The Second World War came to Burma in December, 1941. In quick succession, the American Pacific fleet was devastated at Pearl Harbor, the American Far Eastern air forces destroyed in the Philippines. Hong Kong was threatened and Siam (Thailand) concluded a peace treaty with Tokyo. Burma was exposed. By May, 1942, it would be occupied from China in the north to Rangoon in the south. With amazing speed and minimal forces, Tokyo had cut the Burma Road supplying the Nationalist Chinese, set forces on the threshold of a restive India and added the Burmese oil fields to Japan's Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. Dur: 23mins File: .mp3