Burma campaign
In January 1942, the Japanese Fifteenth Army under Lieutenant General Shōjirō Iida moved into northern Thailand and launched an attack over jungle-clad mountain ranges into the southern Burmese province of Tenasserim. The campaign began with a rapid advance that overwhelmed British defensive positions along the Kawkareik Pass. By March, the port of Moulmein had fallen after stiff resistance was overcome by motorized troops of the Japanese 56th Division. The fall of Rangoon on the 7th of March marked the collapse of the entire defensive line in Burma.
Huge numbers of Indians, Anglo-Indians, and Anglo-Burmese fled the country as the Japanese advanced. Around 600,000 people were in flight by the autumn of 1942. Perhaps 80,000 of those in flight would die from starvation, exhaustion, and disease. Some of the worst massacres during World War II in Burma were perpetrated not by the Japanese but by Burmese gangs linked to the Burma Independence Army.
Troops of the 17th Indian Infantry Division tried to retreat over the Sittaung River, but Japanese parties reached the vital bridge before they did. On the 22nd of February, the bridge was demolished to prevent its capture, a decision that has since been extremely contentious. The loss of two brigades meant that Rangoon could not be defended despite orders from General Archibald Wavell to hold the city. The remnants of the Burma Army broke out to the north, narrowly escaping encirclement.
The geographical characteristics of the region meant that 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. The climate of the region is dominated by the seasonal monsoon rains, which allowed effective campaigning for only just over half of each year.
In October 1938, American engineers and Indian laborers began extending the Ledo Road behind advancing Chinese forces. The India-China airlift delivered approximately 650,000 tons of material to China at a cost of 1,659 men and 594 aircraft. This dangerous route over the Himalayas became known as "The Hump" due to the extreme altitude required to cross the mountain range.
Starving refugees, disorganized stragglers, and the sick and wounded clogged the primitive roads and tracks leading to India during the retreat. Burma Corps managed to make it most of the way to Imphal in Manipur, India, just before the monsoon broke in May 1942. There, they found themselves living out in the open under torrential 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.
On the 8th of March 1944, Japanese troops crossed the Chindwin River with the bulk of the INA First Division under Shah Nawaz Khan defending their flanks from Chin and Kashin guerillas. Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi planned to cut off and destroy the forward divisions of IV Corps before capturing Imphal. The Japanese 31st Division alongside the INA 2nd division isolated Imphal by capturing Kohima.
The siege of Kohima lasted from 5 to the 18th of April when exhausted defenders were relieved. A new formation HQ, the Indian XXXIII Corps under Lieutenant-General Montagu Stopford, now took over operations on this front. By the 15th of May, they had prised the Japanese and INA off Kohima Ridge itself. The leading troops of IV Corps and XXXIII Corps met at Milestone 109 on the Dimapur-Imphal road on the 22nd of June, raising the siege of Imphal.
It was the greatest defeat to that date in Japanese history. They had suffered 50, 60,000 dead and 100,000 or more casualties. Most of these losses were the result of disease, malnutrition, and exhaustion. The Allies suffered 12,500 casualties, including 2,269 killed. Mutaguchi had already relieved all his divisions' commanders and was himself subsequently relieved of command.
The campaign was strongly affected by the political atmosphere which erupted in the South-East Asian regions occupied by Japan. These led to a Japanese-sponsored revolution during the initial invasion and the establishment of the State of Burma. The Provisional Government of Free India, with its Indian National Army fought under Imperial Japan, especially during Operation U-Go in 1944.
Subhas Chandra Bose, commander of the Indian National Army, influenced the Japanese to an unknown degree. This force was composed largely of Indian soldiers who had been captured in Malaya or Singapore, and Indians living in Malaya. At Bose's instigation, a substantial contingent of the INA joined in this Dilli Chalo march on Delhi with the war cry Jai Hind.
Thai army entered Burma in accordance with the Thai military alliance with Japan that was signed on the 21st of December 1941. On the 10th of May 1942, leading elements of the Thai Phayap Army under General J. R. Seriroengrit crossed the border into the Shan States. Kengtung, the main objective, was captured on the 27th of May. The Thais remained in control of the Shan States for the remainder of the war.
In late 1944 and early 1945, the Allies launched a series of offensive operations into Burma. Fourteenth Army made the main offensive effort into Burma while IV Corps switched from the right to the left flank of the army. They aimed to cross the Irrawaddy near Pakokku and seize the Japanese line-of-communication center of Meiktila.
On the 3rd of January 1945, XV Corps occupied Akyab Island without resistance as part of Operation Talon. 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. Most of the Japanese garrison died during the Battle of Ramree Island.
On the 2nd of May 1945, the monsoon rains began in full force. The Allied drive to liberate Rangoon before the rains had succeeded with only a few hours to spare. When they arrived, they discovered that Kimura had ordered Rangoon to be evacuated starting on the 22nd of April, leaving only a small 6,000 strong INA garrison under A.D. Loganathan who had managed to keep law and order in the city over the past two weeks.
After the war ended, a combination of pre-war agitation among the Bamar population for independence and economic ruin made it impossible for the former regime to be resumed. Within three years both Burma and India were independent. The campaign marked the final nail in the coffin for the INA after its short time in the limelight during Operation U-Go.
The American historian Raymond Callahan concluded that Slim's great victory helped the British leave Asia with some dignity unlike the French, Dutch or later Americans. The attempted Japanese invasion of India in 1944 was launched on unrealistic premises as after the Singapore debacle and loss of Burma in 1942, the British were bound to defend India at all costs.
The defense operations at Kohima and Imphal in 1944 have since taken on huge symbolic value as the turning of the tide in British fortunes in the war in the East. The remaining INA remnants alongside Bose would begin an epic retreat to Bangkok, regularly suffering casualties due to strafing from Allied planes and sporadic attacks from Aung San's Burmese resistance.
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Common questions
When did the Burma campaign begin and end?
The Burma campaign began in January 1942 and ended on the 2nd of May 1945. The Allied drive to liberate Rangoon succeeded with only a few hours to spare before the monsoon rains began.
Who commanded the Japanese Fifteenth Army during the initial invasion of Burma?
Lieutenant General Shōjirō Iida commanded the Japanese Fifteenth Army that moved into northern Thailand and launched an attack over jungle-clad mountain ranges into southern Burmese province of Tenasserim in January 1942.
How many people died during the retreat from Burma to India in 1942?
Perhaps 80,000 of the 600,000 people in flight by autumn 1942 would die from starvation, exhaustion, and disease while retreating through primitive roads and tracks leading to India.
What were the casualties suffered by the Japanese forces at the Battle of Imphal and Kohima?
Japanese forces suffered 50,60,000 dead and 100,000 or more casualties during the battles of Imphal and Kohima in 1944, with most losses resulting from disease, malnutrition, and exhaustion.
When did Thai troops enter the Shan States of Burma?
Leading elements of the Thai Phayap Army under General J. R. Seriroengrit crossed the border into the Shan States on the 10th of May 1942 and captured Kengtung on the 27th of May.