Protracted air campaign in support of ground operations during World War II. At the outbreak of war, Allied air defenses in Burma consisted of a single squadron of Brewster Buffaloes and the Curtiss P-40s of the American Volunteer Group (the famed Flying Tigers). They faced large numbers of Japanese aircraft based in Thailand and Indonesia. The air campaign opened in late December with Japanese attacks on the city of Rangoon that caused almost 30,000 civilian casualties.

In mid-January 1942, Japanese ground forces advanced into Burma supported by the Third Army Air Division. Although outnumbered, the Allied air forces in general fought well, but Japanese attacks on bases took their toll, and by late spring the campaign was over with the Japanese in possession of most of Burma. This cut the Burma Road, the only viable overland communication route to China, forcing supplies for China to be transported by air over the “Hump” of the Himalayas.

The Allies launched several offensive operations in late 1942 and 1943 with only limited success. Of particular interest was the operation of jungle-trained Chindit forces under Brigadier General Orde Wingate, who penetrated deep behind Japanese lines and were supplied entirely by air for extended periods. Operations by the British XV Corps in the Second Arakan Offensive in January 1944 were also supplied by air.

In early 1944, the Japanese Fifteenth Army attacked from western Burma into India but was stopped by British and Indian troops at Imphal and Kohima. Both defensive positions were surrounded for long periods of time, again supplied by the large number of Allied transport aircraft in the area until eventually relieved by forces advancing from India. Chindit operations continued, including the construction and operation of the Broadway air base behind Japanese lines. Broadway overstepped Allied capabilities, however, and Japanese air attack destroyed the aircraft based there.

By July 1944, Allied air strength had increased to 64 RAF and 26 U.S. squadrons, and a major Allied offensive was imminent. The most prevalent Allied aircraft were Hurricanes, but Spitfire, Beaufighter, P-40, and P-47 types contributed significantly, along with a variety of bomber aircraft. Unlike many of the well-known air battles in the Central and Southwest Pacific, Japanese air units were army units flying such aircraft as the Kawasaki Ki 43 and Ki 44.

The Japanese effectiveness had been spent in the Imphal and Kohima battles; the Allied advance, primarily by British, Indian, and Chinese forces, was hard-fought but steady, interrupted only by the monsoon season. It was supported by overwhelming airpower. Rangoon finally fell on 2 May 1945, and the campaign in Burma came to a close. Planned Allied operations in the theater against Malaya and Singapore had not begun when the war ended.

References Probert, Air Commodore Henry. Forgotten Air Force: History of the RAF in the War Against Japan. London: Brassey’s, 1995. Scott, Robert L. God Is My Co-Pilot. New York: Ballantine Books, 1956.