Japanese Occupation Period and World War II

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Description: "The Anti-Fascist People?s Freedom League (Burmese: ဖကျဆဈဆန့ျကငြျရေး ပွညျသူ့လှတျလပျရေး အဖှဲ့ခြုပျ, ... abbreviated AFPFL), or hpa hsa pa la (ဖဆပလ) by its Burmese acronym, was the main political party in Burma from 1945 until 1962. It was founded by the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) led by Thakin Soe, the Burma National Army (BNA) led by Aung San, and the People?s Revolutionary Party (PRP) (later evolved into the Socialist Party) led by U Nu, at a secret meeting in Pegu in August 1944 as the Anti-Fascist Organisation (AFO) to resist the Japanese occupation. The AFO was renamed the AFPFL after the defeat of Japan in order to resist the British colonial administration and achieve independence..."...Contents: 1 Fight for freedom... 2 Independence and civil war... 3 Parliamentary rule and AFPFL split... 4 Policies... 5 Demise... 6 See also... 7 References... 8 External links.
Source/publisher: Wikipedia
Date of entry/update: 2012-08-12
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was fought primarily between British Commonwealth, Chinese and United States forces against the forces of the Empire of Japan, Thailand, and the Indian National Army. British Commonwealth land forces were drawn primarily from British India. The Burmese Independence Army was trained by the Japanese and spearheaded the initial attacks against the British forces....Contents: 1 Japanese conquest of Burma: 1.1 Japanese advance to the Indian frontier; 1.2 Thai army enters Burma... 2 Allied setbacks, 1942–1943... 3 The Balance Shifts 1943–1944: 3.1 Allied plans; 3.2 Japanese plans; 3.3 Northern and Yunnan front 1943/44; 3.4 Southern front 1943/44... 4 The Japanese Invasion of India 1944... 5 The Allied Reoccupation of Burma 1944–1945: 5.1 Southern Front 1944/45; 5.2 Northern Front 1944/45; 5.3 Central Front 1944/45; 5.4 Race for Rangoon; 5.5 Operation Dracula... 6 Final operations... 7 Results... 8 See also... 9 Notes... 10 References... 11 Further reading... 12 External links: 12.1 Associations; 12.2 Museums; 12.3 Media; 12.4 Primary sources; 12.5 History.
Source/publisher: Wikipedia
Date of entry/update: 2012-08-14
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, the Thailand–Burma Railway and similar names, was a 415 kilometres (258 mi) railway between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar), built by the Empire of Japan during World War II, to support its forces in the Burma campaign. Forced labour was used in its construction. About 180,000 Asian labourers and 60,000 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) worked on the railway. Of these, around 90,000 Asian labourers (mainly romusha) and 16,000 Allied POWs died as a direct result of the project. The dead POWs included 6,318 British personnel, 2,815 Australians, 2,490 Dutch, about 356 Americans and a smaller number of Canadians and New Zealanders..."...Contents: 1 History: 1.1 Hellfire Pass; 1.2 Post-war... 2 Workers: 2.1 Conditions during construction; 2.2 Cemeteries and memorials; 2.3 Prominent people who helped build the line... 3 Significant bridges along the line... 4 See also... 5 References... 6 Book references... 7 External links.
Source/publisher: Wikipedia
Date of entry/update: 2012-08-14
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: Remembering the Forgotten Theater of World War II 65 books and other articles
Source/publisher: CHINA - BURMA - INDIA (CBI)
Date of entry/update: 2010-10-12
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Language: English
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Description: This collection of photos contains several hundred of Burma, mostly from WWII. Search for "Burma" within the different collections... The Hensley Photo Library: "This collection is comprised of photographs taken during World War II by an American serviceman, Glenn S. Hensley.(103 images of Burma); Government College of Arts and Crafts (Chennai) "The Museum of Contemporary Art, housed within the Government College of Arts and Crafts, has a photograph collection dated from the mid 1800s. The subjects of these photographs range from the hill tribes of Niligiris to pagodas and monuments of the Madras Presidency to guns and antiques from Fort St. George."(42 images of Burma); Keagle Photograph Library - "This collection is comprised of photographs taken during World War II by an American serviceman, Robert Keagle."(42 images of Burma); Bond Photograph Library - This collection is comprised of photographs taken during World War II by an American serviceman, Frank Bond (142 images of Burma).
Source/publisher: Digital South Asia Library
Date of entry/update: 2008-04-17
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The Japanese occupation of Burma refers to the period between 1942 and 1945 during World War II, when Burma was a part of the Empire of Japan. The Japanese had assisted formation of the Burma Independence Army, and trained the Thirty Comrades, who were the founders of the modern Armed Forces (Tatmadaw). The Burmese hoped to gain support of the Japanese in expelling the British, so that Burma could become independent. In 1942, during World War II, Japan invaded Burma and nominally declared Burma independent as the State of Burma on 1 August 1943. A puppet government led by Ba Maw was installed. Aung San, father of the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, nationalist leaders formed the Anti-Fascist Organisation (later renamed Anti-Fascist People?s Freedom League), which asked Great Britain to form a coalition with other Allies against the Japanese. By April 1945, the Allies had driven out the Japanese. Subsequently, negotiations began between the Burmese and the British for independence..."...Contents: 1 Background... 2 Occupation... 3 Massacre during the Occupation... 4 End of the Occupation... 5 See also... 6 References... 7 Further reading.
Source/publisher: Wikipedia
Date of entry/update: 2012-08-14
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: Archive footage on the construction of the Bridge over the River Kwai... in 6 parts..."The Burma Railway is a 415 km line between Bangkok, Thailand and Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar), built by the Empire of Japan during World War II, to support its forces in the Burma campaign. Forced labour was used in its construction. About 180,000 Asian labourers and 60,000 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) worked on the railway. Of these, around 90,000 Asian labourers and 16,000 Allied POWs died as a direct result of the project. The dead POWs included 6,318 British personnel, 2,815 Australians, 2,490 Dutch, about 356 Americans and a smaller number of Canadians. A railway route between Thailand and Burma had been surveyed at the beginning of the 20th century, by the British government of Burma, but the proposed course of the line — through hilly jungle terrain divided by many rivers — was considered too difficult to complete. In 1942, Japanese forces invaded Burma from Thailand and seized it from British control. To maintain their forces in Burma, the Japanese had to bring supplies and troops to Burma by sea, through the Strait of Malacca and the Andaman Sea. This route was vulnerable to attack by Allied submarines, and a different means of transport was needed. The obvious alternative was a railway. The Japanese started the project in June 1942. They intended to connect Ban Pong with Thanbyuzayat, through the Three Pagodas Pass. Construction started at the Thai end on 22 June 1942 and in Burma at roughly the same time. Most of the construction materials for the line, including tracks and sleepers, were brought from dismantled branches of the Federated Malay States Railway network and from the Netherlands East Indies. On 17 October 1943, the two sections of the line met about 18 km (11 miles) south of the Three Pagodas Pass at Konkuita (Kaeng Khoi Tha, Sangkhla Buri district, Kanchanaburi Province). Most of the POWs were then transferred to Japan. Those left to maintain the line still suffered from the appalling living conditions as well as Allied air raids. The most famous portion of the railway is probably Bridge 277 over the Khwae Yai River (Thai แควใหญ่, English "big tributary"). (The river was originally known as the Mae Klong and was renamed Khwae Yai in 1960.) It was immortalized by Pierre Boulle in his book and the film based on it: The Bridge on the River Kwai. However, there are many who say that the movie is utterly unrealistic and does not show what the conditions and treatment of prisoners was really like.[2] The first wooden bridge over the Khwae Yai was finished in February 1943, followed by a concrete and steel bridge in June 1943. According to Hellfire Tours in Thailand, "The two bridges were successfully bombed on 13 February 1945 by the Royal Air Force. Repairs were carried out by POW labor and by April the wooden trestle bridge was back in operation. On 3 April a second raid by Liberator bombers of the U.S. Army Air Forces damaged the wooden bridge once again. Repair work continued and both bridges were operational again by the end of May. A second raid by the R.A.F. on 24 June put the railway out of commission for the rest of the war. After the Japanese surrender the British Army removed 3.9 Kilometers of track on the Thai-Burma border. A survey of the track had shown that its poor construction would not support commercial traffic. The track was sold to Thai Railways and the 130-km Ban Pong--Namtok section relaid and is in use today.
Source/publisher: Documentary Channel via Youtube
Date of entry/update: 2012-02-17
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The Burma Road (Chinese: 滇缅公路) was a road linking Burma with the southwest of China. Its terminals were Kunming, Yunnan, and Lashio, Burma. It was built while Burma was a British colony in order to convey supplies to China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Preventing the flow of supplies on the road helped motivate the occupation of Burma by the Empire of Japan in 1942. Use of the road was restored to the Allies in 1945 after the completion of the Ledo Road. Some parts of the old road are still visible today. The road is 717 miles (1,154 km) long and runs through rough mountain country.[2] The sections from Kunming to the Burmese border were built by 200,000 Burmese and Chinese laborers during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and completed by 1938.[3][4] It had a role in World War II, when the British used the Burma Road to transport materiel to China before Japan was at war with the British. Supplies would be landed at Rangoon (now Yangon) and moved by rail to Lashio, where the road started in Burma. In July 1940, the British government yielded, for a period of three months, to Japanese diplomatic pressure to close down the Burma Road to supplies to China.[5]:299 After the Japanese overran Burma in 1942, the Allies were forced to supply Chiang Kai-shek and the nationalist Chinese by air. United States Army Air Force cargo planes, mainly Curtiss C-46s, flew these supplies from airfields in Assam, India, over "the hump", the eastern end of the Himalaya uplift.Under British command Indian, British, Chinese, and American forces, the latter led by General Joseph Stilwell, defeated a Japanese attempt to capture Assam and recaptured northern Burma. In this area they built a new road, the Ledo Road which ran from Ledo Assam, through Myitkyina and connected to the old Burma Road at Wandingzhen, Yunnan, China. The first trucks reached the Chinese frontier by this route on January 28, 1945..."
Source/publisher: YouTube via Way Back
2017-09-05
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "This film report, "Why We're Here," was delivered by General Daniel Sultan, who succeeded General Stilwell as Allied commander of Burma/India operations. When surveyed, 50% of US forces had responded that they didn't know why they were in seemingly obscure South East Asia, "fighting to save the Chinese and the British Empire," instead of in Europe or the highly publicized island campaigns in the South Pacific. In response, the General shows the vital strategic importance of keeping China in the war and the essential role (and sacrifices) of British and Chinese forces, all done through engaging film clips and maps. The epic construction and importance of the new Stilwell Road and petroleum pipeline to China are also shown in detail, something all US troops could be proud of. Finally, the essential role played by logistical support units and hospital personnel in making it all happen is emphasized..."
Source/publisher: ZenosWarbirds
2013-12-02
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-25
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Description: "Made in 1945, BURMA VICTORY is a British documentary about the Burma Campaign during World War Two. It was directed by Roy Boulting. The introduction to the film outlines the geography and climate of Burma, and the extent of the Japanese conquests. The film then describes the establishment of the South East Asian Command (SEAC) under Mountbatten, "a born innovator and firm believer in the unorthodox", and gives a comparatively detailed account of subsequent military events, including the Battle of Imphal-Kohima and Slim's drive on Mandalay, Arakan landings, the northern offensive of the Americans and Chinese under Stilwell, and the roles played by Chindits and Merrill's Marauders. The film ends with the capture of Rangoon and the Japanese surrender. The film focuses on the difficulties of climate, terrain, the endemic diseases of dysentery, malaria, etc., the vital role of air supplies, the shattering of the myth of Japanese invincibility and the secondary role of the Burma campaign in overall Allied strategy. This film represents a British look at the campaign and was the pet project of Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, South-East Asia, and he planned it as a joint Anglo-American production. But this scheme foundered over the inability of the U.S. leadership and British to agree on the main theme of the film. The British wanted it to concentrate on the drive southwards to liberate Burma. The Americans, anxious not to be seen to be participating in the restoration of the British Empire, wanted to emphasize the heroic building of the Ledo Road and the drive northwards to relieve the Chinese. In the end the two sides went their separate ways. The Americans produced the Ronald Reagan narrated film "The Stilwell Road" and the British made "Burma Victory." It was the final production of the Army Film and Photographic Unit (AFPU) and was directed, like Desert Victory (1943), by Roy Boulting. Not released until after the war was over, it was hailed and promoted as ‘the real Burma film’. The Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II was fought primarily between the forces of the British Empire and China, with support from the United States, against the forces of the Empire of Japan, Thailand, and the Indian National Army. British Empire forces peaked at around 1,000,000 land, naval and air forces, and were drawn primarily from British India, with British Army forces (equivalent to 8 regular infantry divisions and 6 tank regiments),[29] 100,000 East and West African colonial troops, and smaller numbers of land and air forces from several other Dominions and Colonies.[5] The Burmese Independence Army was trained by the Japanese and spearheaded the initial attacks against British Empire forces..."
Source/publisher: PeriscopeFilm
2016-05-31
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-24
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Description: ""Exclusive commentary by Maj: FRANK OWEN Publisher of SEAC The 14th. Army's Newspaper". Burma. Various shots of the planes flying over Burmese jungle. Bombs bursting amongst trees in the jungle. Long shot of river Chindwin - troops in foreground. Several shots of the troops carrying supplies across the river. Troops with arms crossing river. Dakota planes (C47) flying overhead. Supplies on parachutes leaving planes and dropping to ground. Supplies dropping to ground without parachutes - free drop. Men unpacking supplies. Chin tribesmen carrying supplies. Various shots of pagodas and temples of Kalewa. Long shot of British troops placing 5th Indian Division flag on roof of temple. Long shot of the edge of river Chindwin. Motor transport and mules with men starting to build pontoon bridge in the background. Several shots of Indian troops building pontoon bailey bridge. Several shots of completed bridge (largest floating bailey bridge). Close up shot of notice - Grub Bridge. Guns towed by trucks and tractors crossing bridge. Native men carrying supplies. Infantry with tanks advancing -11th East African Division, men from Kenya and Uganda. Several shots of 3.7 ack-ack guns firing. Japanese plane crashing in jungle. Troops marching through jungle getting closer to road to Mandalay..."
Source/publisher: British Pathé
2014-04-13
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-24
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Description: About the administration of Yangon city during the Japanese occupation period (1942-1945); Describes how Yangon City Development Committee was organized.....Subject Terms: 1. Yangon - History - Japanese Occupation (1942-1943)... 2. Myanmar - Politics and government... 3. Streets - Yangon..... Key Words: 1. Yangon - Administration... 2. Myanmar - Administration... 3. Streets
Creator/author: KYAN, Daw
Source/publisher: "Myawaddy" Vol. 35 , No. 6 pp 91-97, via University of Washington
1987-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2014-11-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ; (Metadata: English, Burmese)
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Description: Foundation Item: The Key Project of Scientific and Research Foundation in Office of Education in Yunnan Province ?Study on Map of Japanese Aggression in Yunnan and the Second Battle Line of Japanese Attack on China? (09Z0085)... Abstract: The Yunnan-Burma Highway is an important line of transportation explored for need of the war situation. This highway has not only played a positive role in the Anti-Japanese War of China and in the victory of Anti-Fascist war throughout the world, but has made significant contributions to alleviation of the economic pressure during the war, boost of local economic development in Yunnan, reinforcement of development of ethnic regions in the border area and intensification of the close relations between Yunnan and Burma as well as Southeast Asian countries." Keywords: The Yunnan-Burma highway, Anti-Japanese War, Yunnan, Economy during the periods of Anti-Japanese War
Creator/author: Li Cheng
Source/publisher: Canadian Center of Science and Education (CCSE) ("Asian Culture and History" Vol. 2, No. 2
2010-07-00
Date of entry/update: 2012-03-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Barnaby Phillips follows the life of one of the forgotten heroes of World War II..."In December 1941, the Japanese invasion of Burma (now Myanmar) opened what would be the longest land campaign fought by the British in the Second World War. It began with defeat and retreat for Britain, as Rangoon fell to the Japanese in March 1942. But the fighting went on, over a varied terrain of jungles, mountains, plains and wide rivers, until the Japanese forces surrendered in August 1945. Some 100,000 African soldiers were taken from British colonies to fight in the jungles of Burma against the Japanese. They performed heroically in one of the most brutal theatres of war, yet their contribution has been largely ignored, both in Britain and their now independent home countries. In the villages of Nigeria and Ghana, these veterans are known as ?the Burma Boys?. They brought back terrifying tales from faraway lands. Few survived, even fewer are alive today. Al Jazeera?s Barnaby Phillips travels to Nigeria, Burma and Japan to find a Nigerian veteran of the war and to talk to those who fought alongside him as well as against him. He even finds the family that saved the life of the wounded veteran in the jungles of Myanmar..."
Creator/author: Barnaby Phillips
Source/publisher: Al Jazeera
2011-08-29
Date of entry/update: 2011-09-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: How Burma?s national hero charmed the British general... "As the war in Burma swung the way of the Allies, the British commander, field-marshal William Slim, was faced with the problem of how to handle the Burma National Army led by Aung San. In the final months of the war the BNA forces changed sides, deserting Japan and opting to fight alongside the Allies. ?I had all along believed they could be a nuisance to the enemy but, unless their activities were closely tied in with ours, they promised to be almost as big a nuisance to us,? recalled Slim, in his memoirs, Defeat Into Victory. ?It seemed to me that the only way satisfactorily to control them was to get hold of their Commander-in-Chief, Aung San, and to make him accept my orders. This, from what I knew of him and of the extreme Burmese nationalists, I thought might be difficult, but worth trying.?..."
Creator/author: Jim Andrews
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 8
2005-08-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-04-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Colonial powers beat the Japanese but lost their empires... "...while the Pacific War marked the beginning of the end of colonialism, it had another, more severe impact on Burma. In the beginning, Aung San and his Burman nationalists had sided with the Japanese. His Burma Independence Army was armed and trained by the Japanese, while the Allied powers armed and equipped hill peoples such as the Karen and Kachin to fight the occupiers. Centuries of mistrust between the Burmans and the hill peoples resurfaced, and those wounds have not yet been healed. Even today, many Karen talk with bitterness about atrocities carried out against them by the BIA during the Japanese occupation, and the Kachin are proud to point out that they already had celebrated their victory manau in Myitkyina by the time the Burman nationalists in March 1945 turned their guns against the Japanese. The arming of the hill peoples, and vast quantities of weapons left behind by the Japanese, meant that Burma?s ethnic conflicts from the very beginning turned violent..."
Creator/author: Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 8
2005-08-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-04-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: From US internment to Burma battlefield glory... "His name was Matsumoto, but he wore an American uniform in Burma and served with soldiers fighting the empire of his ancestors..."
Creator/author: Mick Elmore
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 8
2005-08-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-04-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...Jon Latimer?s study is worth reading, not because his heroes are ?unsung?, as he puts it, but as an authoritative and comprehensive study of the Burma campaign. He chronicles the British defeat, the ensuing stalemate, and then the eventual victory over the Japanese in minute detail. It is also beautifully written. Latimer, who served for many years with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, then as a military intelligence officer, is the author of several other books about World War Two. For this book he drew from wartime records in Washington, London, Edinburgh, and the Gurkha Museum in Winchester, and interviews with survivors of the conflict..."
Creator/author: Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 1
2005-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2005-08-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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