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When Pearl Harbor thrust America into World War II on December 7, 1941, few knew that same day marked the beginning of another crucial campaign half a world away. In Burma's steaming jungles, a small band of American volunteer pilots with shark-faced fighters would write aviation legend, while a crusty general nicknamed "Vinegar Joe" would lead Chinese armies in humanity's first stand against the seemingly unstoppable Japanese war machine.
December 7, 1941 - May 26, 1942
The Burma Campaign of 1942 represents one of the earliest U.S. military engagements in the Pacific Theater, beginning on December 7, 1941, the same day as Pearl Harbor, and concluding on May 26, 1942, with the Allied retreat from Burma. This campaign marked America's first significant ground and air combat operations against Imperial Japanese forces in Southeast Asia, establishing precedents for U.S. military cooperation with Chinese Nationalist forces and British Commonwealth troops.
The strategic importance of Burma centered on the Burma Road, which reopened in October 1940 as literally the sole lifeline to China. By late 1941, the United States was shipping lend-lease materiel by sea to the Burmese port of Rangoon, where it was transferred to railroad cars for the trip to Lashio in northern Burma and finally carried by truck over the 712-mile-long Burma Road to Kunming. The Japanese recognized that cutting this vital supply line would isolate China and free substantial Japanese forces for operations elsewhere in the Pacific.
The campaign's outcome would have far-reaching consequences for Allied strategy in the Pacific, establishing patterns of inter-Allied cooperation and conflict that would persist throughout the war. For American servicemen, participation in this campaign would earn them recognition through the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with the "Burma, 1942" campaign credit.
In February 1942 Stilwell was promoted to lieutenant general and was assigned to the China-Burma-India Theater (CBI), where Stilwell had three major roles: commander of all US forces in China, Burma, and India; deputy commander of the Burma-India Theater under Admiral Louis Mountbatten; and military advisor to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. Known as "Vinegar Joe" for his blunt candor, Stilwell was the military attache at the U.S. Embassy in Peking from 1935 to 1939 and became fluent in Chinese.
Stilwell and his Chinese troops entered Burma in mid-March 1942 and raced south to the important rail hub of Toungoo on the Sittang River. The first to arrive on the scene was the relatively well-armed Chinese 200th Mechanized Division. Despite his command designation, Stilwell faced constant challenges with Chinese commanders who refused to carry out orders from Stilwell until they had been cleared with the generalissimo, who persisted in his habit of constantly changing his mind.
The First American Volunteer Group was formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China. Operating in 1941–1942, it was composed of pilots from the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC), Navy (USN), and Marine Corps (USMC), and was commanded by Claire Lee Chennault. Chennault's 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) – better known as the "Flying Tigers" – began training in August 1941 and was primarily based out of Rangoon, Burma, and Kunming, Yunnan.
Flying Tigers Personnel and Equipment:
The Flying Tigers' primary role between December 1941 and July 1942 was to protect the Burma Road. Their first combat occurred Dec. 20, 1941–less than two weeks after Pearl Harbor, and they achieved remarkable success, reportedly destroying 296 enemy aircraft, while losing only 14 pilots in combat.
Under Lieutenant General Shōjirō Iida, the IJA 15th Army invaded the southern Burmese province of Tenasserim. The Fifteenth Army consisted initially of the highly regarded 33rd Infantry Division and the 55th Infantry Division. The Japanese invasion was carried out by General Shojiro Iida's Fifteenth Army, which initially consisted of 35,000 men in the 33rd and 55th Divisions. During the campaign the 18th and 56th Divisions joined the army, more than doubling the forces available to Iida.
Japanese Order of Battle - Burma 1942:
|
Division |
Commander |
Primary Operations |
|
33rd Infantry Division |
Lt. Gen. Seizo Sakurai |
Sittang Bridge, Prome, Irrawaddy advance |
|
55th Infantry Division |
Lt. Gen. Takeshi Koga |
Kawkareik Pass, Moulmein, initial invasion |
|
56th Infantry Division |
- |
Toungoo, Lashio, Burma Road interdiction |
|
18th Infantry Division |
- |
Northern operations, reinforcement |
Shōjirō Iida was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. Iida was a native of Yamaguchi prefecture and a graduate of the 20th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1908. With the start of the Pacific War, Iida was transferred south to take command of the Japanese 25th Army in Japanese-occupied French Indochina in 1941.
On 20 January 1942, Iida's divisions crossed into Burma in the highly successful beginnings of the Burma Campaign. Iida's 35,000 men quickly outmaneuvered British forces despite inclement terrain and limited supplies. On 8 March, Iida took Rangoon, cutting the Burma Road and isolating China. By May, British and Chinese forces in Burma had been driven back to India and China with some 30,000 casualties, against Japanese losses numbering only 7,000.
The Japanese 55th Division attacked from Rahaeng, Siam across the Kawkareik Pass on 22 Jan 1942, and over the next nine days pushed the Smyth's troops to the Sittang Bridge, where they were enveloped and crushed. On 22 February, 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.
The disaster at Sittang Bridge exemplified the challenging conditions faced by Allied forces. Lieutenant General Shojiro Iida, commanding the 15th Army, stated, "I was then extremely worried … because of the increasing shortage of supplies. In order to pass through the rugged jungle of the Thai-Burma border, the quantity of equipment and supplies was reduced to a minimum".
The walled town of Toungoo was a railroad station and road junction on the Mandalay-Rangoon road, and from it there was a road east into the Shan States that connected with the several roads from south to north that ultimately joined the Burma Road. A Japanese offensive begun in early March rapidly achieved success. However, the Chinese 200th Division held at Toungoo for twelve days against repeated Japanese assaults. Their stand represented the longest defensive action of any Allied force in the campaign.
The stubborn defense of Toungoo by the 200th Division was the longest defensive stand made by any of Burma's defenders and reflected great credit on the division and its commander. Five years after, the Japanese looked back on it as the hardest fighting of the campaign.
Although some units arrived, counterattacks failed and the new commander of Burma Army (General Harold Alexander), ordered the city to be evacuated on 7 March after its port and oil refinery had been destroyed. On 6 Mar, Japanese troops reached the city, and the final evacuation order was given by British officers on the next day. Retreating troops demolished the port facilities to prevent Japanese use.
The loss of Rangoon was catastrophic for Allied logistics and strategy, cutting the primary supply route to China and forcing a complete reorganization of Allied operations in Southeast Asia.
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.
Stilwell's Epic March: When Japan forced the Allied withdrawal from Burma in May 1942, Stilwell, at age 59, led a group of some 100 soldiers and civilians on a daring 140-mile march through the Burmese jungle and safely into India. This remarkable feat of leadership would become one of the legendary episodes of the campaign.
Flying Tigers Aircraft:
Chinese Forces Equipment:
Japanese Advantages:
