China Burma India Theater

[Music] SP [Music] the war with Japan was not limited to the battles on Pacific Islands on the Asiatic Mainland the struggle against the Warriors of Imperial Japan was fought on some of the most difficult Terrain in the the world first to oppose nepon aggression China's generalisimo Jang Kai Sheek battled the invaders for 10 years before Pearl Harbor fighting on China's side were three squadrons of some 250 volunteer American Airmen who called themselves The Flying Tigers commanded by Texas born Colonel Clare Chanel in those dark days before Pearl Harbor a handful of Americans took an active part in the attempt to check the Japanese aggressor in the late 1930s Japan extended its area of control on the Asian [Music] continent to the South the emperor's troops concentrated their attacks on China's coastal cities with the area bordering the sea conquered Japanese troops sealed off China's armies in the interior most effectively but Japan was well aware that China was not thoroughly blockaded as long as supplies from the outside world could be brought into rangon that transported by rail to Northern Burma finally across the mountains to China via the Burma Road in July 1940 that supply line too was sealed off in Tokyo the British Ambassador Sir Robert craigy advised Japanese foreign minister arita that Great Britain was closing the Burma Road a move intended to appease Japan while Britain was engaged in a life or death struggle in Europe and Africa the vital Lifeline to China was cut for 3 months in October the road was reopened by the British whose policy in Asia was stiffening and supplies were again unloaded in Burma for the long Overland journey to Central China on that tortuous route depended China's hope for survival in the desperate struggle against the aggressors by December 7th 1941 the Japanese had succeeded in winning control of great areas of the Asian continent on December 8th Japanese troops in Asia went to work in Earnest one of their main objectives was Burma Japanese troops quickly took possession of lower Burma where the British oil wells were located before pulling out British forces had set fire to the oil fields which fell into Japanese hands in mid April 1942 the conquerors embarked at once on a program of winning over the burmes to their own point of view speaking in Burmese Japanese officers expounded the doctrine of Asia for the asiatics the natives in the areas already controlled by the Japanese were skeptical but curious in the Hills where Britain's Indian troops were in hiding the Japanese were forced to go to a little more trouble to get their message across their propaganda was artfully introduced by authentic Indian [Music] music but the Invaders weren't relying wholly on propaganda to achieve their objectives the Burma Road was one of their most important Targets in those early months of 1942 on the ground the Japanese were intent on driving north from their newly conquered territory to cut the Burma Road and completely isolate China that ambitious Plan called for Japanese troops to advance more than 500 miles over difficult terrain against an Allied delaying action the emperor's troops attacked with great determination in late March the Invaders had seized tangu routing Chinese forces commanded by US general Vinegar Joe Stillwell thoroughly overpowered the Allied Forces retreated followed closely by the Japanese and finally reached impal in India just as the monsoon season began thus ended one of the most remarkable retreats in military history quantities of American Munitions and Equipment were seized by the enemy during the chase in their conquest of Burma the Japanese took a considerable number of British prisoners of War British resistance in all of Southeast Asia was ended by May 1942 throughout Asia British Prestige had dropped to a new low with the Burma Lifeline cut a new route to China was devised by way of India F by air across the Towering halalas to beered Central China into kolkatta Harbor came thousands of tons of supplies for China's troops who are still grimly battling the enemy in the interminable struggle plus the invaluable Vehicles so necessary in Mobile 20th century Warfare at airfields in India's province of Assam great quantities of American material were loaded aboard transport planes for the most difficult leg of the trip the flight across the Himalayas came to be known in the CBI as flying the hump crossing the top of the world was a stirring experience for the Airmen assigned to the run the trip never became routine the hump had to be cleared at more than 18,000 ft and there were no possible spots for emergency Landings below across the formidable mountains lay the plains of China the Airfield at koning was the Eastern Terminus of the hump run the Chinese gratefully welcomed the weapons and supplies which would enable them to continue the long desperate struggle against the Invaders but getting that equipment to the Chinese troops was far from an easy job transportation in the interior of China was still a primitive operation the last leg of the trip was achieved by the most ancient Methods at a painfully slow rate of progress jang's forces continued to fall back under the weight of fresh enemy attacks the Chinese situation from a military standpoint was growing steadily worse and with every Chinese defeat thousands of Civilian Chinese straggled back from the area seized by the enemy headquarters of the Chinese government had been moved to Chun King as long ago as November 1937 here more than a th000 miles in land free China dug in determined to fight the enemy to the last air raid shelters were built out of the solid rock the inhabitants of Chun King grew accustomed to sudden raids by enemy planes China's new capital was a high priority Target for Japanese bombers as soon as the enemy planes were spotted far out of town the alarm would be turned in without a moment's delay Jung King was bombed with increasing frequency as the enemy gained ground in China for the Chinese 1943 was a most critical year in the long war against the nepes Invaders Jung King was also a nerve center for the Chinese Communists who early in the war had agreed to cooperate with the nationalists in the fight against the common enemy but in practice the Communists rarely cooperated with the Chinese nationalists throughout World War II the nationalists were forced to cope with two enemies the plight of the Chinese nationalist forces and the Chinese government grew more desperate politically as well as militarily free China was being backed into a corner at the quadrant Conference of allied powers in Quebec the critical problems of Eastern and Southeastern Asia were explored in some detail it was felt that the confusion of Allied commands in that theater was contributing to the enemy's successes to help simplify the Tangled situation the southeast Asia command was created to be headed by Admiral Lord Louis mon Batton the new Commander took over his post with a great feeling of optimism I feel very honored to have been appointed to the southeast Asia command as you know it is an Allied command and I'm particularly proud to think that there will be United States forces and British forces fighting side by side in the southeast Asia command with our Chinese allies until we finally thrown the Japs out and final Victor is won China's generalisimo unfortunately did not agree on the conduct of the war with Lord montbatten nor with his Deputy US general Joe Stillwell but on lower levels the mixture of Allied Forces worked more smoothly Chinese troops were instructed in the techniques of Modern Warfare by American soldiers the Chinese were quick to respond to the American training from airfields in Chinese territory us planes of the 14th Air Force flew countless missions against the enemy which was pressing the attack against the [Music] Chinese the steady day byday operations of the 14th Air Force against the enemy in China helped materially to keep free China in the battle during those dark [Music] years in Burma In late 1943 Allied troops were set to embark on the road back to eventual final victory in late December at a small clearing in Northern Burma General vinegar Stillwell returned to lead the forces back to the territory from which he had retreated a year and a half earlier in this drive Stillwell had under his command two American trained Chinese divisions the 22nd and the 38th the campaign to take mcha was waged by a force of men fighting against overpowering odds the chief of staff of the US Army at the time General George Marshall summed it up in his War reports the mission that the joint Chiefs of Staff had given General Stillwell in Asia was one of the most difficult of the war he was out at the end of the thinnest supply line of all he could have only what's left he had a most difficult physical problem of great distances almost impassible terrain widespread disease and unfavorable climate he faced an extremely difficult political problem and his purely military problem of opposing large numbers of enemy with few resp sources was unmatched in any theater in his drive back General Stillwell was accompanied by another celebrated figure one of the small force of men who had made the memorable Retreat Dr Gordon Seagrave the famed Burma surgeon during 1943 work was rushed on an Overland route from India to a junction with the Burma Road this ambitious construction project was a corollary of Stillwell's Burma campaign when completed the Leo Road would give the Allies a valuable Supply artery between India and Burma the road builders followed closely behind the fighting men in the construction of the road American Ingenuity was supplemented by time tested Asian methods the results were gratifying to everyone connected with the project but all this effort on the part of more than 20,000 engineers and laborers was to prove eminently worthwhile or the flow of desperately needed supplies for the Chinese troops could be increased the enemy still held much of the area through which the road would pass from Leo in India the route would wind across the rugged terrain to m in Northern Burma and then to a junction with the Burma Road thus effecting a continuous highway from India to China behind the enemy's lines US general Frank Merill and a band of 3,000 officers and men who called themselves merils Marauders played a leading role in the fight to gain control of mchina Airfield since the Marauders were usually isolated they were supplied by airdrops of food and Munitions this system of Supply on which the success of the Marauders depended demanded a close liaison between air Crews and the Raiders in their perilous operations meril's men suffered heavy casualties using the same tactics employed to good advantage in Burma a year earlier by wind gates Raiders the Marauders fought five major and 30 minor engagements against a stronger enemy force and achieved their objective gliders were employed to Ferry some of the fighting Engineers to mchina Airfield to many veterans of the theater the struggle for mener Airfield signified the Turning of the tide in Verma the engineers arrived at mcha Airfield soon after it passed into Allied hands in mid-may 1944 in fact the Airfield had just been seized from the enemy when work was begun on repairing the strip the only all-weather strip in Northern Burma M Airfield was vital to the success of the Allied campaign in that country on the day after the strip was kept General Stillwell arrived to pay his respects to General Merill whose Marauders had succeeded in their difficult assignment from M Airfield bombing runs could be undertaken against enemy forces in the fight for the territory surrounding the town of M [Music] [Applause] on the ground forward observers called for more air support [Music] [Music] just as important as the pressing military needs in the CBI were the Diplomatic considerations in an effort to keep peace among the Allied Forces in the orient the US sent several emissaries to Chun king among them vice president Henry Wallace Mr Wallace recommended to Washington that China be separated from the command of Jung's bitter opponent US general Stillwell a proposal seconded by the general isol but US policy in China in 1944 was as variable as the spring breezes which played among the Reeds China's generalisimo was often toasted one day and scorned the next in the late summer and early fall of that year the Chinese were forced to fall back again Guin and other cities in Southeastern China were were abandoned to the enemy the hapless Chinese were the victims of a determined enemy offensive only in China was the Allied position so weak that the enemy could still seize territory in considerable quantity at Guin and at lejo the US 14th Air Force bases were in danger of being overrun and had to be abandoned before the American Airmen pulled out they took great pains to be certain that the enemy would not get much use out of the installations in the field bombs were set at strategic points on the air [Music] strips the major air bases at Guin and lujo were evacuated in the Autumn of 194 4 the enemy gained possession of an area which included a total of eight forward US Air bases but not in very usable condition all over the world the Allies were driving the enemy back but in China the Allied position was steadily deteriorating in Jung King us General Albert wedm replaced recently recall General Stillwell as jong's chief of staff in late 1944 the allied military picture grew somewhat brighter in China and India the finishing touches were added to air bases which accommodated America's newest and largest bombers from these bases it was confidently felt the enemy's offensives could be effectively dispersed by America's newest air weapon the new b29 operating in the CBI as the 20th Air Force were capable of covering a range of targets which stretched from rangon to Japan [Music] itself in the reconquest of Burma the super fortresses were used in softening up the enemy's hold on the country's capital and cheap fort rangon in one raid on rang goon 56 B 29's [Music] participated to the north Mandalay was under attack by Allied planes and British Ground Forces for more than two month [Music] [Music] the southeast Asia Commander Lord montbatten inspected Mandalay soon after its capture by British forces meanwhile in lower Burma between Mandalay and rangon American bombers attacked enemy military targets for the first time with aison bombs directed to their pinpointed objectives by radio control the results were most successful the capture of rangon was speeded up by an invasion from the air a force of girka paratroopers jumped in an assault on a strong point which dominated the approach to rangon the operation went off smoothly but it developed that the air Invasion had not been necessary after [Music] all British Ground Forces entering rangon via Landings along the coast found that the enemy had abandoned the city 38 months after rangon had been forfeited to the aggressors Burma's Capital was once again in British hands the reconquest of Burma had required the services of more than a million men but final Victory always made the long bitter campaign seem worthwhile in the retaking of Burma a considerable number of British prisoners were liberated some had been taken captive by the enemy 3 years before but throughout their long internment they never gave up hope in early 1945 the first truck Convoy leapt from Leo India Bound for China via the Leo and Burma roads now linked this valuable artery across the rugged mountains helped materially to speed up the flow of supplies to China but even in full operation the Overland route cren the Stillwell Road accounted for only a third as much tonnage as was flown across the hump in the waning months of the war to facilitate the flow of fuel from India to Northern Burma and China several pipelines were constructed from India the fuel was pumped via pipe as far as Ming more than 900 M away thus one more Lifeline was established with baguer China in early 1945 the Chinese mounted an offensive and succeeded in forcing the enemy back somewhat in certain areas but though the Chinese scored limited gains the Japanese were by no means in Retreat throughout China by the closing months of World War II the the Chinese gained some ground but also lost much valuable territory jang's forces continued to attack but even the most optimistic of his allies never felt that the Chinese could win back China in other parts of the Pacific Theater the Allied situation was brighter in September 1944 a group of islands in the Carolin was vital to us success in the Western Pacific from palao us planes could launch attacks against the Philippines Preparatory to an invasion [Music] [Music] B for in the fre [Music]