🔗========================== China-Burma-India Theater Hub  ========================🔗
​China, 1941–45   India, 1942–45    Burma, 1941–45    Crossing the Hump, 1942–45
​
bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Japan > CBI Theater, © 2025 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 6 Jun 2025

 ​Like the Pacific Theater, China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater operations in East and Southeast Asia extended over a vast distance. Unlike the Pacific Theater, the United States was not the largest Allied player in the CBI Theater. 
China-Burma-India Theater Overview
 Major Allied combatants in the CBI Theater were:
  • the Republic of China, aka Nationalist China.
  • the British Empire.
  • the United States.

About the accompanying map:
  • The Indian Empire and Burma were colonies in the British Empire.
  • The cross-hatched areas in China in the upper right were controlled by warlords but most were in the orbit of the Republic of China, commonly known as Nationalist China, led by Chiang Kai-shek, with the wartime capital of Chungking.

The major United States contribution in the CBI Theater was material and air support of the Republic of China. The US provided to China:
  • as much war material is could be shipped into China.
  • the transportation of this war material from India, across northern Burma, and into China. This is the subject of the Crossing the Hump webpage; there is a link near the top of this webpage.
  • Training of Republic of China military personnel.
  • US Army Air Force units based in China.​
The China-Burma-India Theater
The China-Burma-Theater area in December 1941.
Most Allied ground combat in the CBI Theater was done by Republic of China and British Empire troops.
Great Britain and the United States worked together in the China-Burma-India Theater, although their major goals differed:
  • Great Britain - Preserve India and Burma for the British Empire.
  • United States - Support the Republic of China in the War with Japan.

Except for the US Army Air Force units in China, most American WWII activity in the China-Burma-India Theater took place in and near Northern Burma, in the area shown on the accompanying map.
North Burma and the Surrounding Area
North Burma and the Surrounding Area in WWII
Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Japan > China-Burma-India​ Theater webpage:
  • The China-Burma-Theater area in December 1941 map is excerpted from  https://omniatlas.com/maps/southern-asia/19411210/.
  • The China-Burma-India Theater map, no longer shown, is courtesy of ww2db.com and the National Archives.
  • The North Burma and the Surrounding Area in WWII map is courtesy of iloveww2warbirds.com.