Fighting Cock: Being the History of the 23rd Indian Division, 1942-1947

This is the second divisional history I've waded through. The first was BALL OF FIRE by Antony Bret-James about the 5th Indian Division. The problem with divisional histories is that brigades come and go, battalions come and go and supporting units (armor, artillery, engineers) come and go, so you never really get to know any of the main characters. Only on a few occasions did the division actually fight as a cohesive unit. Most of the time one brigade was up north around Ukruhl, one brigade was on Shenam ridge and most of another brigade was in reserve around Palel, but battalions were rotated in and out of positions covering the Tiddim Road.The Division formally came into existence on January 1, 1944 and within three months was holding the area around Tulum near the Chindwin River. When Slim and Burma Corps escaped from the advancing Japanese Army in May, 1944, it was through lines held by the 23rd Indian Division. There they stayed for the rest of 1942, all of 1943 and the beginning of 1944. The 23rd Indian Division relieved 20th Indian Division around Sheenam and Palel in May, 1944. At the conclusion of the fighting around Imphal, the Division was rotated back to India for training and refurbishing. That was it. They were never used in Burma and were still in India in August, 1945 when Japan surrendured.Roberts sent two Brigades down the Tiddim Road to rescue the 17th Indian Division and two brigades were involved in the fighting around Scraggy, Gibraltar, Nippon Ridge, Pimple and Malta. When you view the pictures of the Gurkha Rifles after the fighting on Scraggy, those were elements of the 23rd.Two items of interest for the amature historian; the 4 Mahrattas fought with the 50th Indian Parachute Brigade at Sangshak. Individuals really interested in Sangshak should compare this book's version of the 4 Mahrattas actions at Sangshak with Seaman's book, "Sangshak." Hard to determine who is correct.The other item of interest is that several books about the war in Burma, or Slim's Fourteenth Army, don't even mention the 23rd Indian Division. At all.The Division was used for a short time in Malaya after the end of the war and was sent to Java. Probably the saddest part of the book. For some of these men to survive the fighting in Sheenam only to die in Java is the saddest part of the book for me. Eventually the Division was rotated out of Java, returned to India and dissolved.The good news is that A. J. F. Doulton is a wonderful writer. He obviously wrote this history with a dictionary in one hand and a thesaurus in the other. The writing is rich in adjectives and reminds me a little of Masters ROAD PAST MANDALAY.I couldn't find any further information about the author. He wrote in the third person and appears to have been part of the Division Headquarters staff, but I cannot find any biographical information. The book was originally published in the early 1950's and what I got from Amazon was an obvious reprint with no face plate, no dust jacket and no author's biography. If anyone has any further information about Lt. Col. A. J. F. Doulton I would be interested in learning more about him. Give me some contact information in your comment. Thanks.

I have not read this book but I will try to obtain a copy, they seem quite rare. I can add information about Col Alfred JF Doulton. From 1950-1955 Alfred Doulton was my housemaster at “The Lodge”, Uppingham School, where I think it’s safe to say Alfred Doulton excelled both as a schoolmaster, and as a housemaster. We both left Uppingham December 1955 and Alfred Doulton went on to be headmaster at Cranleigh School. I went to see him there a couple of times at Cranleigh, and he and his wife Daphney , always made me most welcome.

This book was bought as a present for my father in law. He was over the moon with it!!!