The Sittang Bridge: Blow It With the Division Behind?

John Smyth ("Jackie" Smyth) commands the 17th Indian Division in a disastrous retreat across Burma. A holder of the Victoria Cross won in 1915, he is falling back with his exhausted brigades toward the Sittang, a broad river whose single railway bridge, roughly adapted for vehicles, opens the road to Rangoon, the great port and key to the whole colony.

On 22 February the situation turns into a nightmare. The Japanese vanguard, faster than expected, infiltrates through the jungle and attacks the bridgehead on the west bank, where the demolition charges are laid. On the east bank, the bulk of the division is still trapped by traffic jams, bombing and confused fighting; the columns are stalled only a few kilometres from the sole crossing. If the Japanese seize the bridge intact, nothing stands between them and Rangoon.

On the night of 22–23 February, Smyth must decide the unthinkable. He can order the bridge destroyed at once to bar the road to Rangoon, sacrificing the two brigades left on the east bank; wait longer so that as many men as possible cross, at the risk that the enemy takes the bridge intact and pours toward the port; or attempt a partial or delayed demolition, hoping to gain a few hours without losing everything.