Rangoon was not only the Burmese capital, but also the country's principal port, and therefore its recapture was vital as it would enable the Anglo-Indian forces to land supplies and reinforcements and prevent the Japanese forces from doing the same. The operation was planned as an airborne and amphibious assault to retake the city and port. Crucially, the city needed to be taken before the onset of the monsoon season in May, as once that set in, roads would be rendered useless and overflowing fields and rivers would make cross-country travel impossible.
After the failure of Japan's attempt to invade India in 1944, the Imperial Japanese Army found itself in a muchweakened state and with severely battered morale. Conversely, Indian troops in British service had received a huge boost to their morale as a result of their successes at Imphal and Kohima. The situation for the IJA was worsened further by the National Burma Army (Japan's Burmese allies) defecting to the allies and by Burmese civilian uprisings in response to poor treatment by the Japanese.
The operation itself started with Gurkha paratroopers landing at Elephant Point – at the mouth of the Rangoon River – to take
