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Convention Theme – July 26-29, 2007
Burma and the North-East Frontier of India
“The records of small wars show unmistakably how great is the impression made…
by a bold and resolute procedure.
The military history of our Indian Empire affords proof of this on every page.
From the days of Clive down to the present time victory has been achieved
by vigour and by dash rather than by force of numbers.”
– C. E. Callwell in Small Wars: their Principles and Practice, 1906
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| The Wars of South Asia theme includes military operations of the British Empire in Burma and along the North-East Frontier. In addition, Burma was the setting for battles of World War II, and involved a myriad of troop types and units. |
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 The kingdom of Burma lay in a strategic position that caused the British some concern. It framed their Indian possessions to the east, and was also a potential gateway to the imagined riches of China. In the early nineteenth century, the kingdom was militarily robust, and followed an expansionist philosophy that seemed to threaten India itself. Its soldiers had invaded Indian border towns. Then a dispute over an East India Company trading post had led to a full-scale and bloody war in 1824, in which the fighting took place in steamy jungle thickets, where heatstroke felled men just as much as the Burmese did!
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 During the Second World War, Burma was the British Army's main front against the Japanese after the fall of Singapore. The Japanese Army overran Burma during the opening months of 1942, despite some fierce rearguard actions by units of the Indian Army. Operations in the Arakan and raids by Wingate's legendary Chindits were the only major military operations during 1943. The Japanese Army's bold effort to invade India early in 1944 ended in a major defeat, as the imperial soldiers broke their ranks against a reorganized and reinvigorated XIVth Army under Viscount William Slim. The following year Slim led a mix of soldiers from throughout the British Empire (Indians, Gurkhas, East and West Africans, and regular British units) in a brilliant campaign that drove the Japanese Army from Burma. Indeed, historical miniature hobbyists often overlook Burma, yet the battles, troop types and terrain fought over offer interesting scenarios for the World War II gamer. |
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For a complete list of many of the battles, campaigns and wars that encompass this year’s theme, click on the following link: The Wars of South Asia, 1800-2007.
For more information on the Burma and the North-East Frontier, click on the following links:
First Anglo-Burmese War, 1824-26
Second Anglo-Burmese War, 1852-53
Third Anglo-Burmese War, 1885-87 (and guerilla campaigns until 1890)
The British North-East Frontier Policy and the Kukis (Kuki War of Independence, 1917)
Burma in World War II:
Battles in Burma during World War II (with many additional links):
Map of Burma in World War II:
Indo-China War of 1962
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