Allied Troops in Burma

Allied troops walk down a jungle trail in Burma during World War II, bearing one of their party on a stretcher. Though the Burma campaigns were fought in other environments as well, the Burmese jungle was a dominant feature; the rapid successes of early Japanese offensives in 1941 and 1942 owed much to their study of jungle fighting, while irregular Allied units, such as Orde Wingate’s Chindits, developed tactics to penetrate deep into the jungle behind enemy lines. The campaigns saw some of World War II’s most bitter fighting, with small areas of ground fought over for weeks at great cost, and by the last campaigns of 1945 the Japanese were suffering huge casualties for very few Allied dead. Allied forces included Indians (numerically the most important contingent), British, Americans, Chinese, and representatives of most Burmese ethnic groups, while anti-British Burmese and Indians fought alongside the Japanese.

Hulton Getty Picture Collection

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Burma Campaigns

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