The Burma Campaign

In 1945, the Indian British XIV Army inflicted on the Imperial Japanese Army in Burma the worst defeat in its history. That campaign, the most brilliant and original operational maneuver conducted by any British general in the twentieth century, largely forgotten until now, is a full and fresh account utilizing a full range of materials, from personal accounts to archival holdings—including the bits the official historians left out, such as the attempt by a jealous British Guards officer to have Slim sacked at the conclusion of the campaign.

A detailed examination of one of the crucial campaigns of World War II in Burma, in which British and Commonwealth forces achieved their first decisive victory over Japanese arms.

In March 1944, the Japanese Fifteenth Army launched an offensive into India from Burma. Named 'U Go', its main objective was the capture of the town of Imphal, which provided the easiest route between India and Burma. Whoever controlled it, controlled access between the two countries. Facing off against the Japanese was the British Fourteenth Army and its Imphal-based 4 Corps. For the next four months, over 200,000 men clashed in the hills and valley of Manipur in what has since been described as one of the greatest battles of World War II.

The scene is set with an overview of the respective states of the RAF and Japanese Airforce, and an explanation of how the American Volunteer Group (The Flying Tigers) came to be in China.

Burma: The Forgotten Front (Spring, 1943) As Japan makes its final push to the borders of India through the jungles of Burma. British forces finally take the offensive. The Japanese battle unbearable heat. monsoon rains, jungle starvation and disease to keep their grip on Burma. In May 1945. two modern fighting forces meet in the fabled city of Mandalay where the Japanese occupation is finally ended.