Burma Campaign 1942-45
Irrawaddy River near Bagan.
Burma Campaign 1942-45
Burma/Myanmar was a major theatre of the Second World War. The Allies and the Japanese fought across the country in what is known as the Burma Campaign. The fighting touched most parts of Burma/Myanmar and the frontier with India: from south to north as the Japanese took over the country in 1942; around Imphal and Kohima in India as the Japanese launched a major cross border offensive in 1944; and from north to south as the Allies recaptured the country in 1944-45. The period saw fighting of the fiercest kind, in numerous battles large and small, in a staggering variety of landscapes in Burma/Myanmar.
Battlefield tours
Several tours to uncover this fascinating chapter of history and heritage in Burma/Myanmar have been developed by Hemant Singh Katoch and are on offer. These are currently organised by Battle of Imphal Tours, a battlefield tour company he founded in Imphal in 2013 and for which he now serves as an Adviser.
To book a tour, see the Tours section of its website (www.battleofimphal.com) or contact Yaiphaba Kangjam ('Yai') of Battle of Imphal Tours at battleofimphal@gmail.com.
Note: Due to COVID-19 and the volatile security situation in Myanmar since 1 February 2021, the Myanmar tours have been suspended until further notice.
The Essential Burma WWII Tour
This week-long tour covers the key WWII sites in central and southern Burma/Myanmar. Highlights include seeing the remains of the old Sittang (Sittaung) Bridge, which was the site of a British disaster and Japanese victory in 1942, and also Mandalay and Meiktila, where only three years later in 1945 the tables were turned and the British forces won decisive victories. The tour will give you an essential flavour of the campaign and a sense of some of the terrain over which it was fought.
The Chindits Tour
The main focus of this tour of over a week is the Northern Front of the Burma Campaign and the second Chindit expedition of 1944 - Operation Thursday. It takes in Myitkyina, the city around which much of the fighting was centred, and the 'Railway Corridor' from there to Mogaung and Indaw. You get a feel for the terrain in which the Chindit operations unfolded and see the sites of four actions that resulted in the award of the Victoria Cross. The old Chindit blocks of Blackpool (approximate site) and White City are covered, as are a memorial and small local museum dedicated to the force. The beautiful Indawgyi Lake, with its own Chindit connection, is also included.
The Leisurely Burma WWII Tour
This comprehensive tour of over a fortnight takes in the main accessible WWII sites across Burma/Myanmar. Using a combination of flights between the main cities and scenic drives through the countryside, it covers a range of battlefields, memorials, cemeteries, and other reminders of the war. Traversing large parts of the country, you get to see the places associated with the Burma Campaign: from Myitkyina and Chindit country in the north, to Mandalay and Meiktila in the centre, and finally Rangoon/Yangon, the Sittang Bridge and Moulmein/Mawlamyine in the south.
The Full Burma Campaign Tour
This is the first such battlefield tour on offer that takes in the Burma Campaign sites on both sides of the India-Burma/Myanmar frontier. In an adventurous and thrilling journey of two weeks, you will visit not just the main battlefields in Burma/Myanmar, but will also travel to Imphal and Kohima in North East India, where some of the decisive battles of the campaign were fought. The tour will give you a feel for the remarkable terrain involved: from the soaring mountains around Kohima to the verdant Imphal plain, from the dry belt around Meiktila to the 14th Army crossing sites over the Irrawaddy/Ayeyarwaddy River near Bagan.
Chinthe near Mandalay Hill.