South-East Asian Theater of World War II
The South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was the name given to the campaigns of the Pacific War in India, Burma, Thailand, Malaya and Singapore.
A few weeks after the outbreak of war with Japan on December 7, 1941, the Allied governments appointed the British commander in India, General Sir Archibald Wavell, as supreme commander of all American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) forces in Asia and the Pacific. This gave Wavell control of a huge, but thinly-spread force, deployed in a long front from India to New Guinea and Hawaii. However the rapid collapse of Allied resistance on the Malayan Peninsula, the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines had soon split the "ABDA area" in two. From March 1942, the ABDA command was dissolved and Wavell became Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia, in charge of forces to the south of China and west of Java.
In October 1943, Winston Churchill replaced Wavell with Lord Louis Mountbatten as supreme Allied commander of the South East Asia Command (SEAC). The American General Joseph Stilwell was appointed deputy supreme Allied commander.
Initial Japanese successes
The Allies suffered many disastrous defeats in the first six months of the war. Two major British warships, HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales were sunk by a Japanese air attack off Malaya on December 10, 1941. The government of Thailand formally allied itself with Japan on December 21. Hong Kong fell on December 25 and US bases on Guam and Wake Island were lost at around the same time. January saw the invasions of Burma, the Dutch East Indies, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and the capture of Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Rabaul.
Malaya and Singapore
Japanese forces met stiff resistance from III Corps of the British Indian Army and British units in northern Malaya, but Japan's superiority in air power, tanks and infantry tactics drove the Allied units back. After being driven out of Malaya, Allied forces in Singapore, under the command of Lieutenant General Arthur Percival, surrendered to the Japanese on February 15, 1942; about 130,000 Indian, Australian and British troops became prisoners of war.
- For more a more detailed account see Australian 8th Division and The Fall of Singapore.
Burma Campaign
See The Burma Campaign for details on:
- The 14th forgotten Army
- Japanese advance through Burma to the Indian Frontier
- The Stalemate
- Allies counter offensives
US forces in the China Burma India Theatre
Western Allies support for the Chinese
One of the major logistical efforts of the war was "flying the Hump" over the Himalayas and the building of the Ledo Road from India to China as a relpacement for the Burma Road.
RAF
See RAF Far East Air Force, RAF Third Tactical Air Force
Battle Honours
CEYLON 1942
Qualification: For operations against Japanese aircraft and naval units by squadrons based in Ceylon during the Japanese attacks of April 1942.
BURMA 1944-1945
Qualification: For operations during the 14th Army's advance from Imphal to Rangoon, the coastal amphibious assaults, and the Battle of Pegu Yomas, August 1944 to August 1945.
11th Army Group
British 11th Army Group ( November 1943 – November 12 1944) was on paper the main British Army force in South East Asia which directed
On November 12 1944 It was redesignated Allied Land Forces South East Asia , still under SEAC, because it was felt that an inter-Allied command was better than the purely British headquarters. Command problems with General Stilwell and his interactions with the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff had precipitated the change.
Other
See Also
References
- Defeat Into Victory by Field Marshal William Slim is the definitive account of the Burma campaign.
