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Burma Road

 
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The Burma Road is a road
Road

A road is an identifiable Road number, way or Trail between Location . Roads are typically smoothed, Pavement , or otherwise prepared to allow easy travel; though they need not be, and historically many roads were simply recognizable routes without any formal construction or Maintenance, repair and operations....
 linking Burma (also called Myanmar) with China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
. Its terminals are Kunming
Kunming

Kunming is a prefecture-level city and capital of Yunnan province, in southwestern China. Because of its year-round temperate climate, Kunming is often called the "Spring City" or "City of Eternal Spring" ....
, Yunnan
Yunnan

is a political divisions of China of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately 394,000 square kilometers ....
 and Lashio
Lashio

Lashio is the largest town in northern Shan State, Myanmar, situated on a low mountain spur overlooking the valley of the Nam Yao river. The population, which in 1960 counted some 5000 souls, is made up of mostly Bamar , Shan and overseas Chinese....
, Burma. When it was built, Burma was a British colony
Crown colony

A Crown colony was a type of colonial administration of the British Empire.Crown colonies were ruled by a governor appointed by The Crown . Though the term was not used at the time, the first of what would later become known as Crown colonies was the Colony of Virginia in the present-day United States, after the Crown took control from the...
.

The road is long and runs through rough mountain country.






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Allied Lines of Communication in Southeast Asia, 1942 43
The Burma Road is a road
Road

A road is an identifiable Road number, way or Trail between Location . Roads are typically smoothed, Pavement , or otherwise prepared to allow easy travel; though they need not be, and historically many roads were simply recognizable routes without any formal construction or Maintenance, repair and operations....
 linking Burma (also called Myanmar) with China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
. Its terminals are Kunming
Kunming

Kunming is a prefecture-level city and capital of Yunnan province, in southwestern China. Because of its year-round temperate climate, Kunming is often called the "Spring City" or "City of Eternal Spring" ....
, Yunnan
Yunnan

is a political divisions of China of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately 394,000 square kilometers ....
 and Lashio
Lashio

Lashio is the largest town in northern Shan State, Myanmar, situated on a low mountain spur overlooking the valley of the Nam Yao river. The population, which in 1960 counted some 5000 souls, is made up of mostly Bamar , Shan and overseas Chinese....
, Burma. When it was built, Burma was a British colony
Crown colony

A Crown colony was a type of colonial administration of the British Empire.Crown colonies were ruled by a governor appointed by The Crown . Though the term was not used at the time, the first of what would later become known as Crown colonies was the Colony of Virginia in the present-day United States, after the Crown took control from the...
.

The road is long and runs through rough mountain country. The sections from Kunming to the Burmese border were built by 200,000 Chinese laborers during the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War

The Second Sino-Japanese War was the largest Asian war in the twentieth century. From 1937 to 1941, it was fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan....
 in 1937 and completed by 1938. It had a role in World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, when the British
British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, and other Dependent territory ruled or administered by the United Kingdom , that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries....
 used the Burma Road to transport war materiel
Materiel

Materiel is a term used in English language to refer to the equipment and supply in Military supply chain management and Business supply chain management....
 to China before Japan was at war with the British. Supplies would be landed at Rangoon
Yangon

Yangon is the largest city and a former capital of Burma. It is the capital of Yangon Division. Although the State Peace and Development Council has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial center....
 (now Yangon) and moved by rail to Lashio
Lashio

Lashio is the largest town in northern Shan State, Myanmar, situated on a low mountain spur overlooking the valley of the Nam Yao river. The population, which in 1960 counted some 5000 souls, is made up of mostly Bamar , Shan and overseas Chinese....
, where the road started in Burma. After the Japanese overran Burma in 1942, the Allies began to fly supplies over the eastern end of the Himalayas
The Hump

The Hump was the name given by Allied pilots in the Second World War to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains over which they flew from India to China to resupply the Flying Tigers and the Second Sino-Japanese War of Chiang Kai-shek....
 and, under the command of General Vinegar Joe Stilwell
Joseph Stilwell

General officer Joseph Warren Stilwell was a United States Army four-star General officer best-known for his service in China and Burma. His contempt for formal military dress, his concern for the enlisted man, and his caustic personality would gain him two sobriquets: "Uncle Joe" and "Vinegar Joe."...
, built the Ledo Road
Ledo Road

The Ledo Road, was built during World War II so that the Western Allies could supply the China as an alternative to the Burma Road which had been cut by the Japanese in 1942....
 to connect Assam
Assam

Assam ) is a North-East India state of India with its capital at Dispur, in the outskirts of the city Guwahati. Located south of the eastern Himalayas, Assam comprises the Brahmaputra and the Barak River river valleys and the Karbi Anglong District and the North Cachar Hills with an area of 30,285 square miles ....
 in India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 to the Burma Road through territory in the far north of Burma still in allied hands.

See also

  • Ledo Road
    Ledo Road

    The Ledo Road, was built during World War II so that the Western Allies could supply the China as an alternative to the Burma Road which had been cut by the Japanese in 1942....


Further reading

  • Jon Latimer
    Jon Latimer

    Jon Latimer was an historian and writer based in Wales. His books include Operation Compass 1940 , Tobruk 1941 , Deception in War , Alamein , Burma: The Forgotten War and 1812: War with America which won a Distinguished Book Award from the Society for Military History and was shortlisted for the George Washington B...
    , Burma: The Forgotten War, John Murray, (2004). ISBN 0-7195-6576-6.


External links

  • WW2 Burma Road video
  • video 1
  • video 2
  • Universal Newsreel
    Universal Studios

    Universal Studios , a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the six Worldwide major American film studios. Its production studios are located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California....
  • Mark Jenkins, Outside Magazine, October 2003
  • Donovan Webster, National Geographic Magazine
    National Geographic Magazine

    The National Geographic Magazine, later shortened to National Geographic, is the official journal of the National Geographic Society....
    , November 2003
  • Erin O'Brien, The Cultured Traveler, Vol 6 April 2004
  • David Fullbrook, Asia Times
    Asia Times

    Asia Times was a newspaper launched in Thailand by Thai tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul in 1995. The newspaper hired talent from around the world to produce a regional English-language newspaper....
    , September 23, 2004
  • The Sydney Morning Herald
    The Sydney Morning Herald

    The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. The newspaper's Sunday edition, The Sun-Herald, is published in tabloid format....
    , August 16, 2008
  • Los Angeles Times
    Los Angeles Times

    The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California and distributed throughout the Western United States. It is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States and the fourth-most widely distributed newspaper in the United States....
    , "", December 30, 2008.