In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

194 CHAPTER฀ELEVEN A฀Plane฀Crash I฀ DEPARTURE฀FROM฀BURMA฀AND฀THAILAND BOSE฀and฀his฀INA฀party฀arrived฀at฀Moulmein฀by฀car฀on฀1฀May.฀Bose’s฀ plan฀ was฀ to฀ move฀ the฀ FIPG฀ and฀ INA฀ headquarters฀ to฀ Bangkok.฀ He฀ wanted฀to฀see฀General฀Kimura฀of฀the฀BAA,฀whose฀headquarters฀was฀ temporarily฀ at฀ Moulmein,฀ but฀ was฀ refused฀ on฀ grounds฀ of฀ security฀ precautions.฀ Bose฀ then฀ endeavoured฀ through฀ Isoda฀ to฀ arrange฀ rail฀ and฀ steamship฀ transport฀ for฀ everyone฀ to฀ Bangkok.฀ When฀ arrangements ฀ were฀ completed฀ Bose฀ went฀ on฀ by฀ car,฀ arriving฀ in฀ Bangkok฀ ฀ on฀12฀May.1 Bose฀had฀in฀the฀back฀of฀his฀mind฀the฀old฀plan฀to฀contact฀the฀Soviet฀ Ambassador฀ and฀ arrange฀ for฀ transportation฀ to฀ the฀ Soviet฀ Union฀ to฀ get฀ help฀ for฀ the฀ liberation฀ of฀ India฀ from฀ the฀ north.฀ Field-Marshal฀ Terauchi,฀ who฀ was฀ also฀ in฀ Bangkok,฀ hoped฀ Bose฀ would฀ consent฀ to฀ follow฀ headquarters฀ of฀ the฀ Southern฀Army฀ to฀ Saigon.฀ But฀ Bose฀ was฀ hoping฀ to฀ move฀ headquarters฀ north฀ to฀ China฀ with฀ INA฀ units,฀ and฀ ultimately฀to฀the฀Soviet฀Union.฀At฀length฀Bose฀agreed฀to฀go฀with฀the฀ Japanese฀ Army,฀ meanwhile฀ ordering฀ the฀ strengthening฀ of฀ the฀ INA-฀ IIL฀in฀Shanghai฀preparatory฀to฀going฀to฀Soviet฀Russia. But฀first฀Bose฀wanted฀to฀go฀to฀Singapore,฀last฀headquarters฀of฀the฀ FIPG฀and฀INA.฀In฀Singapore฀Bose฀got฀news฀of฀the฀offer฀of฀the฀British฀ Government฀ through฀ Lord฀ Wavell฀ to฀ reorganize฀ his฀ Viceroy’s฀ Executive ฀ Council,฀ adding฀ Indians฀ to฀ it.฀ Bose฀ broadcast฀ his฀ opposition฀ to฀ the฀ offer฀ from฀ Singapore฀ on฀ 18฀ June,฀ saying,฀ “It฀ is฀ crystal฀ clear฀ that฀any฀acceptance฀of฀Wavell’s฀offer฀will฀be฀tantamount฀to฀a฀voluntary ฀ shedding฀ of฀ precious฀ Indian฀ blood฀ and฀ draining฀ our฀ resources฀ in฀ fighting฀ Britain’s฀ imperialistic฀ war.฀ But฀ what฀ would฀ India฀ gain฀ ฀ 11฀IndNatArmy.indd฀฀฀194 4/11/08฀฀฀10:50:00฀AM 195 in฀ return?฀ Nothing,฀ except฀ a฀ few฀ jobs฀ on฀ the฀ Viceroy’s฀ Executive฀ Council.”2 ฀He฀appealed฀to฀Indians฀inside฀and฀outside฀India฀not฀to฀give฀ up฀the฀struggle,฀never฀to฀compromise. By฀ this฀ time฀ it฀ was฀ early฀ August.฀ Isoda฀ cabled฀ Bose฀ urging฀ him฀ to฀ hurry฀ to฀ Saigon.฀ Chief฀ of฀ Staff฀ Bhonsle฀ also฀ advised฀ Bose฀ of฀ the฀ urgency฀ of฀ completing฀ preparations฀ to฀ move฀ to฀ Saigon.฀ After฀ Bose฀ ฀ received฀a฀final฀telegram฀on฀16฀August฀with฀news฀of฀Japan’s฀acceptance฀ of฀the฀Potsdam฀Proclamation,฀he฀returned฀to฀Saigon.3 Not฀to฀be฀distracted฀from฀his฀single-minded฀purpose,฀Bose฀immediately ฀ visited฀ Field-Marshal฀ Terauchi฀ and฀ requested฀ transport฀ to฀ Soviet฀ Russia.฀ Terauchi฀ cabled฀ IGHQ฀ for฀ instructions.฀ The฀ reply฀ came฀back—negative.฀It฀would฀be฀unfair฀of฀Bose฀to฀write฀off฀Japan฀ ฀ and฀ go฀ over฀ to฀ Russia฀ after฀ receiving฀ so฀ much฀ help฀ from฀ Japan.฀ Terauchi฀ added฀ in฀ talking฀ with฀ Bose฀ that฀ it฀ would฀ be฀ unreasonable฀ for฀him฀to฀take฀a฀step฀which฀was฀opposed฀by฀the฀Japanese.฀Nevertheless ฀ Terauchi฀ was฀ determined,฀ on฀ his฀ own฀ responsibility฀ and฀ for฀ motives฀which฀cannot฀be฀fully฀fathomed,฀to฀comply฀with฀Bose’s฀desires .฀ Terauchi฀ made฀ arrangements฀ for฀ a฀ plane฀ to฀ fly฀ from฀ Saigon฀ to฀ Dairen,฀ Manchuria,฀ and฀ from฀ there฀ Bose฀ would฀ be฀ able฀ to฀ reach฀ Russia.4 ฀ The฀ war฀ was฀ over,฀ and฀ perhaps฀ Terauchi฀ wanted฀ simply฀ ฀ to฀make฀a฀final฀friendly฀gesture฀to฀Bose,฀to฀help฀him฀escape฀interrogation ฀by฀British฀or฀Americans. Colonel฀ Rahman,฀ S.A.฀Ayer฀ and฀ Colonel฀ Pritam฀ Singh฀ had฀ flown฀ with฀ Netaji฀ from฀ Bangkok฀ to฀ Saigon฀ on฀ 16฀ August.฀ Bose฀ hoped฀ to฀ take฀ these฀ three฀ men฀ and฀ Devnath฀ Das,฀ Colonel฀ Gulzara฀ Singh,฀ and฀ Major฀Abid฀ Hassan฀ to฀ Russia฀ with฀ him.฀ Bose’s฀ party฀ was฀ irate฀ when฀ they฀ heard฀ the฀ plane฀ could฀ carry฀ only฀ Bose฀ and฀ one฀ other฀ Indian .฀He฀asked฀his฀party฀to฀wait฀for฀the฀next฀plane฀when฀they฀could฀ all฀follow฀him.฀He฀chose฀as฀his฀travelling฀companion฀his฀trusted฀secretary ฀ and฀ aide.฀ Colonel฀ Habibur฀ Rahman.฀ The฀ others฀ were฀ flown฀ ฀ to฀Hanoi฀two฀days฀later;฀S.A.฀Ayer฀was฀flown฀to฀Tokyo. The฀plane฀was฀ready฀for฀the฀secret฀flight฀on฀17฀August.฀There฀was฀ an฀ hour’s฀ delay฀ at฀ the฀ Saigon฀ airport.฀ News฀ of฀ Netaji’s฀ departure฀ had฀ leaked฀ out฀ of฀ the฀ cordon฀ of฀ secrecy,฀ and฀ a฀ gift฀ of฀ treasure฀ contributed ฀ by฀ local฀ Indians฀ was฀ presented฀ to฀ Bose฀ as฀ he฀ was฀ about฀ to฀ board฀ the฀ plane.฀ The฀ two฀ heavy฀ strong-boxes฀ added฀ overweight฀ to฀ the฀ plane’s฀ full฀ load.฀At฀ noon฀ the฀ twin-engine฀ heavy฀ bomber฀ (Sally฀ type)฀ took฀ off,฀ winging฀ eastward฀ for฀ Taihoku฀ (Taipei),฀ Taiwan,฀ where฀it฀was฀to฀refuel฀en฀route฀to฀Manchuria.฀Aboard฀the฀plane฀were฀ Netaji,฀ his฀ secretary฀ Rahman,฀ a฀ Japanese฀ crew฀ of฀ three,฀ and฀ several฀ ฀ 11฀IndNatArmy.indd฀฀฀195...

Share