 The 70th Infantry Division, consisting of regular army troops, was considered one of the better and more experienced of the British divisions operating at this stage of the war.The Far East Command fully appreciated the arrival of this formation but instead of using the division as a complete formation it was decided to break it up for long range infiltration operations behind Japanese lines much against the wishes of General Slim, commander of the Fourteenth Army.The units of the division were converted into Chindit brigades and the battalions were organized into "columns".