The British Army 1939–45 (3): The Far East (Men-at-Arms)

The lightning Japanese offensives in the Far East in 1941/42 inflicted a series of costly defeats on the ill-prepared and badly supported British Commonwealth forces in Malaya and Burma. The 'forgotten' 14th Army on the India-Burma border slowly built up its strength and its tactical expertise; and Wingate's 'Chindits' proved that units supplied from the air could operate deep behind enemy lines. In 1944 General Slim's troops decisively smashed Japan's last offensive at Imphal and Kohima; and over the next year they drove the enemy relentlessly back through Burma, reducing them to starving fugitives by the final victory in August 1945. This concise summary of Britain's Far East campaigns of World War II is illustrated with many rare photographs, and eight detailed colour plates.

The lightning Japanese offensives in the Far East in 1941/42 inflicted a series of costly defeats on the ill-prepared and badly supported British Commonwealth forces in Malaya and Burma. The 'forgotten' 14th Army on the India-Burma border slowly built up its strength and its tactical expertise; and Wingate's 'Chindits' proved that units supplied from the air could operate deep behind enemy lines. In 1944 General Slim's troops decisively smashed Japan's last offensive at Imphal and Kohima; and over the next year they drove the enemy relentlessly back through Burma, reducing them to starving fugitives by the final victory in August 1945. This concise summary of Britain's Far East campaigns of World War II is illustrated with many rare photographs, and eight detailed colour plates.

A study of the men who fought in the Burma Campaign against the Japanese, and saw some of the hardest battles of World War II - the Chindit campaign, Imphal and Kohima. It shows how, by 1945, experience was giving rise to some of the most modern tropical uniforms and equipment in the world. The North Africa campaign of 1940-43 brought the British Army its first significant land victory, they then suffered a reversal in fortune between 1941 and 1942 and rallied in 1942 to 1943. For the 8th Army there followed another long struggle up the mountainous length of Italy in 1943-45. COVER......Page 1 TITLE......Page 2 INTRODUCTION......Page 3 CAMPAIGN SUMMARY......Page 5 THE CHINDITS......Page 18 JUNGLE FIGHTING......Page 23 UNIFORMS & EQUIPMENT......Page 35 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 40 THE PLATES......Page 41 INDEX......Page 48 IMPRINT......Page 50 WORLD WAR II WAS A GLOBAL CONFLICT not only in the territories fought over, but in the number of nations that declared themselves at war - although many did so only as a political expedient, with no actual military involvement.