaceCudet]

There're a couple of guys who know a fair bit about Burma on the Battlefront WWII forum (who did the pdf mentioned in the previous post) so you may want to post your questions on there. http://www.fireandfury.com/phorum5/list.php?2

Note: this is Battlefront WWII by Fire and Fury NOT Flames of War by Battlefront.

[6milPhil]

My fave Sikh figures are Bob Murch's.



More: http://6milphil.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/sikhing-brillian-figures/


Here's a painting guide although all the paint refs are Humbrol:
http://www.fireandfury.com/painting/burmaarmypaintingguide.pdf

but there's an auto paint converter here: http://www.paint4models.com/

[Johnnytodd]

In 28mm You have quite a few options.

*** TAG makes some nice Gurkhas, Chindits as well as Japanese:

http://www.theassaultgroup.co.uk/store/home.php?cat=62

*** Brigade Games makes Pacific Aussies which can be substituted for British:

http://www.brigadegames.com/WW2--Diggers-in-the-Pacific-Aussies_c_31.html

*** Foundry has an old line of Chindits:

http://wargamesfoundry.com/historical_ranges/single_packs/ww2_second_world_war/british/

*** Copplestone makes both Sikh and Muslim Indian Infantry (but their uniforms are more WW1)

http://www.copplestonecastings.co.uk/range.php?range=BOB

[elysium64]

Artizan have some really nice sikhs
http://www.artizandesigns.com/list.php?cat=101&sub=109&page=1
Warlord Games do the best Chindits
http://www.warlordgames.com/store/catalogsearch/result/index/?dir=desc&limit=all&order=relevance&q=chindit
they also do Sikh heads for adding to plastic British

[Rob_bresnen]

Many thanks for your speedy and informative answers every one.

Please don't think I have been lazy and not done any research. WW2 is very new to me, and I get very confused. These questions are the result of many hours googling, and not instead of it. 

OK- so I have followed up you leads, and found them very interesting and helpful. Here's what I think I know now- please let me know if I am on the right lines.

The British Indian Army
Mostly white British officers, with Indian NCO's and soldiers
They wore Khaki Drill early in the war (1941-42) with some (but not all) units adopting Jungle Green from 1943 onwards. Turbans for Sikhs were Khaki.
Early war- British Soldiers in the Indian army woke Khaki Drill and might have worn Wosley helmets (like the Pulp Figures ones?)
Battalions were recruited by locality, so if I want to do a Punjabi battalion the men and NCOs will all come from that region.


Am I on the right lines so far?

[Rob_bresnen]

After A LOT of googling I have come across a few pictures of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma WW2. No one makes 28mm figures for this, and I was thinking about head-swapping soem Back of Beyond chinese.

Now bear in mind I am a WW2 novice- What would you say if I used slightly modified German caps? file off the badges, and a line of Green Stuff for the strap? Would that look OK, or crap? Is there a better alternative?

Feed back very welcome. Please.

Are the weapons right etc? I could convert a few to carry Bren guns or BAR.





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By the way- check out the cool wheels on that gun in the photo! I feel a conversion coming on!

These were the best heads I could find- not very chinese looking I am afraid.

I could try shaving off the BoB hats and re-sculpting them, but I think my GS skills might not be up to that. 

[Johnnytodd]

I think I would file off the crown of the Copplestone hats before I tried a head swap.  Reshape the hats to look more like the WW2 Nationalist style...

Did you see Murch's chinese?:

http://pulpfigures.com/products/category/14