Operation Krohcol, or the Battle for The Ledge, was a British operation in December 1941 to invade southern Thailand following the Japanese invasion of Malaya and of Thailand during World War II.
- 10th Indian Mountain Battery - Major D.G.C. Cowie
- 45th Field Company, Royal Bombay Sappers & Miners - Major J.R. Dinwiddie
The column that departed Kroh consisted of men from the 3/16th Punjab and some engineers under the command of Lt Col Henry Moorhead, carried in the Marmon-Herrington AWD trucks of the 2nd/3rd Australian Motor Transport Company under Major G.A.C. Kiernan. Krohcol was understrength and delayed due to a second battalion the 5/14th Punjab Regiment and a light artillery battery failing to arrive on time. The column left without them for a stretch of road cut through a steep hillside and bounded on the other side by sheer drop into a river and known as The Ledge.
Japanese Forces
5th Infantry Division
- 42nd Infantry Regiment - Colonel Tadao Ando
- Battalion, 42nd Regiment - Major Shigeharu Asaeda
- 2 Companies, 14th Tank Regiment
Battle of Betong
8 December
Krohcol crossed the frontier some 14 hours after the Japanese landings at Kota Bharu and met an opposing force from Thai policemen and civilian volunteers led by Major Prayoon Rattanakit, police commissioner of the town of Betong.
This force harassed the British column from the safety of the surrounding forests and felled rubber trees across the narrow road, slowing the progress of the Bren gun carriers. Much of the Thai population of Betong evacuated the town, deserting the Chinese and Indian merchants.
9 December
Thai resistance delayed the Punjabis until afternoon and they did not reach the town of Betong, only inside the frontier, until evening. When Krohcol entered Betong, a Thai constable commanding a police unit allowed them to pass through unopposed. He then approached Lt Col Moorhead and courteously apologised for the "mistake."