Rangoon, the than capital of southeast Asian country Burma presently known as Myanmar was occupied by British Indian forces under the expansionist zeal of British empire after 3 successive war starting from eighteen hundred twenty four and finally resulting into inclusion of Burma in British India in eighteen hundred eighty five.
In 1942 world war 2 broke out and Japanese imperial forces attack the Southeast Asian colonies of British Empire under the slogan of Asia for Asian with this came the news of Allied reverses from all over Southeast Asia. The British had evacuated, the white residents and generally left the subject people to their fate results into anger and protest all over British India.
During all this the BURMA campaign starts primarily between the forces of the British Empire and China, with support from the United States, against the invading forces of the Empire of Japan, Thailand, and the Indian National Army constituted of prisoners of war of British Indian Army under Mohan Singh, an Indian officer of the British Indian Army in Malaya and later under Subhash Chander Bose.
Japanese conquest of Burma:
Japanese objectives in Burma were initially limited to the capture of Rangoon (now known as "Yangon"), the capital and principal seaport. This would close the overland supply line to China and provide a strategic bulwark to defend Japanese gains in British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies.
Japanese advance to the Indian frontier:
After the fall of Rangoon in March 1942, the Allies attempted to make a stand in the north of the country (Upper Burma), having been reinforced by a Chinese Expeditionary Force. The Allies were also faced with growing numbers of Burmese insurgents and the civil administration broke down in the areas they still held. Meanwhile Heavy Japanese Reinforcement after capture of Singapore, collapse of newly formed Burma Corps and with their forces cut off from almost all sources of supply, the Allied commanders finally decided to evacuate their forces from Burma.
Under great odds 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. 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.
The Japanese invasion of India 1944:
The British were led by Lt. Gen. William Slim, a brilliant tactician who re-formed and retrained the Eastern Army after its crushing defeat in Burma. The British and Indian forces were supported by planes commanded by the United States Army Gen. Joseph Stilwell. Once the Allies became certain that the Japanese planned to attack, General Slim withdrew his forces from western Burma and had them dig defensive positions in the hills around Imphal Valley, hoping to draw the Japanese into a battle far from their supply lines.
But none of the British commanders believed that the Japanese could cross the nearly impenetrable jungles around Kohima in force, so when a full division of nearly 15,000 Japanese troops came swarming out of the vegetation on April 4, the town was only lightly defended by some 1,500 British and Indian troops.
Race for Rangoon:
Though the Allied force had advanced successfully into central Burma, it was vital to capture the port of Rangoon before the monsoon to avoid a logistics crisis.
The Japanese occupation cause hardship for people and ill treatment by Japanese force resulted in a national uprising within Burma and the defection of the entire Burma National Army to the allied side. In addition to the allied advance, the Japanese now faced open rebellion behind their lines.
With reversal for Japanese forces all over South East Asia in 1945 British Indian forces eventually recaptured the Rangoon.
Result of Burma campaign:
The military and political results of the Burma campaign have been contentious on the Allied side. In military terms, the Japanese retained control of Burma until the result of the campaign was irrelevant to the fate of Japan. It was recognized by many contemporary US authorities and later American historians that the campaign was a "sideshow" and (apart from distracting some Japanese land forces from China or the Pacific) did not contribute to the defeat of Japan, although the recovery of Burma was reckoned a triumph for the British Indian Army. After the war ended, a combination of the pre-war agitation among the Burma population for independence and the economic ruin of Burma during the four years' campaign made it impossible for the former regime to be resumed. Within three years, both Burma and India were independent.
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