Campo

1942 · ref. 222242 — Japan. 1942. Black and white photograph with an explanatory slip in Japanese. The photograph measures 20 x 14.5cm; the slip measures 16 x 11cm. Edges of photograph little browned slightly affecting image reverse of slip evenly browned with one edge little abraded not affecting text overall a good pair. A view of a sea of abandoned materiel in Rangoon supposedly jettisoned by retreating Commonwealth forces under a scorched earth policy. The shells of trucks appear to make up the bulk of the scrap - wheel hubs and grilles litter the foreground while stacks of car bodies can be seen in the background. The capture of Rangoon by the Imperial Japanese Army proved to be a significant blow to Allied logistics efforts in China and Southeast Asia. Rangoon had served as the starting point for the critical Burma Road and its capture by Japan was seen at the time as a major strategic victory. Japanese planners had hoped that the fall of Rangoon would prove to be the death knell for Chiang Kai-shek's government in Chongqing still doggedly holding out after nearly six years of continuous warfare. These hopes failed to come to fruition however as supplies were instead airlifted and re-routed along the Ledo/Stilwell Road in Assam and Kachin. With Rangoon under its control Japanese forces were able to sweep across the vast majority of the rest of the colony with the notable exception of its northernmost reaches. By 1943 Japan had established sufficient control to establish the State of Burma as a puppet regime led by Ba Maw. With Burma as a foothold the Indian National Army under Subhas Chandra Bose were also able to establish their own pro-Japanese statelet later that same year. . unknown