218 TURNING THE TIDE 1943–1944
When the Japanese invaded Burma in 1942, they stopped at the border
with British India, having achieved their goal to cut the Allied supply
route from the port of Rangoon (shown here, right) to Nationalist
China. Any attempt to recapture Burma by an advance from north-
east India would involve fighting across formidable terrain of
mountain and jungle. The difficulty of conducting such an offensive led
the Allies to develop Long Range Penetration groups—specially
trained infantry dropped into the jungle by parachute or glider. These
groups—the British Chindits led by General Orde Wingate, and their
American equivalents, Merrill’s Marauders, under General Frank
Merrill— operated for months behind Japanese lines in 1943–1944,
carrying out guerrilla attacks on troops and communications.
In response, the Japanese mounted an offensive across the Indian
border into Assam. Their 15th Army under General Renya Mutaguchi
advanced swiftly northward in March 1944, surrounding more than
100,000 troops of the British Indian Army at Imphal. They also attacked
Kohima on the road north of Imphal, where a garrison of 1,500 men
came under siege on April 4. By the time the undernourished and
disease-ridden Japanese troops were forced to withdraw into Burma
in July, they had suffered more than 50,000 casualties.The drive to Rangoon
The failed Assam invasion left the Japanese vulnerable to an Allied
counteroffensive. British and Indian forces under General William
Slim pressed southward from Imphal, crossing the Irrawaddy River
south of Mandalay in February 1945. Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist
troops cleared the Japanese from north-eastern Burma. After Slim’s
forces captured Mandalay and the important road junction at
Meiktila, they met determined counterattacks, but the balance of
forces had swung against
the Japanese. Burmese
anti-colonialists, who had
welcomed the Japanese in
1942, switched sides, and
the Burma National Army
joined in the British
advance to Rangoon.
The British secured the
port city in May after
amphibious landings.THE FIGHTBACK
IN BURMA
Occupied by Japan in spring 1942, Burma was recaptured
by British Empire troops toward the end of the war.
The campaign was characterized by tactical innovation
and fierce jungle fighting.
◁ Burma patrol
Allied soldiers search for Japanese
soldiers. After May 1945, Japanese
troops remained in Burma but their
operations were of little significance.US_218-219_Fightback_in_Burma.indd 218 19/03/19 5:40 PM