THE SOCIETY CREATED under British colonialism unwound in stages. In 1942, the Japanese invaded from the east, driving the British back to Assam. Half a million Indians fled. Tens of thousands died trying to reach India on foot. The Japanese also trained a Burma National Army led by young Thakins. Over the next three years, Burma became a giant battlefield involving over a million Japanese, British, Burmese, Indian, African, and Gurkha troops. Nearly every town was flattened by Japanese and Allied bombing. The economy was destroyed.
