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BURMA BEFORE WAR WITH JAPAN.
3. Burma had been included, for operational purposes, in the Far East Command when this was established in November, 1940, with headquarters in Singapore. Administration remained directly under the War Office. So much, however, was the security of Burma of concern to those charged with the defence of India that several attempts were made by successive Commanders-in-Chief in India to have this arrangement altered and responsibility for the defence of Burma transferred to India. The recommendation to this effect made by my predecessor, General Auchinleck, was not accepted. Shortly after my appointment as Commander-in-Chief, India I paid a visit to the United Kingdom and personally pressed this change on the Chiefs of Staff, who again refused to alter the existing arrangement, on the grounds that the question had been fully considered when the Far East Command was established. The Japanese had by this time invaded Indo-China and thus brought danger to Burma much closer, but this fact was not held to justify the change.
On returning to India I paid a visit to Burma and Malaya and discussed the question with the Commander-in-Chief Far East, Air Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, and with the Governor of Burma, Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, and with the G.O.C. Burma, Lieut.-General D. K. Macleod. As a result I cabled to the C.I.G.S. on 11th November, 1941, again recommending the transfer of Burma to the Indian Command. I understand that my recommendation was supported by the Governor of Burma.
I was very greatly concerned by the extent of unpreparedness in Burma's defences of which I became aware during my visit. I realised that the number and training of the troops, their equipment, the Intelligence lay-out, the size and organisation of the staff, the administrative system and the defensive arrangements were quite inadequate. So dangerous to India did I consider the situation to be that on my return I initiated the despatch to Burma of an additional Indian Infantry Brigade and battery and arranged for a senior administrative staff officer to visit Burma and to ascertain their most pressing needs. Though the administration of Burma was the responsibility of the War Office, it was obvious that, if Japan entered the war, it would be quite impossible for Burma's requirements to be met in time from the United Kingdom; and since any failure in Burma would endanger India, it was essential for the India Command, in spite of its own grave shortages, to put the defence of Burma on a reasonable basis. I also took up the question of the construction of an all-weather road from Assam to Burma as a matter of immediate urgency. (See also paragraph 39.)
4. The neglect of Burma's defences during the early part of the war was understandable. There seemed little pressing danger even should Japan decide to attack Great Britain. Burma was protected on the east by two neutral states, Thailand and Indo-China, both of which professed their intention to defend themselves against Japanese aggression, and by the natural difficulties of the mountainous undeveloped country on her border. So long as Singapore remained in British possession, there was little danger of a threat from seaward. Troops, equipment and staff were badly needed elsewhere, and it was only natural that Burma's requirements were placed by the War Office very low in the scale of priority. When Japan entered Indo-China in July, 1941, and her aggressive intentions became obvious, Burma became more nearly threatened and more attention should have been paid to her deficiencies. The cardinal mistake seems to me, however, to have been in placing Burma in the Far East Command instead of under India. Except as a subsidiary air base, Burma hardly entered into the strategical plans of the Far East Command, which was concerned with the defence of Hong Kong and Malaya; whereas for India Burma was a vital bulwark. Similarly in administration the War Office was too far away and too occupied with other matters to concern itself with, or even to understand, the needs of Burma, to which India would have given sympathetic consideration as part of her own defence problem.
In Burma itself more might have been done, in spite of all the deficiencies, to place the country on a war footing. Political considerations, the climate, under-estimation of the enemy, over-estimation of the natural strength of the frontiers, the complacency of many years of freedom from external threat, all combined to prevent the defence problem being taken sufficiently seriously.
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