Book description
Nearly a million strong by 1944, the British 14th Army fought and
ultimately defeated the Japanese forces that invaded Burma and strove to
breakthrough into India. It was a near run thing, as the title of its
commander's famous memoir, DEFEAT INTO VICTORY suggests. The Japanese
routed the British forces in Malaya and Burma in 1941-2. The surrender
of Singapore is the greatest defeat ever suffered by the British Army.
The fight back was long and difficult, not the least because our forces
in Burma and India were last in the queue for men and equipment as
priority went to defeating Germany. The soldiers joked about being 'The
Forgotten Army', although General Bill Slim famously told them. 'what do
you mean, forgotten? No-one's f---ing heard of you.' Slim, who rose from
private soldier to field marshal, proved to be one of the greatest
soldiers of the war. This is the story of his remarkable army, the
largest army fielded by Britain and the Commonwealth during World War
II. From the brink of total defeat in 1942, the British rallied and
ultimately liberated Burma and Malaya in summer 1945. Their monument at
Kohima reads:When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,For Their
Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today Educated at Clifton College and Trinity
Hall, Cambridge, William Fowler was land forces editor of DEFENCE
magazine and a contributing editor to JANE'S INFORMATION GROUP. A long
term territorial soldier, he served with British forces in the Gulf War
and graduated from the French Army Reserve Staff Officers course at the
Ecole Militaire in Paris. He conducts regular battlefield tours and
broadcasts on radio and television. He is married and lives in
Hampshire.
