Burma Campaign

Burma Campaign
Part of the Pacific War during World War II
Burma topo en.jpg
Geography of Burma
Date January 1942 – July 1945
Location Burma
Result Allied victory
Belligerents

Flag of Japan - variant.svg Empire of Japan
AzadHindFlag.png Azad Hind (INA)
Flag of Burma Burma National Army
Flag of Thailand Thailand
Commanders

Flag of the United Kingdom Louis Mountbatten
Flag of the United Kingdom William Slim
Flag of the Republic of China Wei Lihuang
Flag of the Republic of China Sun Li-jen
Flag of the United States Joseph Stilwell
Flag of Burma Aung San (from 1945)

Flag of the Empire of Japan Masakazu Kawabe
Flag of the Empire of Japan Hyotaro Kimura
Flag of the Empire of Japan Renya Mutaguchi
AzadHindFlag.png Subhas C. Bose
Flag of Burma Aung San (until 1945)
Strength

Flag of the United Kingdom 60,000
Flag of the Republic of China 42,000 (1942)1; 100,000 (1944)2

Flag of the Empire of Japan 316,700 (1944)[1]
Flag of Thailand 35,000
Casualties and losses

Flag of the United Kingdom 71,244[2]

Flag of the Empire of Japan 144,000 killed3
1 Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma.
2 The X Force and Y Force.
3 Japanese Army
South-East Asian Theatre
French Indochina 1940 – French-Thai War – Thailand – Malaya – Dutch East Indies – Burma – Singapore – Indian Ocean 1942–45 – Air Raids 1944–45 – French Indochina 1945 – Malacca Strait – Tiderace
Burma Campaign
Japanese capture of Burma – Bilin River – Sittang Bridge – Pegu – Taukkyan – Toungoo – Shwedaung – Prome – Yenangyaung – Burma Campaign 1942-1943 – Chindits – Burma Campaign 1944 – U Go – Ngakyedauk – Imphal – Kohima – Burma Campaign 1944-1945 – Meiktila & Mandalay – Ramree Island – Dracula

The Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was fought primarily between British Commonwealth, Chinese and United States forces against the forces of the Empire of Japan, Thailand, the Burmese Independence Army and the Indian National Army. British Commonwealth land forces were drawn primarily from the United Kingdom, British India and Africa.

The campaign had a number of notable features. The geographical characteristics of the region meant that factors like weather, disease and terrain had a major effect on operations. The lack of transport infrastructure placed an emphasis on military engineering and air transport to move and supply troops, and evacuate wounded. The campaign was also politically complex, with the British, Americans and Chinese all having different strategic priorities.

Broadly speaking, the campaign divides into a number of phases. Firstly, the Japanese invasion which led to the expulsion of British, Indian and Chinese forces in 1942. Secondly, failed attempts by the Allies to mount offensives into Burma, lasting from late 1942 to early 1944. Thirdly, the Japanese invasion of India which ultimately failed following the battles of Imphal and Kohima, and finally the successful Allied offensive which reoccupied Burma from mid-1944 to mid-1945.

Contents

Japanese capture of Burma

Main article: Japanese capture of Burma
See also: Battle of Malaya
See also: Battle of Singapore
See also: Netherlands East Indies campaign

Japanese objectives in Burma were initially limited to the capture of the capital and principal seaport of Rangoon. This would close the overland supply line to China and provide a strategic bulwark to defend Japanese gains in Malaya and the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese Fifteenth Army, under Lieutenant General Shojiro Iida, initially consisting of only two infantry divisions, moved into northern Thailand (which had signed a treaty of friendship with Japan), and launched an attack over jungle-clad mountain ranges into the southern Burmese province of Tenasserim in January 1942.

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. They then advanced northwards, outflanking successive British defensive positions. Troops of 17th Indian Division tried to retreat over the Sittang River, but Japanese parties reached the vital bridge before they did. On February 22, the bridge was demolished to prevent its capture, a decision that has since been extremely contentious.

The loss of two brigades of 17th Indian Division meant that Rangoon could not be defended. General Wavell, the commander-in-chief of the ABDA Command, nevertheless ordered Rangoon to be held as he was expecting substantial reinforcements from the Middle East. Although some units arrived, counterattacks failed and the new commander of Burma Army (General Harold Alexander), ordered the city to be evacuated on March 7 after its port and oil refinery had been destroyed. The remnants of Burma Army broke out to the north, narrowly escaping encirclement.

Japanese advance to the Indian frontier

After the fall of Rangoon, the Allies decided to make a stand in the north of the country (Upper Burma), having been reinforced by a Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma. The Japanese had also been reinforced by two divisions made available by the capture of Singapore, and defeated both the newly organised Burma Corps and the Chinese force. The Allies were also faced with growing numbers of Burmese insurgents and the civil administration broke down in the areas they still held. With their forces cut off from almost all sources of supply, the Allied commanders finally decided to evacuate their forces from Burma.

The retreat was conducted in very difficult circumstances. Starving refugees, disorganised stragglers, and the sick and wounded clogged the primitive roads and tracks leading to India. Burma Corps managed to make it most of the way to Imphal, in Manipur in India just before the monsoon broke in May 1942, having lost most of their equipment and transport. There, they found themselves living out in the open under the torrential monsoon rains in extremely unhealthy circumstances. The army and civil authorities in India were very slow to respond to the needs of the troops and civilian refugees.

Due to lack of communication, when the British retreated from Burma, almost none of the Chinese knew about the retreat. Realising that they could not win without British support the Chinese troops committed by Chiang Kai-shek, designated as "X Force", made a hasty and disorganised retreat to India where they were put under the command of the American General Joseph Stilwell. After recuperating they were re-equipped and retrained by American instructors. Many of the rest of the Chinese troops tried to return to Yunnan through remote mountainous forests and out of these at least half died.

Thai army enters Burma

In accordance with the Thai military alliance with Japan that had been signed on December 21, 1941, the leading elements of the Thai Phayap Army crossed the border into the Shan States on May 10, 1942. At one time in the past the area had been part of the Ayutthaya kingdom. The boundary between the Japanese and Thai operations was generally the Salween. However, that area south of the Shan States known as Karenni States, the homeland of the Karens, was specifically retained under Japanese control.

Three Thai infantry and one cavalry division, spearheaded by armoured reconnaissance groups and supported by the air force, started their advance on May 10, and engaged the retreating Chinese 93rd Division. Kengtung, the main objective, was captured on May 27. Renewed offensives in June and November drove the Chinese back into Yunnan.

Allied setbacks, 1942 - 1943

Main article: Burma Campaign 1942-1943

The Japanese did not renew their offensive after the monsoon ended. They installed a nominally independent Burmese regime under Ba Maw, and reformed the Burma Independence Army on a more regular basis as the Burma National Army under Aung San. In practice, both government and army were strictly controlled by the Japanese authorities.

On the Allied side, operations in Burma over the remainder of 1942 and in 1943 were a study of military frustration. Britain could only maintain three active campaigns, and immediate offensives in both the Middle East and Far East proved impossible through lack of resources. The Middle East was accorded priority, being closer to home and in accordance with the "Germany First" policy in London and Washington.

The Allied buildup was also hampered by the disordered state of Eastern India at the time. There were violent "Quit India" protests in Bengal and Bihar [3], which required large numbers of British troops to suppress. There was also a disastrous famine in Bengal, which may ultimately have led to 3 million deaths through starvation, disease and exposure. In such conditions of chaos, it was difficult to improve the inadequate lines of communication to the front line in Assam, or make use of local industries for the war effort. Efforts to improve the training of Allied troops took time to become effective, and in the forward areas, poor morale and endemic disease reacted on each other to reduce the strength and effectiveness of the fighting units.

Nevertheless, the Allies mounted two operations during the 1942-1943 dry season. The first was a small scale offensive into the coastal Arakan region of Burma. The Indian "Eastern Army" intended to reoccupy the Mayu peninsula and Akyab Island, which had an important airfield. A division advanced to Donbaik, only a few miles from the end of the peninsula but was halted by a small Japanese force which was well dug-in. Strongly constructed Japanese bunkers resisted Allied attacks, which at this point lacked the tactical ability to overcome them despite repeated attempts. Japanese reinforcements arrived from Central Burma and crossed rivers and mountain ranges which the Allies had declared to be impassable, to hit the Allies' exposed left flank on and overran several units. The exhausted British were unable to hold any defensive lines and were forced to abandon much equipment and fall back almost to the Indian frontier.

The second action was much more controversial. Under the command of Brigadier Orde Wingate a long-range penetration unit, known as the Chindits, infiltrated through the Japanese front lines and marched deep into Burma with the initial aim of cutting the main north-south railway in Burma, in an operation codenamed Operation Longcloth. Some 3,000 men entered Burma in many columns. They did cause damage to the communications of the Japanese in northern Burma cutting the railway for possibly two weeks, but they suffered heavy casualties. Though the operational results can be questioned, the Chindits proved that British and Indian soldiers could live, move and fight as effectively as the Japanese in the jungle, and this aspect of the campaign was used to great propaganda effect, doing much to restore morale among Allied troops.

The Balance Shifts 1943-1944

Main article: Burma Campaign 1944

From December 1943 to November 1944 the strategic balance of the Burma campaign shifted decisively. Improvements in Allied leadership and training, coupled with the availability of greater firepower and growing Allied air superiority gave Allied forces a confidence they had previously lacked. In the Arakan XV Corps would withstand, and then break, a Japanese counterstroke, while the Japanese invasion of India would result in unbearably heavy losses and the ejection of the Japanese back beyond the Chindwin.

Allied plans

Lord Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, seen during his tour of the Arakan Front in February 1944.

In August 1943 the Allies created South East Asia Command (SEAC) a new combined command responsible for the South-East Asian Theatre, under Admiral Louis Mountbatten. The training, equipment, health and morale of Allied troops under British Fourteenth Army under Lieutenant General William Slim was improving, as was the capacity of the lines of communication in North-eastern India. An innovation was the extensive use of aircraft to transport and supply troops.

SEAC had to accommodate several rival plans, many of which had to be dropped for lack of resources. Amphibious landings on the Andaman Islands (Operation "Pigstick") and in Arakan were abandoned when the landing craft assigned were recalled to Europe in preparation for the Normandy Landings.

The major effort was to be by American-trained Chinese troops of Northern Combat Area Command under General Joseph Stilwell, to cover the construction of the Ledo Road. Orde Wingate had controversially gained approval for a greatly expanded Chindit force, which was tasked with assisting Stilwell by disrupting the Japanese lines of supply to the northern front. Chiang Kai-shek had also agreed reluctantly to mount an offensive from the Yunnan.

Under British Fourteenth Army, Indian XV Corps was preparing to renew the advance in Arakan province, while Indian IV Corps launched a tentative advance from Imphal in the centre of the long front to distract Japanese attention from the other offensives.

Japanese plans

Lieutenant General Kawabe

About the same time that SEAC was established, the Japanese created Burma Area Army under Lieutenant General Masakazu Kawabe, which took under command the Fifteenth Army and the newly-formed Twenty-Eighth Army.

The new commander of Fifteenth Army, Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi was keen to mount an offensive against India. Burma Area Army originally quashed this idea, but found that their superiors at Southern Expeditionary Army Group HQ in Singapore were keen on it. When the staff at Southern Expeditionary Army were persuaded that the plan was inherently risky, they in turn found that Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo was in favour of Mutaguchi's plan.

The Japanese were influenced to an unknown degree by Subhas Chandra Bose, commander of the Indian National Army. This was composed largely of Indian soldiers who had been captured in Malaya or Singapore. At his instigation, a substantial contingent of the INA joined in this Chalo Delhi ("March on Delhi"). Both Bose and Mutaguchi emphasised the advantages which would be gained by a successful attack into India. With misgivings on the part of several of Mutaguchi's superiors and subordinates, Operation U-Go was launched.[4]

Northern and Yunnan front 1943/44

Stilwell's forces initially consisted of two American-equipped Chinese divisions with a Chinese-manned M3 Light Tank battalion and an American long-range penetration brigade known as "Merrill's Marauders".

In October 1943 the Chinese 38th Division (led by Sun Li-jen) began to advance from Ledo towards Myitkyina and Mogaung while American engineers and Indian labourers extended the Ledo Road behind them. The Japanese 18th Division was repeatedly outflanked by the Marauders and threatened with encirclement.

In Operation Thursday the Chindits were to support Stilwell by interdicting Japanese communications in the region of Indaw. A brigade began marching across the Patkai mountains on February 5, 1944. In early March three other brigades were flown into landing zones behind Japanese lines by the USAAF 1st Air Commando Group and Royal Air Force and established defensive strongholds around Indaw.

Meanwhile, the Chinese forces on the Yunnan front mounted an attack starting in the second half of April, with nearly 40,000 troops crossing the Salween river on a 300km front. Soon some twelve Chinese divisions of 72,000 men, under General Wei Lihuang, were attacking the Japanese 56th Division. The Japanese forces in the North were now fighting on two fronts in northern Burma.

On May 17 control of the Chindits passed from Slim to Stilwell. The Chindits now moved from the Japanese rear areas to new bases closer to Stilwell's front, and were given additional tasks for which they were not equipped. They achieved several objectives, but at the cost of heavy casualties. By the end of June, they had linked up with Stilwell's forces but were exhausted, and were withdrawn to India.

Also on May 17, Merrill's Marauders captured the airfield at Myitkyina.[5] The Allies did not immediately follow up this success and the Japanese were able to reinforce the town, which fell only after a siege which lasted until August 3. The capture of Myitkyina helped secure the air link over the Hump.

By the end of May the Yunnan offensive, though hampered by the monsoon rains and lack of air support, succeeded in annihilating the garrison of Tengchung and eventually reached as far as Lungling. Strong Japanese reinforcements then counter-attacked and halted the Chinese advance.

Southern front 1943/44

In Arakan, Indian XV Corps under Lieutenant General Philip Christison renewed the advance on the Mayu peninsula. Ranges of steep hills channeled the advance into three attacks each by an Indian or West African division. The Indian 5th Infantry Division captured the small port of Maungdaw on January 9, 1944. The Corps then prepared to capture two railway tunnels linking Maungdaw with the Kalapanzin valley but the Japanese struck first. A strong force from the Japanese 55th Division infiltrated Allied lines to attack the Indian 7th Infantry Division from the rear, overrunning the divisional HQ.

Sikhs of the 7th Indian Division at an observation post in the Ngakyedauk Pass, February 1944.

Unlike previous occasions on which this had happened, the Allied forces stood firm against the attack, and supplies were dropped to them by parachute. In the Battle of the Admin Box from February 5 to February 23 1944, the Japanese concentrated on XV Corps' Administrative Area, defended mainly by service troops, but they were unable to deal with tanks supporting the defenders, while troops from 5th Division broke through the Ngakyedauk Pass to relieve the defenders of the box. Although battle casualties were approximately equal, the overall result was a heavy Japanese defeat. Their infiltration and encirclement tactics had failed to panic Allied troops, and as the Japanese were unable to capture enemy supplies, they themselves starved.

Over the next few weeks, XV Corps offensive wound down as the Allies concentrated on the Central Front. After capturing the railway tunnels, XV Corps halted during the monsoon.

The Japanese Invasion of India 1944

Imphal and Kohima Campaign
Main article: U Go Offensive

Indian IV Corps, under Lieutenant-General Geoffrey Scoones, had pushed forward two divisions to the Chindwin River. One division was in reserve at Imphal. There were indications that a major Japanese offensive was building. Slim and Scoones planned to withdraw and force the Japanese to fight with their logistics stretched beyond the limit. However, they misjudged the date on which the Japanese were to attack, and the strength they would use against some objectives.

The Japanese 15th Army consisted of three infantry divisions and a brigade-sized detachment ("Yamamoto Force"), and initially a regiment from the Indian National Army. Mutaguchi, the Army commander, planned to cut off and destroy the forward divisions of IV Corps, before capturing Imphal, while the 31st Division isolated Imphal by capturing Kohima. Mutaguchi intended to exploit the capture of Imphal by capturing the strategic city of Dimapur, in the Brahmaputra River valley. 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.

The Japanese troops crossed the Chindwin River on March 8. Scoones (and Slim) were slow to order their forward troops to withdraw and the Indian 17th Division was cut off at Tiddim. It fought its way back to Imphal with aid from Scoones's reserve division, supplied by parachute drops. North of Imphal, Indian 50th Parachute Brigade was defeated at Sangshak by a regiment from the Japanese 31st Division on its way to Kohima. Imphal had was left vulnerable to an attack by the Japanese 15th Division from the north but because the diversionary attack launched by Japanese in Arakan had already been defeated, Slim was able to move the Indian 5th Division by air to the Central Front. Two brigades went to Imphal, the other went to Dimapur from where it sent a detachment to Kohima.

Main article: Battle of Imphal
The scene on Scraggy Hill, captured by the 10th Gurkhas during the Battle of Imphal

By the end of the first week in April, Indian IV Corps had concentrated in the Imphal plain. The Japanese launched several offensives during the month, which were repulsed. At the start of May, Slim and Scoones began a counter-offensive against the Japanese 15th Division north of Imphal. Progress was slow, as movement was made difficult by monsoon rains and IV Corps was short of supplies.

Main article: Battle of Kohima
View of the Garrison Hill battlefield, the key to the British defences at Kohima.

Also at the beginning of April, the Japanese 31st Division under Lieutenant-General Kotoku Sato reached Kohima. Instead of isolating the small British garrison there and pressing on with his main force to Dimapur, Sato chose to capture the hill station. The siege lasted from on April 5 to April 18, when the exhausted defenders were relieved. A new formation HQ, the Indian XXXIII Corps under Lieutenant-General Montagu Stopford, now took over operations on this front. The British 2nd Infantry Division began a counter-offensive and by May 15, they had prised the Japanese off Kohima Ridge itself. After a pause during which more Allied reinforcements arrived, XXXIII Corps renewed its offensive.

By now, the Japanese were at the end of their endurance. Their troops (particularly 15th and 31st Divisions) were starving, and during the monsoon, disease rapidly spread among them. Lieutenant-General Sato had notified Mutaguchi that his division would withdraw from Kohima at the end of May if it were not supplied. In spite of orders to hold on, Sato did indeed retreat. The leading troops of IV Corps and XXXIII Corps met at Milestone 109 on the Dimapur-Imphal road on June 22, and the siege of Imphal was raised.

Mutaguchi (and Kawabe) continued to order renewed attacks. 33rd Division and Yamamoto Force made repeated efforts, but by the end of June they had suffered so many casualties both from battle and general sickness that they were unable to make any progress. The Imphal operation was finally broken off early in July, and the Japanese retreated painfully to the Chindwin River.

It was the largest defeat to that date in Japanese history. They had suffered 55,000 casualties, including 13,500 dead. Most of these losses were the result of disease, malnutrition and exhaustion. The Allies suffered 17,500 casualties. Mutaguchi was relieved of his command, as were most of his divisions' commanders.

From August to November, Fourteenth Army pursued the Japanese to the Chindwin River. While the 11th East Africa Division advanced down the Kabaw Valley from Tamu, the Indian 5th Division advanced along the mountainous Tiddim road. By the end of November, Kalewa had been recaptured, and several bridgeheads were established on the east bank of the Chindwin.

The Allied Reoccupation of Burma 1944-1945

Main article: Burma Campaign 1944-1945

The Allies launched a series of offensive operations into Burma during late 1944 and the first half of 1945. The command on the front was rearranged in November 1944. 11th Army Group was replaced by Allied Land Forces South East Asia and NCAC and XV Corps were placed directly under this new headquarters. Although the Allies were still attempting to complete the Ledo Road, it was apparent that it would not materially affect the course of the war in China.

The Japanese also made major changes in their command. The most important was the replacement of General Kawabe at Burma Area Army by Hyotaro Kimura. Kimura threw Allied plans into confusion by refusing to fight at the Chindwin River. Recognising that most of his formations were weak and short of equipment, he withdrew his forces behind the Irrawaddy River.

Southern Front 1944/45

British troops in a landing craft make their way ashore on Ramree Island, 21 January 1945.

In Arakan, XV Corps resumed its advance on Akyab Island for the third year in succession. This time the Japanese were far weaker, and retreated before the steady Allied advance. They evacuated Akyab Island on December 31 1944. It was occupied by XV Corps without resistance two days later.

Landing craft had now reached the theatre, and XV Corps launched amphibious attacks on the Myebon Peninsula on January 12, 1945, and at Kangaw ten days later, to cut off the retreating Japanese. There was severe fighting until the end of the month, in which the Japanese suffered heavy casualties.

An important objective for XV Corps was the capture of Ramree Island and Cheduba Island, to construct airfields which would support the Allies' operations in Central Burma. There was severe fighting on Ramree, in which most of the Japanese garrison died. XV Corps operations on the mainland were curtailed to release transport aircraft to support Fourteenth Army.

Northern Front 1944/45

NCAC resumed its advance late in 1944, although it was progressively weakened by the return of Chinese troops, and the transport aircraft which supported them, to the main front in China. On December 10, 1944, the British 36th Infantry Division on NCAC's right flank made contact with units of Fourteenth Army near Indaw in Northern Burma. Five days later, Chinese troops on the command's left flank captured the city of Bhamo.

NCAC made contact with Chiang's Yunnan armies on January 21 1945, and the Ledo road could finally be completed, although by this point in the war its value was uncertain. Chiang ordered the American General Sultan, commanding NCAC, to halt his advance at Lashio, which was captured on March 7. As usual, the British and Americans refused to understand that Chiang had to balance the needs of China as a whole against fighting the Japanese in a British colony.

The Japanese were concentrating on the fighting in Central Burma, and they now abandoned their northern front. From April 1, NCAC's operations stopped, and its units returned to China and India. A US-led guerrilla force, OSS Detachment 101, took over the remaining military responsibilities of NCAC.

Central Front 1944/45

Main article: Battles of Meiktila and Mandalay

Fourteenth Army, now consisting of IV Corps and XXXIII Corps, made the main offensive effort into Burma. Although the Japanese retreat over the Irrawaddy forced the Allies to completely change their plans, such was the Allies' material superiority particularly in logistics, that they were able to do so. IV Corps was switched in secret from the right to the left flank of the army and aimed to cross the Irrawaddy near Pakokku and seize the Japanese line-of-communication centre of Meiktila, while XXXIII Corps continued to advance on Mandalay.

Sherman tanks and trucks of 62nd Motorised Brigade advancing on Meiktila, March 1945.

During January and February, XXXIII Corps seized crossings over the Irrawaddy River near Mandalay. There was heavy fighting, which attracted Japanese reserves and fixed their attention. Late in February, Indian 7th Division, leading IV Corps, seized crossings at Nyaungu, near Pakokku. Indian 17th Division and 255th Indian Armoured brigade followed them across and struck for Meiktila. In the open terrain of Central Burma, this force outmanoeuvered Japanese defences and fell on Meiktila on March 1. The town was captured in four days, despite resistance to the last man.

The Japanese tried first to relieve the garrison at Meiktila, and then to recapture the town and destroy its defender. Their attacks were not properly coordinated, and were repulsed. By the end of March month the Japanese had suffered heavy casualties and lost most of their artillery, their chief anti-tank weapon. They broke off the attack and retreated to Pyawbwe.

XXXIII Corps had renewed its attack on Mandalay. It fell to Indian 19th Division on March 20, though the Japanese held the former citadel which the British called Fort Dufferin for another week. Much of the historically and culturally significant portions of Mandalay were burned to the ground. With the fall of Mandalay (and of Maymyo to its east), communications to the Japanese front in the north of Burma were cut, and the road link between India and China could finally be completed though far too late to matter much.

Race for Rangoon

A Stuart light tank of an Indian cavalry regiment during the advance on Rangoon, April 1945

Though the Allied force had advanced successfully into central Burma, it was vital to capture the port of Rangoon before the monsoon to avoid a logistic crisis. In the spring of 1945, the other factor in the race for Rangoon was the years of planning 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. In addition to the allied advance, the Japanese now faced open rebellion behind their lines.

XXXIII Corps mounted Fourteenth Army's secondary drive down the Irrawaddy River valley against stiff resistance from the Japanese 28th Army. IV Corps made the main attack, down the "Railway Valley", which was also followed by the Sittang River. They began by striking at a Japanese delaying position (held by the remnants of 33rd Army) at Pyawbwe. The attackers were initially halted by a strong defensive position behind a dry chaung, but a flanking move by tanks and mechanized infantry struck the Japanese from the rear and shattered them.

From this point, the advance down the main road to Rangoon faced little organised opposition. An uprising by Karen guerillas prevented the Japanese 15th Army reaching the major road centre of Toungoo before IV Corps captured it. The leading Allied troops met Japanese rearguards north of Pegu, 40 miles (64 km) north of Rangoon, on April 25. Kimura had formed the various service troops, naval personnel and even Japanese civilians in Rangoon into the Japanese 105 Independent Mixed Brigade. This scratch formation held up the British advance until April 30 and covered the evacuation of the Rangoon area.

Operation Dracula

The original conception of the plan to re-take Burma had seen XV Corps making an amphibious assault on Rangoon well before Fourteenth Army reached the capital, in order to ease supply problems. This operation, codenamed Operation Dracula was postponed as landing craft were lacking.

Slim feared that the Japanese would defend Rangoon to the last man through the monsoon, which would put Fourteenth Army in a disastrous supply situation. He therefore asked for Dracula to be re-mounted at short notice. However, Kimura had ordered Rangoon to be evacuated, starting on April 22. The Japanese 105 Independent Mixed Brigade, by holding Pegu, covered this evacuation.

On May 1, a Gurkha parachute battalion was dropped on Elephant Point, and cleared Japanese rearguards from the mouth of the Rangoon River. The Indian 26th Infantry Division landed the next day as the monsoon began, and took over Rangoon, which had seen an orgy of looting and lawlessness similar to the last days of the British in the city in 1942.

The leading troops of the Indian 17th and 26th divisions met at Hlegu, 28 miles (45 km) north of Rangoon, on May 6.

Final operations

Following the capture of Rangoon, a new Twelfth Army headquarters was created from XXXIII Corps HQ to take control of the formations which were to remain in Burma.

The Japanese 28th Army, after withdrawing from Arakan and resisting XXXIII Corps in the Irrawaddy valley, had retreated into the Pegu Yomas, a range of low jungle-covered hills between the Irrawaddy and Sittang rivers. They planned to break out and rejoin Burma Area Army. To cover this breakout, Kimura ordered 33rd Army to mount a diversionary offensive across the Sittang, although the entire army could muster the strength of barely a regiment. On July 3, they attacked British positions in the "Sittang Bend". On July 10, after a battle for country which was almost entirely flooded, both the Japanese and the Allies withdrew.

The Japanese had attacked too early. Sakurai's 28th Army was not ready to start the breakout until July 17. The breakout was a disaster. The British had placed ambushes or artillery concentrations on the routes the Japanese were to use. Hundreds of men drowned trying to cross the swollen Sittang on improvised bamboo floats and rafts. Burmese guerillas and bandits killed stragglers east of the river. The breakout cost the Japanese nearly 10,000 men, half the strength of 28th Army. British and Indian casualties were minimal.

Fourteenth Army (now under Lieutenant General Miles Dempsey) and XV Corps had returned to India to plan the next stage of the campaign to re-take south east Asia. A new corps, the Indian XXXIV Corps, under Lieutenant-General Ouvry Lindfield Roberts was raised and assigned to Fourteenth Army for further operations.

This was to be an amphibious assault on the western side of Malaya codenamed Operation Zipper. 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.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Allen, Burma: The Longest War, p.662
  2. ↑ Allen, Burma: The Longest War, p.638. Minimum of 6,665 dead, but not all fatalities recorded
  3. ↑ Bayly and Harper (2005) Forgotten Armies: Britain's Asian Empire and the War with Japan (London: Penguin Books)pp.247-249
  4. ↑ Allen, Burma: the Longest Campaign, pp. 157-170
  5. ↑ Allen, Burma: The Longest War, pp. 364-365

References

Bibliography

External links