Visakhapatnam Port City: In the Japanese bombing and its aftermath

In the annals of World War II, the city of Visakhapatnam holds a unique and poignant place. This coastal city was not just a witness but a direct victim of the cataclysmic events that unfolded during the war. The year 1942 marked a turning point in the city’s history when it found itself in the crosshairs of Japanese bombers. This article delves into the harrowing experiences of Visakhapatnam during the Japanese bombing, and the impact of this magnanimous event on the days, weeks, and even years that followed.

The World War II began in Europe on 1st September 1939. Initially, the war was in the European sector. Japan entered the war on 22nd September 1940 with the invasion of French Indochina and officially formed an alliance with Germany and Italy on 27th September 1940. Malaya, which was under the British Administration, was occupied by Japan on 8th December 1941. They invaded Burma in January 1942, and Singapore in February 1942. With this, the war had spread to the Bay of Bengal. For Britain, it had become essential to keep the lines of communication in the Bay of Bengal to support their military campaign in the eastern sector to tackle the enemy. The Japanese strategy was to break these British lines of communication.  

Against this backdrop, there was an apprehension of a Japanese occupation of Visakhapatnam Port city in the minds of authorities vested with the responsibility of protecting the city, as well as in the minds of people living in the city. Considering the strategic importance of the city, the Government started bringing the Army, Navy and Air Force contingents in 1940 itself. For civil defence purposes, Mr Longhurst, a British police officer trained in Air Raid Precautions (ARP) in England, was appointed as in-charge of the ARP. A control room was established, trenches were dug, and bunkers were constructed for people to take shelter in the event of an air raid. An alarm system was established to warn of an impending air raid. People were trained and practical exercises were conducted to help them to seek shelter. A Fortress Commander was appointed to take combined control of all forces in the city and to direct civil administration in the event of aggression. Brigadier Berkeley was appointed as the Fortress Commander.    

During the run-up to the preparations for war, the Collector was ordered by the Madras government – perhaps at the instance of Military authorities – to prepare an evacuation plan in the event of an invasion of the town. The plan was to provide evacuation of all European personnel by rail, leaving all natives behind. British authorities were of the opinion that the Japanese quarrel was with the British, but not with the Indians, so they may not harm them. According to the plan, the Port officers and the Oil company officers were to leave last. But the Chief Railway Officer Mr H S Mallik, a Sikh, disapproved of the plan on the grounds that the natives would not allow the trains to move if they leave them behind. Similarly, the European in-charge of the Burma Shell Company also refused to cooperate. Whatever may be the practicability of the plan; this clearly indicates that the authorities certainly had an apprehension of a Japanese threat of occupation of Visakhapatnam city.  

While such preparations were on, unknown even to the British intelligence, an Imperial Japanese Navy’s light aircraft carrier, “RYUJO”, with six cruisers and four destroyers under the command of Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa, left Merug, in southern Burma on 1st April 1942, and sailed towards the eastern coast of India. Attacking and sinking 23 merchant ships on their way, RYUJO appeared on the sea coast of Visakhapatnam city on the morning of 6th April 1942. Before the citizens could take notice of this strange vessel, warplanes from the Aircraft Carrier took to the skies and flew over the city in formation. Air Raid Precautions sirens blew, and no one in the city had any doubt about it – the planes were Japanese, and they had come to bombard the city. People started running to take shelter at the nearest nominated place, as was being drilled by the ARP for the past few months.  

When the Japanese attacked the city and started dropping bombs on the telephone exchange, powerhouse (electricity generating house), and on the ships in the harbour, no gun was fired from the city upon those planes. A few ships, which were in the harbour with some old guns on board, fired upon the planes, but they flew beyond their range. One bomb fell on a bunker near the harbour workshop, and 8 persons who took shelter in that bunker lost their lives. The Japanese target appeared to be the harbour and the ships therein, and not the town, as no part of the town was bombed. In spite of the preparation for the defence of the city for nearly a year, the army stationed in the city was not equipped to protect the city, as no anti-aircraft guns were put up. The Navy, with only 4 minesweepers, was in no position to protect the harbour. A squadron of fighter planes from the Royal Air Force, which was planned to be stationed in the city, had not arrived by the time the Japanese raided the city.  

 The town was calm till the evening of the day of the bombing, but the real panic among the people became visible in the night. After the bombing, the residents of Visakhapatnam felt certain that a Japanese invasion was imminent, and the presence of a large Army in the town was in no way able to protect them. Before the next sunrise, two-thirds of the people fled to the suburbs in bullock carts, bicycles, carts or whatever mode of transportation available to them. It was not only the poor, but people from all walks of life – professionals, merchants, etc. – also left. However, the officers and staff in the Police and Collectorate remained but sent away their wives and children.  

The morning after the Japanese bombing, all shops were closed in Visakhapatnam. Life was almost paralyzed for those who were left in the city. The immediate problem for them was food supplies. All the rice merchants had left the city, locking their shops. The Collector, with his extraordinary powers, got the locks opened and distributed the rice. There was a commotion at the Presidency Bank for the withdrawal of money. It was probable that some people had purposely stayed back to withdraw money before leaving. However, all the staff members of the bank had left town, and the British agent of the bank could not cope with the demands by himself. The Collector provided some clerical assistance from his staff to the Agent. Another peculiar and immediate problem that cropped up to the civil authorities was caste rules. Most of the staff working in the Collector’s office were Brahmins, who ate meals cooked either by their wives or by another Brahmin only. However, all the staff members sent away their families, leaving no one to cook for them. The authorities at the Collector’s office needed to find a solution to this issue, for them to stay and attend to the work. The police caught hold of a Brahmin cook who was about to leave, and. either cajoled or coerced, he was employed to cook for about one hundred staff members for the next few days.  

Spencer & Co of Madras had a branch in the city which catered to the Europeans. All the staff including the Manager, who were all Anglo-Indians, left the town after the bombing. They left without locking the shop. The Collector, then, took control of it, and posted some staff to sell the items available at the rates mentioned in the price list, which was present in the shop. Interestingly – after normalcy was restored – while settling the accounts, Spencer & Co’s Madras office complained that the Collector’s staff used a wrong price list, meant for Income tax purposes. Prudently, they had not insisted on payment of the difference.  

Immediately after the Japanese bombing, a state of emergency was declared in the town of Visakhapatnam by the Fortress Commander, Col Berkeley. The biggest task for the Fortress Commander on the next day was to unload the ships that were in the Harbour and move the cargo away to a safer place immediately. The cargo consisted of cars, spare parts, beer, medical equipment and medicines. Besides these, one ship full of explosives was also found. To the good fortune of the Harbour and the city, no bomb fell on this ship, or else the consequences would have been disastrous. The labourers working in the harbour had all fled the night before. The authorities could manage to make a few of them stay, with the inducement of higher wages and midday meals. An army contingent of Gurkhas unloaded the explosives ship, and the explosives were moved to an undisclosed place, but the consignment of beer was taken by the Waltair Club. The medical equipment and the medicines found their way to the King George Hospital (KGH).  

Ten days after the Japanese bombing, General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief, India, landed in Visakhapatnam on his way from Madras to Calcutta. He informed the local Army, Navy, and Air Force officers and the Collector, who met him at the airport, that the Japanese may not return to Visakhapatnam as they had left the Bay of Bengal to fight with the United States in the Pacific Ocean (Midway battle). Very much delighted to hear the news from the Commander-in-Chief, the Collector immediately called for a public meeting that night. He made announcements that the Japanese would not be coming back to the city and that the people could safely return. His speech was widely publicized throughout the district, and people started returning slowly.  

However, dislocation and disruption continued to be caused to some of the institutions and private building owners even after the bombing, and this went on till the end of the war.  

While the Andhra University authorities were contemplating temporarily shifting the University out of Visakhapatnam, the Army decided to requisition the university’s land and buildings to reinforce their Army contingent with more units. During the war, when a state of emergency was declared, the owners of these lands and buildings had no option but to vacate and shift. Accordingly, the university was closed on 16th April 1942 (just ten days after the bombing) to prepare for shifting. The University Office and all teaching departments, except chemistry, were shifted to Guntur. The chemistry department was shifted to the Presidency College, Madras. After the war, the university returned to Visakhapatnam, in June 1945. For three years, the university was located outside of Visakhapatnam, and all its buildings were used by the Army.  

Besides the University land and buildings, the Army also requisitioned private buildings belonging to the families of Jaypore, Kasimkota and Bayya (Sir B N Sarma). The three buildings were situated close by, on the beach road between the present Naval Coast Battery and Novotel Hotel.  

The main target of the Japanese bombing was the Visakhapatnam Harbour. During the war, it had attained a very significant position. The Harbour – which was constructed and administered by Bengal Nagpur Railway till then – now came under the administration of the War Department in 1942. The Army carried out all operations in the harbour. It was handed back to the Bengal Nagpur Railway on 1st April 1946. it was under the Army for almost four years.  

The actual Japanese bombing of Visakhapatnam lasted only for a few hours on 4th April 1942. Fortunately, no major damage was done to the city. Unfortunately, 8 lives were lost when a bomb was dropped on a bunker near the powerhouse in the harbour area.  Among those who lost their lives at the bunker, were six workers in the harbour workshop and two policemen. In memory of their dead collogues, the employees of the workshop, cast brass plaques with names of all the 8 persons. One plaque was fixed to the wall in the workshop, and it remained there, till the present port authorities pulled down the workshop structure. The employees took it down before the demolition and preserved it. Another piece of plaque is displayed in the maritime museum block of the Visakha Museum.  

During the war, the Army, in the city, made two very useful contributions to the people. The first was the Gostani water supply scheme, which supplied 4 lakh gallons of water per day to the city. This was constructed by the Army Engineers. This water supply was connected to the town supply network.  The sudden entry of a large contingent of defence forces into the city during the war had created a water crisis. The Army, to meet its own needs, took up this scheme on a war footing. After the war, this was made use of by the municipality. The second contribution was a bridge on Meghadri Gedda, which was known as the ‘Sappers’ bridge’,

The reason and purpose behind the deployment of such large contingents of the Army, Navy and Air Force at Visakhapatnam during the World War II period were never officially stated by the Government, or by the Commanders of the Allied forces. The Collector of Visakhapatnam who worked during the wartime, later in his recollections of the war, stated that “We assumed, though I do not recollect ever being officially told, that Vizagapatam was to be a base for a planned invasion of Malay, and as a training ground for amphibious warfare”. Family records of one of the war veterans, Henry Leonard Boultbee (1901-1976) mention that “In 1945, he was commanding the much larger Combined Operations training centre at Vizagapatam on India’s east coast. It was from here that the Allied amphibious forces were to be launched for their invasion and recapture of Malay from the Japanese. The surrender of Japan occurred three weeks before D-Day of this operation. According to these post-war revelations, the real intention of the Allied Commanders, in stationing such a large force for about three years in Visakhapatnam  city, was to train a combined force of Army, Navy and Air Force for an amphibious attack on Malay. 

The Japanese bombing of Visakhapatnam during World War II was a significant chapter in the city’s history. While the scars of the bombings may have healed over time, the memories remain, serving as a stark reminder of the horrors of war and the enduring strength of the city and its inhabitants.

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