WAR IN BURMA

War in Burma 1942

War in Burma 1942

Introduction

In the history, World War II has been known as violent and one of the largest armed conflicts. Initiation of World War II continued to attract historians, military scholars and as well as veterans interests. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the ancient Myanmar becomes part of the British Empire and changed its name to Burma, or Myanmar in Spanish. The British stayed in Burma until a few years after World War II, in which the country was invaded by the Japanese. Since independence, Burma has gone for short democratic always aborted by military coups, the last of which, in 1990, prevented the rise to power of the woman who had won free elections overwhelmingly (Bayly, 2005, pp.247-249).

Discussion

Historical Background

In coordination with the attacks on the U.S. naval and army bases at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, and on the Philippines and other Pacific targets, imperial Japanese forces attacked objectives in Asia during December. They invaded Kowloon, Hong Kong, during December 8-10, forcing the British to withdraw to Hong Kong Island. When British major general C. M. Maltby refused a Japanese demand for surrender on December 13, the British crown colony came under continuous heavy attack during December 18-25 and fell on Christmas Day, with the loss of the British garrison of 12,000 killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. At the same time, on December 8, northern Malaya was invaded by 100,000 Japanese troops, who faced a British force of approximately equal numbers. Taken by surprise, the British forces were pushed steadily to the south; they fell back on Singapore by December 31. With the New Year came British defeat on the Malay Peninsula, which was followed during February 8-15 by the Japanese conquest of Singapore (Fraser, 2007, pp.358).

Reasons behind War

While Malaya and Singapore were being taken, Thailand and Burma fell under attack and were invaded during January-March. Here, with the aid of Chinese forces under the command of American general Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, Allied forces were able to regroup and offer sustained resistance. Nevertheless, under ceaseless pounding from the Japanese, the Allies were forced to retreat from Mandalay and from Burma. China was now cut off from the other Allies.

All that was left of Allied military presence in China was air power, chiefly in the form of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers," under Colonel Claire Chennault. Flying a small number of semi-obsolescent P-41 pursuit aircraft, Chennault's skilled and daring pilots were highly effective in the skies over China and Rangoon, intercepting Japanese bomber attacks and defending Rangoon itself. Together with British RAF squadrons, the Flying Tigers also supported the Allied troop withdrawal from Burma and were instrumental in preventing the destruction of this force (Keegan, 1991, pp. 243-255).

Japan decided to occupy the British Burma to protect bases in China, maintain expeditious route the call to China-Burma road linking British India to southern China, and seize the oil and Burmese ...