2 July 1945 - 7 August 1945
The Battle of the Sittang Bend
people General Kimura Heitaro
The Battle of the Sittang Bend took place from 2 July to 7 August 1945. Soon after the Allied recapture of Rangoon in May 1945, the Japanese 15th, 28th and 33rd armies under General Heitarō Kimura attempted to break out from the Pegu Yomas and move towards Thailand. It was a bloody battle as the Japanese tried to break out during heavy rains but were met by British forces. Nearly 10,000 were killed and another 5,000 wounded. This breakout attempt was the last major land battle involving the Western powers during World War Two.
This painting done by British painter Leslie Cole in 1945 and held in the Imperial War Museum’s collection captures the bleak atmosphere of the Battle of the Sittang Bend. It shows soldiers of the Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent) Regiment searching for Japanese troops along the Sittang River after heavy rains. As a war artist attached to the South East Asia Command, Cole went out on jungle patrol with the Queen’s Own Regiment and experienced such scenes firsthand.