Defense of Meiktila

By early March of 1945, the 17th Indian Division in Burma, under the command of British Major-General David Tennent "Punch" Cowan captured the city of Meiktila, taking just 4 days to defeat the nearly 4000 Japanese who held it. The …

1945-03-14

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By early March of 1945, the 17th Indian Division in Burma, under the command of British Major-General David Tennent "Punch" Cowan captured the city of Meiktila, taking just 4 days to defeat the nearly 4000 Japanese who held it. The Japanese 18th and 49th Divisions, who originally had been sent to reinforce the city, were now asked to retake it. The arriving Japanese, having been involved in heavy fighting in the preceding weeks, were weakened and only able to muster about 12,000 men. The early attacks from the Japanese from the north and west were unsuccessful and they turned their attention to the airfield east of the town. Cowan's defenders, who numbered 15,000 before the battle, were being reinforced with both men and munitions as the Indian 9th Infantry Brigade continued their airlift support, even through heavy enemy fire. Japanese progress towards the airfield continued to pressure the incoming flights, finally forcing Cowan to halt air landings and resort to parachute supply drops. However, the Allied air superiority, coupled with poor communications between the two Japanese divisions made it difficult for them to coordinate their attacks. Cowan kept up a vigorous and aggressive defense, sending out tank sweeps to force the Japanese to retire from the airfield and stall the siege.

Meiktila, Burma

The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of Burma. It was part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II and primarily involved forces of the Allies; the British Empire and the Republic of China, with support from the United States. They faced against the invading forces of Imperial Japan, who were supported by the Thai Phayap Army, as well as two collaborationist independence movements and armies, the first being the Burma Independence Army, which spearheaded the initial attacks against the country. Puppet states were established in the conquered areas and territories were annexed, while the international Allied force in British India launched several failed offensives. During the later 1944 offensive into India and subsequent Allied recapture of Burma the Indian National Army, led by revolutionary Subhas C. Bose and his "Free India", were also fighting together with Japan. British Empire forces peaked at around 1,000,000 land and air forces, and were drawn primarily from British India, with British Army forces, 100,000 East and West African colonial troops, and smaller numbers of land and air forces from several other Dominions and Colonies.

Wikipedia: Burma campaign

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British

Game Type: Standard

Board Type: Countryside

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