Japanese go underground in Burma

15th March 1945: Japanese troops mount yet another fanatical, suicidal stand -amongst the pagodas of Mandalay

The Campaign in Mandalay February - March 1945: Men of a Sikh regiment clear a Japanese foxhole at Mandalay with machine gun fire after throwing in a phosphorus grenade.

Two British soldiers on patrol in the ruins of the Burmese town of Bahe during the advance on Mandalay.

The British advance south into Burma was making dramatic strides. After taking Meiktila they moved on to Mandalay, arriving on the outskirts of the city on the 9th March.

There followed some very intense, fierce fighting as the Japanese sought to defend their positions from underground bunkers established in old Buddhist temples and catacombs. The terrain was very different but the techniques for overcoming the Japanese would have been very familiar to the US Marines on Iwo Jima.