Japanese invasion of Burma

The Japanese invasion of Burma was the opening phase of the Burma campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II, which took place over four years from 1942 to 1945. During the first year of the campaign (December 1941 to mid-1942), the Japanese Army (with aid from Thai Phayap Army and Burmese insurgents) drove British Empire and Chinese forces out of Burma, then began the Japanese occupation of Burma and formed a nominally independent Burmese administrative government.

Japanese invasion of Burma
Part of the Burma Campaign in World War II

View of the Yenangyaung oil field on 16 April 1942 after its destruction ahead of the Japanese advance
Date14 December 1941 – 28 May 1942
(5 months, 1 week and 3 days)
Location
Burma
Result

Axis victory

Territorial
changes
Japanese occupation of Burma
Thai occupation of Shan State
Belligerents

 United Kingdom

China

United States (air support only)

 Empire of Japan

 Thailand (from 10 May)
Commanders and leaders
Strength
95,000
~45,000
85,000
~23,000
35,000
Casualties and losses

  • 40,000 casualties

  • 30,000 casualties
    • 1,499 killed
    • 11,964 wounded
    116 aircraft destroyed, damaged and captured (RAF)
    ~100 tanks destroyed, damaged or captured

    95 aircraft destroyed, damaged and captured (AVG)

  • 7,000 killed, wounded and missing Unknown tanks destroyed or damaged
    117 aircraft destroyed and damaged
More than 10,000–50,000 civilians killed
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.