Japanese invasion of Burma
Japanese invasion of Burma | |||||||||
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Part of the Burma Campaign in World War II | |||||||||
View of the Yenangyaung oil field on 16 April 1942 after its destruction ahead of the Japanese advance | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
| Thailand (from 10 May) | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Strength | |||||||||
95,000[1] ~45,000[2] |
85,000[2] ~23,000[3][4] 35,000[5] | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
More than 10,000–50,000 civilians killed |
The Japanese invasion of Burma was the opening phase of the Burma campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II, which took place over four years from 1942 to 1945. During the first year of the campaign (December 1941 to mid-1942), the Japanese Army (with aid from Thai Phayap Army and Burmese insurgents) drove British Empire and Chinese forces out of Burma, then began the Japanese occupation of Burma and formed a nominally independent Burmese administrative government.
Background
British rule in Burma
Before the Second World War broke out, Burma was part of the
British defences
British plans for the defence of British Far Eastern possessions involved the construction of airfields linking Singapore and Malaya with India. These plans had not taken into account the fact that Britain was also at war with Germany, and when Japan entered the war, the forces needed to defend these possessions were not available. Burma had been regarded as a military "backwater", unlikely to be subjected to Japanese threat.[17]
Lieutenant General
Japanese plans
Japan entered the war primarily to obtain raw materials, especially oil, from European (particularly Dutch) possessions in South East Asia which were weakly defended because of the war in Europe. Their plans involved an attack on Burma partly because of Burma's own natural resources (which included some oil from fields around Yenangyaung, but also minerals such as cobalt and large surpluses of rice), but also to protect the flank of their main attack against Malaya and Singapore and provide a buffer zone to protect the territories they intended to occupy.[18]
An additional factor was the Burma Road completed in 1938, which linked Lashio, at the end of a railway from the port of Rangoon, with the Chinese province of Yunnan. This newly completed link was being used to move aid and munitions to the Chinese Nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-Shek which had been fighting the Japanese for several years. The Japanese naturally wished to cut this link.[19]
The
Burmese insurgents
As the threat of war grew, the Japanese sought links with potential allies in Burma. In late 1940
Japanese capture of Rangoon
On 22 December 1941, the Japanese 55th Division based in Bangkok, led by Lieutenant-General Takeshi Koga, was ordered to cross the Burma frontier, and capture Moulmein. By 17 January, the division was in
Rangoon was initially defended relatively successfully against Japanese air raids, by small RAF detachments reinforced by a squadron of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers". The majority of the airfields were between Rangoon and the Axis advance and as the Japanese gained use of the airfields in Tenasserim, the amount of warning the Rangoon airfields could get of attack decreased, and they became more and more untenable.
On 22 January 1942, the main body of the Japanese 55th Division began the main attack westward from
Battle of Pa-an
In the early hours of 12 February, 1942, a fierce battle was fought between three companies of the 7th battalion of the 10th Baluch Regiment (17th Indian Division), and three battalions of the 215 Infantry Regiment of the 33rd Japanese Division, at the village of Kuzeik along the west bank of the Salween River. The small town of Pa-an lay right across the river, on the east bank. The Japanese crossed the river from Pa-an under the cover of darkness, on the night of 11 February, and commenced attack at 45 minutes past midnight on 12 February.[23] The 'Baluchis', consisting of companies of Dogras, Punjabi Mussalmans, and Pathans, were mostly made of freshly recruited men inexperienced in battle, trained in desert warfare, and having low supplies of arms and ammunition. Nonetheless, on that night, they put up a stiff resistance, holding their position for a few hours and engaging in much hand-to-hand combat. However, the Japanese were able to ultimately overrun the British positions by the morning of February 12,[24] by virtue of their much heavier numbers (the Baluchis were outnumbered by the Japanese one to five),[23] prior battle experience, and attacks on the British positions at Kuzeik by Japanese dive bombers in the preceding days and hours. The remnants of the British formations from this battle retreated northward, to the Brigade command at Thaton. Less than a third of the 7/10 Baluch survived this battle.[25][26][27] This battle is mostly referred to as the 'Battle of Pa-an', and sometimes as the 'Battle of Kuzeik-Pa-an'.
Sittang Bridge
The 17th Indian Division soon fell back further northward. They attempted to hold the Bilin River (14-19 February) and other fallback lines as they did so, but had too few troops to avoid being continually outflanked. The division eventually retreated toward the bridge over the
Many of the men of the 17th Division who were trapped on the Japanese-held side of the river made their way across to the west bank by swimming or on improvised rafts, but had to abandon almost all their equipment, including most of their small arms. This later led some to question the decision to blow the bridge, arguing that the river itself did not offer much of an obstacle to the Japanese, and that more harm than good was achieved, as it resulted in the stranding of two brigades and delayed the Japanese capture of Rangoon by ten days at most.[28]
Fall of Rangoon
Though the Sittang River was in theory a strong defensive position, the disaster at the bridge left the Allied forces too weak to hold it. General
Although the Australian government refused to allow its troops to be committed to Burma, some British and Indian reinforcements, including the British 7th Armoured Brigade (equipped with new M3 Stuart tanks)[31] and the 63rd Indian Infantry Brigade, landed in Rangoon. Alexander ordered counter-attacks against the Japanese at Pegu, 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Rangoon, but soon realised that there was no hope of defending Rangoon. On 7 March, the Burma Army evacuated Rangoon after implementing a scorched earth plan to deny the Japanese the use of its facilities. The port was destroyed and the oil terminal was blown up. As the Allies departed, the city was on fire.
The remnants of the Burma Army faced encirclement as they retreated north from the city, but broke through the Taukkyan Roadblock as the result of an error on the part of the local Japanese commander. Colonel Takanobu Sakuma, commanding the Japanese 214th Infantry Regiment, had been ordered to block the main road north from Rangoon to Prome while the main body of the 33rd Division circled round the city to attack from the west. The retreating British and Indian troops were thrown back when they attempted to break through Sakuma's road block. Alexander ordered another attack but found the Japanese had gone. Not realising that the British were evacuating Rangoon, Sakuma had withdrawn the road block, as ordered, once the 33rd Division reached its intended positions.[32] Had he not done so, the Japanese might have captured General Alexander and much of the rest of the Burma Army.
Japanese advance to the Salween and Chindwin
After the fall of Rangoon, the Allies tried to make a stand in central Burma. It was hoped that the
The Allies hoped that the Japanese advance would slow down; instead, it gained speed. The Japanese reinforced their two divisions in Burma with the
The Allies were also hampered by the progressive breakdown of the civil government in the areas they held, and the large numbers of refugees. The flow of refugees began soon after the
The commander of Burma Corps, Lieutenant General
On the eastern part of the front, in the
Allied retreat
The retreat was conducted in horrible circumstances. Starving refugees, disorganised stragglers, and the sick and wounded clogged the primitive roads and tracks leading to India.[35]
At least 500,000 civilian fugitives reached India, while an unknown number, conservatively estimated between 10,000 and 50,000, died along the way. In later months, 70 to 80% of those who reached India were afflicted with diseases such as dysentery, smallpox, malaria or cholera, with 30% "desperately so".[36]
On 26 April the British, Indian and Burmese forces joined the civilians in a full retreat.[37] The Burma Corps retreated to Manipur in India. At one stage, Alexander proposed that the 7th Armoured Brigade and one infantry brigade accompany the Chinese armies into Yunnan, but he was persuaded that the armoured brigade would quickly become ineffective once it was cut off from India.
The Japanese tried to cut off Burma Corps by sending troops by boat up the Chindwin River to seize the riverside port of Monywa on the night of 1/2 May.[38] The hastily reconstituted 1st Burma Division was unable to recapture Monywa, but allowed the rest of the Corps to withdraw to the north.[39] As the Corps tried to cross to Kalewa on the west bank of the Chindwin by ramshackle ferries on 10 May, the Japanese advancing from Monywa attempted to surround them in a "basin" encircled by cliffs at Shwegyin on the east bank. Although counter-attacks allowed the troops to escape, most of the Burma Corps' remaining equipment had to be destroyed or abandoned.[40] On 12 May, the Japanese occupied Kalewa, having covered 1,500 miles (2,400 km) in 127 days, fighting 34 battles.[41]
Burma Corps reached Imphal in Manipur just before the monsoon broke in May 1942. The ad hoc Burma Corps HQ was disbanded and IV Corps HQ, which had recently arrived in India, took over the front. The troops 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. Although the front-line units had maintained some semblance of order, many improvised units and rear-area troops had dissolved into a disorderly rout.[42] The troops were in an alarming state, with "hair-raising stories of atrocities and sufferings".[43]
The British Civil Government of Burma had meanwhile fallen back to
The Japanese advance cut off many of the Chinese troops from China. Many of them also retreated to India via the Hukawng Valley route and subsisted largely by looting, further increasing the misery of the refugees. The Chinese 38th Division however, commanded by Sun Li-jen, fought its way westward across the Chindwin, arriving at Imphal on 24 May, substantially intact although with heavy casualties.[45] The American General Joseph Stilwell also made his way to Imphal on foot, arriving on 20 May.[46] The remaining Chinese troops tried to return to Yunnan through remote mountainous forests but many died on the way.
The 23,000[47] Chinese soldiers who had retreated into India were put under the command of General Stilwell and were concentrated in camps at Ramgarh in Bihar. After recuperating they were re-equipped and retrained by American instructors.
Halt to operations
The Japanese 18th and 56th Divisions pursued the Chinese into Yunnan, but were ordered to halt on the
Thai occupation of Kayah and Shan States
On 21 December 1941, Thailand had signed a military alliance with Japan. On 21 March 1942, the Japanese agreed that Kayah State and the Shan States were to be under Thai control. The leading elements of the Thai Phayap Army crossed the border into the Shan States on 10 May 1942. Three Thai infantry divisions and one cavalry division, supported by the Royal Thai Air Force, captured Kengtung on 27 May. The opposition had been the 93rd Division of the National Revolutionary Army, which was already cut off by the Japanese advance to the Salween River and was retreating.
On 12 July 1942, a Thai division began to occupy Kayah State. They drove the Chinese 55th Division from Loikaw, taking many Chinese prisoners. The Thai remained in control of the Saharat Thai Doem for the remainder of the war. Their troops suffered from shortage of supplies and disease, but were not subjected to Allied attacks.
Later, Panlong Subtownship, a Chinese Muslim town in British Burma, was entirely destroyed by the Japanese forces during their invasion.[50] The Hui people, Ma Guanggui became the leader of the Hui Panglong self-defense guard created by the Kuomintang government of the Republic of China. The Japanese burned Panglong, driving out the over 200 Hui households out as refugees. Yunnan and Kokang received the refugees from Panglong. One of Ma Guanggui's nephews was Ma Yeye, a son of Ma Guanghua and he narrated the history of Panglong including the Japanese attack.[51]
An account of the Japanese attack on the Hui in Panglong was written and published in 1998 by a Hui from Panglong called "Panglong Booklet".[52] The Japanese attack caused the Hui Mu family to seek refuge in Panglong but they were driven out again to Yunnan when the Japanese attacked Panglong.[53]
See also
- prerogative powerarising from the invasion
Notes
- ^ a b Bradford, James. International Encyclopedia of Military History. Routledge, 2006, p. 221
- ^ a b Facts on File: World War II in the China-Burma-India theater Retrieved 20 March 2016
- ^ Bayly and Harper, p. 170
- ^ Donald M. Seekins, Historical Dictionary of Burma (Myanmar) (Scarecrow Press, 2006), pp. 123–126, 354.
- ISBN 978-0-312-10402-3.
- ^ a b c Japanese conquest of Burma, December 1941 – May 1942 Retrieved 20 March 2016
- ^ McLynn, The Burma Campaign: Disaster into Triumph, 1942–1945, p. 67.
- ^ a b Allen (1984), p. 638
- ISBN 978-0-316-08407-9.
- ] (includes 15,000 missing)
- ^ Zaloga, Steven. "M3 and M5 Stuart Light Tank 1940–45". Osprey Publishing, 18 Nov 1999. p. 14. According to Zaloga, all but one tank of the two regiments of the 7th Armoured Brigade had been lost.
- ^ Air Force Sixtieth Anniversary Commemorative Edition: The Flying Tigers p. 33 Retrieved 20 March 2016
- ISBN 9781442250970.
- ^ Allen, pp. 13–15
- ^ Allen, p. 9
- ^ Bayly and Harper, pp. 81–96
- ^ Jackson, pp. 387–388
- ^ Allen, pp. 6–7
- ^ Bayly and Harper, pp. 3, 8, 14
- ^ Bayly and Harper (2005), p. 174
- ^ Allen (1984), pp. 23–28
- ^ Allen, pp. 24–35
- ^ a b Carew, Tim (1969). The Longest Retreat: the Burma Campaign 1942. London: Hamish Hamilton. pp. 86–93.
- ISBN 978-1-5267-8324-0.
- ^ Randle, John (2004). Battle Tales from Burma. Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military. pp. 48–50.
- ^ Japanese Night Combat (PDF). Headquarters United States Army Forces, Far East, and Eight United States Army - Military History Section (Japanese Research Division). 1955.
- ^ Warren, Alan (2011). Burma 1942: the Road from Rangoon to Mandalay. London: Continuum. p. 85.
- ^ a b Allen, pp. 648–650
- ^ Allen, p. 3
- ^ Allen, pp. 48–49
- ^ Zaloga, Steven. M3 and M5 Stuart Light Tank 1940–45. Osprey Publishing, 1999. p. 14. [ISBN missing]
- ^ Allen, pp. 54–56
- ^ Bayly and Harper, p. 174
- ^ Bayley and Harper (2004), p. 168
- ^ a b Bayly and Harper, pp. 177–178
- ^ Tinker 1975, pp. 2–3, 11–12.
- ^ Tinker 1975, p. 10.
- ^ Allen, pp. 74–76
- ^ Slim (1956), p. 101
- ^ Slim, pp. 107–111
- ^ Allen (1984), pp. 72–79
- ^ Slim (1956), p. 118
- ^ Government of India 1945, p. 25.
- ^ Bayly and Harper, pp. 187–188
- ^ Slim, p. 115
- ^ Allen (1984), pp. 72–79
- ^ Bayley and Harper (2004), p. 196
- ^ Allen, p. 72
- ^ Bayly and Harper, p. 172
- ^ Forbes, Andrew; Henley, David (December 2015). "'Saharat Tai Doem' Thailand in Shan State, 1941–45". CPA Media.
- ^ Wen-Chin Chang, p. 122
- ^ Wen-Chin Chang, p. 124
- ^ Wen-Chin Chang, pp. 129–
References
- Allen, Louis (1984). Burma: The Longest War. Dent. ISBN 0-460-02474-4.
- Bayly, Christopher; Harper, Tim (2005). Forgotten Armies. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-140-29331-0.
- Government of India (1945). Famine Inquiry Commission, Report on Bengal. New Delhi: Government of India. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- Jackson, Ashley (2006). The British Empire and the Second World War. London: Hambledon Continuum. ISBN 978-1-85285-517-8.
- Rodger, George (10 August 1942). "75,000 Miles". ISSN 0024-3019.
- ISBN 0-304-29114-5.
- Tinker, Hugh (1975). "A Forgotten Long March: The Indian Exodus from Burma, 1942". Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. 6 (1): 1–15. S2CID 159785896.
- Wen-Chin, Chang (16 January 2015). Beyond Borders: Stories of Yunnanese Chinese Migrants of Burma. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-5450-9.
Further reading
- Carew, Tim. The Longest Retreat
- Calvert, Mike. Fighting Mad
- Dillon, Terence. Rangoon to Kohima
- Drea, Edward J. (1998). "An Allied Interpretation of the Pacific War". In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-1708-0.
- Fujino, Hideo. Singapore and Burma
- Grant, Ian Lyall & Tamayama, Kazuo Burma 1942: The Japanese Invasion
- Iida, ShojiroFrom the Battlefields
- Ikuhiko Hata Road to the Pacific War
- Hodsun, J.L. War in the Sun
- ISBN 0-304-36712-5.
- Latimer, Jon. Burma: The Forgotten War
- Moser, Don (1978). World War II: China-Burma-India. Time-Life. ISBN 978-0-8094-2484-9.
- Ochi, Harumi. Struggle in Burma
- Reynolds, E. Bruce. Thailand and Japan's Southern Advance
- Sadayoshi Shigematsu Fighting Around Burma
- Smyth, John Before the Dawn
- Sugita, Saiichi. Burma Operations
- Young, Edward M. Aerial Nationalism: A History of Aviation in Thailand
External links
- Burma Star Association
- "No. 37728". Viscount Wavell
- Sino-Japanese Air War 1937–45, see 1941 and 1942
- Burma Campaign, Orbat for 1942 campaign, Japan, Commonwealth, Chinese, USA
- A Forgotten Invasion: Thailand in Shan State, 1941–45
- Thailand's Northern Campaign in the Shan States 1942–45 at the Wayback Machine (archived 27 October 2009)
- Siam Goes to War
- Phayap Army