ABSTRACT
The 14th Army’s overland invasion of Burma by early November 1944 was already well underway. The 33rd Indian Corps had advanced without interruption on the central front amidst the torrential monsoon rains, carrying out a two-pronged drive against retreating Japanese forces in the Shenam area and down the Tiddim Road. The bitterly contested Shenam Saddle fell to 33rd Indian Corps in late July which then made steady progress eastwards, despite appalling monsoon weather (with the exhausted 23rd Indian Division and part of 2nd Division initially under command). Indeed, in many respects torrential rainfall and rugged terrain offered far greater resistance than the disorganised Japanese, wracked by disease and chronic shortages of food, ammunition and reinforcements. On 4th August the ruins of Tamu (at the head of the Kabaw Valley), filled with corpses, dying men and smashed equipment, was re-captured. Following its seizure 33rd Indian Corps was quickly reconstituted with 5th Indian Division and 11th East African Division, who then moved steadily forward across the frontier from India into Burma battling the elements, mud and Japanese rearguards towards the River Chindwin.
