Retreat From Burma

On one of the most dramatic journeys recorded in the annals of the war, so far, Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stillwell, at the head of a band of 114 Americans, Burmese nurses, Chinese, Indians, Britons and Anglo-Indians, covered 140 grueling miles on their retreat from Wuntho, Burma, which began on May 4th, 1942. For days the band struggled through the torturous heat of the dense malaria-infested swamps and jungles of Burma, to reach the banks of the Uyu River, where they were forced to abandon the few Jeeps and trucks they had, to proceed on home-made rafts, down the river to the Chindwin and Thenge to Imphal on the Indian frontier. They arrived at their destination, Dinjan, India with only a few cases of malaria and heat exhaustion. Considering what they had been through, their journey was remarkably successful. Here, in a series of 25 official U.S. Army photos, just arrived from India, the story of the retreat is graphically presented.
New York Bureau
This bridge was repaired by the Chinese on time, and Major General Franklin C. Sibert, starts ahead of the first Jeep in the column.
Credit: (U.S. Army Photo from ACME) 7-30-42