Burma

= Burma   = • Two Japanese divisions attacked British Burma on 14 December 1941 • As they advanced, the British withdrew as they became aware of their weak position • ‘//It is evident that the Japanese now have two main objectives: One is to cut the Burma Road, in hopes of thus knocking China out of war, and the other is to widen the sphere of Japanese control in the Western Pacific, to such an extent that that Allies shall not have air or naval bases within attacking distance of Japan’// – George Orwell. BBC Radio Broadcast, London 20 December 1941. • The Japanese captured Ragoon, the capital on 8 March and Mandalay on 26 April 1942 • The British were driven out of Burma by 20 May and China’s overland supply route along the Burma Road was cut hence supplies to Chiang Kai-shek were cut • The British had proved incapable of defending their own colonies and powerless in the face of the Japanese advance Results: -Japan secured its position in Malaya against attack from the West and pushed its defence perimeter up the Indian border -There was now no British military presence in East Asia and this guaranteed that the Pacific war against Japan would be largely fought by the US.