Week 36: Jackson Bogle aand the China, Burma, India Theater in World War II
Many Chandlerites have played a role in some of the biggest events in national and world history. Dr. Chandler played a role in establishing the system of water distribution we use today; Olive Goodykoontz, a Chandler school teacher, was in fact a driving force in the reconstruction of Germany; and today’s subject, Jackson Bogle, fought alongside Chiang Kai-shek, the Leader of the Republic of China, in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater in World War II.
Jack, as he was known, was born in 1921 in Dexter, New Mexico. He attended Iowa State College, where he was commissioned a lieutenant in the U.S. Army as a junior. In 1942, he married Barbara Caine before shipping out for the CBI. Assigned to an artillery unit of the famed 10th Mountain Division, Bogle’s mission was to train the raw Chinese troops in artillery tactics.
As many of our fighting men and women have learned, when entering into a combat situation in a foreign place it’s as difficult to learn your ally’s politics and power structures as it is to fight the enemy. In 1979, Bogle explained that challenge when he was asked to speak to the Hump Pilots Association about his experiences in the CBI. The hump pilots were the American pilots who flew supplies over the Himalayas to troops on the ground in China, and invited Bogle to speak about what happened to all the material they delivered. In his speech, Bogle described the tug of war that existed between Chiang Kai-shek and his generals.
From his experience in the American military, Bogle assumed the Chinese military was similarly constructed with a top down structure. The reality was very different. As Bogle related: “When the Japanese invaded China in 1937, Chiang Kai-shek, a relatively young army officer…had gravitated to the top of a very shaky alliance among the various warlords, or provincial governors. This temporary alliance united them against the Japanese, but none of them were willing to integrate or subordinate their provincial troops to Chiang’s overall authority.”
This dynamic led to inaction on the ground. Bogle’s first combat experience in the CBI exemplified the rift between Chiang and his generals. Bogle explained: “When our Chinese artillery battalion arrived to be equipped and trained, it was a rather awkward situation. We Americans were baffled with their attitude. We couldn’t tell if they wanted the equipment or not. They were cordial, but very stand-offish. In several days the Japanese were in plain view of our howitzer positions. We were on high ground overlooking their activity across the river. This would have been a field artilleryman’s dream, but we couldn’t get the Chinese to fire a round or for that matter, accept the bare rudiments of familiarization with the weapons.”
This led to near disaster for Bogle and the other American soldiers. As he related: “All of a sudden, our Chinese artillery troops had vanished. Our interpreters said they had gone. The next thing we knew our interpreters had gone also. There was nothing between us and the Japanese but the river, and the Japanese were starting their crossing now. Our team….(tried)to get out of the encirclement the best we could. On foot we followed the few Chinese civilians remaining which we speculated as being looters, through the back paths and by-ways in a general southerly direction. In a few days we made it back to Ling Ling.”
This experience repeated itself throughout much of the conflict in the CBI. In the face of overwhelming Japanese force, the mistrust between Chiang and his generals led to confusion, ineffective military action, and near disaster for the Chinese and their allies alike. Despite these obstacles, Bogle and his fellow American and Chinese soldiers fought on, holding the Japanese at bay in the CBI while American forces island hopped their way towards Japan and the end of the war.