ABSTRACT
By April 1942, the Japanese controlled the former Western colonies of the Philippines, Malaya and the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) – now known as Indonesia; had occupied Indochina and Thailand without taking government administrative control, and were well on their way to conquering Burma too. But what were the ‘boundaries’ of this new empire or ‘Co-Prosperity Sphere’? And how would they be defended? The boundary between Burma and British India would be easily established until such time as either the Japanese were strong enough to invade India; or until the British invaded Burma and/or Sumatra.
