Burma and Asian Strategy in World War II

British and American Interests Converge over the Burma Road

Jun 7, 2009

While Great Britain was more interested in the preservation of empire and the security of British India, the United States needed Burma to supply Chiang Kai-Shek.

After the fall of Singapore and Japan’s dominance in Southeast Asia, Burma became the final frontier between British India and Imperial Japan. Rangoon was captured in 1942, effectively curtailing supply shipments to China over the Burma Road. This Chinese lifeline was subsequently closed. From 1942 until 1945, British and American policy regarding Burma was focused on expelling the Japanese, but for different reasons.

1942 was a very good year for the Japanese in the South Pacific. Despite setbacks at the Coral Sea and Midway, 1942 began as a year of unrelenting conquest. Great Britain, the great Asian imperial power, was defeated in every theater of operations. By the late spring, Admiral Nagumo’s bombardment of Ceylon forced the British admiralty to relocate its fractured fleet to Africa.

British India was highly vulnerable as were the Middle East oil fields where most of the Indian Army’s resources were concentrated. Few options existed for the recapture of Burma, however, and British military planners could not decide on the best course of action: whether to focus on Burma, Singapore, or some other vital area. Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s priorities involved, in the long run, the preservation of the empire.

American interests were very different. Burma represented a vital element in the reopening of the Burma Road, an almost obsessive goal of General Joseph Stilwell, serving in Chungking as advisor to Chiang Kai-Shek. Generalissimo Chiang was the leader of the Nationalist Chinese, fighting both the Japanese and the rising Communists in China.

American devotion to Chiang was passionate. China was desperately needed to fight Japan and airbases in China would enable the bombing of Japanese military installations as well as the home islands. Thus, a liberated Burma was essential in ensuring Chiang received necessary supplies. After the Burma Road was closed, supplying Chiang was reduced to flight transports, under the command of General Clair Chennault.

Efforts to drive the Japanese out of Burma began in late 1942 under General Sir Archibald Wavell but ended in disaster. Wavell’s Indian troops were ill prepared to fight the Japanese. Additionally, Wavell operated on a completely misguided notion that the Japanese military had been overrated and would never hold up as defenders. The debacle forced the British to begin a massive training program of Indian recruits and officers.

Britain also lacked air power. In the early years of the war, no British planes, even those obtained from the U.S., could match the Japanese Zero. And, although in conference after conference the naval option was stressed, Britain simply did not possess the naval strength to mount an amphibious operation liberating Burma.

By early 1945, General Sir William Slim, through a series of daring and bold strategic maneuvers, managed to defeat the Japanese and retake Burma. This could not have been accomplished without substantial air transport support, made possible by Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Wavell’s replacement. Mountbatten worked tirelessly to obtain the loan of American air transports. Slim has been considered the most capable commander in the 4-5 year Burma struggle.

By the spring of 1945, however, the Burma Road has ceased to be a vital part of U.S. policy as Chinese ports, cleared of Japanese occupation, could supply far more to Chiang than the remote bases serviced by the road or the airlift. Stilwell departed China in early 1945 to assume another command. Burma's liberation in 1945 was inconsequential.

By 1945, as the European war was drawing to a rapid close, it was also evident in Washington that Britain fully intended to reassert colonial claims once the Japanese had been defeated. This confirmed the vacillating policies of the British government regarding Burma during the war years.

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