China Burma India Theater of World War II

China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the name used by the US military for US forces under the command of South East Asia Command (SEAC) of the South-East Asian Theatre. This included American forces flying the Hump, General Vinegar Joe Stilwell's forces who built Ledo Road and Merrill's Marauders.

The US Army established the CBI, and placed Stilwell in command. The CBI Theater was not supposed to be an operational headquarters. It was merely supposed to be in charge of the administation of the American military formations in China, Burma and India. However, Stilwell often broke the chain of command and communicated directly with the Joint Chiefs of Staff on operational matters. All such communications were supposed to go through the British 11th Army Group to the Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia, through the British Chiefs of Staff Committee (since the UK had strategic responsibility for the area in much the same way as the US had strategic responsibility for the Pacific Theater of Operations) and finally to the Combined Chiefs of Staff.

Stilwell was able to do this by his position of Deputy Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia where by he outranked General George Giffard the commander of British 11th Army Group who was Stilwell's commander in his role as operational commander of the Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC). A further complicaton was that Stilwell also remaining Chief of Staff to the Chinese leader Chiang Kai-Shek.

Early 1942 Stilwell was promoted to lieutenant general and tasked with establishing the CBI.
February 25 1942 Stilwell arrived in India by which time Singapore and Burma had both been invaded by the Japanese Army.
March 10, 1942 Stilwell is named Chief of Staff of allied armies in the Chinese theatre of operations.
March 19, 1942 Stilwell?s command in China is extended to include the Chinese 5th and 6th Armies operating in Burma after Chiang Kai-Shek gave hist permission.
March 20, 1942 Chinese troops under Stilwell engage Japanese forces along the Sittang River in Burma
May 2 1942, The commander of the Allied foreces in Burma, General Harold Alexander, ordered a general retreat to India. Instead of flying out, Stilwell remaind with his troops and began a long retreat to Inda.
May 24 1942, Stilwell arrived in Delhi. Most of his Chinese troops had deserted and gone back to China.
New Delhi and Ramgarh became the main training centre for Chinese troops in India. Chaing Kai-Shek gave Stilwell command of what was left of the 22nd and 38th Divisions of the Chinese Army.
August 1943 Roosevelt also decided to create a similar group to the Chindits commanded by Major General Frank Merrill.
December 1 1943, British General Sir Archibald Wavell, the supreme command of the Far Eastern Theatre, agreed with General Stilwell to make the Ledo Road an American operation.
December 21 Stilwell assumed direct control of operations to capture Myitkyina for which he has built up forces for an offensive in Northern Burma.
February 24 1944, Merrill's Marauders, attacked the 18th Japanese Division in Burma. This action enabled Stilwell to gain control of the Hakawing Valley.
May 17 1944 British general Slim in command of the Burma Campaign handed the control of the Chindits to general Stilwell
May 17 1944 Chinese troops with the help of Merrill's Mauraders capture Myitkina airfield.
August 3 1944 Myitkina falls to the Allies including Merrill's Mauraders. The Mauraders had advanced 750 miles and fought in 5 major engagements and 32 skirmishes with the Japanese Army. They lost 700 men, only 1,300 Marauders reached their objective and of these, 679 had to be hospitalized. This included General Merrill who had suffered a second-heart attack before going down with malaria.
Some time before August 27 1944, Mountbatten supreme allied commander (SEAC) ordered general Stilwell to evacuate all the wounded Chindits.
During 1944 the Japense in operation Ichi-Go overran US air bases in Eastern China, Chiang Kai-Shek blamed Stilwell for the Japanese success and pressed the Americans to recall him.
October 1944 President Roosevelt to recall Stilwell. His former role was split as was the CBI:
- Lieutenant General Raymond Wheeler became Deputy Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia.
- Major General Albert Wedemeyer became Chief of Staff to Chiang Kai-shek and commander of the U.S. Forces, China Theater (USFCT).
- Lieutenant General Daniel Sultan was premoted from deputy commander to became commander of the U.S. Forces, India-Burma Theater (USFIBT) and commander of the Northern Combat Area Command

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China Burma India Theater of World War II

see also