New 6th Army was a Chinese combat command involved in the Burma Campaign of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and later, the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

. They operated in the

Shan State Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos ( ...

s and the Karen State of eastern

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. The New 6th Army's

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

and Supreme Commander was

Liao Yaoxiang Liao Yiaoxiang (; 16 May 1906 – 2 December 1968), was a high-ranking Kuomintang commander who successful fought against both the Imperial Japanese Army and Chinese Communist forces. Apart from General Sun Liren, he was one of the few Nationalis ...

. The New 6th Army was among the top five

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

crack units (The other four included

New 1st Army The New 1st Army () was reputed to be the most elite military unit of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army. Nicknamed the "First Army Under Heaven" during the Chinese Civil War, it caused the most Japanese Army casualties during the Sino-Japane ...

, Reorganized 11th Division (army-sized, formerly known as the 18th Army and later reverted to its original designation), Reorganized 74th Division (army sized, formerly known as the 74th Army), and the 5th Army.

Notable facts

*On April 23, 1942, the 6th Army was involved in skirmishes with Japanese forces, and were forced to retreat from

Taunggyi Taunggyi ( ; Shan: ; Pa'O: ) is the capital and largest city of Shan State, Myanmar (Burma) and lies on the Thazi-Kyaingtong road at an elevation of , just north of Shwenyaung and Inle Lake within the Myelat region. Taunggyi is the fifth la ...

, toward the

Yunnan Province Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

. Two days later, they returned and beat back the Japanese, recapturing the location in the process. *On March 31, 1945, the British 36th Division and units of the Chinese 6th Army, captured Kyaukme, which is northwest of Mandalay. A fortnight before, the 6th army gained control of

Hsipaw Hsipaw ( shn, သီႇပေႃႉ; Tai Nuea: ᥔᥤᥴ ᥙᥨᥝᥳ), also known as Thibaw ( my, သီပေါ), is the principal town of Hsipaw Township in Shan State, Myanmar on the banks of the Duthawadi River. It is north-east of Mand ...

, 80 kilometres southwest of

Lashio Lashio ( ; Shan: ) is the largest town in northern Shan State, Myanmar, about north-east of Mandalay. It is situated on a low mountain spur overlooking the valley of the Yaw River. Loi Leng, the highest mountain of the Shan Hills, is located ...

. *Mobile medical support for the command was provided by a unit assigned by Britain; one notable member of the unit was the ''"Burma Surgeon"'' — Gordon Seagrave. *The command worked with the USAFCT (U.S. Army Forces, China Theater) in redeploying over 2200 animals (including horses and mules) by aerial transport from Burma into Chan-i. The effort was executed in January 1945. In April of the same year those animals were airlifted from Chan-i to Chih-chiang. *One of the US Army liaison officers, Desmond Fitzgerald, later went on to have a notable CIA career, including involvement in the attempted assassination of Fidel Castro.

References

Chapter X: Functional Organization in the Asiatic-Pacific Theaters
includes timelines for many of the notable events during the Burma Campaign.
Dartmouth Medicine Magazine: Dateline Burma
information on Seagrave's involvement with the 6th Army. {{reflist , Lost Crusader: The Secret Wars of CIA Director William Colby
- John Prados - 2003 Armies of the National Revolutionary Army C