Objective, Burma! (1945)
Director: Raoul Walsh.
Starring: Errol Flynn (Captain Nelson), William Prince
(Lt. Sid Jacobs), George Tobias (Cpl. Gabby Gordon), Henry Hull, (Mark Williams,
American News correspondent), Warner Anderson (Col. J. Carter),
John Alvin (Hogan), Mark Stevens (Lt. Barker), Jim L. Brown (Staff Sergeant
Treacy), Richard Erdman (Pvt. Nebraska Hooper).
The movie deals with a group of mostly American paratroopers under the command of Captain Nelson (Errol Flynn) dropped into the Burmese jungle in order to wipe out a Japanese radar station in expectation of a general Allied invasion to retake Burma. The destruction of the radar station goes extremely well, without a single casualty, but that proved to be the easy part of the mission. Now the problem was, how would the the raiders ever get back to their forces given that the Japanese are all over the area looking for revenge against the destroyers of the radar station.
The film is not great, but it does keep one's interest wondering if the raiders will make it out successfully. The best thing about the movie is Erroll Flynn who sure is a smooth, charming character.
Historical Background:.
1943 (October) -- Admiral Lord Mountbatten appointed the Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia.
The US forces in the China-Burma-India theater were under the nominal command of General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell.
About the same time -- the Japanese created the Burma Area Army with command of the 15th and 28th Armies.
After the loss of the Burma Road, the Americans under Stillwell prevailed with their idea of building a new road (the Ledo Road) through north Burma to the Burma Road close to the Chinese border. To build the Ledo Road, Stillwell attacked the Japanese northern front with Merrill's Marauders, the Chindits (i.e., the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade) and Chinese troops along the route of the new road. They were able to clear north Burma after heavy jungle fighting and the prolonged siege of Myitkyina.
by 1944 -- the British Royal Air Force had gained Air superiority in the area.
late 1944 and the first half of 1945 -- the British launched a series of offensive operations into Burma.
1945 (April 22) -- Japanese General Kimura ordered Rangoon to be evacuated.
1945 (May 1) -- a Gurkha parachute battalion cleared Japanese rearguards from the mouth of the Rangoon River.
1945 (May 2) -- the Indian 26th Infantry Division took over Rangoon.
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