The Japanese Fifteenth Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Shihachi Katamura, held the central part of the front. During the monsoon from August to November, Fourteenth Army pursued the Japanese to the Chindwin River. The Japanese Twenty-eighth Army, which had withdrawn from Arakan and unsuccessfully resisted XXXIII Corps in the Irrawaddy valley, and the 105 Independent Brigade, were cut off in the Pegu Yomas, a range of low jungle-covered hills between the Irrawaddy and Sittang rivers. The British 2nd Division and British 36th Division, both of which were understrength and could not readily be reinforced, were withdrawn to India to reduce the demand for supplies. An Indian infantry section of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Rajput Regiment, about to go on patrol on the Arakan front in Burma, 1944. As the Japanese 55th Division attacked northwards in the Arakan, British forces employed new defensive techniques to counter Japanese infiltration tactics. Within weeks, the war in the Far East was over, and the British and their allies were victorious. This was due to its geographical location. Allied plans As the monsoon rains ended late in 1944, the Allies were preparing to launch large-scale offensives into Japanese-occupied Burma. These efforts have also been criticised as fruitless because of the self-interest and corruption of Chiang Kai-Shek's regime. Neville Hogan interview Repeated British and Indian attacks failed with heavy casualties. If this could be achieved, the lines of communication to General Stilwell's forces and the airbases used to supply the Chinese over the Hump would be cut. At the start of May, Slim and Scoones began a counter-offensive against the Japanese 15th Division north of Imphal. Chief of Staff Burma, 1942 7 December 1941-26 May 1942 On 8 December 1941, after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war on Japan and became an active participant in. The Burmese referred to the invaders as the Taruk (after the central Asian Turkic troops that largely made up the Mongol invasion army); today, the term Taruk ( ) refers to the Han Chinese instead. Wars with Britain Burmese expansionism in the late eighteenth century caused strife with China, but it was Burmese general Maha Bandula's conquest of Assam in 1824 that would pit Burma against an enemy that would come to occupy it - Britain. With misgivings on the part of several of Mutaguchi's superiors and subordinates, Operation U-Go was launched.[36]. In accordance with the Thai military alliance with Japan that was signed on 21 December 1941, on 21 March, the Thais and Japanese also agreed that Karenni State and Shan States were to be under Thai control. The new ruler; Tharrawoddy refused to accept the treaty of Yandabo. The Allies suffered 12,500 casualties, including 2,269 killed. How Myanmar's military became a 'state within a state' that overthrew a The town was captured in four days, despite resistance to the last man. BBC - History - World Wars: The Burma Campaign 1941 - 1945 On the Allied side, operations in Burma over the remainder of 1942 and in 1943 were a study of military frustration. From this point, the advance down the main road to Rangoon faced little organised opposition. The new plan was a success. Despatch "Operations in Burma and North East India 16th November 1943 to 22nd June 1944", Learn how and when to remove this template message, Northern Burma and Western Yunnan (1943-1945), American-British-Dutch-Australian Command, lines of communication in North-eastern India, Barnaby Phillips follows the life of one of the forgotten heroes of World War II, Facts on File: World War II in the China-Burma-India theater, "__ ", Japanese conquest of Burma, December 1941 May 1942. 01 Sep 1939 End date: 15 Aug 1945 Event location: Italy, Greece, Sicily, France, Britain, Germany, Middle East, North Africa, Burma, Malaya, India, Far East, Pacific About: As in the First World War, Indian soldiers were called upon by Britain to help in the war effort. They planned to break out and rejoin Burma Area Army. The Chindits now moved from the Japanese rear areas to new bases closer to Stilwell's front, and were given additional tasks by Stilwell for which they were not equipped. The Twenty-Eighth Army was to continue to defend the Arakan and lower Irrawaddy valley (Operation KAN), while Thirty-Third Army would attempt to prevent the completion of the new road link between India and China by defending the cities of Bhamo and Lashio and mounting guerilla raids (Operation DAN).[9]. NCAC resumed its advance late in 1944, although it was progressively weakened by the flyout of Chinese troops to the main front in China. Bob, a 26-year-old miner who joined the military as a driver, was captured by the Japanese in 1941 and spent the following four years in a prisoner of war camp in Burma and Taiwan. Ironically, although some intercommunal rioting had erupted in . They shared the retreat with thousands ofcivilian refugeesfleeing northwards to India to escape the threat of Japanese brutality. Employing new tactics, using a combination of tanks and infantry, long columns advanced southwards, destroying Japanese resistance. King Thibaw Min King Mindon died in 1878 and was succeeded by his son, Thibaw who was a young man of nearly twenty years of age. In the Arakan, XV Indian Corps withstood, and then broke, a Japanese counterstrike, while the Japanese invasion of India resulted in unbearably heavy losses and the ejection of the Japanese back beyond the Chindwin River. In the spring of 1945, the other factor in the race for Rangoon was the years of preparation by the liaison organisation, Force 136, which resulted in a national uprising within Burma and the defection of the entire Burma National Army to the allied side. Bordered by India, China and Thailand, the country is surrounded by jungle-covered mountain ranges and divided by several major rivers. THE SECOND ANGLO-BURMESE WAR OF 1852. Reinforced by the third brigade of the 17th Indian Division which flew in to a captured airstrip, they struck Meiktila on 1 March and captured it in four days, despite resistance to the last man. Many troops were evacuated by sea, although British destroyers claimed several ships. Second World War (1939-1945) | Making Britain - The Open University British and Empire forces under GeneralsAlexanderandSlimbegan the long and tortuous withdrawalto India. On the other hand, ChinaIndia relations were positive from the cooperative Burma Road, built to reach the Chinese Y Force and the Chinese war effort inside of China, as well as from the heroic missions over the extremely dangerous air route over the Himalayas, nicknamed "The Hump". They were ordered to move to Toungoo to block the road to Rangoon but a general uprising by Karen guerrillas who had been organised and equipped by Force 136 delayed them long enough for the 5th Indian Division to reach the town first on 23 April. The new commander of Fifteenth Army, Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi was keen to mount an offensive against India. The Burma Campaign 1941 - 1945 - Grand Valley State University [22] This column was initially delayed by the remnants of the Japanese 49th Division defending a village but bypassed them to defeat the remnants of the Japanese 53rd Division and destroy the last tanks remaining to the Japanese 14th Tank regiment. The Indian Eastern Army intended to reoccupy the Mayu peninsula and Akyab Island, which had an important airfield. Let me start with a few comments marking the 500th day of the war in Ukraine. The Japanese successfully attacked over the Kawkareik Pass and captured the port of Moulmein at the mouth of the Salween River after overcoming stiff resistance. Neither side wanted this fight at the start, but there were many remarkable feats of arms as the war progressed. By the end of 1944, the Allies were ready to advance onto the central plains of Burma. Osprey Publishing, p. 6. Two months laterRangoonfell and Japanese troops retreated to the River Sittang. To cover this break-out, Kimura ordered Honda's Thirty-third Army to mount a diversionary offensive across the Sittang, although the entire army could muster the strength of barely a regiment. 1:22 p.m. EDT MR MILLER: All right. BBC News Captain Robin Rowland was 22 when his regiment was deployed to the north-eastern Indian town of Kohima. The command on the front was rearranged in November 1944. The Japanese briefly recaptured Toungoo once the 5th Indian Division had passed through but the 19th Indian Division, which was following up the leading units of IV Corps, captured the town again and slowly drove the Japanese back towards Mawchi to the east.[25]. British and Indian casualties were minimal. The rest of the Chinese troops tried to return to Yunnan through remote mountainous forests and of these, at least half died. [27] British and Indian casualties were minimal. As the monsoon rains ended late in 1944, the Allies were preparing to launch large-scale offensives into Japanese-occupied Burma. Fighting intensified in 1944, and British Empire forces peaked at around 1 million land and air forces. On 1 May, a Gurkha parachute battalion was dropped on Elephant Point, and cleared Japanese rearguards from the mouth of the Yangon River. In late March, he therefore asked for Dracula to be reinstated at short notice. Imperial Japan was supported by the Thai Phayap Army, as well as two collaborationist independence movements and armies. A US-led guerrilla force, OSS Detachment 101, took over the military responsibilities of NCAC,[17] while British civil affairs and other units such as the Civil Affairs Service (Burma) stepped in to take over its other responsibilities. Efforts to improve the training of Allied troops took time and in forward areas poor morale and endemic disease combined to reduce the strength and effectiveness of the fighting units. The Japanese evacuated Akyab Island on 31 December 1944. would probably not be made available until the war in Europe was won. They achieved several objectives, but at the cost of heavy casualties. Michael Hickey describes the highs and lows of the campaign, the personalities involved, and the effect it had on East-West politics once World War Two was over. The Japanese resisted for several weeks but Bhamo fell on 15 December. Mutaguchi (and Kawabe) continued to order renewed attacks. The dropping of the atomic bombs forestalled Zipper but the operation was undertaken post-war as the quickest way of getting occupation troops into Malaya. Recognising that most of his formations were weak and short of equipment, he withdrew his forces behind the Irrawaddy River, forcing the Allies to greatly extend their lines of communication. Despatch "Operations in Burma 12th November 1944 to 15th August 1945". The Second World War was a worldwide conflict and Canadians served around the globe. They formed the Anti-Fascist Organisation and intended turning against the Japanese at some stage but Thakin Soe dissuaded Aung San from openly rebelling until Allied forces had established permanent footholds in Burma. There was heavy fighting, which attracted Japanese reserves and fixed their attention. With the effective collapse of the entire defensive line, there was little choice left other than an overland retreat to India or to Yunnan. Aerial reconnaissance photograph of the Sittang Bridgein southern Burma,which was destroyed in the face of the advancing Japanese on 23 February 1942. The next intended operation was to be an amphibious assault on the western coast of Malaya, codenamed Operation Zipper. From December 1943 to November 1944 the strategic balance of the Burma campaign shifted decisively. A great deal was lost by the Japanese choice to make a last stand in the city itself. [42] From 1 April, NCAC's operations stopped, and its units returned to China and India. The book is the story of how Japanese victory in Burma in 1942 turned to profound defeat in 1944 and 1945 as the Allies convincingly smashed Japanese imperial pretensions in Asia. In the original conception of the plan to re-take Burma, it had been intended that the XV Indian Corps would make an amphibious assault codenamed Operation Dracula on Rangoon long before Fourteenth Army reached the capital, in order to ease supply problems. The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of Burma. The Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852) - Causes and Results 17th Indian Division and 255th Indian Tank Brigade followed them across and struck for Meiktila. The Indian National Army, led by Subhas C. Bose of the Free India movement, also collaborated with Imperial Japan, especially during Operation U-Go in 1944. The major effort was intended to be by American-trained Chinese troops of Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) under General Joseph Stilwell, to cover the construction of the Ledo Road. After capturing the railway tunnels, XV Corps halted during the monsoon. There was heavy fighting, which attracted Japanese reserves and fixed their attention. IV Corps, under Lieutenant-General Geoffry Scoones, had pushed forward two divisions to the Chindwin River. The defending force consisted only of two under-strength regular British battalions, two Indian Army infantry brigades and local Burmese forces. Units of both corps of the Fourteenth Army crossed the Chindwin and attacked into the Shwebo plain, IV Corps on the left and XXXIII Corps on the right. Realising that they could not win without British support, some of the X Force committed by Chiang Kai-shek made a hasty and disorganised retreat to India, where they were put under the command of the American General Joseph Stilwell. On 12 July, General Phin Choonhavan, who would become the Thai military governor of the occupied Shan State later in the war, ordered the 3rd Division of the Phayap Army from the southern part of the Shan State to occupy Karenni State and expel the Chinese 55th Division from Loikaw. The War In Burma In Their Own Words | Imperial War Museums The British 36th Division moved to Mandalay, which had been captured in March and was subsequently withdrawn to India. There was also a disastrous famine in Bengal, which may have led to 3 million deaths through starvation, disease and exposure. Orde Wingate had controversially gained approval for a greatly expanded Chindit force, which was given the task of assisting Stilwell by disrupting the Japanese lines of supply to the northern front. In World War Two, British Capt Peter Robert Sandham Bankes led a company of Chin tribesmen in Burma - now known as Myanmar - in repelling the Japanese advance on the . A strong force from the Japanese 55th Division infiltrated Allied lines to attack the 7th Indian Infantry Division from the rear, overrunning the divisional HQ. Nevertheless, the command resumed its advance. SEAC had to accommodate several rival plans, many of which had to be dropped for lack of resources. On the Allied side, political relations were mixed for much of the war. North of Imphal, 50th Indian Parachute Brigade was defeated at Sangshak by a regiment from the Japanese 31st Division on its way to Kohima. The leading troops of the 17th and 26th Indian divisions met at Hlegu, 28 miles (45km) north of Rangoon, on 6 May. A cohort of Japanese soldiers - who have been occupying Burma since 1942 - approaches the young man's position. The second action was controversial. Approximately 8,000 Canadians served in this area during what became known as the Burma Campaign. Its monsoon season affects roads and communications, and the climate produces dangerous wildlife and the threat of disease. Cheduba, the smaller of the two islands, had no Japanese garrison but the Battle of Ramree Island lasted for six weeks after the initial landings on 21 January by the 26th Indian Division before the survivors of the small but tenacious Japanese garrison withdrew from the island,[13][14] suffering heavy casualties to disease, starvation, Allied Motor Launches and other naval vessels and (allegedly) crocodiles.[15]. Their infiltration and encirclement tactics had failed to panic Allied troops and as the Japanese were unable to capture enemy supplies, they starved. Good to see everyone again. A bridgehead was retained in the Sagaing hills. The first truck convoy from India arrived in Kunming on 4 February[17] but by this point in the war the value of the Ledo road was uncertain, as it would not now affect the military situation in China. A new corps, the Indian XXXIV Corps, under Lieutenant-General Ouvry Lindfield Roberts was raised and assigned to Fourteenth Army for further operations. Honda, pressed by Kimura and Kimura's chief of staff, Tanaka, had attacked too early.
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