General Masaki Honda

Pyinmana during World War Two

On 20 April 1945, Allied forces led by the 5th Indian Division were seizing control of Pyinmana (now Naypyitaw). It was the headquarters of the Japanese 33rd Army and its commander, General Masaki Honda, only just managed to escape in the dark on foot. Hundreds of other Japanese were killed. The 5th Indian Division - with Scots, Pathan, Sikh, English, Gurkha, Punjabi and other troops - had fought the Italians in East Africa and the Germans in North Africa, as...