Legacy of Liberation: The Race for Rangoon

The often-overlooked Burma Campaign was one of the most important fought by Commonwealth forces in the Second World War. Discover how the British Empire turned defeat into Victory as it marched for Rangoon here.

The Burma Campaign

From Disaster to Deliverance: Turnaround in Burma 

Image: General Bill Slim, centre, confers with senior army commanders in Burma (© IWM)

May 1942. The battered, demoralised remnants of the British Burma Army, shattered by military defeats and despondent in the monsoon rains, retreated across the Chindwin River. 

Heading towards the Indian border, the British left Burma (present-day Myanmar) under the domination of the Imperial Japanese.

Nearly three years later, in the winter of 1944-45, a renewed, re-equipped, re-motivated Commonwealth force returned to Burma. 

Its goal was to wrest the country out of Japanese control and back under the auspices of the British Empire. 

The titanic clashes at Imphal and Kohima on the Burma-India border in the summer of 1944 marked a turning point in Burma.

Japanese forces, which had seemed unbeatable, were routed by pioneering new tactics employed by General Bill Slim. Slim had revolutionised the troops under his command, whipping a demoralised, defeated army into a determined, well-equipped, fighting force.

Japan lost tens of thousands of soldiers in this decisive battle. Many more died in their harrowing retreat as the Commonwealth sent them scrambling back across the Chindwin. 

As battle raged in the jungled hills of Imphal and Kohima, Allied planners discussed the best course of action for the reconquest of Burma.

Central Burma is where the attack would come. Commonwealth forces would campaign around the historic former royal capital Mandalay and then push south to Rangoon. 

Fourteenth Army would cross the Chindwin to engage the Japanese on the Shwebo Plain where on more open ground they could capitalise on their advantage in tanks and aircraft.

Despite the vast size of the British Indian Army, only a relatively small force consisting of IV Corps and XXXIII Corps would attack across the Chindwin. Given the lack of roads and railways in the mountainous jungles of the India-Burma border, they would primarily be supplied by air.

Crossing the Chindwin

Image: British troops crossing the Chindwin River (© IWM)

With Commonwealth forces crossing the Chindwin in Force, the Japanese abandoned the central Shwebo Plain and retreated across another waterway, the Irrawaddy, deeper into Burma.

Reacting quickly, Allied military leaders altered the plan: XXXIII Corps would start by clearing the Shwebo Plain before heading southwest for Mandalay. IV Corps, yet to cross the Chindwin, would remain on its left bank before charging for the vital Japanese logistical centre at Meiktila. 

Clearing the Burmese coast

Image: Indian Army Sherman Tanks advance into Burma (© IWM)

Lieutenant George Arthur Knowland VC

During the fighting on 31 January, in what became known as the Battle of Hill 170, Lieutenant George Arthur Knowland of No.1 Commando commanded a forward platoon of 24 men which came under heavy Japanese counterattack.

Image: Lieutenant George Knowland VC

For twelve hours Lieutenant Knowland and his men held off an attack by 300 Japanese troops. Throughout, he moved amongst his men distributing ammunition while engaging the enemy with his rifle and grenades.

When the light machine gun crew were wounded Knowland rushed forward to man the gun himself while the men were evacuated. 

During a subsequent attack, he took up a light mortar and, firing it from the hip, rushed forward. When his mortars ran out, he fought with his rifle until the enemy was nearly upon him, at which point he picked up a submachine gun from a fallen comrade and continued firing into the enemy until fatally wounded. 

Lieutenant Knowland was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. He was 22 years old. He is buried in Taukkyan War Cemetery Plot 11. Row J. Grave 1.

The Battle of Hill 170 was the climax of the Arakan Operations of January 1945. The Royal Marine Commandos of 3rd Commando Brigade captured and held the dominant high ground of the Chind Hills. 

With support from Indian Army regiments, the Commandos held Hill 170 was held by the Commandos for 36 hours. 

In doing so, they cut off the escape and supply routes of Japanese forces facing them, practically destroying the 54th Japanese Division. Further amphibious landings by the 25th Indian Infantry Division and 82nd (West African) Division along the coast forced the Japanese 28th Army to quit the Arakan Peninsula once and for all.

The advance in Arakan and the capture of several islands and airfields along the coast greatly assisted the Commonwealth air forces in supplying troops fighting in central Burma, which by late February were in position to strike at Meiktila and Mandalay.

The Battle of Meiktila

Image: British mortar crews in action at the Battle of Meiktila (© IWM)

As mentioned earlier, the city of Meiktila was an important logistics hub for Japanese forces in the wider Mandalay region. 

Capturing it would deprive the British and Indian Armies’ opponents of the necessary equipment, food, and material needed to wage a war in that region of Burma.

The fully motorised Indian 17th Division led the attack on Meiktila. Supported by a tank brigade, the division first secured an airfield outside the city.

This was in line with the Allied strategy of supplying its forces by air after pioneering the process at Imphal and Kohima.

The Battle of Meiktila proper began on February 28, 1945. 

Naik Fazil Din VC

Among the soldiers fighting to capture the city was Naik Fazil Din of 7th Battalion, 10th Baluch Regiment. Fazl was a Muslim Jat from the Hoshiarpur District of Punjab. He had joined the army shortly after the outbreak of the war. 

Image: A portrait of Naik Fazl Din VC

On 2 March, Fazl Din was commanding a section during an attack when they came under fire from several Japanese bunkers.

Unhesitatingly, Fazl Din personally attacked the nearest bunker with grenades, then led his section against the other bunkers under heavy fire. 

When assisting his Bren gunner who was attacked by a Japanese officer wielding a sword, Fazl Din was run through himself. When the officer withdrew his sword, Fazl Din tore it from him and killed him with it. 

Despite his terrible wound, he continued to fight and encourage his men, before staggering to HQ to make a report. He died soon after. He was 24. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. He is commemorated on the Rangoon Memorial, Face 39.

After a few days of bloody fighting, Meiktila fell to Commonwealth forces, but Japanese reinforcements rushed to the area and the Commonwealth troops found themselves besieged. 

Over the following weeks, they fought hard to repulse several ferocious Japanese attacks determined to retake the strategically important city.

The Battle of Mandalay

Image: The golden temples and pagodas of Mandalay fell victim to Allied bombing during the assault on Mandalay (© IWM)

Elsewhere, the Indian Army was making great strides in the reconquest of Burma.

By 7 March, The Indian 19th Division leading XXXIII Corps’ advance had fought its way to the pagoda and temple-strewn Mandalay Hill.

The following evening, the hill was stormed by a Gurkha battalion led by an officer who had served in Burma before the war. They pushed the bulk of their Japanese opponents off the high ground leaving small enemy bands occupying bunkers and tunnels. These were flushed out over the following days.

Fighting its way through the Mandalay’s city streets, the 19th Division came up against a brick wall, literally. One of the division’s key obstacles was the moat and thick protective rules of the Japanese-occupied Mandalay Palace. 

The walls, in places up to 10 ft (3m) thick, resisted bombardment. A direct assault was impossible. 

Another attack through a railway tunnel near the north and west walls was driven back.

Finally, on 21 March, the 19th Division prepared for a final assault through the city’s extensive sewer system. Before it could go ahead, the Japanese abandoned the palace, leaving the city, pulling back towards Meiktila.

The Burmese Air War

Image: Allied heavy bombers pound the coastal waterways of Burma (© IWM)

While the tanks, artillery, and infantry were operating on the ground, the skies over Burma were filled with Allied aircraft.

Air support, especially air drops of supplies and equipment, was integral to the Allied strategy in Burma. 75% of all supplies delivered between January and May 1945 arrived by air.

Of course, the role of air power in the Burma Campaign went beyond logistics. Bomber and ground attack squadrons were on call to attack enemy formations, strong points, and transport, demonstrating the aerial supremacy the Allies had lacked in the early phases of the Burma Campaign.

Flying Officer Bruce Norman Reed

Flying Officer Bruce Norman Reed, a Canadian flying with 113 Squadron RAF, was one such ground-attack pilot. 

Image: Flying Officer Bruce Norman Reed

Born in Toronto, Canada in 1922, Bruce worked for the telephone service before enlisting in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941. In 1943 he was posted to the UK and swiftly on to India.

On the morning of 28 March while on a mission to attack Japanese troops near Mandalay, his Hurricane fighter was shot down and Bruce was killed. He was 22 years old. 

Bruce’s body was recovered from the crash and buried in Mandalay cemetery before being brought to Taukkyan War Cemetery after the war. He is buried in 25. E. 5.

The fall of Mandalay prompted anti-Japanese uprisings by local guerrilla forces and the defection of the Burma National Army to the Allied side. 

By the end of March, the Japanese Army in Burma was beginning to disintegrate. Having thrown everything into the battles of Meiktila and Mandalay, they had lost men and equipment which could not be replaced. 

On 28 March, with the bulk of Japanese forces broken and scattered, Mandalay firmly in Commonwealth hands and insurgent uprisings in their rear, the Japanese command gave the order to break off the siege of Meiktila and retreat south to Rangoon.

The Race to Rangoon 

Image: Indian Army soldiers move through the wreckage of a smashed town on the road to Rangoon (© IWM)

The weather played a huge role in motivating Allied attacks. Commonwealth forces had now a little over a month to fight their across 280 miles to Rangoon before monsoon season hit.

Commonwealth forces now had little over a month to fight the 280 miles to Rangoon before the monsoon hit. Drawing on their miserable earlier experiences in Burma, Allied planners were keenly aware that torrid monsoon weather would effectively halt any major advances. Time was of the essence.

In their way lay scratch Japanese formations hastily assembled to slow the Commonwealth advance.

On 27 April, leading elements of IV Corps encountered a strong Japanese rearguard at Pegu (present-day Bago), north of Rangoon. Determined Indian Army attacks were unable to dislodge the Japanese defenders. 

To make matters worse, torrential rains kicked in, heralding the imminent arrival of the monsoon. Time was beginning to run out.

On 1 May, Indian patrols found that the Japanese had withdrawn, and engineers quickly bridged the Pegu River, but it was too late. 

The monsoon broke that day. Commonwealth forces were still 40 miles short of Rangoon.

Operation Dracula 

Image: Gurkha paratroopers waiting to board their transport aircraft ahead of Operation Dracula  (© IWM)

The Battles of Meiktila and Mandalay had effectively destroyed the Japanese as a fighting force in Burma. However, they had cost valuable time the Allies could not afford to lose.

To bring the campaign to a close, Army HQ turned to an old plan for a combined air and sea invasion of Rangoon. Forces from XV Corps on the Arakan Corps were made available for the assault. 

On May 1, a Gurkha parachute battalion dropped just south of Rangoon to take out coastal artillery batteries guarding the approaches to the Rangoon River.

Just as the heavens opened and the monsoon broke, the Gurkhas quickly overcame the few Japanese forces in the area. The big guns were silenced.

Royal Navy minesweepers from a taskforce waiting off the coast moved in and began clearing a passage upriver.

Soon, landing craft carrying troops of the Indian 26th Division were heading upstream, transporting eager units to landing zones on both banks of the river in the early hours of May 2.

A decisive clash in the streets of Rangoon was expected. It must have come as some relief when, later that day, a reconnaissance flight over Rangoon found the city empty of Japanese forces. 

The 26th Division moved into Rangoon and occupied the Burmese capital without a fight.

Four days later, Commonwealth troops advancing from Rangoon met the forward elements of IV Corps as they made their way over the flooded roadways and fields from Pegu.

After three years, Rangoon and its important seaport were back in British hands.

As for the remaining Japanese forces in Burma, they attempted to break out and into neighbouring Thailand. They were intercepted and virtually destroyed at the Battle of Sittang Bend.

Remembrance

Image: The cost of victory: a simple service for a fallen comrade (© IWM)

A week after the recapture of Rangoon, Germany formally surrendered to the Allies. 

Throughout the war, the fight against Germany overshadowed events in Burma, and victory in the latter was now swamped by coverage of victory in Europe.

Fourteenth Army, and Commonwealth forces in India and Burma more generally, felt themselves to be ‘The Forgotten Army’.

While the Burma Campaign and the men and women who served in it are frequently overlooked, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission ensures those who died will be commemorated in perpetuity.

Their graves and memorials remain cared for to this day by the Commission, ensuring that their names ‘liveth for evermore’.

Carved in Stone and Bronze

Standing in the heart of Taukkyan War Cemetery, Yangon, stands the magnificent Rangoon Memorial. Commemorating over 26,800 Commonwealth servicemen who died in the Burma Campaigns with no known war grave, it is the largest CWGC memorial to the missing of the Second World War in the world.

The cemetery in which it stands is the largest of our Myanmar war cemeteries. Taukkyan is the final resting place of more than 6,370 WW2 Commonwealth servicemen. Over 860 are unidentified casualties of the fighting in Burma.

Further memorials within Taukkyan include the Taukkyan Cremation Memorial, commemorating over 1,050 Indian or Burmese service killed during World War Two and cremated in accordance with their faith.

Work on the cemetery began after the war when graves were brought in from civil and cantonment cemeteries, isolated jungle or roadside burials and four former battlefield cemeteries across Myanmar (Burma). 

The graves from each of those four cemeteries now lie in one of the four quarters of the cemetery formed by the memorial and central pathway. In the northwest of the cemetery are those originally buried in Arakan province. 

In the northeast are those from around Mandalay. In the southeast, Meiktila, and in the southwest are those from northern Burma, including from the original ‘Chindit’ cemetery at Sahmaw.

Both Memorial and cemetery were designed by architect Henry J. Brown, who worked on several Commission cemeteries and memorials in India, Pakistan and Burma. Brown proposed a central memorial for this site, partly to suit the layout of the cemetery, but also because it allowed visitors to first understand the purpose of the cemetery before experiencing the memorial.

The memorial consists of two long open garden courts, flanked by long colonnades on either side, and joined in the middle by an open rotunda.

Brown chose a circular shape for the centrepiece to allow English, Urdu, Hindu, Gurmukhi and Burmese translations of the dedication inscription - “They died for all free men” - to be placed in positions of equal importance.

The memorial was unveiled on 9 February 1958 by General Sir Francis Festing, Commander in Chief of Far East Land Forces and a former commander of the 36th Indian Division, which fought during the Burma campaign in Arakan and at Mandalay. 

In his address, General Festing said that the memorial presented a picture of a simple truth – that of a multitude of men of many races and widely differing faiths, who gave their lives in a common cause.

Discover the Legacy of Liberation

The Legacy of Liberation continues this year.

2025 marks the 80th Anniversary of VE and VJ-Day and the end of the Second World War.

Join us for events, blogs, and virtual tours that help tell the story of the final months of this world-changing conflict, and how the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission hasn’t stopped since then.