Burma

[richardrli]

Were the campaigns against the Japanese in Burma as tough as those on the Pacific islands? I'm talking about the terrain and state of the enemy.

[Goldfish]

One important aspect of the Burma camaign (or, I should say the Allied campaign to retake Burma from 1943-45) was that the Japanese could withdraw, which was rarely an option in the Pacific and so few Japanese formations were completely wiped out as they would have been in the Pacific. The terrain was similar to the Pacific in some cases, thick rain forests, etc, but also had wide rivers with strong currents, mile-deep mountain gorges, and large population centers. The only comparison in the Pacific I would say, would be the Phillipines. Taiwan might have presented some of the same challenges had Allied forces landed there. Supply was also more difficult than it was in the Pacific. Supplies had to be shipped overland through India and then carried or air-dropped close to the front lines.

[Wm. Harris]

The terrain in Burma could be incredibly tough. The country consisted mainly of island-cities in a sea of jungles and hills, connected by few roads. It wouldn't be too much to say that the landscape, rather than the British/Indian army, was responsible for slowing the Japanese in 1942-43; they needed to build their own roads and railroads to move their forces up to the Indian border!

As Goldfish mentioned, the Allies had to be resupplied by air when they started their advance to liberate Burma in 1944. My grandfather flew on one of the squadrons doing this. A look at his logbook traces, in a roundabout way, the advance of the 14th Army to Rangoon. It's quite interesting, and gives a pretty good idea of just how severe the challenges of moving goods by land would have been.

Bill

[richardrli]

How difficult were the jungles in Burma compared to let's say Guadalcanal or the other islands?

[Peter H]

Guadalcanal actually had some grassland,open regions in the north.Cultivated palm plantations also existed.Historically the native population had settled on the northern coastal area and over the years had done a lot of slash and burn agricultural practices.This is where the bulk of the fighting occurred.

The only real,constant jungle fighting in the SW Pacific was at Bougainville,New Britain,New Guinea.

Photo from Follow Me!The Story of the Second Marine Division in World War 2,published 1947,page 64...."the grassy ridge west of the Matanikau",Guadalcanal.

[Goldfish]

The Burmese jungle was also very diverse, with cultivated rice fields, deep mountain valleys and wide rivers, but as to which was more "difficult", that would be hard to say. The men of Merrill's Marauders, many of them veterans of the South Pacific, found the Burmese jungle much more difficult, but that was because of the mountainous terrain they had to go through, which could quickly render military units almost worthless through sheer physical exhaustion. The Sino-American force in North Burma preferred to advance through the valleys, but flanking had to be done by crossing and recrossing these ridges. I guess, the fighting along the Kokoda (sp?) Trail would be similar to what was experienced in Burma.

[richardrli]

What was the fighting in Burma like? Was it extremely close range due to the terrain, and I know this through documentaries I seen about Guadalcanal. But could someone clarify that further?

[Artie Bucco]

What was the fighting in Burma like? Was it extremely close range due to the terrain, and I know this through documentaries I seen about Guadalcanal. But could someone clarify that further?

Jungle fighting in Burma was close range and was often times hand to hand, bayonet to bayonet and kukri to katana. It is mentioned before that Burma did have major urban centers which often led to fighting similar to that of Europe. I would also say that logistics in Burma were tougher than in the Pacific since air drops could miss their targets,convoys could get lost or be attacked by Japanese hold outs.