5/23/42 - Burma General Stilwell's march from Burma May 1-20, 1942
Stilwell's March From Burma to Imphal, Assam
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| The march of Lieutenant General Joseph W. Stilwell and his party from Burma which started on May 1, 1942 in Burma and ended May 20, in Imphal, Assam, will go down in history as one of the great feats of an American soldier. The General, wearing old style campaign hat shown at the head of the column followed by Lieutenant Colonel Frank Dorn and Lieutenant Richard Young, two aides and Major General Franklin C. Sibert. General Stilwell, chief of staff to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, had been in command of Chinese Fifth and Sixth Armies, operating with the British in Burma.
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Stilwell's Party Nearing a River in Burma
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| General Stilwell's party walking across the sands approach a river in Burma. From the time that the heroic band left Wunthe until they reached the Chindwin River the group was entirely out of touch with the world. In the spring of 1942 the Allies took what the General called a "hell of beating" in Burma, which they lost to the Japanese, but he was still full of fight after a weary march of 140 miles through the wild Burmese jungles and the dangerous rivers and declared Burma could and would be retaken from the Japanese invaders.
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Stilwell Crossing the Uyu River
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| This picture, one of the most unusual pictures in military history, shows Lieutenant General Joseph W. Stilwell carrying a sack of bully beef from a spit across the Uyu River to his raft. An R.A.F. plane had just dropped food to the Stilwell party and the general was one of the first into water and carried his share of the food. The story of the Burma campaign, as General Stilwell put it, was one of outnumbered forces giving the best they had against a foe with more equipment and with complete air superiority. The last was a bitter pill for "Uncle Joe" to swallow.
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Stilwell Group Walking in the Chaunggyi River
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| For the first three days of the march through the jungles after abandoning their transport the Stilwell group walked up the murky waters of the Chaunggyi River.
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