The Burma Campaign was in South-East Asia in World War II and was fought by the forces of the British Empire and China, with support from the United States, against the Empire of Japan, Thailand, and the Indian National Army. Burma was one of the worst affected areas in World War II. In Burma, the Japanese Army military setbacks which led to them retreating to the east. The Japanese wanted to take over Yangon, the capital and also a popular seaport. This is because it would close the supply line to China and provide more resources to the Japanese. The Japanese Army with Lieutenant General Shōjirō Iida, went into northern Thailand since they had signed a treaty of friendship with Japan, and attacked the southern Burmese province of Tenasserim …show more content…
The Japanese also made a lot of changes in their own command, like replacing Lieutenant General Masakazu Kawabe with Hyotaro Kimura. Hyotaro Kimura confused the allies a lot as he would refuse to fight at certain battles since they were weak and had very little equipment. He also withdrew his men from the Irrawaddy River, allowing the allies to extend. In 1945, the XV Corps went to advance on Akyab Island, This was the third time they had tried. Lucky the Japanese were weak and retreated. They evacuated the island on 3rd January 1945. The next operation for the XV Corps was attacking Myebon peninsula on 12th January 1945, and ten days later, they fought during the Battle of Hill 170 to cut off the retreating Japanese, from this the Japanese suffered severe casualties. After the war ended Burma was established as an independent country along with India even though the Japanese weren’t happy with the agreement. I chose to write this essay on Burma because my Great Granddad, Sidney Charles Haylock, fought in Burma. He was with the Manchester Regiment. My family know little about his time in the war as he refused to talk about it. He also never collected his medals as he was so horrified with what he had witnessed. His medals are still