“This Officer joined the BAAG early in 1944 and forthwith was appointed 2nd in Command. Soon after his arrival the enemy operations around Changsha made it advisable to prepare plans for the evacuation of our HQs from Kweilin to Ishan and Lt.Col Milne was given the responsibility of planning the evacuation, and of preparing the operation orders for the move. The Operation involved moving all stores, equipment, furniture, archives, personnel and families of our Chinese staff and of the members of the Hongkong Volunteer Company serving with the forces in India, totalling in all some hundreds of souls.
When the time came for these plans to be put into effect. Lt.Col Milne was put in charge of the operation which turned out to be but one of many more moves necessitated by the continued enemy advance, moves which covered a period of over 4 months and entailed road travel under trying primitive conditions for some hundreds of miles from Kweilin to Kunming. Owing to the fact that the Commandant remained in Kweilin, Lt.Col Milne was in command of the Rear HQs throughout and he was responsible not only for the operation itself, but he had also to maintain contacts with our agents in enemy occupied territory and our forward posts in order to ensure continuity of our intelligence and E & E work.
The high standard of his organising ability is shown by the fact that throughout this long period, many times being pressed close by the enemy and always with totally inadequate transport, we suffered no loss of personnel and the weekly publication of KWIZ was maintained up to standard without intermission.
After regrouping in Kunming in December 1944, it was decided to divide the BAAG forward area into two and Lt.Col Milne was put in charge of the West section, his HQs based forward at Poseh. His first duty was to penetrate the large area newly occupied by the enemy in order to reestablish overland communications with our cut off posts and to lay down safe escape routes for evaders. He performed this task so successfully that within a few weeks our runners and officers were passing through the enemy territory with safety and 15 USAAF evaders were safely brought out by the overland routes he set up.
Lt.Col Milne was also one of the members of the BAAG who volunteered to be dropped or landed in Canton and Hongkong early in August in order to bring help to the PsW. This operation entailed no small amount of risk as the attitude of the Japanese was as then unknown. When the landing in Canton was eventually made on August 19th, the party was forcibly detained by the enemy and only released some hours later after lengthy negotiations.” (signed) L T Ride, Colonel.
Comments
Lt.Col, 1st Bn. Royal Scots.
Lt.Col, 1st Bn. Royal Scots.
“This Officer joined the BAAG early in 1944 and forthwith was appointed 2nd in Command. Soon after his arrival the enemy operations around Changsha made it advisable to prepare plans for the evacuation of our HQs from Kweilin to Ishan and Lt.Col Milne was given the responsibility of planning the evacuation, and of preparing the operation orders for the move. The Operation involved moving all stores, equipment, furniture, archives, personnel and families of our Chinese staff and of the members of the Hongkong Volunteer Company serving with the forces in India, totalling in all some hundreds of souls.
When the time came for these plans to be put into effect. Lt.Col Milne was put in charge of the operation which turned out to be but one of many more moves necessitated by the continued enemy advance, moves which covered a period of over 4 months and entailed road travel under trying primitive conditions for some hundreds of miles from Kweilin to Kunming. Owing to the fact that the Commandant remained in Kweilin, Lt.Col Milne was in command of the Rear HQs throughout and he was responsible not only for the operation itself, but he had also to maintain contacts with our agents in enemy occupied territory and our forward posts in order to ensure continuity of our intelligence and E & E work.
The high standard of his organising ability is shown by the fact that throughout this long period, many times being pressed close by the enemy and always with totally inadequate transport, we suffered no loss of personnel and the weekly publication of KWIZ was maintained up to standard without intermission.
After regrouping in Kunming in December 1944, it was decided to divide the BAAG forward area into two and Lt.Col Milne was put in charge of the West section, his HQs based forward at Poseh. His first duty was to penetrate the large area newly occupied by the enemy in order to reestablish overland communications with our cut off posts and to lay down safe escape routes for evaders. He performed this task so successfully that within a few weeks our runners and officers were passing through the enemy territory with safety and 15 USAAF evaders were safely brought out by the overland routes he set up.
Lt.Col Milne was also one of the members of the BAAG who volunteered to be dropped or landed in Canton and Hongkong early in August in order to bring help to the PsW. This operation entailed no small amount of risk as the attitude of the Japanese was as then unknown. When the landing in Canton was eventually made on August 19th, the party was forcibly detained by the enemy and only released some hours later after lengthy negotiations.” (signed) L T Ride, Colonel.