Burma Road BNA changed sides in March 1945, once it became clear that Japan was losing the war The BNA then fought against the Japanese in support of British and Indian Army forces BURMA ROAD The supply line to China used by the British to support Jiang Jieshi from December 1938, during the Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) Built with conscripted “coolie” labor, it ran for over 350 miles through dense jungle and over high, jagged mountains Wartime extensions stretched it to over 700 miles It was closed for several months in 1940 when Winston Churchill was compelled to bow to Japanese pressure following the German victory in FALL GELB It was closed again in 1942, after the Japanese pushed the British out of Burma in the first Burma campaign (1941–1942) That seriously threatened Guomindang forces by cutting their main overland supply route: the only one left ran 3,000 miles from Alma Ata through outer Mongolia to Chongqing (Chungking) To compensate, the Western Allies flew military supplies and fuel in unpressurized aircraft “over the Hump,” as pilots called the air route over the Himalayas from India to southern China By 1944, China and the Guomindang ceased to figure prominently in Western Allied plans or expectations for final victory over Japan When the Burma Road was finally reopened by American Mars Task Force and engineers in January 1945, it permitted additional supplies to be delivered to the Guomindang in southern China but did little to affect the final outcome of the war See also Ledo Road BURMA–SIAM RAILWAY A Japanese military railway built during the war with “coolie” forced labor and by Australian, British, and Dutch prisoners of war It was built between July 1942 and October 1943 It ran for 260 miles, spanning many gorges and rivers, including the Mae Klong (“River Kwai”) Louis Allen, leading historian of the war in Burma, places the total lives lost at over 12,000 prisoners and more than 90,000 forced laborers from all over Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia Although true totals remain unknowable, it has been calculated that one man died for each 17-foot section of track laid The main causes of death were brutal mistreatment and execution by Japanese guards, deliberate starvation, and disease Western Allied air forces bombed the line repeatedly and with success The railway was abandoned by the Japanese in early 1945, as they fell back under pressure from enemy offensives BURP GUN Any of a variety of submachine pistols The most famous were the American “Thompson,” British “Sten,” German MP40, Italian “Beretta,” and Soviet PPsH (M1941) Western Allied soldiers named the class of submachine pistols “burp guns” after the short, loud bursts of fire they characteristically produced See also grease gun; machine guns BUSCH, ERNST (1885–1945) German field marshal He was a corps commander during the invasion of Poland in 1939 He led 16th Army in the invasion of 202