The Fall of Burma, 1941–1943

John Grehan, Martin Mace

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9781783462100
• eBook ISBN:
  9781473863590
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

Despatches in this volume include that on operations in Burma between 15 December 1941 and 20 May 1942 by General Wavell; Operations in Eastern Theatre, based on India, March 1942 to 31 December 1942 by Field-Marshall Wavell; Operations in the Indo-Burma Theatre 21 June to 15 November 1942 by Field-Marshall Auchinleck; and Operations in the India Command 1 January to 20 June 1943 by Field-Marshall Wavell.This unique collection of original documents will prove to be an invaluable resource for historians, students and all those interested in what was one of the most significant periods in British military history.

1

GENERAL SIR ARCHIBALD P. WAVELL’S DESPATCH ON OPERATIONS IN BURMA, 15 DECEMBER 1941 TO 20 MAY 1942

The War Office, March, 1948.

The following Despatch was submitted to the Secretary of State for War on the 14th July, 1942, by, G.C.B., C.M.G., M.C., A.D.C., Commander-in-Chief, India.

1. This despatch covers reports by Lieut.-General T.J. Hutton and by General The Honourable Sir Harold R.L.G. Alexander describing the operations in Burma between 15th December, 1941, when the defence of Burma became the responsibility of the Commander-in-Chief in India, and 20th May 1942, when the last troops of the Burma Army were withdrawn across the frontier into India. The despatch is intended to explain how the general strategical situation affected operations in Burma and to record the actions I took as the Commander chiefly responsible for them. Although the defence of Burma was three times transferred from one Command to another during the period, I remained personally responsible except for a period of about one week at the end of February, 1942.

2. The vital importance of Burma, in a war against Japan, to the Allied cause in general and to the defence of India is obvious. Through Burma lay the only route by which the Chinese armies could be kept supplied, and bases stocked for Allied air attack on Japan itself. From India’s point of view, so long as Burma was in our possession, Calcutta and the great industrial centres of North-East India were practically immune from air attack, and her eastern land frontiers were secure from the threat of invasion.

BURMA BEFORE WAR WITH JAPAN.

3. Burma had been included, for operational purposes, in the Far East Command when this was established in November, 1940, with headquarters in Singapore. Administration remained directly under the War Office. So much, however, was the security of Burma of concern to those charged with the defence of India that several attempts were made by successive Commanders-in-Chief in India to have this arrangement altered and responsibility for the defence of Burma transferred to India. The recommendation to this effect made by my predecessor, General Auchinleck, was not accepted. Shortly after my appointment as Commander-in-Chief, India I paid a visit to the United Kingdom and personally pressed this change on the Chiefs of Staff, who again refused to alter the existing arrangement, on the grounds that the question had been fully considered when the Far East Command was established. The Japanese had by this time invaded Indo-China and thus brought danger to Burma much closer, but this fact was not held to justify the change.

On returning to India I paid a visit to Burma and Malaya and discussed the question with the Commander-in-Chief Far East, Air Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, and with the Governor of Burma, Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, and with the G.O.C. Burma, Lieut.-General D.K. Macleod. As a result I cabled to the C.I.G.S. on 11th November, 1941, again recommending the transfer of Burma to the Indian Command. I understand that my recommendation was supported by the Governor of Burma.

I was very greatly concerned by the extent of unpreparedness in Burma’s defences of which I became aware during my visit. I realised that the number and training of the troops, their equipment, the Intelligence lay-out, the size and organisation of the staff, the administrative system and the defensive arrangements were quite inadequate. So dangerous to India did I consider the situation to be that on my return I initiated the despatch to Burma of an additional Indian Infantry Brigade and battery and arranged for a senior administrative staff officer to visit Burma and to ascertain their most pressing needs. Though the administration of Burma was the responsibility of the War Office, it was obvious that, if Japan entered the war, it would be quite impossible for Burma’s requirements to be met in time from the United Kingdom; and since any failure in Burma would endanger India, it was essential for the India Command, in spite of its own grave shortages, to put the defence of Burma on a reasonable basis. I also took up the question of the construction of an all-weather road from Assam to Burma as a matter of immediate urgency. (See also paragraph 39.)

4. The neglect of Burma’s defences during the early part of the war was understandable. There seemed little pressing danger even should Japan decide to attack Great Britain. Burma was protected on the east by two neutral states, Thailand and Indo-China, both of which professed their intention to defend themselves against Japanese aggression, and by the natural difficulties of the mountainous undeveloped country on her border. So long as Singapore remained in British possession, there was little danger of a threat from seaward. Troops, equipment and staff were badly needed elsewhere, and it was only natural that Burma’s requirements were placed by the War Office very low in the scale of priority. When Japan entered Indo-China in July, 1941, and her aggressive intentions became obvious, Burma became more nearly threatened and more attention should have been paid to her deficiencies. The cardinal mistake seems to me, however, to have been in placing Burma in the Far East Command instead of under India. Except as a subsidiary air base, Burma hardly entered into the strategical plans of the Far East Command, which was concerned with the defence of Hong Kong and Malaya; whereas for India Burma was a vital bulwark. Similarly in administration the War Office was too far away and too occupied with other matters to concern itself with, or even to understand, the needs of Burma, to which India would have given sympathetic consideration as part of her own defence problem.

In Burma itself more might have been done, in spite of all the deficiencies, to place the country on a war footing. Political considerations, the climate, underestimation of the enemy, over-estimation of the natural strength of the frontiers, the complacency of many years of freedom from external threat, all combined to prevent the defence problem being taken sufficiently seriously.

BURMA PLACED UNDER COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, INDIA.

5. On 12th December, five days after the entry of Japan into the war, I received a telegram from the Prime Minister placing Burma under the Commander-in-Chief, in India for defence. In this telegram I was allotted the 18 British Division, then on passage to Mid-east, for the defence of India and Burma; I was from the commitment to send 17 Indian Division to Iraq; and I was promised a special allotment of anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns. I was also told that four squadrons of fighter aeroplanes would be diverted from Mid-east to India. In a later telegram I was informed that Mid-east had been instructed to prepare plans to send six squadrons of Blenheim IVs to India for Burma.

I at once prepared to despatch to Burma the leading brigade group of 17 Indian Division which was about to embark for Iraq. I had asked the C.I.G.S. at the end of November to consider sending me some African troops for Ceylon or Burma, now that Gondar had fallen and the campaign against Italian East Africa was over; he replied on 16th December that two Brigades could be made, available, the first of which could be ready to embark at the end of January. Thus when I visited Rangoon on 21st December I had, as I thought, ample forces in sight for the defence of Burma.

6. In Burma itself there were at this time two British infantry battalions, two Indian infantry brigades, and eight battalions of Burma Rifles (four of which had been raised since the beginning of the war). The Burma Rifles who composed practically half the available force were of doubtful fighting quality (see para. 4 of General Hutton’s report). The artillery in Burma comprised only four mountain batteries and one four-gun 18 pr. battery. The Administrative services were so inadequate that they might almost have been termed non-existent.

There was also the Burma Frontier Force, the equivalent of approximately six battalions, divided into a number of detachments. They were composed not of Burmans but of Indians enlisted from the same classes as the Indian Army. This should have been a most valuable force but in actual practice proved disappointing and had little fighting value. It was normally under the control of the Civil Power and only came under army control for operations shortly after the outbreak of war with Japan, whilst remaining for other purposes subject to their own Inspector-General.

It should be realised that the Burma Army had had a very short existence and only dated from the separation of Burma from India in April, 1937. The inhabitants of Burma have shown themselves brave and tough fighters in defence of their country but as irregulars in guerilla warfare. Regular soldiering and discipline make no appeal to them.

7. The air forces nominally available in Burma at the outbreak of war were one fighter squadron equipped with Brewster Buffaloes and one bomber squadron of Blenheims. Actually the aircraft of the bomber squadron were in Malaya for armament training and were taken by Far East Command for Malayan operations. None ever returned to Burma. It may be noted that this Blenheim squadron was one of two borrowed from India by Far East Command (the only modern aircraft India possessed). There was thus only one squadron in Burma, with a type of fighter which proved unable to compete with the Japanese fighters. The War Cabinet’s proposals for air reinforcements were an immediate programme of four Fighter Squadrons, six Bomber Squadrons, two Army Cooperation Squadrons and one G.R. Squadron. On the 1st January Air Vice-Marshal Stevenson arrived to command in Burma. The forward elements of three Hurricane Squadrons – aircraft and personnel – began to arrive on 21st January. It was not, however, until 26th January that a Squadron built up from these elements became operational. The total reinforcement of bombers arriving in the country before the decision to evacuate Rangoon was reached comprised the aircraft and personnel of 113 Bomber Squadron and the aircraft and crews of 45 Bomber Squadron.

India, after parting with her Blenheims to Far East, had no modern aircraft of any kind and could contribute only a flight of 4 Wapiti and 2 Audax aircraft (both completely obsolete types) to form a Coast Defence Flight. This was later replaced by a flight of Blenheim I aircraft. Later India sent the 1 Indian Squadron and No. 28 Squadron R.A.F. with Lysander biplanes. These squadrons, in spite of their out-of-date equipment, did much valuable work, and 1 Indian Squadron acquitted itself gallantly in the first service in this war of an Indian air squadron. No. 31 Bomber Transport Squadron equipped with Valencia and Douglas aircraft was also placed by India at the disposal of Burma.

The air defences of Burma, especially of the vital port of Rangoon, would have been overwhelmed at once but for the presence in Burma of the American Volunteer Group (A.V.G.), an air force manned by American pilots for the defence of China. It was equipped with P-40 fighters and led by Colonel G. Chennault. One of its two squadrons was alternately made available by the Generalissimo for the defence of Rangoon, and the pilots together with the R.A.F. Buffalo Fighter Squadrons saved the situation by their dash and skill.

8. In an appreciation about the middle of December, General Macleod estimated the maximum scale of Japanese attack at one or two divisions against Southern Shan States and one division in the south against Tenasserim. He stated that two infantry brigades, one field regiment and one field battery were the additional land reinforcements necessary to deal with the situation. He considered three bomber squadrons and two fighter squadrons were required.

Both Far East Command and War Office informed me that an attack in force against Burma was unlikely until the Japanese had completed their campaigns in Malaya and the Philippines.

9. After discussing Burma’s defence problems with the Governor and G.O.C. I cabled from Rangoon on 22nd December to the C.I.G.S. an appreciation in which I emphasised the weakness of Burma’s defences, the lack of an Intelligence system, and the need for air forces. I said that the immediate requirements of Burma were two bomber and two modern fighter squadrons, a divisional headquarters and two brigade groups, apparatus for a warning system and anti-aircraft artillery.

10. In view of the extensive re-organisation of the whole defence system of Burma, which was essential, I decided that it would be necessary to replace Lieut.-General Macleod, who had done his best with the very little available to him, by a commander with more experience of the organisation and administration of troops on a large scale. The Governor of Burma was anxious, for political reasons, to have an officer of the British Service if possible, and I decided to appoint my Chief of the General Staff in India, Lieut.-General Hutton, to the command in Burma. His powers of effective organisation had been amply proved in India. He assumed command on 27th December, 1941.

OFFER OF CHINESE TROOPS FOR DEFENCE OF BURMA.

11. From Rangoon I flew to Chungking with General Brett of the United States Air Force to discuss the Japanese war with Marshal Chiang Kai-Shek. I wished to ensure that at least one of the A.V.G. Squadrons, which Colonel Chennault wished to remove to China, remained in Burma for the defence of Rangoon; also to obtain the temporary use of some of the Lease-Lend material for China, which was stacked in large quantities in the Rangoon docks and could not quickly be removed, to make good the most serious deficiencies in the Burma Army. To neither of these requests did I get a definite reply, though in the end one squadron of the A.V.G. always did remain for the defence of Rangoon, and some of the Lease-Lend equipment was placed at the disposal of the Burma Army. On the other hand, the Generalissimo offered to send to Burma the Fifth and Sixth Chinese Armies. Since it has been alleged that my refusal of this offer was a main contributing factor to the loss of Burma, I will state the facts of the matter from my point of view. I accepted at once the 93 Division, part of which was already approaching the Burmese border from Puerh, and the 49 Division as a reserve on the northern frontier of Burma at Wanting. These two Divisions constituted the Sixth Army, with a third Division, the 55th, which General Dennys, head of 204 Mission in China, informed me was very scattered and would take some time to collect and was of poor quality. The Fifth Army, of good quality, was collecting round Kunming. I asked that it should not at present be moved into Burma, but should be held in reserve in the Kunming area. I considered that it would be well placed here either to move into Burma if required; or for the defence of Yunnan if the Japanese made an advance north from Indo-China against the Burmese road, a contingency which the Chinese had not long before represented as the enemy’s most probable move; or for offensive operations into Indo-China in co-operation with an advance from Burma if all went well.

The Generalissimo made it perfectly clear that it was a condition of the acceptance of his offer that a separate line of communications should be available for his troops and that they should not in any way be mixed up with British troops. It was impossible at the time to provide a separate line of communication for the Fifth Army though it was possible to keep the communications of the 93 Division from Puerh separate from that of the British troops in Burma. I had at the time every reason to suppose that I should have ample British, Indian or African troops available to defend Burma, which did not seem immediately threatened: obviously it was desirable that a country of the British Empire should be defended by Imperial troops rather than by foreign. The Chinese who had no administrative services of their own would have complicated the already difficult administrative problem in Burma. These were the reasons that were the motive of my qualified acceptance of the Generalissimo’s offer. It should be noted that a Chinese “Army” was approximately the equivalent in numbers of a British division but with a much lower scale of equipment.

I am quite satisfied that my decision was justified by the military situation as it appeared to me at the time. Nor had I any reason to know that the Chinese attached great political importance to the acceptance of the offer. The Generalissimo himself showed comparatively little interest in the matter and made no attempt to press me; three-quarters of the lengthy discussions I had with him were devoted to the question of the establishment of an Allied Council at Chungking and to consideration of an ambitious plan for defeat of the Japanese in 1942.

From subsequent experience of the slowness of Chinese troop moves, I think that even if I had accepted the whole of the Fifth and Sixth Armies at once they would actually have reached Burma very little, if any, sooner than the...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: General Sir Archibald P. Wavell’s Despatch on Operations in Burma, 15 December to 20 May 1942
• Chapter 2: General Sir Archibald P. Wavell’s Despatch on Operations in the Eastern Theatre, based on India, March 1942 to 31 December 1942
• Chapter 3: Field Marshal Viscount Wavell’s Despatch on Operations in the India Command, 1 January to 29 June 1942
• Chapter 4: Field Marshal Sir Claude J.E. Auchinleck’s Despatch on Operations in the Indo-Burma Theatre, based on India, 21 June to 15 November 1943