Walawbum in WW2 History | World War II Database

7 Mar 1944

Burma

Chinese 38th Division overran most Japanese defensive positions at Walawbum, Burma by mid-morning, thus negating the need for the US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) to move to Chanmois. Joseph Stilwell celebrated the successful Sino-American collaboration before a group of journalists, but the soldiers were jealous of the Chinese soldiers who were regularly given canned corned beef, fresh cucumbers and onions, and rice, while the Americans, who operated far behind enemy lines and thus cut off from being supplies regularly, dined on largely K-rations, which the soldiers found boring. Meanwhile, General Shinichi Tanaka ordered Japanese 55th and 56th Infantry Regiments to attack American positions at Walawbum to allow the rest of Japanese 18th Division to retreat southward; Joseph Stilwell, Jr., the ranking American intelligence officer in the area and so of the commanding general, failed to detect the withdrawal and thus would lose the chance to wipe out the demoralized Japanese division. ww2dbase [Battle of Myitkyina | Joseph Stilwell | Walawbum | CPC]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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