Annotation source: Seoul Metropolitan Archive Annotation and image link: https://archives.seoul.go.kr/item/98 Image also available at: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205194275 ANNOTATION Japan, which initiated war with the Allied Forces in 1941 with a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, began to take over Burma (now Myanmar), as well as Southeast Asian colonies of Allied Forces such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. In May 1942, Myitkyina, a major city in northern Burma, was captured, putting the entire region under Japanese occupation. Burma was a strategically important area for both the Japanese and Allied Forces, as the location for the only supply route (Rangoon, Burma; Kunming, China) through which the Allied Forces could support China’s Chiang Kai-shek. After Japan occupied the area in 1942, more than 100,000 Japanese troops entered Burma, and comfort stations were established in almost all of the major cities. By way of example, the total number of comfort stations that appear in the diary of a former comfort station manager is 27, including 8 in Rangoon, 1 in Mouulmain, 5 in Pegu, 6 in Fromm, and 3 in Aqap in Burma. The women in comfort stations in Burma included many Koreans, as well as Chinese and Japanese. Meanwhile, the Allied Forces began an offensive in Burma in 1944, and the war continued until July 1945 when Japan was defeated there. British and Indian forces re-occupied Burma by crossing the Sittang River in central Burma into Thailand (Siam, Thailand’s former name). In the process, many Japanese soldiers were captured near Sittang River, along with a small group of Chinese women who had been forced to work as “comfort women.” This is a photograph of Chan Lai Cham, one of the Chinese women captured by the British forces, providing information to a British officer in Rangoon, Burma. The photo was taken by Sergeant AD Titmuss of the No. 9 Army Film and Photo Section with British Imperial Armed Forces, but it was shared with the Office of War Information (OWI), a U.S. intelligence agency, such that this photo is also in the possession of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (Record Group (RG) 208, Series AA, Box 314, Local Identifier 208-AA-314-J-1). Contributors [Organization] Seoul National University, Chin-sung Chung Research Team, 2015~ [Organization] Seoul National University, Chin-sung Chung Research Team, 2015~ [Organization] National Archives and Records Administration 1934~ [Organization] City of Seoul, Women and Family Policy Affairs Office 2011~ #photo #Chinese #Chan_Lai_Cham #Rangoon #Burma #British Download file: https://international.ucla.edu/media/files/US-28-Photo-Chinese-“comfort-woman”-found-in-Rangoon,-Burma-2-go-0pn.pdf