Myitkyina, battle for

The Oxford Companion to World War II | 2001 | 700+ words | Copyright

Myitkyina, battle for. The courageous Japanese defence, from May to August 1944, of this northern town in Burma against attacks by the Chinese and US Forces of Stilwell's Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC). Stilwell's goal of clearing a supply route to China with his First Chinese Army before the monsoon rains began seemed possible when, on 17 May 1944, his force, supported by Merrill's Marauders (see GALAHAD) and Chindits, took Myitkyina's airfield. But the town itself was quickly reinforced and then superbly defended by Maj-General Mizukami Genzu. After holding out for 79 days against seemingly impossible odds, the garrison's survivors slipped across the River Irrawaddy having lost 790 killed and 1,180 wounded. On 3 August, the day Stilwell's exhausted and demoralized troops took the town, Mizukami committed suicide. Chinese casualties were 972 killed and 3,184 wounded, the Americans, 272 and 955, plus 980 from illness and disease. It was the NCAC's most important battle in the Burma campaign. See also China–Burma–India theatre.

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I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Myitkyina, battle for." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Myitkyina, battle for." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-Myitkyinabattlefor.html

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Myitkyina, battle for." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-Myitkyinabattlefor.html

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