The Burma Campaign: Japanese Invasion to Sittang Bridge - Episode 542

The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War

Captain William Toti, USN

Naval History And Heritage Command, History, Imperial Japanese Navy, Sam Cox, Admiral King, Cruisers, Spruance, Fargo, Seth Paridon, Fighters, Pacific War, Stavridis, Cactus Air Force, December 7, Station Hypo, William Toti, Bombers, Bill Toti, Navy, Halsey, Submarines, Society & Culture, Education, Us Navy, Mush Morton, Cincpoa, Documentary, Guadalcanal, Imperial Japan, World War Ii, Midway, Aircraft Carriers, Cryptology, Wake Island, Nimitz, Cincpac, Macarthur, Pearl Harbor, Wahoo, Courses, Battleships, New Guinea

4.9 • 872 Ratings

🗓️ 17 February 2026

⏱️ 87 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week Seth Paridon and Jon Parshall bring the Burma campaign, or the beginning of it anyway, to the table. The guys get into the strategic setup for the campaign, and talk about the British defensive forces, or lack thereof. Jon dishes on Iida Shojiro, Japanese CO of the 15th Army, and the guys get into the series of defenisive battles fought by the Commonwealth forces that occur in the beginning of the Japanese invasion. The fate of the heroic 17th Indian Division at Sittang Bridge will make you want to pull your hair out. This one is an interesting, if not often told, tale. #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #essex #halsey #taskforce38 #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #mastersoftheair #8thairforce #mightyeighth #100thbombgroup #bloodyhundredth #b17 #boeing #airforce wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #oldbreed #1stMarineDivision #thepacific #Peleliu #army #marines #marinecorps #worldwar2 #worldwar #worldwarii #leytegulf #battleofleytegulf #rodserling #twilightzone #liberation #blacksheep #power #prisoner #prisonerofwar #typhoon #hurricane #weather #iwojima#bullhalsey #ace #p47 #p38 #fighter #fighterpilot #b29 #strategicstudying #tokyo #boeing #incendiary #usa #franklin #okinawa #yamato #kamikaze #Q&A #questions #questionsandanswers #history #jaws #atomicbomb #nuclear #nationalarchives #nara #johnford #hollywood #fdr #president #roosevelt #doolittle #doolittleraid #pearlharborattack #salvaged #medalofhonor #tarawa #malayalam #singapore #guadalcanal #china #burma

Transcript

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0:00.0	The
0:07.0	The The
0:23.6	The Hello and welcome to episode 542 of the unauthorized history of the Pacific War podcast.
0:45.7	My name is Seth Peridon, historian and deputy director of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum.
0:49.0	And with me as always is my co-host, author, historian, good buddy, and galley copy, cinder outer.
0:56.3	John Partial, how are you this January the 14th?
0:59.8	Yes.
1:01.5	I will just say that it has been an extremely dark and difficult week here in Minneapolis and Minnesota in general,
1:10.4	and I will leave that right there.
1:12.1	How are you?
1:13.3	I'm doing okay. I'm doing okay. I'm doing probably better than you are, but we're doing okay down
1:17.8	here right now. So we're enjoying the winter weather, all two weeks of it before it turns
1:25.0	winter weather.
1:29.7	Before it turns back into the humidity sweat-filled cesspool
1:31.8	that we call the southeastern part
1:33.6	of the United States.
1:34.7	Oh my God.
1:36.1	You guys have never had cold
1:38.1	that's real cold.
1:39.9	Not like that.
1:40.8	Anyway, not sustained, I should say.
1:43.0	Not sustained cold.
	...

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