Manchukuo troops in Burma?

[Hama]

Reading through Philip Jowett's 'Rays of the Rising Sun' he makes one claim which caught me completely off guard. He says that generally the Manchukuo army remained within its own borders during the 1940s (which I knew), however he says that there is one report from 1944 of Manchukuo soldiers involved in the fighting in Burma. Has anyone else heard of this? I never heard anything before of Manchukuo soldiers being sent overseas and I'd like to know if this is true or not.

[Akira Takizawa]

I have never heard of it. I believe it is not true.

Taki

[Hama]

Me too. I have a suspicion that maybe this 'report' was talking about some Japanese army unit that had formerly been in Manchuria and maybe moved to the Burma region during the war. I have no proof, but that could make more sense. I doubt that any Manchukuo soldiers were sent to Burma.

[Skarpskytten]

Nope, never heard of it either. Don't beleive it.

[Stephen_Rynerson]

I encountered that reference in Jowett's book too a few years ago and have never been able to track down another source that supports it. Your speculation that Jowett got confused about a regular IJA unit that had previously served in Manchuria and was subsequently transferred to Burma is the most plausible explanation I've seen.

[Hama]

It's too bad Jowett doesn't provide footnotes in his work, it would at least be interesting to see what he was actually reading that lead him to mention these things.

In a section in 'Rays of the Rising Sun' about the Nanking Government puppet armies he also says: "There were also reports of 'puppet' soldiers being used by the Japanese in the Burma Campaign as auxiliary troops. According to one intelligence report of December 1942, 30,000 troops from north and central China were sent to Burma via Hainan Island. There were also reports of Manchukuoan troops being used in the same campaign although it is impossible to confirm these facts. The fact that the Japanese did not trust their 'puppet' allies to serve in China suggests that it was unlikely that they would let them serve in foreign lands."

The only 'puppet forces' that I know the Japanese used in Burma were local Burmese and Azad Hind troops.

[bertamingo]

It's too bad Jowett doesn't provide footnotes in his work, it would at least be interesting to see what he was actually reading that lead him to mention these things.

In a section in 'Rays of the Rising Sun' about the Nanking Government puppet armies he also says: "There were also reports of 'puppet' soldiers being used by the Japanese in the Burma Campaign as auxiliary troops. According to one intelligence report of December 1942, 30,000 troops from north and central China were sent to Burma via Hainan Island. There were also reports of Manchukuoan troops being used in the same campaign although it is impossible to confirm these facts. The fact that the Japanese did not trust their 'puppet' allies to serve in China suggests that it was unlikely that they would let them serve in foreign lands."

The only 'puppet forces' that I know the Japanese used in Burma were local Burmese and Azad Hind troops.

There's a book mentioning Indonesian conscripts sent to Burma as Japanese auxiliary soldiers or 'Heiho', though the statement can't be verified.

PS. A little search seems to confirm that statement, Indonesian Heiho troops were present in Burma, see:
http://www.theindonesianarmy.com/?p=69

[Hama]

Thanks for the info. I knew about the Indonesian auxiliaries but not that they were sent overseas.

[bertamingo]

You're surely welcome.

PS. Another book mentions Chinese Heihos fighting overseas, though not in Burma. Very curious about it!

[Eugen Pinak]

IMHO, stories of "Manchukuo troops in Burma" are of the same caliber, as "Korean troops defending Tarawa". Japanese widely recruited auxiliaries from many places in Asia, sometimes sending them far from home. But they also made clear distinction between them and allied troops (no matter, how poorly they were trained and led).
And Indonesian auxiliaries were sent overseas, but not in Burma. At least Japanese documents, quoted in "Asian Labor in the Wartime Japanese Empire: Unknown Histories" says nothing of this sort.

[driftwood]

Jowett seems to repeat this claim in his recent book Japan's Asian Allies 1941-45. On page 5 he says that, due to manpower shortages of the Japanese army as the war went on, some Manchukuo troops were sent to Sumatra and Burma.